Collections

The papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist and ethnographer, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968. Scheffler studied social structure, kinship and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960). Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings. Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages of the Solomon Islands. Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgewood on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides. The papers span the period from 1926 to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971. The papers are arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.

Materials collected by Robert Butts consisting primarily of diverse works by and regarding the popular New York artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994). Brainard was the author of fifteen books of writing, the illustrator of numerous other books produced by members of the New York School, and a celebrated graphic artist whose work covered a broad range of sizes, styles and media. The Joe Brainard Archive consists of numerous examples of Brainard's graphic work dating from 1962 to 1979, most of the books illustrated by Brainard, all of Brainard's manuscripts and published writings, notebooks for Brainard's I REMEMBER series and several other books, Brainard's correspondence with members of the Butts family and correspondence to Brainard from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson, checklists of Brainard's artistic production constructed by Robert Butts, and a selection of articles devoted to Brainard's career. In addition to the Brainard materials, the Joe Brainard Archive also includes several lithographs by Alex Katz (b. 1927), an oil painting by Tom Clark, and a few ink sketches by poets Ron Padgett and Allen Ginsberg. There are also manuscripts of Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark and Rudy Kikel, in addition to broadsides and books written by New York School writers such as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, and Kenneth Koch. The accessions processed in 1991 contain primarily original artworks by Joe Brainard in collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, including THE BABY BOOK (1965). Also included are correspondence, manuscript materials and photographs. The accession processed in 1993 comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts and one print by Andy Warhol.

Flyers, pamphlets, membership rosters and other items from the Kansas Society of New York, an informal organization for individuals from Kansas residing in or visiting New York City.

Records from the Marketing and Communications Department.

This is an abstract.

Records of a publishing company established by poets Lewis Warsh and Bernadette Mayer in 1977. Successor to Angel Hair magazine and Angel Hair Books, United Artists published works of contemporary poets and writers, including Ted Berrigan, Clark Coolidge, Alan Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Robert Creeley, and Bill Berkson. Correspondence with these and other United Artist contributors can be found in the collection. Also included are typescripts of works submitted and materials used for production of United Artists publications.