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Mary Oppen Papers http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf5g50081p No online items Mary Oppen Papers Finding aid prepared by Special Collections & Archives Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California, 92093-0175 858-534-2533 [email protected] Copyright 2005 Mary Oppen Papers MSS 0125 1 Descriptive Summary Title: Mary Oppen Papers Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0125 Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California, 92093-0175 Languages: English Physical Description: 18.0 Linear feet(8 archives boxes, 16 flat boxes, 8 map case folders, and 14 art bin items) Date (inclusive): 1913-1990 Abstract: Papers of Mary Oppen, writer, painter, and wife of poet George Oppen. The Mary Oppen Papers contain extensive photographic documentation of the Oppen family, along with artworks by George and Mary Oppen and a small file of papers. The artworks include wood carvings by George Oppen and paintings and collages by Mary. Included in the papers are drafts of Mary Oppen's autobiography Meaning A Life, journals (including a dream journal), and original writings by her and her husband. Creator: Oppen, Mary, 1908-1990 Scope and Content of Collection Papers of Mary Oppen, writer, painter, and wife of poet George Oppen. The Mary Oppen Papers contain extensive photographic documentation of the Oppen family, along with artworks by George and Mary Oppen and a small file of papers. The artworks include wood carvings by George Oppen and paintings and collages by Mary. Included in the papers are drafts of Mary Oppen's autobiography Meaning A Life, journals (including a dream journal), and original writings by her and her husband. Mary Oppen's papers have research value in that they reflect the life and career of her husband. However, Mary Oppen was an artist and a writer herself, though of a lesser distinction and fame than her spouse. In addition, she maintained a vital, animated role in the community of poets, painters, and activists. Notes on the collection made by Linda Oppen Mourelatos and Geoffrey Wexler are kept in a seperate acquisition folder. Arranged in five series: 1) WRITINGS, 2) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) ARTWORKS and 5) PHOTOGRAPHS. Perhaps the most important series is the PHOTOGRAPHS. Several large family albums provide the record of a life shared, among writers and artists only now achieving recognition. The PHOTOGRAPHS series affords us glimpses into the world which George and Mary Oppen inhabited--one which was not officially recorded by the arbitrers of taste or by academics in a depoliticized postwar America. Included at the end of the Artwork series are several wood carvings done by George Oppen. Biography The story of Mary Oppen's life is told in an autobiography entitled Meaning A Life. Born Mary Colby in Kalispell, Montana, Oppen was raised in the Pacific Northwest. She met George Oppen in 1928 while both were students at Oregon State University. Together they travelled extensively and finally took up residence in New York City. There they joined a circle of artists and writers, among whom were the poets Charles Reznikoff and Louis Zukofsky. During the 1930s the Oppens involved themselves in leftist political movements and joined the Communist Party U.S.A in 1935 after the seventh World Congress of the Communist Parties called for intellectuals to join in a united front against fascism and war. After the second World War, in which George Oppen was wounded while serving in the European theater, the Oppens were persecuted by the US government for their leftist activities during the depression. Rather than testify against friends and associates, the Oppens decided to flee to Mexico in 1950, where they found their way to Mexico City's United States emigre and refugee circle. In the late 1950s George Oppen began writing again after a 25 year hiatus and the Oppens soon relocated to New York City. In the later part of the 1960s, the Oppens took up residence in the San Francisco Bay area, which is where George's family was largely located. For a time, they summered at Deer Isle, Maine, where they entertained a number of east coast writers such as Ted Enslin, Rachel DuPlessis, and John Taggart. George Oppen died in 1984; Mary died six years later, on 14 May 1990. Both are survived by a daughter, Linda Oppen Morelatos. Publication Rights Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Preferred Citation Mary Oppen Papers, MSS 0125. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Acquisition Information Mary Oppen Papers MSS 0125 2 Acquired, 1991-1992. Subjects and Indexing Terms Booth, Philip, 1925-2007 -- Correspondence Bronk, William -- Correspondence Corman, Cid -- Correspondence Cuddihy, Michael -- Correspondence Dembo, L. S. -- Correspondence Fauchereau, Serge -- Correspondence Laughlin, James, 1914-1997 -- Correspondence Mourelatos, Linda Oppen, 1940- -- Correspondence Oppen, George Oppen, Mary, 1908-1990 -- Archives Shapiro, Harvey, 1924-2013 -- Correspondence Taggart, John, 1942- -- Correspondence Tomlinson, Charles, 1927- -- Correspondence Weinberger, Eliot -- Correspondence American poetry -- 20th century Diaries -- 20th century Photographic prints -- 20th century Women poets -- United States WRITINGS Prose Box 1, Folder 1 Indices to the Poetry and Prose of Mary Oppen Box 1, Folder 2 A-a-all Gone Box 1, Folder 3 After a Conversation with George Box 1, Folder 4 Andy's family Box 1, Folder 5 At Home in the World Box 1, Folder 6 Best of All Box 1, Folder 7 Bond Box 1, Folder 8 Chosen One [Maria] Box 1, Folder 9 Counterpoint [Anne, Captain Frank, Josephine] Box 1, Folder 10 Compulsion Box 1, Folder 11 Daughter Box 1, Folder 12 Deaths Box 1, Folder 13 Declaration of Independence Box 1, Folder 14 Depression Box 1, Folder 15 Dilettante Box 1, Folder 16 Does She Think She Is A Legend? [on Mary Oppen] Box 1, Folder 17 Evolution Box 1, Folder 18 Fame Box 1, Folder 19 Frances [Margaret] Box 1, Folder 20 Generations [Julian, Steve, Toby] Box 1, Folder 21 Grandma Op as a Girl... Box 1, Folder 22 Hana Box 1, Folder 23 In dream sometimes... Box 1, Folder 24 Islands Box 1, Folder 25 Jill Box 1, Folder 26 Jon Mary Oppen Papers MSS 0125 3 WRITINGS Prose Box 1, Folder 27 Josephine [Captain Frank] Box 1, Folder 28 Journal of trip to Israel, 1975 [Jerusalem Journal] Box 1, Folder 29 Leni and George K. Box 1, Folder 30 Libby Box 1, Folder 31 Maine Box 1, Folder 32 Mama Box 1, Folder 33 Meaning [cont.][1978] Box 1, Folder 34 Meeting with a Japanese Woman-Writer [1977] Box 1, Folder 35 Naomi Box 1, Folder 36 1930 Box 1, Folder 37 Our Very Own Box 1, Folder 38 Overnight at Rosie's Box 1, Folder 39 Paula Box 1, Folder 40 Picasso's Women Box 1, Folder 41 Possession Box 1, Folder 42 Reporter Box 1, Folder 43 San Francisco is my Mother Box 1, Folder 44 Secure and powerful central government... Box 1, Folder 45 Splurge Box 1, Folder 46 Sucha Box 1, Folder 47 Survivor [Daniel] Box 1, Folder 48 Thanksgiving Box 1, Folder 49 Venus of the Shell Box 1, Folder 50 Walking with Charles Reznikoff Box 2, Folder 1 Who is Lottie? Box 2, Folder 2 Woman's Destiny Box 2, Folder 3 Women Box 2, Folder 4 On women Box 2, Folder 5 On Robert Duncan and Oppenheimer Box 2, Folder 6 Sketches: Pan and Andy (Paris, 1932); Paul, Mari Box 2, Folder 7 David, Maria, Michael Box 2, Folder 8 Unfinished sketches Box 2, Folder 9 Notes Box 2, Folder 10 Notes on reading Box 2, Folder 11 Untitled prose piece Box 2, Folder 12 Miscellaneous and unidentified prose Poetry Box 2, Folder 13 Dreams Box 2, Folder 14 Infant (non-speaking) Box 2, Folder 15 Letter from San Francisco, 1971 Box 2, Folder 16 Pearl Box 2, Folder 17 Printed poems Box 2, Folder 18 Poems for OCCIDENT Box 2, Folder 19 Miscellaneous poetry Box 2, Folder 20 Miscellaneous poetry Box 2, Folder 21 Poems read May 12, 1979 ["Grand Piano Reading"] Box 2, Folder 22 Poems read at Intersection, May 13, 1980 Box 2, Folder 23 Poetry worksheets Box 2, Folder 24 Translations Box 2, Folder 25 Translation worksheets and notes Notebooks Box 3, Folder 1 Memoirs 1959 - 1960 Box 3, Folder 2 Notebook Mary Oppen Papers MSS 0125 4 WRITINGS Notebooks Box 3, Folder 3 Notebook pages Box 3, Folder 4 Journal [1979] Box 3, Folder 5 Journal 1982 - 1983 Box 3, Folder 6 Journal pages 1988 - 1989 Box 3, Folder 7 Dreams 1970 - 1970 Box 3, Folder 8 Dream journal 1970 - 1970 MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS Documents concerning George Oppen Box 4, Folder 1 George Oppen's passport Box 4, Folder 2 Mary Oppen's passport Box 4, Folder 3 George Oppen's birth certificate Box 4, Folder 4 Materials concerning George Oppen - Awards Box 4, Folder 5 Materials concerning George Oppen - Decree changing name Box 4, Folder 6 Materials concerning George Oppen - Social security cards Box 4, Folder 7 Materials concerning George Oppen - Draft registration certificate Box 4, Folder 8 Materials concerning George Oppen - Non-commissioned Officers' School material Box 4, Folder 9 Materials concerning George Oppen - US Army Separation Qualification Record Box 4, Folder 10 Materials concerning George Oppen - Enlisted Record and Report of Separation General note Honorable discharge Box 4, Folder 11 Materials concerning George Oppen - Veteran affairs material Box 4, Folder 12 Materials concerning George Oppen - Death certificate Box 4, Folder 13 Materials concerning George Oppen - NEA Senior Fellowship announcement Box 4, Folder 14 Materials concerning George Oppen - George Oppen on Libby [his sister] Box 4, Folder 15 Materials concerning George Oppen - George Oppen, "A Narrative" [poem] General note Academy of American Poets, reading program Documents concerning George and Mary Oppen Box 4, Folder 16 Materials concerning George and Mary Oppen - George and Mary Oppen: a chronology General note By Rachel Blau Duplessis.
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