James A. Michener Correspondence Collection ARC2006.10 Finding aid prepared by Jacqui Bowen

This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit December 08, 2014 Describing Archives: A Content Standard

James A. Michener Art Museum Archives July, 2013 http://www.MichenerArtMuseum.org 138 South Pine Street Doylestown, PA, 18901 215-340-9800 James A. Michener Correspondence Collection ARC2006.10

Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Biographical/Historical note...... 4 Scope and Contents note...... 5 Arrangement note...... 5 Administrative Information ...... 5 Controlled Access Headings...... 6 Collection Inventory...... 7

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Summary Information

Repository James A. Michener Art Museum Archives

Creator - Arranger Michener, James A.

Title James A. Michener Correspondence Collection

Date 1958-1988

Extent 1.0 Linear feet

Language English

Abstract James A. Michener was a well known author and art enthusiast throughout his life. This collection contains correspondence from James A. Michener to Lester Trauch, Ernestine Harman, Mrs. Michael Greenebaum (Mrs. Bertha Wadt), and Lucille M. Trench, in addition to a yearbook, and election ephemera.

Preferred Citation note [Title of item], [date of item if known], [creator if known], James A. Michener Correspondence Collection, James A. Michener Art Museum Archives.

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Biographical/Historical note

James A. Michener was born in 1907 in New York City. Michener claimed that his birth date and biological parents were unknown. He believed that he was raised by a Quaker adoptive mother in Doylestown. After graduating from Doylestown High School in 1925, Michener attended Swarthmore College and graduated with the highest honors. Following graduation, he traveled and studied throughout Europe for two years and then settled in several teacher positions in the following years. He attended Colorado State Teachers College and earned his Master’s degree. He married his first wife, Patti Koon, in 1935 and went on to teach for one year at Harvard University. Michener was called to active duty for World War II and traveled throughout the South Pacific with the United States Navy. In 1962, Michener unsuccessfully ran as a Democratic candidate for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. But later he served at the Secretary for the 1967-1968 Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. Michener’s writing began during World War II while serving in South Pacific. Not long after, he wrote The Tales of the South Pacific and it was published in 1947. This book later became the basis for the Broadway and film musical South Pacific. Tales of the South Pacific won a Pulitzer Prize in 1948. His novel Hawaii was published in 1959, sold immediately, and was based on his extensive research from living several years on the islands. Most, if not all, of his subsequent novels were based on detailed historical, cultural, and geological research conducted during his travels, resulting in over four dozen historical novels. During his lifetime, Michener sold an estimated 75 million copies of his fiction and non- fiction books worldwide. Michener developed into a very wealthy man, but gave away a great deal of his money. His third and final wife, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa Michener directed her husband’s donations which totaled more than $100 million. Among the beneficiaries were the University of Texas, the Iowa Writers Workshop, and Swarthmore College. He supported many different groups, one being NASA. From 1979 to 1983, he was a member of the Advisory Council to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Other positions included appointments as cultural ambassador to various countries and volunteering with the International Broadcasting Board. Due to his philanthropic service, Michener was awarded many medals, plaques, honorary degrees, and other memorabilia. He was an avid collector of Japanese prints, as well as souvenirs from all over the world. In connection with his books and articles, he visited most of the countries in the world, staying long enough to become familiar with the customs and the people. In October of 1997, Michener ended his dialysis treatment and died of kidney failure at the age of 90. He is buried in Austin, Texas and is honored by a monument at the Texas State Cemetery. W. Lester Trauch was a boyhood friend and fellow 1925 classmate of James A. Michener, and associate editor for The Daily Intelligencer, Doylestown, PA. Bertha Greenebaum Wadt (nee Heimerdinger) grew up in Melrose Park, Pa, raised her family in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC. Bertha was an active member of the League of Women Voters and had a life-long interest in politics, supporting many Democratic candidates for office over the years. In 1931,

- Page 4 - James A. Michener Correspondence Collection ARC2006.10 she married Michael Greenebaum, who died in 1980. Following Greenebaum’s death, Bertha moved to Pennswood Village, Newtown, PA where she lived for 27 years. In 1988 she married Bill Wadt, who died in 2000. Lucille M. Trench, Bucks County Commissioner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Michener http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/mic0bio-1

Scope and Contents note

This collection contains correspondence from James A. Michener to Lester Trauch, Ernestine Harman, Mrs. Michael Greenebaum (Mrs. Bertha Wadt), and Lucille M. Trench. Additionally, this collection contains Michener's Doylestown High School yearbook, a photograph, and election ephemera.

Arrangement note

Arrangement of the collection 1 ref1 2 ref2 3 ref3 4 ref4

Administrative Information

Publication Information James A. Michener Art Museum Archives July, 2013

Conditions Governing Access note Collection is open to researchers at the James A. Michener Art Museum Archives. Advance appointments are required for the use of archival materials.

- Page 5 - James A. Michener Correspondence Collection ARC2006.10 Conditions Governing Use note Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the James A. Michener Art Museum Archives assumes no responsibility. Permission to publish must be obtained from the Director of the Archives at the James A. Michener Art Museum Archives.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note Collection, ARC2006.10, gifted to the James A. Michener Art Museum Archives by the Estate of Lester Trauch; Mrs. Bertha Wadt; Robert L.B. Harman; Gina Trench Holub in the 1990s.

Processing Information note This collection was processed by P. Sergey on September 29, 2010.

Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

• Correspondences • Ephemera • Photographs • Yearbook

Personal Name(s)

• Greenebaum Wadt , Bertha • Trauch, Lester

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Collection Inventory

Box

1 Correspondences, 1958-1988

1 Doylestown High School yearbook, 1958-1988

1 Election ephemera, 1958-1988

1 Photograph, 1958-1988

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