The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the University of Chicago Department of Romance Languages and Literatures Records 1929-1990
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| Title: | University of Chicago. Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Records |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1929-1990 |
| Size: | 4 linear feet (6 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Founded in 1890, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures offers programs in French, Italian, and Hispanic/Luso-Brazilian literatures as well as Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. This collection largely consists of administrative materials and departmental correspondence as well as some student materials and a series of photographic portraits both of professors in the department and prominent international scholars with whom the department had contact. |
Boxes 1-3 are open and available for research. Series VIII, comprising Boxes 4-6, is closed for research. Box 4 is restricted for thirty years from date of record creation, Box 5 is restricted for fifty years, and Box 6 is restricted for eighty years.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Founded in 1890, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures is as old as the University of Chicago itself, offering programs in French, Italian, and Hispanic/Luso-Brazilian literatures as well as Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. The early history of the department reflects the scholarship of its times, placing a strong emphasis on philology, historical linguistics, and textual criticism. Early on, the quarter system allowed preeminent scholars from around the world to visit the department, and signed photographs of such figures as Alfred Jeanroy, Paul Valéry, and Julian Green can be found in this collection (Series VII, Box 3).
Early department chairs included William I. Knapp, Karl Pietsch, and William A. Nitze. Pierre Robert Vigneron, professor of French from 1924 and Chair from 1951 until his retirement in 1954, would become well known as a representative of the “French” reaction against philological historicism with his introduction to American academia of the influential system of explication de texte. Bernard Weinberg, department chair from 1958 to 1967, was a key theorist and practitioner of the “Chicago School” of literary criticism and a beloved member of the department. It was under his chairmanship that prominent scholars (though not all adherents of this school) such as Paolo Cherchi and Peter Dembowski (both medievalists), George Haley (a scholar of the Spanish Golden Age), Bruce Morrissette (an authority on Robbe-Grillet), and the novelist Francisco Ayala were brought to the department.
The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures Records contains extensive correspondence from the offices of Weinberg and Morrissette (who succeeded Weinberg as chair), as well as Haley, ranging from personal greetings, to minor correspondence with famous international writers and scholars (such as Jorge Luis Borges and Roland Barthes), to day-to-day office matters. Also included are extensive administrative materials and correspondences from the chairmanship of Rebecca West from 1987 to 1990.
The collection is organized into eight series: Series I, General Administrative; Series II, Correspondence; Series III, Students; Series IV, Named Fellowships; Series V, Newsletters; Series VI, Audio-Visual; Series VII, Oversize; and Series VIII, Restricted.
Series I, General Administrative, contains correspondence and documentation related to departmental administrative procedures such as faculty teaching loads and assignments, graduate student lectureships, College course schedules and allocations, and correspondence with the Humanities Division, and materials related to department meetings. This series is arranged chronologically.
Series II, Correspondence, consists of both internal and external departmental correspondence, mostly from the offices of department chairs and acting chairs, including personal, academic, general office materials, and administrative correspondence of a less formal manner than those materials found in Series I. This series is arranged chronologically.
Series III, Students, contains unevaluated work by students. This series is arranged chronologically.
Series IV, Named Fellowships, contains materials related to the funding and arrangement of named fellowship funds hosted by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. This series is arranged chronologically.
Series V, Newsletters, contains departmental and divisional newsletters. This series is arranged chronologically.
Series VI, Audio-Visual, contains photographic portraits of professors in or associated with the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.
Series VII, Oversize, contains an illustration of a mother and child, a parodic alternative University of Chicago crest, and a series of photographic portraits of professors and chairs of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures as well as signed photographs of other international scholars (presumably visitors of the department).
Series VIII, Restricted, contains restricted materials from Series I, II, and IV and is arranged as such: Box 4 is restricted for 30 years from date of record creation, Box 5 is restricted for 50 years, and Box 6 is restricted for 80 years.
Series I: General Administrative |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Lecture/Lectureship Correspondence – Paulo Cherchi, 1986 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Registrar, College, and Graduate Student Materials, 1987-1988 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Calls for Presentation/Application, 1987-1988 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Administrative Materials -- Courses and Advising, circa 1987-1990 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Faculty Affairs, Graduate Student Lectureships, 1989-1990 |
Series II: Departmental Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Letter to Henry Robinson, 1934 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Unsorted Department Correspondence – Haley, Weinberg, Morrissette, 1966 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Department Correspondence, July-September 1967 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Department Correspondence, October-December 1967 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Department Correspondence, 1969-1973 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Bruce Morrissette Correspondence [1/2], June 1967-April 1968 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Bruce Morrissette Correspondence [2/2], 1974-1975 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Humanities Open House, 1987 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | RLL Workshop, Visiting Professor Materials, 1987-1988 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Suzanne Noffke Correspondence, 1989 |
Series III: Students |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Marie MacNee Annotated Bibliography, 1980 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | “Persuasion through Poetry” – Beth Joan Vinkler Dissertation Proposal, 9 December 1987 |
Series IV: Named Fellowships |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Mary Elizabeth Sibley Fellowship Materials, 1972 |
Series V: Newsletters |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | Department Newsletter, February 1929 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | Division of Humanities Newsletter, Spring 1987 |
Series VI: Audio-Visual |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | Portrait of Ruth House Webber, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 13 | Unidentified Portrait, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 14 | Portrait of Wells F. Chamberlain, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 15 | Portrait of Ernest Hatch Wilkins, undated |
Series VII: Oversize |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | “Mother Reading to Child,” 1909 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Alternative University Crest with Squirrel and Grass, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Portrait of Karl Pietsch, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Unidentified Portrait, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Portrait of Bernard Weinberg, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Portrait of Alfred Jeanroy, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Portrait of Julian Green, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Portrait of Paul Valéry, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | Portrait of James Dowden Bruner, circa 1895-1899 |
| Box 3 Folder 10 | Portrait of William Ireland Knapp, circa 1892-1894 |
| Box 3 Folder 11 | Portrait of Henry de Montherlant, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | Portrait of Ferdinand Brunot, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 13 | Unidentified Portrait, with quote from St. Bernard, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 14 | Portrait of Edmond Faral, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 15 | Unidentified Portrait, undated |
| Box 3 Folder 16 | Portrait of Rudolph Altrocchi, circa 1915-1927 |
Series VIII: Restricted |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | General Administrative – Department Meetings [1/2], 1986-1988 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | General Administrative – Department Meetings [2/2], 1988-1989 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | Correspondence – Recommendations, 1967-1975 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | General Administrative – Faculty Affairs, Graduate Student Lectureships, 1982-1988 |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | General Administrative – Italian Lecturers, 1987-1988 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | General Administrative – Lectureships and Staffing, 1988-1990 |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | General Administrative – Applications for Lecturers, Lectors, 1989-1990 |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Correspondence – Evaluations (non-student) and Staffing, 1967-1975 |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | Named Fellowships – Bernard Weinberg Fellowship Fund Donations and Correspondence, 1974 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | General Administrative – Graduate Student Lectureship Applications, 1990 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Correspondence – Student Recommendations and Evaluations, 1966-1974 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Correspondence – Student Financial Aid, 1987 |