Patricia Beck Papers, 1936-1986 (bulk 1940-78)
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Jennifer Smar. 2005-09-26
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Patricia Beck Papers
Creation of Patricia Beck Papers
Time of Creation of Patricia Beck Papers
Beck, Patricia, 1924-1978
Biographical History for: Patricia Beck Papers
Biographical Note Patricia Beck was born on April 8, 1924, in "Hell's Kitchen," New York, New York, to Margaret and Fred "Whitey" Beck. Her father, a bookmaker on racing grounds, died in July of 1926 when Pat was two years old. Pat was the third of four children, though an older sister Peggy died at the age of one. Her older sister Vera was in the army and later became a lawyer. Her younger brother Fred was a musician. In the early 1930s the Beck family lived in Great Neck, Long Island, and, in 1933, Pat's mother married Paul Swiderski, a boxer, who Pat called "Pops." From 1934 to 1938 Pat's family spent much of the time living in various locations in Europe, including Spain, England, and France. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the family decided to return to the United States and take up residence again in Great Neck, Long Island, and then Asbury Park, New Jersey. Beck worked at the Allenhurst (New Jersey) Beach Club as a lifeguard and swimming instructor and graduated from Asbury Park High School in 1943. In the fall of 1943 she began attending Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, where she studied writing, art, and psychology. From her sophomore year until his departure from the college, Beck's academic counselor was poet Theodore Roethke. She also studied with W. H. Auden and Allan Seager. In the middle of Beck's first year at Bennington College, her mother died from cancer, two weeks before her divorce from Paul Swiderski would have become final. The death affected Beck greatly and depression forced her to leave school in 1946. From July to August, she resided in the psychiatric unit at Albany Hospital in Albany, New York, and underwent shock therapy for her depression. After her release she spent some time in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, and then went to live in Bennington again. Pages from Patricia Beck's diary, 6-7 May, 1949 On June 28, 1952, Beck married Thomas Maulding, a blind pianist and entertainer. She moved to New York City to live with him but she and Tom often traveled back to Vermont to visit friends. In 1954 Beck and Maulding purchased a home on Pleasant Street in North Bennington, Vermont, which they named "Birdland." Pat and Tom did not have any children but by 1956 Beck became more insistent that they try to conceive. In September of 1958 she discovered that she was pregnant but she miscarried due to Tom's forcing her to have intercourse though her doctor had advised against it. Tom soon left and did not return to live in the home until December of that year. He eventually moved out in 1959 and Beck asked for a divorce in August 1959. Beck remained at Birdland after the divorce and eventually resumed her studies at Bennington College in the early 1960s, studying writing with Bernard Malamud. She continued her writing and painting and eventually two of her short stories, "A Promise in the Wind" and "Come Down to the Willow," were published in the magazine Yankee in 1970. These were the only items that would be published during her lifetime. A volume of short stories entitled, A Gift of Kindling and Other Stories, was compiled and published posthumously by a group of her friends. In 1974 Beck's brother Fred passed away suddenly. He was buried on Beck's property at Birdland. In 1976 Pat's right leg was amputated because of complications from diabetes, with which she had lived for much of her life. After the amputation she was dependent on crutches and a wheelchair in her regular activities but still swam to remain active. In 1977 Pat's other leg was amputated, also due to complications from diabetes. On March 2, 1978 Pat Beck committed suicide by an insulin overdose. Her ashes are buried at Birdland near her brother Fred's grave.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Patricia Beck Papers consist of 9.5 linear ft. and date from 1936 to 1986. Types of materials include diaries, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, art slides, and newspaper clippings. The bulk of the papers dates from 1940 to 1978 and focuses on Beck's writings and her life as it was recorded in her diaries. SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS includes information about Beck's family, pictures of Beck and her family and friends, slides of her artwork, and her extensive group of diaries, dating from 1938 when she was 14 to her death in 1978. Researchers should note that some of the biographical sketches compiled by people other than Beck in the "Biographical and family information" folder contain some inaccurate information. The diaries are arranged chronologically though not all of the diaries are of the same nature. The Daily Reminder books and other one-year daily diaries usually contain brief recordings of a day's events and, except for the very early diaries, pictograms that illustrate her activities. The composition books and red and black bound journals contain longer narratives for fewer dates. The diaries contain a wealth of information including the movies she saw, books she read, food she ate, letters she wrote and received, telephone calls she made and received, and her financial information. She recorded her daily moods and occasionally her dreams. Many diaries contain newspaper clippings, letters, notes, and other items that Beck inserted between the pages. Some of these items have been removed to a separate folder located after the corresponding diary. Because Beck based many of her writings on her own life and the Bennington area, some of her notes in SERIES III. WRITINGS also contain biographical information. SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE is divided into two subseries, Personal and Professional. The Personal correspondence from family and friends includes such notables as: Frank Capra, Erich and Henny Fromm, Dorothy and Granville Hicks, Bernard and Ann Malamud, Karl Polanyi, and Allan and Barbara Seager. The correspondence provides further insight into Beck's personal relationships, revealing that those relationships that began on a professional basis often grew to become much more. The correspondence with Bernard Malamud includes only brief discussions of her writing and the correspondence with other notables pertains largely to Beck's friendships with them. Professional correspondence includes rejection letters, with which Beck had once lined her walls, and letters with the magazine Yankee and the Fox Chase Agency. SERIES III. WRITINGS is divided into four subseries, Book manuscripts, Poetry, Short stories, and Notes. Beck wrote two semi-autobiographical novels, Like Gone and Under the Shadow of a War, but neither was published as was none of her poetry. Only a few of her short stories were ever published and these are listed first in Short stories. Her unpublished stories are listed alphabetically. Beck's loose notes for her writings are arranged chronologically and her notebooks are arranged by title or type of notes.
Depression, Mental--Patients--Diaries
lcsh
Suicide victims--Biography--Sources
Women--Mental health--United States--History--20th century--Sources
Women authors, American--Biography--Sources
Women poets, American--Biography--Sources
Women with disabilities--United States--Diaries
lcnaf
Capra, Frank, 1897- --Correspondence
Fromm, Erich, 1900- --Correspondence
Hicks, Granville, 1901- --Correspondence
Malamud, Bernard
Roethke, Theodore, 1908-1963
aat
series
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
Contents
Autograph book, 1937-38
Biographical and family information, 1924-78
Clippings and press releases, 1978, 1984-86
Maulding, Tom: taxes, trial report, funeral program, 1954-59, 1975
Will and estate, 1949, 1977-78
Photographs
Beck alone, 1940, 1976-78, n.d.
Family and friends, 1943-52, n.d.
North Bennington, Vermont, 1968, n.d.
Artwork by Beck
Portrait of Allan Seager, 1948
Diaries
Aug 1948 - Aug 1949
Jul 1955 - Sep 1959
Sep 1959 - Nov 1962
SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE
Personal
Abbott, Harold, 1943-48
Beck, Fred, 1944-47
Beck, Vera J., 1946-76
Bennington College, 1945-46, 1960-61
Capra, Frank, 1974-77, n.d.
DeGray, Julian and Margaret, 1967, 1976
Erdman, Glory, 1945-46
Flory, Mary Delia, 1955-78
Foster, Thomas and Kit, 1953-66
Fromm, Henny and Erich, 1945-57, n.d.
Fruitrich, Chris, 1961-63, n.d.
Fruitrich, Mary, 1961-70, n.d.
Hicks, Dorothy and Granville, 1969-76, n.d.
Holt, George, Jean, Sarah, Charlotte, and Charles, 1943-48, 1968, n.d.
Horen, Peter, 1936-44
June, Willa and Milo (Tom Maulding's parents), 1959, 1975-76
Malamud, Bernard and Ann, 1962-71
Malamud, Paul, 1963-69, n.d.
Mendelson, Edward (about W.H. Auden), 1975
Polanyi, Karl, 1947-54
Seager, Allan and Barbara, 1943-48, n.d.
Seide, Katherine and Mike, 1965-69, n.d.
Stevenson, Lewis, 1964-71
Swiderski, Paul and Amilla, 1970, 1976
Watson, E.H., 1970, n.d.
Yeomans, Barbara, 1976
Miscellaneous, 1943-46, 1960-62, 1969-76, n.d.
Unidentified, 1942-47, 1955, 1962, 1973-76, n.d.
Professional
Rejection letters, 1963-78
Fox Chase Agency, 1972-73
Yankee magazine, 1969-78
SERIES III. WRITINGS
Books
Like Gone , n.d.
Notes
Typescript
Under the Shadow of a War : typescript, n.d.
Poetry
Written by Beck, 1944-45, circa 1970, n.d.
Collected poems and quotations by others, circa 1946, n.d.
Short stories
Published
"A Promise in the Wind," Yankee , Mar 1970
"Come Down to the Willow," Yankee , Jun 1970
A Gift of Kindling and Other Stories (1978): published volume, miscellaneous
Unpublished
"Age of Reason" (n.d.)
"Allenhurst" (circa 1940)
"Balcony Scene" (1961)
"The Beautiful Indian and the Ribbon on Moonlight" (1961)
"A Bed for Mr. John" (1959)
"Black Ace" (1950)
"The Breeze from Valldemosa" (1962)
"The Bronze Eagle" (1961)
"The Bus" (circa 1940)
"Buy Yourself Something Pretty" (1962)
"A Cake for Supper" (1951)
"The Clocks" (n.d.)
"Cold Enough" (1968)
"Coffee at Al's" (circa 1964)
"The Cupid in the Garden" (1963)
"The Donkey's Necklace" (circa 1950)
"Echoes of a Young Musician" (1963)
"Erin Go Bragh" (1964, 1977)
"The Fair" (n.d.)
"Four Lemons" (n.d.)
"Fresh Starched Curtains" (1951)
"Fringed Genetian" (1964)
"Fringes of Knowing" (n.d.)
"Fun Fair" (1951)
"A Gaggle of Lovers" (1965)
"A Gift of Kindling" (1962) [originally titled "Poor Sir Guilbert"]
"Goodbye Uncle George" (circa 1950)
"The Green Heart" (1962)
"Howie Died Last Week" (1952)
"Ich Liebe Dich" (1962)
"Imitation of Scheherazade" (1961)
"In Other Words, The Good Book" (1962)
"In the Distance, Tom Toms" (1962)
"Indifference" (n.d.)
"Invasion" (1972)
"A Joyous Sound" (1962)
"King Fisher" (1945)
"Kate O'Reilly, C'est Moi" (1976)
"Madame Midnight Goes to the Ball" (1962)
"The Man Who Ran Away from the Circus" (1978)
"The Maze" (1962)
"The Meaning of the Word" (1962)
"The Mole" (1951)
"The Muskrat" (1970)
"Mute the Trumpet" (1962)
"My Father and Aristotle" (1951)
"N.M.S." (n.d.)
"The Need for Nightingales" (circa 1964)
"Night School" (1962)
"Of Fireballs, and Fear from the Dark Border" (1964)
"The Omen of the Three Cardinals" (1961)
"One of the Green Mountain Boys" (1970)
"Overture to the Blues" (1962)
"Polonaise" (1961)
"Poor Sir Guilbert" (1962) [published as "A Gift of Kindling"]
"Purple Finches Come to Pleasant St." (1963)
"A Relative Performance" (1965)
"The Ring" (1951)
"Roots of Memory" (1951)
"The Saga of 'Alie-Cat,' a Letter Writer" (1963)
"A Sin of Blood" (1961)
"Sinbad: A Wish to Grow On" (1962)
"Snow Ghosts" (n.d.)
"So Many Ports" (1962)
"Something of a Stranger" (1962)
"Soon We Expect the Cardinal" (1965)
"The Sound of the Wind in the Trees" (n.d)
"Space" (1962) [also called "Empty Space"]
"The Standard of Gold" (circa 1965)
"The Star Gazer" (1970)
"Still Life, Opus 132" (1962)
"Storm Outside" (1946)
"A Streak of Blue" (1962)
"The Sunken Tree" (1961)
"The Survivor" (1961)
"Take It as a Gag" (1963)
"Ten Minute Wait" (n.d.)
"That Certain Glow" (1977)
"There Was This Horseplayer" (1962)
"There Will the River Whispering Run" (1962)
"There's Something Up Ahead" (1969)
"Three Flights Up to Davy Jones's Locker" (1941)
"Two Weeks in Silver City" (1963)
"Velvet Dust" (1970)
"The Violets are Here Dear" (1965)
"Wake to a Dream" (1963)
"The Waste-land, or Tonight at 8:30 on Channel 40" (1963)
"White Bird" (circa 1945)
"The Wind" (1951)
"Yankee Ingenuity" (1967)
"Yellow on Black" (1963, 1965) [originally titled, "As a Decrepit Father Takes Delight"]
Unnamed stories, n.d.
Late 1930s-1946
Notebooks
Autobiographical: 1968-77; 1974-76
"Books and My Favorite Poems," 1938-43
Reading journal, circa 1940-1967
"A Trip Abroads [sic]," notes and stories about European travels, n.d.
OVERSIZE MATERIALS
Biographical materials
Magazine clipping with images: "Kicking the Sky" by Egons Spuris; "The Drum Major" by Alfred Eisenstaedt; and "Motherless Chinese Baby After Air Raid; Shanghai, 1937" by H.S. ("Newsreel") Wong
Article, "Faculty Literati of 1940s Recalled," Quadrille (Bennington College), Apr 1984
Article, "The Report of the Round Table," by Russell W. Davenport, n.d.
Writings
"Have a Very Happy Christmas" poster, n.d.
Literary Acquaintance Test: Current literature, n.d.