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Theodore Dreiser Papers Ms Theodore Dreiser papers Ms. Coll. 30 Finding aid prepared by Julie A. Reahard and Lee Ann Draud. Last updated on July 14, 2020. University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts 1992 Theodore Dreiser papers Table of Contents Summary Information....................................................................................................................................4 Biography/History..........................................................................................................................................5 Scope and Contents..................................................................................................................................... 12 Administrative Information......................................................................................................................... 16 Controlled Access Headings........................................................................................................................17 Other Finding Aids......................................................................................................................................18 Collection Inventory.................................................................................................................................... 19 Correspondence......................................................................................................................................19 Miscellaneous correspondence.............................................................................................................. 27 Legal matters..........................................................................................................................................27 TD Writings: Books.............................................................................................................................. 30 TD Writings: Essays..............................................................................................................................99 TD Writings: Short stories.................................................................................................................. 101 TD Writings: Poems............................................................................................................................ 102 TD Writings: Plays.............................................................................................................................. 103 TD Writings: Screenplays and radio scripts....................................................................................... 104 TD Writings: Addresses, lectures, interviews.....................................................................................105 TD Writings: Introductions, prefaces..................................................................................................106 Journals edited by TD......................................................................................................................... 106 Notes written and compiled by TD.....................................................................................................108 TD diaries............................................................................................................................................ 114 Biographical material...........................................................................................................................117 Family members...................................................................................................................................119 Memorabilia......................................................................................................................................... 122 - Page 2 - Theodore Dreiser papers Financial records..................................................................................................................................133 Clippings.............................................................................................................................................. 136 Works by others...................................................................................................................................138 Oversize................................................................................................................................................139 Clippings (originals for microfilm)..................................................................................................... 141 Appendices...........................................................................................................................................144 - Page 3 - Theodore Dreiser papers Summary Information Repository University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Creator Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945 Title Theodore Dreiser papers Call number Ms. Coll. 30 Date circa 1890-1965 (bulk dates 1897-1955) Extent 244 linear feet (503 boxes) Language English Abstract Contains 22 series, including correspondence (118 boxes); legal matters (7 boxes); writings (260 boxes), comprising books, essays, short stories, poems, plays, screenplays, radio scripts, addresses, lectures, interviews, introductions, and prefaces; journals edited by Dreiser (6 boxes); notes (9 boxes); diaries (5 boxes); biographical material (1 box); memorabilia (41 boxes), comprising scrapbooks, photographs (many of which are available online), art work, promotional material, postcards, and miscellanea; financial records (5 boxes); clippings (23 boxes); works by others (12 boxes); and oversize materials (2 boxes). Also includes materials regarding various family members: brother Paul Dresser (8 boxes of correspondence, sheet music and lyric sheets, clippings and memorabilia, and two plays written by Dresser); second wife Helen Dreiser (4 boxes of diaries and other writings); and niece Vera Dreiser (2 boxes of correspondence). - Page 4 - Theodore Dreiser papers Cite as: Theodore Dreiser papers, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Biography/History During the Congress on Literature at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, Hamlin Garland expressed America's need for a new kind of literature. Garland called this new literature "veritism" and "local color"—something authentically American rather than derivative of Europe. At the same time, twenty- two-year-old Theodore Dreiser was in Chicago covering the World's Fair as a reporter for the St. Louis Republic. Although Dreiser did not attend the Congress on Literature, he was to play a principal role in the fulfillment of Garland's dream for American literature in the decades that followed. (Herman) Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on 27 August 1871. He was a sickly child, the ninth in a family of ten surviving children (three older boys had died in infancy). Theodore's mother, Sarah Maria Schänäb, of Czech ancestry, was reared in the Mennonite faith on a farm near Dayton, Ohio. His father, John Paul Dreiser, was a German immigrant, who left Mayen in 1844 at the age of twenty-three to avoid conscription. He eventually traveled to America to follow his trade as a weaver, ending up at a mill in Dayton, Ohio, where he met the then seventeen-year-old Sarah. John Paul Dreiser was a devout Catholic, Sarah Schänäb, somewhat Protestant and decidedly pagan in her approach to the world—she was extremely superstitious and romantic. The couple ran off together and married in 1851, Sarah not quite eighteen, John Paul then twenty-nine. Sarah was immediately disowned by her family, militant anti-Catholics. The couple settled first in Fort Wayne, Indiana and then in Terre Haute, where John Paul became quite successful in the woolen business. There were six children in the family in 1867 when the Dreisers moved to Sullivan, Indiana and John Paul borrowed significantly in the hopes of becoming an independent wool manufacturer. These hopes were destroyed in 1869 when his factory burned to the ground. John Paul was injured severely by falling timber as he tried to save his dream. By the time he recovered and moved his family back to Terre Haute, the Dreisers were deep in debt, for John Paul insisted on paying back every dollar that he owed. Discouraged to the point of despair, he abandoned his career and became obsessed with religion and the salvation of his family. When Theodore Dreiser was born in 1871, his family was settled firmly in the depths of poverty. There were eight older siblings: Paul, Marcus Romanus (known as Rome), Mary Frances (Mame), Emma, Theresa, Sylvia, Al, and Claire. Younger brother Ed would follow two years later. Dreiser's father was only sporadically employed. The older children were out of the home, picking up what work they could, - Page 5 - Theodore Dreiser papers mostly getting into trouble. The family had a reputation in Terre Haute for being behind in their bills with wild sons and flirty daughters. Each morning they knelt around the father as he asked for a blessing for the day, and there was a similar blessing each night. Despite these prayers and stern punishments at the hand of John Paul, it was too late. The older boys ran away from home; the older girls were involved in affairs. The Dreiser family was out of control, abetted by Sarah's leniency toward her children. Young Theodore Dreiser grew up in this environment of uncertainty. He often went to bed
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