©The University of Tennessee Special Collections Library

Linear feet: This collection occupies 6.25 linear feet.

Abstract: Series I of this collection contain various writings of Agee, published and unpublished. Series II relates to David McDowell's career in the publishing industry and his connection to Agee and Agee’s work.

Administrative Information

Statement of Provenance: These papers were purchased with funds from the Lindsay Young Endowment.

Copyright statement: Copyright © 2001. The University of Tennessee Libraries. All Rights Reserved. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute these materials for educational, research, and not-for-profit purposes, without fee and without a signed licensing agreement, is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph appear in all copies, modifications, and distributions. For commercial license to use contact, University of Tennessee Libraries, Office of the Dean, Permissions, 1015 Volunteer Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37996-1000.

Biographical Note/Information: James Rufus Agee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to Hugh and Laura Agee on November 27, 1909. His father died in an automobile accident in 1916. Two years later, he and his mother moved to Sewanee, TN. Here, Agee attended St. Andrew’s School, run by Episcopal monks. From there, he went to Phillips Exeter Academy and then to Harvard University. A parody written for The Harvard Advocate contributed to Agee’s employment at Fortune Magazine. His first book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, grew out of an article for Fortune. Agee next worked as a book and film review for Time, and then as a script-writer for television and movies. Among the more famous are The African Queen (1951) and The Night of the Hunter (1955). At the time of his death in May 1955, Agee had been married three times and was the father of four children.

Agee left behind his incomplete A Death in the Family, an unfinished novel on the impact of his father’s death. It had been a project of his for nearly twenty years. David McDowell picked up the fragments and chapters, turning them into a complete work. In 1958, Agee won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for the novel.

David McDowell (1918-1985) was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began his career in publishing as a sales manager and publicity director at New Directions Publishing. In 1949, he became an editor at Random House. Eight years later, he and Ivan Obolensky established McDowell, Obolensky, Inc. A Death in the Family was one of their first books. In 1960, McDowell left to join Crown Publishers. He later served at the head of the trust established for Agee’s children. When he died in 1985, McDowell was writing a biography of his long-time friend, James Agee.

Scope and Content Note: The James Agee papers consist of published and unpublished works by Agee. Included are notes, typescripts and drafts of “John Carter” and several poems, an issue of The Harvard Advocate with an early poem, an article from his work at Time, and an article on Agee from the New York Times. Of particular interest are two unpublished chapters of A Death in the Family, as well as three of Agee’s personal journals.

The David McDowell papers focus mainly on his work as an editor and publishers. Boxes 2 and 3 contain correspondence between McDowell and various authors and colleagues. Also included here are the letters written by Father James H. Flye (Agee’s friend and mentor) to McDowell. As a Trustee for the James Agee Trust, McDowell communicated with researchers, as well as Agee’s family. The last box holds personal papers of McDowell, as well as information on St. Andrew’s School and newsclippings on Agee.

Important Note: Patrons who wish to photocopy from the Agee portion of this collection must first obtain written permission from the owners of the copyrights:

The James Agee Trust
c/o the Wylie Agency
250 W. 57th Street, Suite 2114
New York, NY 10107
Phone: (212) 246-0069
Fax: (212) 586-8953
E-mail: Paul.Sprecher@post.harvard.edu

Upon presentation of such written permission from the Trust, photocopying will be allowed to the extent granted in the permission. UT Libraries reserves the right to deny photocopying if the material is too fragile or if in our judgment photocopying will contribute significantly to its deterioration. Patrons should note that permission to photocopy does not grant permission to publish.

LCSH
Agee, James, 1909-1955.
Agee, James, 1909-1955 – A Death in the Family.
Agee, James, 1909-1955 – Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.
Agee, James, 1909-1955 – Manuscripts.
Agee, James, 1909-1955 – Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.
McDowell, David Ulrey, 1918-1985.
Publishers and publishing.

Keywords
James Agee
David McDowell
Fr. James H. Flye
A Death in the Family
Richard Nixon
William Carlos Williams
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
McDowell, Obolensky, Inc.
Walker Evans
St. Andrew’s School

Series/Container List

Series I: James Agee Papers
Subseries A: Published and Unpublished Materials

Box 1A
Folder 1: “As You Came from the Holy Land.” Labeled “CP141-3.” From The Collected Poems of James Agee, ed. Robert Fitzgerald (London: Calder and Boyars, 1972), p. 141.
Folder 2: “Formletter 7G-3; In the Gloaming.” Labeled “CSP102.” From The Collected Short Prose of James Agee, ed. Robert Fitzgerald (London: Calder and Boyars, 1972), p. 102.
Folder 3: John Carter notes.
Folder 4: John Carter typescript and manuscript.
Folder 5: “In Goblin Land,” Oct. 29, 1935, Station KDKA.
Folder 6: The Harvard Advocate 68 (10): June 1932. With photocopy of “Opening of a Long Poem (Maybe),” by James Agee.
Folder 7: “A Love Story” for Film Documents by James Agee (A General Outline).
Folder 8: “Lullaby.”
Folder 9: Miscellaneous poem notes.
Folder 10: Miscellaneous poem notes and typescripts.
Folder 11: Miscellaneous postcards to David McDowell.
Folder 12: “Rapid Transit” and “A Song and Some Words” typescript and manuscript. Labeled as “Song with Words” in Modern American Poetry: A Critical Anthology ed. Louis Untermeyer (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1936).
Folder 13: “Real Estate Poets as Regionalists, Nationalists.” Labeled “CP147.” From The Collected Poems of James Agee, ed. Robert Fitzgerald (London: Calder and Boyars, 1972), p. 147.
Folder 14: Satirical poems (11, probably unpublished).
Folder 15: “Sunday Afternoon: Outskirts of Knoxville, Tenn.”
Folder 16: “Theories of Flight.”
Folder 17: Three spiral notebooks containing notes and diary entries.
Folder 18: Time 56 (6): Aug. 7, 1950.
Folder 19: “Twilight,” a short outline of an original story by Manuel Condo and James Agee prepared for a film in 3-D color, Feb. 22, 1952.
Folder 20: Two unpublished chapters from A Death in the Family.
Folder 21: Untitled 3-page typescript of poem with envelope. Appears as “Theme with Variations” in The Collected Poems of James Agee, ed. Robert Fitzgerald (London: Calder and Boyars, 1972), p.53.
Folder 22: “Well-Articulated Thoughts Fascinate Agee's Friend,”
Sept. 22, 1974, New York Times.

Box 1B
Photocopies of 1A: Folders1-17, 19-22 (18-21).

Box 2
Folder 1: Agee, James and Mia.
Folder 2: Agee researchers, misc. (see also Ashdown, Kramer, Wensberg).
Folder 3: Ashdown, Paul.
Folder 4: Buckley, William F., Jr.
Folder 5: Courlander, Harold.
Folder 6: Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Folder 7: Evans, Walker.
Folder 8: Eyster, Warren.
Folder 9: Flye, Father James H., 1942.
Folder 10: Flye, Father James H., 1943.
Folder 11: Flye, Father James H., 1944.
Folder 12: Flye, Father James H., 1945.
Folder 13: Flye, Father James H., 1946-1947.
Folder 14: Flye, Father James H., 1948-1949.
Folder 15: Flye, Father James H., 1950.
Folder 16: Flye, Father James H., 1951.
Folder 17: Flye, Father James H., 1952.
Folder 18: Flye, Father James H., 1953.
Folder 19: Flye, Father James H., 1954.
Folder 20: Flye, Father James H., 1955.
Folder 21: Flye, Father James H., 1956.
Folder 22: Flye, Father James H., 1957.
Folder 23: Flye, Father James H., 1958.
Folder 24: Flye, Father James H., 1959-1982.
Folder 25: Flye, Father James H., correspondence with others.
Folder 26: Flye, Father James H., letters from McDowell.
Folder 27: Fornacca, John J.
Folder 28: Gunn, The Rev. Julian, O.H.C.
Folder 29: Hall, James B.
Folder 30: Huston, John.
Folder 31: Ingram, Mildred Bowen.
Folder 32: Karr, Earl.
Folder 33: Kenner, Hugh.
Folder 34: Kenyon College.
Folder 35: Kizer, Carolyn.
Folder 36: Kramer, Victor A.
Folder 37: Leonard, Margaret Long.
Folder 38: Lord, James.
Folder 39: Lytle, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew.
Folder 40: Macauley, Robie.
Folder 41: McDonald, Dwight.
Folder 42: McDowell's family.
Folder 43: McDowell, Obolensky, Inc. Contracts, publications, etc.
Folder 44: Madden, David.
Folder 45: Manfred, Fred.
Folder 46: Matthau, Carol.
Folder 47: Mayer, William (director of an operatic production of Agee's A Death in the Family).

Subseries B: Correspondence

Box 3
Folder 1: Nixon, Richard M.
Folder 2: Phelps, Robert.
Folder 3: Puzo, Mario.
Folder 4: Regarding Agee Symposium, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1984.
Folder 5: Regarding Agee Trust.
Folder 6: Regarding Association of Literary Magazines of America (ALMA).
Folder 7: Regarding book reviews.
Folder 8: Regarding Crown Publishers.
Folder 9: Regarding A Death in the Family and other works by Agee.
Folder 10: Regarding Kraus Reprint Corporation project, 1966.
Folder 11: Regarding John Crowe Ransom (with articles, etc.).
Folder 12: Regarding 75th Anniversary Tribute to James Agee, 1984.
Folder 13: Regarding William Carlos Williams Society, Review.
Folder 14: St. Andrew's School (Fr. Franklin Martin, etc.).
Folder 15: Sandbury, Helga.
Folder 16: Simon & Schuster.
Folder 17: Southard, W. P.
Folder 18: Spears, Ross (James Agee Film Project).
Folder 19: Sullivan, Chester.
Folder 20: Taylor, Peter.
Folder 21: Vanderbilt, Gloria.
Folder 22: Warren, Robert Penn.
Folder 23: Weaver, Gordon.
Folder 24: Wensberg, Erik.
Folder 25: West, Anthony.
Folder 26: Whittemore, Reed.
Folder 27: Draft of a letter from McDowell to William Carlos Williams.
Folder 28: Miscellaneous correspondence, 1940-1949.
Folder 29: Miscellaneous correspondence, 1950-1959.
Folder 30: Miscellaneous correspondence, 1960-1969.
Folder 31 Miscellaneous correspondence, 1970-1979.
Folder 32: Miscellaneous correspondence, 1980-1985.
Folder 33: Miscellaneous undated correspondence.
Folder 34: Miscellanceous undated handwritten drafts of correspondence
from McDowell.

Subseries C: Miscellaneous Materials

Box 4
Folder 1: Afro-Asian Writer's Symposium, Phillipines, 1975—Photographs, invitations,
newsclippings, etc.
Folder 2: Agee, James—Newsclippings.
Folder 3: Agee Library—Holdings list of films, etc. (see also St. Andrew's School).
Folder 4: Agee Week, St. Andrew's School, 1972—Photographs.
Folder 5: Bailey, Patricia Ann Morris, “’The Cleansing and Rectification of Language’:
James Agee’s Search for ‘Actuality’ Through Language and Silence in Let Us
Now Praise Famous Men” (thesis).
Folder 6: Biographical information about Andrew Lytle, Walker Percy, and Peter Taylor,
from Southern Writers.
Folder 7: D. U. McDowell Publishing Co. proposal, circa 1961.
Folder 8: Draft of Paul Ashdown's introduction to James Agee: Selected Journalism.
Folder 9: Financial papers.
Folder 10: Forensic Foundation.
Folder 11: Inventory of Whittaker Chambers material.
Folder 12: Journal (Paris, 1946)—Notes on French poetry, grammar, American
civilization, etc.
Folder 13: Kraus Reprint Corporation project.
Folder 14: McDowell, Martha—Travel journal.
Folder 15: Military papers.
Folder 16: National Endowment for the Humanities.
Folder 17: Peace Corps.
Folder 18: St. Andrew's School—Board of Trustees material.
Folder 19: Wilder, Thornton—Note, signed.
Folder 20: Miscellaneous clippings, articles.
Folder 21: Miscellaneous notes, phone numbers, addresses.
Folder 22: Miscellaneous photographs.
Folder 23: Miscellaneous poems, stories.
Folder 24: Miscellaneous publication.