Paul Smith (#219)

An Inventory of His Personal Papers
1967-1996
At the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
List of Series
Series Description
 

Administrative Information

Abstract
Papers 1967-1996
Hemingway researcher, author. Founding president, Ernest Hemingway Society (1980-82). Correspondence, books, research materials, and manuscripts by Smith as well as others.

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the deed of gift signed December 1996, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States. Documents in this collection that were prepared by officials of the United States as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Users of these materials are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they wish to publish.

Copyright
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.  Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction.  One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.”  If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.  This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.  The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form.  Direct your questions concerning copyright to the reference staff.

Provenance
Received from Virginia Hay Smith of Boston, MA in August 1996 (Acc. 1996-047).

Extent
About 900 items (2 linear feet, 2 linear inches ; 2.5 cubic feet)

Withdrawn Items
Selected folders may contain withdrawal sheets where documents, in accordance with the donor's deed of gift, were removed from the collection. These include documents which may be used to injure or harass any living person.  All withdrawn documents have been placed under seal and upon request the Kennedy Library will review any material which has been closed for a period of not less than 2 years for the purpose of opening items which no longer require restrictions. Researchers should consult the reference staff to obtain the appropriate form(s).

Date Opened
August 2002

Processed by
Jennifer Miller

Encoded by
James M. Roth

Related Collections
Ernest Hemingway Collection
Hemingway Foundation and Society

Biographical Note
Born in Rochester, NY, Paul Smith (1925-1996) was a renowned Ernest Hemingway scholar. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, Smith graduated from University of Rochester and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He began teaching at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut in 1959. In 1980 Smith founded the Hemingway Society, an international scholarly organization devoted to the study, discussion and dissemination of the life and works of Ernest Hemingway. Smith served as the Society’s first president and remained actively involved in both the Society and the Hemingway Foundation throughout the rest of his life. A prolific writer, he also made regular contributions to the Society’s academic journal, The Hemingway Review . His other publications included The Reader’s Guide to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway , long considered a standard Hemingway text, New Essays on Hemingway’s Short Stories (editor) and Anatomy of Literature (co-author). A life-long scholar, Smith was Professor Emeritus of English at Trinity College at the time of his death in 1996.

Collection Overview
The personal papers of Paul Smith contain personal and academic papers, including notes and research materials, subject files on Hemingway’s short stories and manuscripts, essays written by Smith and others and correspondence. Information about several different academic conferences is also included, along with Smith’s collection of books on Hemingway.

List of Series
Series 1. Research
Series 2. Conferences
Series 3. Correspondence
Series 4. Photographs

Series Description

Series 1. Research, 1980 – 1996.
About 500 items.
Arrangement: by subject.

Copies of Hemingway’s short stories and manuscripts, notes, correspondence, research articles, teaching materials and essays by Smith and others. Note that, in most cases, original folder titles have been retained. The roman numerals may pertain to the order of the short stories in Hemingway’s published works.

Series 2. Conferences, 1990 – 1994.
About 100 items.
Arrangement: by subject.

Items relating to academic conferences attended by Smith included official conference material, correspondence, notes and essays by Smith and others.

Series 3. Correspondence, 1967 – 1995 and undated.
About 300 items.
Arrangement: chronological.

Personal and academic correspondence of Paul Smith. Correspondents include Calros Baker, Mike Reynolds, Susan Beegel, and Donald Junkins.

Series 4. Photographs, 1992.
23 items
Arrangement: by subject.

Photographs of Paul Smith with colleagues and friends. Locations include Ernest Hemingway's childhood home, 600 N. Kenilworth, Oak Park, IL, Hemingway Conference in Pamplona, Spain, and probably Smith's retirement at Trinity College. All photographs were found scattered among folders of correspondence, but do not appear to be affiliated with any one letter. All photographs are color prints.