Arts, Architecture & Literature in Special Collections

Special Collections and University Archives collects in the topical area Popular literature with a focus is on Western fiction.

• Charles Alexander Ax 006
• Don B. & Thelma D. Allen Ax 500
• W. T. Ballard Coll 49 
  • Willis Todhunter Ballard (1903-1980) was a writer of the western and mystery fiction genre. The collection consists of professional correspondence from 1947 to 1972, publication records, papers of the Western Fiction Writers of America (WWA) documenting his activity in that organization, and literary manuscripts of 70 books, 17 teleplays, one screenplay, and a few magazine articles.
• Edwin Booth Coll 184 
  • Edwin Booth (1906-1980) was a writer of Western fiction. The Edwin Booth Papers contain personal and professional literary correspondence with authors who were contemporaries of Booth, as well as literary manuscripts. The manuscript series contains manuscripts of novels and short stories. The collection also includes published copies of Booth's novels and anthologies of short stories. Booth wrote American westerns as well as mystery literature.
• Houston Branch Coll 249 
  • Houston Branch (1899-1968) was a writer, editor, publicist, and organization executive. The collection contains literary manuscripts, correspondence, and records relating to Branch's work as a creative writer and in public relations
• Edward Y. Breese Coll 136
• Frederic Robert Buckley Ax 319
• Carl Burger Ax 577 
  • Carl Burger (1888-1967) was an artist and writer of children's books about animals and natural history. This collection, which includes drafts, research notes and correspondence as well as numerous original illustrations, reflects his talent as an illustrator and his love of the outdoors.
• Courtney Owen Cameron Ax 573
• Robert Ormond Case Ax 467
• Frank P. Castle Ax 331
• Joseph Chadwick A 200
• Giff Cheshire Ax 375
• Will Cook Ax 332
  • Will Cook was a writer of western and adventure novels and stories. Collection consists of correspondence (273 letters), manuscripts for his novels, short stories, and one novella, and an extensive collection of western pulp fiction containing short stories by Cook.
• William Robert Cox Coll 032
  • William Cox (1901-1988) was a prolific writer for the pulp fiction magazine industry during the 1930s, 1940s and into the early 1950s. He later wrote for the television industry and continued to publish in a wide variety of genres including sports, Westerns, and juvenile fiction. This Collection consists of three main series: correspondence with business associates and other contemporary writers (Red Barber, Ray Bradbury, John Ford, David Frost, Lillian Hellman, Elmore Leonard and Allen Rivkin), manuscripts of his published works and screenplays, and tear sheets from the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.
• Thomas Albert Curry, Jr. Ax 318
  • Thomas A. Curry, Jr. (1900-1976) was best known as a writer of adventure stories. He published numerous novels, novelettes and periodical articles. This collection contains several of his manuscripts and also a large amount of his correspondence.
• Allan Vaughan Elston Ax 280
• Hal George Evarts Ax 464
  • Hal Evarts, Jr. was a writer of Western and mystery fiction. The collection comprises personal and professional correspondence, literary manuscripts, personal journals, and printed materials of author Hal George Evarts, Jr. The manuscripts are of Evarts' novels and short stories in the western and detective/mystery styles.
• Frederick D. Glidden (Luke Short) Coll 148
  • Frederick D. Glidden was one of America's foremost western authors. Under the pen name Luke Short he published several novels, novelettes and articles. He also wrote a number of screenplays and teleplays. This collection documents his writing career and publishing record through manuscripts, correspondence, reviews, magazines, tearsheets and personal documents.
• Zane Grey Ax 462
  • The collection contains four original hand-written manuscripts by western author Zane Grey. It also contains three published stories. The stories in the collection are particular to the Rogue River in Oregon.
• John & Ward Hawkins Coll 71
  • The John and Ward Hawkins Papers comprise fiction manuscripts and teleplays, correspondence, non-fiction manuscripts, and screenplays by American writers John and Ward Hawkins.
• Ernest Haycox Coll 164 
  • Ernest Haycox (1899-1950), a prolific writer of Western fiction, graduated from the University of Oregon in 1923 with a degree in journalism. His career began with the publication of some of his short stories while he was still a college student, and over the next three decades his short stories and novels earned a world-wide audience. His first novel, Free Grass, was published in 1929 and was followed by another novel almost every year until his death in 1950. A final book, The Adventurers, was published posthumously in 1955. The Ernest Haycox Papers comprise manuscripts of his short stories and novels, magazine tearsheets, free-standing volumes and research material.
• Donald R. Holm Ax 405
• Victor Kaufman Ax 380
• Walter Evans Kidd Ax 203
  • Walter Evans Kidd was a noted poet and author of short stories. He was born in 1901 and raised in the Portland, Oregon area. He was educated at the University of Oregon, the University of Iowa and the University of Denver. He held teaching positions at various institutions and published numerous works under the pseudonym Conrad Pendleton. This collection contains correspondence from colleagues and friends as well as other professional materials.
• Peter B. Kyne Ax 732
  • Peter Bernard Kyne (1880-1957) was a prominent author of novels and short stories. He served in the Spanish-American War and World War I, and resided in San Francisco most of his life. This collection includes thousands of personal and professional correspondence, and well over a hundred manuscript copies of novels and short stories. While this collection spans the years 1917 to 1957, the majority of the correspondence dates from 1935-1940.
• Lenniger Literary Agency Ax 73
  • The Lenniger Literary Agency was founded in 1923 by August Lenniger. Its purpose was to place a writer's books and stories with publishers and to negotiate with the publishers. August Lenniger and Edith Margolis corresponded with hundreds of agency clients. The letters concern editing and sales of manuscripts, requirements and house rules of publishers, the state of the literary market, and personal problems of the writers. The collection contains correspondence, published works, manuscripts and other miscellaneous material.
• Leo Margulies Coll 133
• Dudley McGaughey Coll 211
• Dwight Bennett Newton Coll 192
  • Collection comprises papers of American author of western fiction Dwight Newton, including correspondence with other writers, the August Lenniger Literary Agency, and Book Creations, Inc.; literary manuscripts (including short stories and teleplays); and 57 vols. of Newton's books.
• George Washington Ogden Ax 484
• T.V. Olsen Ax 393
• Robert & Kathrene Pinkerton Ax 591
  • Robert E. Pinkerton (1882-1970) and Kathrene Pinkerton (1887-1967) were writers of both fiction and nonfiction, primarily writing in Canada. The collection includes correspondence, literary manuscripts, tear sheets, photo albums, books and Kathrene Pinkerton's diary.
• Malcolm Reiss Coll 016
• Roe Richmond Coll 163
• Leslie Scott Coll 099
• Lin J. Searles Coll 075
• Raymond Spears Coll 156
• Ray Palmer Tracy Ax 566
• William O. Turner Ax 556
• Delbert E. Wylder Coll 168

[Identification of item], Date (if known), Collection Title, Collection Number, Box and Folder number [or photo ID number], Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.

Special Collections and University Archives is the primary repository for the University of Oregon’s archives, rare books, historic photographs, and one of the largest historical manuscripts collections in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to acquire, preserve, and make available a clearly defined set of primary sources and rare books, reflecting the written, visual, and audio history and culture of Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and selected aspects of American and world history. Our diverse collections support all types of research, from K–12 education to international scholarship. We strive to play an active and creative role in the teaching, research, and service missions of the University.

Historical Collection Strengths

• Oregon history, politics, culture
• Authors and illustrators of children’s books
• The conservative and libertarian movement in the last half of the twentieth century
• Popular literature, with an emphasis on Western fiction
• Missionaries to foreign countries, especially in the Far East
• Labor History
• Journalism and Communications
• Photographs of the Northwest, including the Major Lee Moorhouse and Angelus Studio collections
• Environmental history
• Northwest literature, including fiction by Ken Kesey, Damon Knight, Kate Wilhelm, Ursula K. Le Guin, Molly Gloss, and William Stafford
• Doris Ulmann photograph archives of Appalachia
• Utopian and intentional communities
• Northwest architecture
• Northwest economic history