Collection inventory

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The Harlow O. Waite Papers

An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives

Finding aid created by: Tim Carter
Date: 2016

Revision history:

Biography

Harlow O. Waite (1909-1993) was an English professor at Syracuse University from 1938 to 1972.

Born in Watertown, New York, Waite graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1931 and went on to earn his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1933. Soon after, Waite attended the teachers college at Columbia. Between 1935 and 1937, he held a position at Scarsdale High School and was a registrar and instructor at the Syracuse Collegiate Center in Watertown. In 1937, he moved to Syracuse, New York after being hired as an English professor at Syracuse University. He tried to create an anthology of modern poetry in 1939 with his colleague, A. E. Johnson, but the project ended due to disagreements with the publishing company.

Nearly a decade later, Waite began work on another anthology with Ben Atkinson, a professor at Hobart & William Smith Colleges. This anthology, titled Literature of Our Times, became one of Waite’s major contributions to Syracuse University and was a required text for all freshman students. Published just after the close of World War II, the anthology includes poetry, short stories, excerpts from novels, and essays that explore the “consequences to human society of the release of atomic energy.” Waite spent another ten years revising the anthology. The first edition was published by Henry Holt and Company in 1947, a revised edition was published in 1953, and a second edition several years later in 1958.

Waite taught in the English Department for 34 years. In 1971, he was honored as professor emeritus and then retired one year later.

Scope and Content Note

The Harlow O. Waite Papers consist of materials dating from 1926 to 1958. The collection comprises three series, Anthology and Writing, Correspondence, and Personal Records.

Anthology and Writing includes materials regarding the proposed Johnson-Waite anthology, Harlow Waite’s notes on short stories, and an essay he collected on Wuthering Heights. This series also contains materials about Literature of Our Times, which includes notes, drafts, galleys, and correspondence between his co-editor Ben Atkinson and Henry Holt and Company, as well as black and white photographs of Nagasaki, Japan after World War II.

The bulk of the papers in Correspondence are permission requests for Literature of Our Times and letters back and forth between Waite and Atkinson.

Lastly, Personal Records includes Waite's transcripts and applications for teaching positions, along with printed material related to Waite moving to various apartments in Syracuse, New York.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The Archives holds a clippings file on Harlow O. Waite.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Waite, Harlow O.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.

Associated Titles

Literature of Our Times.

Subjects

Anthologies.
Book editors.
College teachers.
Higher education.

Types of Material

Galley proofs.
Photographs.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Harlow O. Waite Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

The Library's Manuscript Department transferred the Harlow O. Waite Papers to the Archives in 1966.

Processing Information

Materials were rehoused in acid-free folders.

Arrangement

Folders are arranged alphabetically and chronologically within series.

Table of Contents

Anthology and Writing

Personal Materials

Correspondence

Inventory