Identity elements
referentie code
Name and location of repository
Beschrijvingsniveau
Titel
Datum(s)
- 1933-1993 (Vervaardig)
Omvang
0.84 linear feet
Naam van de archiefvormer
Biografie
Harry Sinclair Lewis, known to his friends as “Red,” was a prolific American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Main Street, published in 1920, is Lewis’ best known work.
Born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota on February 7, 1885, to Edwin and Emma Lewis, Lewis had two older brothers, Fred and Claude.
At Yale University where Lewis received a degree from in 1908, Lewis published in the Yale Literary Magazine, the Courant, and the Record. This began a long career of writing novels, plays, and short stories.
Lewis turned down the Pulitzer Prize in literature in 1926, but accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930.
Lewis was married twice: Grace from 1914 to 1925. They had a son, Wells, who was born in 1917. In 1944, Wells died in combat in France during World War II.
In 1928, Lewis married Dorothy Thompson, a well-known journalist. They had one son, Michael, who was born in 1930. They divorced in 1942. Lewis never remarried.
Lewis died in Rome, Italy on January 10, 1951. His cremated remains were interred in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.
Naam van de archiefvormer
Biografie
Hubert Irey Gibson was born in Mason, Illinois, on December 21, 1906, the eldest of seven children.
As a child, Hubert enjoyed writing, dreaming one day to become an author. Not sure that he could make a living solely as an author, he eventually decided to be a lawyer who was a writer. In 1928, Hubert moved to Chicago to attend law school. While in school, he found employment as a law clerk. Unfortunately, as the Great Depression descended upon the country, Hubert found himself with a growing family and no job.
While Hubert’s wife, the former Frances Lauk, found steady work as a stenographer and typist, Hubert was unable to land employment. Frances suggested that Hubert gain skills that were in demand, such as typing and shorthand. He listened – Hubert attended night classes at a business college and soon acquired those skills.
Those newly learned secretarial skills lead Hubert to his job with Sinclair and Lloyd Lewis in the fall of 1933. Chicago Daily News drama critic Lloyd Lewis, who was reported at the time to be writing a play with a famous author, gave Hubert a job as secretary. Hubert then lived temporarily with Sinclair Lewis at the Sherry Hotel in Chicago, preparing draft after draft of The Jayhawker (which was then called “The Skedaddler” or “The Glory Hole”). While transcribing the manuscripts for Sinclair and Lloyd Lewis, Hubert was often called upon to act out many sequences in the play.
After his employment with Sinclair and Lloyd Lewis ended, Hubert was hired by Firestone Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, as personal secretary to Harvey Firestone, Sr., and his son
Harvey Firestone, Jr. He also served with the Firestone chairman John W. Thomas and executive vice-president J. E. Trainer. Hubert eventually became manager of Plant 1 in Akron. In 1954, Hubert became general manager of Firestone’s Guided Missile Division in South Gate, California.
In 1966, Hubert retired to Arkansas. Frances died in 1970, while he passed away on April 16, 1996. They are both buried in Akron, Ohio.
Hubert and Frances married in 1929 and had three children: Doris, Barbara, and David.
Content and structure elements
Bereik en inhoud
In 1933, Lewis collaborated with Lloyd Lewis to write a play revolving around the Civil War called The Jayhawker. Lloyd Lewis was a noted Civil War historian, writing biographies of General William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. In the fall of 1934, the play, which in early drafts collected by Hubert Gibson was called “The Skedaddler” and “The Glory Hole,” was performed in Philadelphia, Washington, and New York.
The Hubert Irey Collection of Sinclair Lewis consists of many drafts of the Sinclair Lewis and Lloyd Lewis collaboration The Jayhawker, as well as correspondence and news clippings, almost all dated in 1933. Most notable are the drafts of The Jayhawker, showing the evolution of the play from an idea to a finished script.
There is a small but significant collection of material from Hubert Gibson himself, including letters, photographs, and news clippings, dating from the 1930s to the 1990s. Highlights of the material include Gibson’s remarks about his time working on The Jayhawker, as well as his letter of recommendation from Sinclair Lewis.
Series 1: The Jayhawker
Subseries 1: Drafts
Arranged in chronological order, the drafts tell the story about how The Jayhawker evolved from an idea to a play. Most of the material is typewritten with varying degrees of handwritten revisions in pencil or ink. These revisions were in English and in shorthand, either written by Sinclair or Lloyd Lewis, as well as Hubert Gibson.
Especially significant is the final draft of The Jayhawker, then titled “The Glory Hole,” hand inscribed to Hubert:
“For Gib, Who not only typed this, but acted all the parts during his obstetrical ministrations to us in our confinement. Lloyd Lewis Sept. 29, 1933 Sinclair Lewis”
Subseries 2: Miscellaneous
Included here are correspondence, news clippings, and artifacts. Most significant are the letters between Sinclair and Lloyd Lewis, April 1933 to September 1933. Written mostly to Sinclair, Lloyd Lewis discussed the details of the plot of the play, which he was calling “The Skedaddler.” Other details include possible producers of the play, as well as arrangements for a room at Chicago’s Sherry Hotel.
Also included in this subseries is an empty box of paper, paper which was used to write the drafts of The Jayhawker.
Series 2: Hubert Irey Gibson
Correspondence, photographs, and news clippings are included here. Most significant are the letters between Gibson and his daughter, Barbara. These letters, as well as a 1960 news clipping, provides insight into Gibson’s experience as Lewis’ temporary secretary.
Also included in this subseries is a color photocopy of a 1935 letter of recommendation written by Sinclair Lewis for Hubert Gibson.
Ordeningstelsel
Records are located at 27B.4b-c.
Conditions of access and use elements
Voorwaarden voor raadpleging
There are no access restrictions.
Physical access
Technical access
Voorwaarden voor reproductie
Permission to publish, quote, and reproduce must be secured from the copyright holder.
Languages of the material
- Engels
Scripts of the material
Taal en schrift aantekeningen
Toegangen
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Geschiedenis beheer
Directe bron van verwerving
The manuscripts were donated by the children of Hubert and Frances Gibson (Doris, Barbara, and David).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Aanvullingen
Related materials elements
Bestaan en verblifplaats van originelen
Bestaan en verblijfplaats van kopieën
Related archival materials
Lewis' co-author, Lloyd Lewis (1891-1949), has papers at the Newberry Library in Chicago, including material from The Jayhawker at https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/234.
Related descriptions
Notes element
Algemene aantekening
Other Information:
A pilot project was done in 2009 that attempted to bring to life the scripts for The Jayhawker. An audio reading was done as well as interviews with St. Cloud State faculty about Sinclair Lewis.
Additional information may be found at http://media1.stcloudstate.edu/jayhawker/index.html
Algemene aantekening
Other Information:
A pilot project was done in 2009 that attempted to bring to life the scripts for The Jayhawker. An audio reading was done as well as interviews with St. Cloud State faculty about Sinclair Lewis.
Additional information may be found at http://media1.stcloudstate.edu/jayhawker/index.html
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Regels of conventies
Sources used
Aantekeningen van de archivaris
Processed by Tom Steman in December 2007.