John Erskine Papers, 1909-1950
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Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Sarang Gopalakrishnan. 2003-06-24
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Erskine Papers
Creation of Erskine Papers
Time of Creation of Erskine Papers
Erskine, John, 1879-1951
Biographical History for: Erskine Papers
Biographical Note John Erskine, educator, writer and musician, was born in New York on October 5, 1879. He received an A.B. in 1900, an A.M. in 1901, a Ph.D. in 1903 and an LL.D. in 1929 from Columbia University, as well as honorary degrees from Amherst College and the University of Bordeaux. He served during World War I in France, and was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. He served as instructor in English at Amherst before joining the faculty of Columbia University, where he spent most of his life. Erskine is credited with having started the system of General Education at Columbia through his Great Books colloquium. Erskine was also a musician of considerable talent, who performed occasionally at concerts and wrote two opera librettos, and a prolific writer who said that he had written something every day since the age of 16. He was married twice: to Pauline Ives until their divorce in 1945, and later to Helen Worden. Erskine died in 1951 at the age of 71. Erskine's books include the autobiographical works The Memory of Certain Persons (1947), My Life as a Teacher (1948), My Life in Music (1950) and My Life as a Writer (unfinished); as well as several essays, poems and novels, of which the most successful was The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1926).
Scope and Contents of the Collection The papers consist mainly of Erskine's correspondence and a corrected typescript of his autobiography, The Memory of Certain Persons (J.B. Lippincott: New York, 1947). There are also four miscellaneous items: a manuscript poem, class notes, a pamphlet and a newspaper clipping.
Erskine, John, 1879-1951.
lcnaf
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson, 1866-1943.
Meiklejohn, Alexander, 1872-1964.
Nitze, William Albert, 1876-1957.
Whicher, George Frisbie, 1889-1954.
Columbia University--Faculty.
lcsh
series
Series 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1909-1950
Series 1, CORRESPONDENCE, includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence from individuals as well as correspondence about many of those individuals. The series is arranged alphabetically by the individuals' names.
Allis, Frederick - 1 1937 Jun 21
Bianchi, Martha Dickinson. From - 40 letters + 2 postcards; To - 3 letters; Regarding - letters from Dr. Guy Hinsdale, Winnifred Brown, Jane Crowell, Alfred Hampson, Arthur Stanley Pease, Mabel Hill, Malcolm Young, and Curtis Hidden Page, with replies from Erskine. 1933-1947
Bigelow, William P. - 70 + 4 replies; Mrs. Bigelow - 2 + 5 replies 1927-1948
Bishop, Merrill - 4 + 5 replies 1934-1948
Blyth, Charles - 2 1943, 1957
Cobb, Charles - 9 + 2 replies; Cobb, Mary - 1; Cobb, William H. - 2 1909-1948
Cowles, William - 1 1921 Feb 13
Dakin, A. Hazard - 5 + 2 replies; Dakin, Rodney G. - 1 1947
Davis, Pierpont - 3 + 2 replies 1945
Genung, J.F. - 3 + 1 New Year's card; Mrs. Genung - 1; Marsh, Stephen - 1 letter regarding Genung 1910-1928
Hanson, Howard - 1 1935 Mar 26
Hobkins, M.B. - 1 1940 Dec 27
Houghton, Albert B. - 3 1910-1915
Meiklejohn, Alexander - 18 1913-1916
Morrow, Dwight W. - 2 + 2 replies; Morrow, Elizabeth C. - 6 + 3 replies; Allen, David J. - 1 letter regarding Morrow; McKay, A.I. - 1 letter regarding Morrow 1926-1937
Morse, Anson D. - 1 1910 Jan 15
Nitze, William A. - 9 + 9 replies; Mrs. Nitze - 6 1932-1947
Pease, Arthur Stanley - 1 + 1 reply 1927
Powell, Chilton - 10 letters + 5 replies; Article by Powell, "For Better or for Worse, the Puritan vs. the Modern View"; Nash, Dean Philip C. - 1 letter regarding Powell + 1 reply 1925-1927
Rand, Frank Prentice - 1 letter to 1949 Jan 26
Ruckmick, Christian - 1 1950 Apr 19
Scandrett, Richard - 1 1944 Mar 16
Sherman, Stuart P. - 6 + 1 reply; Holton, Genevieve - 2 letters regarding Sherman; Zeitlin, Jacob - 2 letters regarding Sherman + 1 reply 1914-1941
Shoop, Max - 2 + 1 reply 1927
Smith, Frederick P. - 4 + 3 replies 1927-1940
Smith, H. de Forest - 1 1926 May 2
Smith, Harold Ladd - 1 + 1 reply 1950 Apr
Smith, Robert M. - 1 letter to 1948 Dec 27
Spaulding, F.E. - 7 + 7 replies 1920-1949
Sproul, Harold - 11 + 7 replies; "Introduction to English 7" by Harold Sproul; Thomas, Joseph M. - 1 letter regarding Sproul + 1 reply 1925-1927
Stephens, H. Morse - 1 1913 Feb 22
Thompson, F.L. - 3; Mrs. Thompson - 1 + 1 reply 1914-1935
Thompson, Joseph O. - 11 + 4 replies 1935-1948
Walker, Williston - 1 1905 Nov 13
Whicher, George F. - 6 + 3 replies; Whicher, Harriet F. - 1 + 1 reply; Pamphlet, "Shakespeare for America" by George F. Whicher 1923-1948
Woodbridge, F.J.E. - 4 + 1 reply; Plimpton, George A. - 1 letter regarding Woodbridge + 2 replies 1909-1937
Series 2: MISCELLANEOUS, n.d.
Personal class notes n.d.
Pamphlet: "Jane A. Harris," by George Harris and George Harris Jr. n.d.
Ms poem by JE, "Wildwood" 1911
Newspaper clipping regarding memorial service held for (former Amherst president) George D. Olds 1930 Jun 22
Series 3: Typescript of The Memory of Certain Persons, ca. 1946-1947
Corrected typescript, pp. 1-287 ca. 1946-1947
Corrected typescript, pp. 288-653 ca. 1946-1947