University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
URL: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/index.html



Guide to the Janet Marshall Stevenson Papers, 1929-1996


Ax 265





Finding aid prepared by Mary Beth Hepp-Elam

Finding aid encoded by Mary Beth Hepp-Elam, June 2004
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.


Overview of the Collection

 
Repository Name:
 

University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives

1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
URL: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/index.html

 
Collection Number:
 

Ax 265

 
Creator:
 

Stevenson, Janet, 1913-

 
Title:
 

Janet Marshall Stevenson Papers

 
Dates:
 

1929-1996 (inclusive)

 
Quantity:
 

17.75 linear feet
15 containers

 
Languages:
 

Collection materials are in English. 

 
Summary:
 

Author Janet Marshall Stevenson (1913- ) has made contributions as a writer of civil rights, the women's movement and the arts. This collection contains manuscripts, holographs and photographs of her many short stories, articles and books; within this collection are research items and family papers associated with her biography of Robert W. Kenny, an influential liberal that championed the rights of several of the "Hollywood 10" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC).

 

Biographical Note

Janet Marshall Stevenson has been a novelist, playwright, biographer, a teacher, a journalist, and a social activist during her long life. Stevenson has written on civil rights, the women's and the peace movements, and the environment. In the early 1950s she was fired from the University of Southern California for alleged ties with the communist party. In 2003, at the age of 90, Stevenson was still politically active and still writing.

She was born on February 4, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois to John C. and Atlantis McClendon Marshall. Her father was an investment banker. Stevenson earned her bachelor's degree at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania in 1933. She graduated from Yale University with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater in 1937. She resides in Warrenton, Oregon.

Stevenson's merit as a writer was noticed early in her career when she won her first award in 1938- the John Golden Fellowship in playwriting, an award that was shared in the same year with playwright Tennessee Williams. Subsequently, she won the following awards: Friends of American Writers Award for Weep No More (the novel), 1957, and the National Arts of the Theatre Award, for "Weep No More," (the play from which the novel was adapted) 1953; the International Bicentennial Playwriting Prize for "The Third President", 1976; the Preston Jones Fellowship for "Sarah Ann" (later titled "Time out of Mind"), 1983; and the Charles Erskine Scott Wood Retrospective Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Oregon Institute of Literary Arts, 1990.

It may be of interest to some researchers that Stevenson used several pen names: Janet Lewis, Clare Thorne, Janet Holmes, and Jane Marsh. Before her marriage she used her maiden name, Janet Marshall.

Stevenson met her first husband, playwright and screenwriter, Philip Stevenson, while both were working for a summer theatre in Surry, Maine. She was working in costumes and Philip, in publicity. The couple collaborated on several plays, including "Counterattack," which was produced on Broadway in 1944. It was later turned into a successful motion picture of the same name. She and Philip had two sons, Joseph and Edward. They were divorced in 1964.

The author's teaching career began at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, as Lecturer in Theater from 1951 to 1953. She moved on to Grambling College, Grambling, Louisiana as assistant professor of English from 1966 to 1967; and then to Portland State University, Portland, Oregon as Lecturer in 1968. Of particular interest to the researcher will be the papers documenting her subsequent firing from the University of Southern California. Stevenson's contract was not renewed because of her alleged association with communist party members. Her then husband, Philip, was a blacklisted Hollywood writer. The university used a defense of "academic freedom" to justify their right not to renew Stevenson's contract. She had refused to sign an "oath of loyalty" (as described by one newspaper columnist) when she was hired, and refused again two years later, arguing that her right of association was an element of academic freedom. She never divulged her contacts and continued to write under her name, Janet Stevenson. Philip Stevenson used the pen name, Lars Lawrence, to publish his novels and screenplays. He died while traveling in the Soviet Union in 1965 at age 69. Stevenson married her second husband, Benson Rotstein, an educator, later that same year.

In 1970, Janet's husband Benson Rotstein's contract was not renewed by the Astoria [Oregon] School Board because of his involvement in the peace movement and his use of controversial articles and books in his psychology classes. He appealed to the American Association of University Professors, and their decision was still pending when he died in a boating accident later in the year.

In 1986, in her mid-70's Stevenson was elected Mayor of Hammond, Oregon, a small town near the mouth of the Columbia, where Lewis and Clarke landed when they retreated from the Washington side of the great river.

Content Description

The Janet Stevenson Papers contain many published and unpublished manuscripts. The nonfiction articles include pieces on the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott in the 1950s; civil rights issues; and woman's rights issues. These articles appeared in publications such as: American Heritage and Atlantic Monthly. There are also numerous pieces of correspondence with her publishers and literary agent. A journal/letter that was written to friends and recounts her six-month sea odyssey became the subject of her critically acclaimed novel, Woman Aboard. Galley proofs from her published works are in this collection, and research documents for several biographies including: African American opera singer Marion Anderson, actress and native of England Frances Anne Kemble, naturalist and bird artist John James Audubon; and Robert W. Kenny, California State Senator and state Attorney General and defense attorney for some of the "Hollywood 10."

Important in the Correspondence Series is information concerning the dismissal of Stevenson from the faculty of the University of Southern California in 1952, for alleged connections with the communist party. Also included are letters from her New York City literary agent, Berthold Fles, and many of her publishers. She had a long professional relationship with many of them. There are also personal letters to her mother, Mrs. John Marshall, and her ex-husband, Philip Stevenson and their two sons, that describe Stevenson's world tour in 1961. These letters include details of May Day in Moscow at Red Square.

The Literary Manuscripts Series is comprised of book-length manuscripts, plays, short stories, radio scripts, teleplays, screenplays, speeches, political literary criticism, articles, and essays. This series also includes any research material related to the manuscripts. For example, in 1980 the book The Undiminished Man was published. This biography is about the political life of California attorney, state senator and attorney general Robert W. Kenny. He was an influential liberal that championed the rights of several of the "Hollywood 10" before the Thomas Die Committee from the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). This research includes audio recordings from interviews with Kenny; some of Kenny's personal letters, photographs, and copies of his own unpublished biography; and correspondence with Stevenson. Two additional libraries contain portions of the Kenny collection. They are: the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, and University of California Bancroft Library. Other published works that include interesting research materials are: An American Family, The Ardent Years, Departure, Marian Anderson, and The Montgomery Bus Boycott. It is important to note the manuscript Right Ascension was never published but was excerpted from the published book, Departure. Additional research material for the latter can be found filed with research material for Right Ascension.

Three of Stevenson's produced plays are within this series. "Counter Attack," produced on Broadway in 1944, and later turned into a successful motion picture film. "Declaration," a play well received and reviewed in Southern California and produced by the Actors Lab. "The Third President," a rewrite of "Declaration," and produced by Southern Players, Laboratory Theatre, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1976.

Stevenson wrote under several pen names and seemed to use them when writing outside of her usual topics of biography, non-fiction and historical fiction. The names are: Janet Marshall, Janet Lewis, Clare Thorne, Allison Thorne, Jane(t) Holmes, and Jane Marsh. As near as can be ascertained, Jane Marsh was used exclusively for her poetry.

Series V: Magazines/Articles includes published works from as early as 1933, when Stevenson was an undergraduate at Bryn Mawr College to a political/environmental article published in 1984. It also includes published pieces in Life Story, True Confessions, and The Woman. These are the actual magazines and newsletters, not copies or tear sheets. Some of Stevenson's student work can be viewed in Series VI: College Materials. This includes original plays, a costume project that includes her original watercolor designs, and a piece of interest to the literary researcher titled, "The Order of the Canterbury Tales," complete with a diagram of the order.

As a septuagenarian, Stevenson successfully ran for mayor of Hammond, Oregon and became involved with Home Rule issues and the environmental impact studies concerning the Columbia River estuary near the town. Information pertaining to these items can be found in Series VII. Also included in this series is information on the firing of her second husband, Benson Rotstein, from the Astoria [Oregon] High School faculty.

The Miscellaneous series includes original, mostly undated, unpublished poetry by "Jane Marsh," odd reviews and publicity for some books, and additional information concerning Stevenson's firing from the University of Southern California in 1952. The Audio Recordings series has extensive interviews with Robert W. Kenny and interviews from radio shows when Stevenson and her first husband, Philip Stevenson, were guests.

The final two series contain a libretto with research information on the opera, "Lysistrata," produced in 1984, and a closed manuscript titled, The Last Town in Oregon. This box is closed to the researcher until the event of the author's death.

Arrangement

Collection is organized into the following series: Series I. Correspondence; Series II. Literary Manuscripts; Series III. Tear Sheets; Series IV. Books; Series V. Magazines/Articles; Series VI. College Materials; Series VII. Political and Environmental Activities in Oregon; Series VIII. Miscellaneous; Series IX. Audio Recordings; Series X. Libretto; Series XI. The Last Town in Oregon [CLOSED].

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access 

The collection is open to the public with the exception of Series XI: The Last Town in Oregon which is closed until the author's death.

Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.

Restrictions on Use 

Property rights reside with Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the Manuscripts Librarian in Special Collections & University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation 

[Identification of item], Janet Marshall Stevenson Papers, Ax 265, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.

Related Information

Bibliography 
  • The Ardent Years, A Novel,1960.
  • Bread And Roses: An Informal Collection Of Readings About Women Who Lived What They Believed In Researched and written for Women's History Week Of The Northwest Women's Political Caucus by Janet Stevenson, 1986(?).
  • Departure by Janet Stevenson, c1985.
  • Departure: A Novel by Janet Stevenson, c1985.
  • Marian Anderson: Singing To The World by Janet Stevenson, c1963.
  • Sisters And Brothers, A Novel, 1966.
  • The Undiminished Man: A Political Biography Of Robert Walker Kenny by Janet Stevenson, 1980.
  • Weep No More, A Novel, by Janet Stevenson, 1957.
  • Woman Aboard by Janet Stevenson, 1981.
  • Subjects

    This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

     
    Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993
    Audubon, John James, 1785-1851
    Kemble, Fanny, 1809-1893
    Kenny, Robert Walker, 1901-
    Rotstein, Benson, d. 1970
    Stevenson, Janet, 1913---Archives
    Stevenson, Philip, 1896-1965
    Kenney family
    University of Southern California--Faculty
    Anti-communist movements--California
    Authors, American--20th century
    Civil rights--United States
    College teachers--Dismissal of--California
    Dramatists, American--20th century
    Environmental protection--Columbia River Estuary (Or. and Wash.)
    May Day (Labor holiday)--Russia (Federation)
    May Day (Labor holiday)--Russia (Federation)
    Mayors--Oregon--Hammond
    Political activists--United States
    Publishers and publishing--Correspondence
    Women's rights--United States
    Astoria (Or.)
    Hammond (Or.)
    Oceania--Description and travel
    Galley proofs
    Manuscripts for publication
    Sound recordings
    Tear sheets

    Detailed Description of the Collection

    The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.


     

    Series I:  Correspondence, 1952-1971

     
    Container(s)
    Description
    Dates
     
    box
    1
    folder
    1

    Letters concerning dismissal of Janet Stevenson from faculty of University of Southern California. Also includes clippings and notes
      1952
     
    2
    Berthold Fles, agent
      1955-1956
     
    3
    Millen Brand, Crown publishers
      1964-1966
     
    4
    Helen K. Taylor, Viking Press
      1956/1965
     
    5
    Mrs. John Marshall, Hubbard Woods, Illinois
      1961
     
    Letters from Janet Stevenson describing her world tour in 1961. Includes attendance at World Council of Peace, New Delhi, India, March 1961.
     
    6
    Childcraft, Field Enterprise Educational Corp. (Charles M. Block)
      March 1961-May 1961
     
    4 letters
     

    Scott, Foresman and Company
      March 1961-May 1961
     
    2 letters
     

    Philip Stevenson, correspondence to her ex-husband and her two sons during her trip to Europe, Asia and the U.S.S.R.
      March 1961-May 1961
     
    12 letters, 6 postcards
     
    7
    American Heritage
      1966-1967
     
    Concerning article on Frances Kemble titled "Butler vs. Butler" and later "A Woman's Place"
       
    Three versions of article on Frances Kemble
     
       
    Galley proof of article on Frances Kemble
     
       
    Source material for article on Frances Kemble
     
       
    Carbon copy of article on the Grimke sisters
     
       
    Correspondence from American Heritage Publishing Co. Inc.
      December 6, 1966
     
    box
    1
    folder
    8

    Letters sent
      1964-1969
     
    22 letters
     
    9
    Letters received
      undated
       
    American Heritage
     
     
    6 letters
       
    Crowell-Collier Press
     
     
    4 letters
       
    Fles, Barthold, Ms. Stevenson's literary agent
     
     
    5 letters
       
    Morris, Robert S.
     
     
    box
    1
    folder
    10

    Baskin, Jack
      undated
     
    18 letters
     
    11
    Crown Publishers
      undated
     
    21 letters
     
    12
    Incoming: Professional
      1966-1969
       
    Atlantic Monthly
      1969
     
    3 letters
       
    Crown Publishers
      1966-1969
     
    6 letters
       
    Viking
      1966
     
    3 letters
     
    box
    1
    folder
    13

    Incoming: Personal
      1966-1969
       
    Allen, James Egbert
      1966
     
    1 letter
       
    Bugbee, Lucy Mallary
      undated
     
    1 letter
       
    Boyd, Eugene Jr.
      undated
     
    1 letter
       
    Clemens, Cyril
      1966
     
    1 letter
       
    Gotlieb, Howard B.
      1966
     
    1 letter
       
    Holden, Edith
      1966
     
    1 letter
       
    Larkin, Margaret
      1966
     
    1 letter
       
    Lynd, Helen
      1966
     
    1 letter
       
    Osborne, J. Paul
      1967
     
    1 letter
       
    Peterson, Ellen C.
      undated
     
    1 letter
       
    Summers, Oliver R.
      1969
     
    1 letter
       
    Unidentified
      undated
     
    5 letters
     
    box
    1
    folder
    14

    Baskin, Jack
      1966-1967
     
    7 letters
     
    15
    Dyson, Freeman, of The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J.
      undated
     
    16
    Michelson, Norris
      1969
     
    6 letters
     
    17
    Outgoing
      1966-1970
     
    22 letters
     
    18
    Outgoing
      1966-1971
     
    74 letters
     
    19
    Incoming
      1964-1971
     
    8 letters
       
    American Heritage Publishing
      1971
     
    3 letters
       
    Crowell-Collier Press
      1969
     
    1 letter
       
    McCall's
      1968
     
    1 letter
       
    C. Sumner Stone
      1967
     
    1 letter
       
    Viking Press
      1968
     
    1 letter
       
    Powers, Robert
      1969
     
    1 letter
       
    Agreement with Viking Press for Weep No More
      undated
     
    box
    1
    folder
    20

    Incoming: Fles, Barthold
      1964-1970
     
    88 letters
    Including his sympathy concerning the death of Benson Rotstein, Stevenson's second husband.
     
    21
    Incoming: Regnery, Riley and Lee
      1969-1970
     
    7 letters

     

    Series II :  Literary Manuscripts, 1929-1985

     
    Container(s)
    Description
    Dates
       
    Book-Length Manuscripts
      1945-1996
       
    An American Family
      1962-1966
     
    box
    1
    folder
    22

    First draft, part one, (written) carbon with author's revisions, 118 p. Fragmented revisions, carbon, 12 p.
      August 1, 1962
     
    23
    First draft and research
      undated
     
    Also contains research notes in an expanding file with code to pockets and includes transcripts of letters, original pamphlets, genealogies, and outlines.
     
    24
    Microfiche, Grimke family research
      undated
     
    2 1
    Outline, and synopses of revisions
     
     
    2
    Second draft, original, as submitted to publisher (Viking)
      1962
     
    3
    Carbon of second draft
     
     
    4
    Carbon of third version
      January 1965
     
    5
    Carbon, part one, approximately 80 leaves not in order
      undated
     
    6
    Research notes on cards [1 of 2]
     
     
    7
    Research notes on cards [2 of 2]
     
       
    The Ardent Years, Viking
      1965
     
    8
    Speeches on book
     
     
    9
    Readers' letters
     
     
    10
    Reviews and notices
     
     
    11
    Research materials on cards
     
     
    12
    Microfiche
     
     
    13
    Printer's copy (pp. 1-180) [1 of 3]
     
     
    14
    Printer's copy (pp. 181-379) [2 of 3]
     
     
    15
    Printer's copy (pp. 380-622) [3 of 3]
     
       
    Be My Love
      1960
     
    16
    Corrected and revised manuscript. Outline
     
     
    17
    Screenplay basis for novel "With This Ring"
     
     
    18
    Research notes, correspondence
     
       
    Brothers and Sisters, Viking (no manuscript)
      1966
     
    19
    Notes
     
     
    20
    Reviews
     
       
    Days Without Time
      undated
     
    21
    Pp. 1-195 [1 of 2]
     
     
    22
    Pp. 196-256 [2 of 2]
     
       
    Denmark Vesey
      1970
     
    23
    Typed draft, insert, 97 pp.
     
     
    24
    Carbon with notes and revisions [1 of 2]
     
     
    25
    Carbon with notes and revisions [2 of 2]
     
       
    Departure, Blue Heron
      1985
     
    3 1
    Copy edited, original manuscript [1 of 3]
      1984
     
    2
    Copy edited, original manuscript [2 of 3]
      1984
     
    3
    Copy edited, original manuscript [3 of 3]
      1984
     
    4
    Research material, navigational maps and ship blueprints.
     
     
    5
    Research material, chronology with notes on bearings.
     
     
    6
    Research material, women navigators, medical information, and notes on story.
     
     
    7
    Research material, information on celestial navigation from Bowditch.
     
     
    8
    Research material, ships of the period
     
     
    9
    Research material, correspondence
     
     
    10
    Research material on note cards
     
     
    11
    Revised manuscript [1 of 7]
      undated
     
    12
    Revised manuscript [2 of 7]
      undated
     
    13
    Revised manuscript [3 of 7]
      undated
     
    14
    Revised manuscript [4 of 7]
      undated
     
    15
    Revised manuscript [5 of 7]
      undated
     
    16
    Revised manuscript [6 of 7]
      undated
     
    17
    Revised manuscript [7 of 7]
      undated
     
    18
    Revised manuscript, (pp. 1?-289) [1 of 2]
      1983
     
    19
    Revised manuscript, (pp. 290-368) [2 of 2]
      1983
     
    20
    Revised manuscript [1 of 4]
      June 1982
     
    21
    Revised manuscript [2 of 4]
      June 1982
     
    22
    Revised manuscript [3 of 4]
      June 1982
     
    23
    Revised manuscript [4 of 4]
      June 1982
     
    24
    Revised manuscript [1 of 4]
      December 1980
     
    25
    Revised manuscript [2 of 4]
      December 1980
     
    26
    Revised manuscript [3 of 4]
      December 1980
     
    27
    Revised manuscript [4 of 4]
      December 1980
     
    28
    Photocopy of revised manuscript [1 of 4]
      December 1980
     
    29
    Photocopy of revised manuscript [2 of 4]
      December 1980
     
    30
    Photocopy of revised manuscript [3 of 4]
      December 1980
     
    31
    Photocopy of revised manuscript [4 of 4]
      December 1980
       
    Doctor Harriet
      1993
     
    4 1
    Typescript with outline (pp. 1-180) [1 of 2]
     
     
    2
    Typescript (pp. 181-201) [2 of 2]
     
       
    Do Not Forgive
      1968-1971
     
    3
    Original version
      1968
     
    4
    Correspondence with Knox Burger, New York, N.Y.
      1971
     
    5
    Typescript with revisions (pp.1-189) [1 of 2]
     
     
    6
    Typescript with revisions (pp.190-339) and 15 pg. Appendix. [2 of 2]
     
       
    Down By the Riverside
      1996
     
    7
    Original typescript (pp. 1-185) [1 of 2]
     
     
    8
    Original typescript (pp. 186-250) [2 of 2]
     
       
    (First Book of) Women's Rights
      Spring 1972
     
    9
    First draft; original; inserts and holograph revisions, 87 pp. Chronology 1 pg.
     
     

    Final draft, carbon, minor holograph revisions, 63 pp. Later published as Women's Rights, juvenile history, Franklin Watts
      1972
     
    10
    Typed draft, holograph revisions, 70 pp.
      March 1971
       
    Let Me Help, Dear
      undated
     
    11
    Final draft, carbon, 115 pp.
     
       
    Marion Anderson
      1962
     
    12
    Original typed copy (typed from rough draft), 190 leaves
     
       
    Notes
     
       
    Correspondence: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., Francis S. Nipp
     
     
    7 letters
       
    Correspondence: Barthold Fles Literary Agency
     
     
    1 letter
       
    Correspondence: Gerald Goode
     
     
    2 letters
       
    Correspondence: Mrs. Dorothy Porter
     
     
    1 letter
       
    Correspondence: unidentified
     
     
    2 letters
       
    Contract with Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
      September 15, 1962
     
    box
    4
    folder
    13

    Carbon with author's revisions, 195 leaves
     
       
    The Montgomery Bus Boycott: December 1955: American Blacks Demand an End to Segregation, Franklin Watts
      1971
     
    14
    First draft, 72 pp., holograph notes, 4 pp.
     
     
    15