Special Collections Department
Gene Phillips
Collection of James T. Farrell Papers
Manuscript Collection Number: 368
Accessioned: Gift of Nick MacDonnald, March 1998
Extent: .6 linear feet (116 items)
Content: Letters, diary entries, photographs, manuscripts, typescripts, off-prints, newspaper
clippings, reviews, and essays
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: June 1998, by Meghan J. Fuller.
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Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Biographical Notes
American author and political activist James T. Farrell (1904-1979) published more than 65 volumes in his lifetime, including 26 novels and novellas, 15 collections of short stories, and more than ten books of criticism and collected essays. He achieved critical success and international recognition by the age of thirty-one with the completion of the Studs Lonigan trilogy, which includes Young Lonigan: A Boyhood in Chicago Streets (1932), The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (1934), and Judgement Day (1935). Known for his realistic, often gritty, portrayal of life in Chicago's South side (his hometown and the setting for many of his major novels), Farrell has long been considered one of the most influential American writers and thinkers of his time.
Success as a writer did not come easily. In 1931, Farrell relocated to Paris, hoping the change of scenery would prove inspirational. Financial difficulties forced him to return to the United States in 1933, and he took up residence at Yaddo, the rent-free writers' colony in Saratoga Springs that would become his home for the next three years. His productivity increased dramatically. In 1936, he won the Guggenheim Fellowship, followed by a Book of the Month Club Award for the Studs Lonigan trilogy. Despite critical success, his novels were not overnight best sellers, and money was frequently scarce. During one such period of hardship, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer offered Farrell $250 a week to write Hollywood screenplays, an offer which, in the interest of artistic freedom, he promptly refused.
Farrell was also very active politically, attending and lecturing at several international conferences, including the Berlin Conference for Cultural Freedom (1950) and the Paris Conference for the Mobilization of Peace (1949). At the latter, he delivered a speech entitled, "Truth and Myth about America," an experience he describes in detail in a May 17, 1949 letter to Phillips (see F1). In 1933, Farrell invented a satiric alter-ego, Jonathan Titulescu Fogarty, Esq., through whom he delivered many of his biting social and political commentaries.
Farrell died of a heart attack at his home in New York City in 1979.
Biographical details about Gene Phillips are not available; however, the collection indicates that Miss Gene Phillips and James T. Farrell were longtime friends and business associates. Based in New York City, Phillips worked for Farrell, transcribing handwritten texts he sent her during his trips across the country and abroad. In October 1951, Farrell sent a letter of introduction on behalf of Phillips to Alfred Frankenstein of the San Fransisco Chronicle:
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I am taking the liberty of giving this introduction to you to Miss Gene Phillips. She used
to work for me, and she is a good friend of mine, and since she knows few people in San
Fransisco, I am asking her to look you up. I'd be very grateful for anything you can do to
help her see San Fransisco in her short stay there . . . (F5).
Sources:
Branch, Edward M. A Bibliography of James T. Farrell Writings, 1921-1957. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1959.Metzger, Linda, Ed. Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, volume 9. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984. pp. 158-161.
Note: Biographical information for Gene Phillips is derived from the collection.
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the material in this collection was written at a pivotal point in Farrell's life -- during the five years preceding his fiftieth birthday. During this period, he travelled and lectured extensively both in the United States and abroad, and the letters and diary entries in the first series indicate that this lifestyle began to take its toll on Farrell. In 1951, he suffered a lengthy illness which eventually necessitated abdominal surgery in 1952.
Perhaps most interesting in this collection are Farrell's diary entries. Written during the span of less than a month (April 1951), these entries explore everything from the political climate in France to the weather in London. Farrell wrote about his travels, the people he encountered on the streets, the lectures he gave, and his difficulty balancing his public life of travelling and lecturing with his private life as a writer. As he confessed in an entry dated April 15, 1951, "It is difficult writing under the conditions of my present life. It is so easy to make appointments to see people -- to talk -- to crowd in other things besides work. Life is like a constant vacation, because I am so constantly in a place that isn't home and am there temporarily" (see F5).
The diary entries also provide a unique look into the life of a writer and the joys and frustrations of the writing process itself. As Farrell began one entry, "I am writing this diary entry as much with the aim of getting into work as for any reason. As a kind of warm-up." He often expressed the frustration of "being blocked," particularly in reference to Bill Lenihan, a novel that may have been published under a different name, if it was published at all.
Many of the diary entries are nostalgic; Farrell himself admits in one entry to being in a "slight Proustian mood," and he frequently describes cherished moments from his past. These entries were written nineteen years to the month after the publication of his first novel, Young Lonigan: A Boyhood in Chicago Streets.
Related collections:
MS 214 James T. Farrell PapersDavid T. Bazelon Papers
Arrangement Note
Series I. Letters, 1932-1952 comprises letters written either to or from Farrell and Phillips during the years 1932 to 1951. Within each folder, the letters are arranged chronologically.
Series II. Diaries and Photographs includes those diary entries written by Farrell between April 9 and May 1, 1951, and two unidentified photographs, though Farrell and (presumably) Phillips are in both.
Series III. Writings by James T. Farrell includes typescripts, manuscripts, notes, and off-prints, only some of which are dated. They are arranged chronologically, with all undated material arranged alphabetically by title at the end.
Series IV. Other Writings contains writings about or in some way related to Farrell, including newspaper clippings, a critical essay, a review of Farrell's 1953 novel, The Face of Time, and a typescript of a one-act play written by Farrell's second wife, Hortense Alden Farrell, in collaboration with Randolph Carter. This material is arranged chronologically, with all undated material listed alphabetically by title at the end.
Series V. Miscellaneous Material includes three items which reflect Farrell's political interests, including a copy of "The Geneticists Manifesto" signed by the author, H.J. Muller; and a transcript of the Plaintiffs' statement in the case of William Fortunato, Leroy Galperin, Robert Oppenheimer, and Albert Ettinger versus William E. Knickerbocker, William C. Davis, and the New York Times, Co.
Series Outline
I. Letters, 1932-1952 II. Diary Entries and Photographs III. Writings by James T. Farrell IV. Other Writings V. Miscellaneous Material
Contents List
1 Series I. Letters, 1932 - 1952
Primarily written by Farrell to his friend, Gene Phillips, while he was lecturing in
the United States and abroad. His letters (both typed and handwritten) include
thoughts on writers and the writing process, politics both at home and
internationally, his difficulty writing under the stress of traveling and lecturing,
and his bout with an illness that would require abdominal surgery in 1952.
F1 Letters from James T. Farrell to Gene Phillips, 1948-1949
12 items (12 leaves) 14pp.
F2 Letters from James T. Farrell to Gene Phillips, 1950
8 items (8 leaves) 9pp.
F3 Letters from James T. Farrell to Gene Phillips, 1951
8 items (8 leaves) 11 pp.
F4 Letters from James T. Farrell to Gene Phillips, 1952
12 items (13 leaves) 18 pp.
F5 Other Correspondence, 1932-1952, n.d
10 items (23 leaves) 27 pp.
Includes letters either to or from James T. Farrell or Gene Phillips, several
letters from mutual friends in which either one or both are mentioned, as well
as Farrell's undated letter of recommendation for Calder Willingham, Jr. to the
Geuggenheim Foundation.
1 Series II. Diary Entries and Photographs
F6 Diary Entries, April 9 - May 1, 1951
35 items (51 leaves) 88 pp.
Written by Farrell, these entries reflect his struggle to overcome writer's block
while lecturing and traveling throughout the United States and Europe.
F7 Photographs, n.d
2 items
2 Series III. Writings by James T. Farrell
Written between 1949 and 1954, some of these pieces appeared in such places as
The Humanist, The Kansas City Review, and The General Magazine and
Historical Chronicle (of the University of Pennsylvania); others may be first
drafts of pieces that would be retitled later, while others may not have been
published at all. Two pieces were written under the pseudonym Jonathan
Titulescu Fogarty, Esq.
F8 Partial Bibliography of Published Articles, 1947-1950
1 item (5 leaves) 5 pp.
F9 Book Reviewing in the Early 1930s, 1949 (2 items)
AMS January 12, 1949 57 pp.
TMs [n.d] 8 pp. (3 copies)
F10 The Best Runner on Fifty-First Street, 1949 (1 item)
AMsS August 14, 1949 34pp.
Inscribed "To Gene Phillips, Affectionately, Jim Farrell, September 1, 1949"
Possibly a draft of what would become "The Fastest Runner on Sixty-first Street,"
first published in Commentary, 1950.
F11 Arrival in America, 1949 (1 item)
AMsS December 1, 1949 19 pp.
F12 The American Communists, n.d. (1 item)
AMsS "John Titulescu Fogarty" 2pp.
inscribed "For Gene Phillips, Affectionately, Jim Farrell" and "To [illegible]
Mrs. Phillips, from John Titulescu Fogarty"
F13 Orbis Family, n.d. (3 items)
TMs 28 pp. (2 copies)
TMs 16 pp.
Possibly an early draft of "The Mowbray Family: A Comedy in Three Acts,"
written by Farrell and Hortense Alden Farrell and published in When Boyhood
Dreams Come True, 1946.
F14 Some Observations on Trade Union Education, n.d. (1 item)
TMs with holograph notations 34 pp.
Possibly an early draft of "A Note on Trade Union Education," published in the
New Leader, 1948.
2 Series III. Writings by Farrell (cont'd)
F15 Notes on Summer Tryout, n.d. (1 item)
TMs with holograph notations 4 pp.
F16 Summer Tryout, n.d. (1 item)
TMs with holograph notations 53 pp.
F17 Off-Prints of Writings by Farrell, 1947-1951 (5 items)
Fogarty, Jonathan Titulescu (James T. Farrell). "Texas by the Potomac." Dallas:
The Times Herald, 1950.
___. "An American Dream Girl." The General Magazine and
Historical Chronicle. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania General
Alumni Society 52:3 (1950): 143-148.
____. "Some Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser." The General Magazine
and Historical Chronicle Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
General Alumni Society 53:4 (1951): 237-251.
___. "The Social Obligations of the Novelist: I. Is the Obligation to the State' or
Society'?" The Humanist, n.d. [1947]
___. "Tolstoy's War and Peace as a Moral Panorama of the Tsarist Feudal
Nobility." The University of Kansas City Review, n.d.
[1945]
2 Series IV. Other Writings
Writings about Farrell, including newspaper clippings,
reviews, a critical essay, and a play written by Farrell's first wife, Hortense
Alden, in collaboration with Randolph Carter.
F18 Newspaper Clippings, 1952-1954 (5 items)
Kemton, Murray. "Spit." New York Post, 13 April 1954. p.34
(2 copies)
Bookman. "To amerikanere, [illegible] italiener og en jyde." Radio, 16
March 1952.
2 Series IV. Other Writings (cont'd)
Poore, Charles. "Books of the Times." The New York Times, 7
November 1953.
Shannon, William V. "Farrell Writes on, Unscarred." New York Post, 7
March 1954. p.2M
F19 Review, The Face of Time, 1953 (1 item)
"Back to Chicago." Review of The Face of Time, by James T. Farrell. Time,
23 November 1953. p.128-129
F20 Irvin Stock, "The Critics of James T. Farrell: An Examination," n.d. (1 item)
TMs with holograph notations 14 pp.
F21 Hortense Alden and Randolph Carter, "Manhattan at Midnight, n.d.
TMs with holograph notations 18 pp. (2 copies)
Hortense Alden was Farrell's second wife; they were married from 1941 to 1955.
2 Series V. Miscellaneous Items Reflecting Farrell's Political Interests
F22 Miscellaneous Material (3 items)
Peck, Jim. Underdogs Versus Upperdogs: A Picture-Story of the Struggle
Against Social Injustice. New York: Mat Kauten, 1951.
15 pp. includes a holograph note inscribed "Thought you would like to see
one, Jim"
"The Geneticists Manifesto"
1 pp. (2 leaves)
signed by one of the authors, H.J. Muller
Typescript of the Plaintiffs' Statement in the case of William Fortunato,
individually and as President of the Student Council of the City College of the
City of New York, Leroy Galperin, Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Ettinger
Against William E. Knickerbocker, William C. Davis, and the New York Times, Co.
7 pp. (7 leaves)
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