Table of Contents

Restrictions on Access

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi

Related Materials in This Repository

MSS 099 F17 Kay Boyle letters to Basil Beckett Burwell and unidentified

MSS 103 John Malcolm Brinnin papers

MSS 110 Pagany archive

MSS 131 Kay Boyle papers

MSS 262 Kay Boyle papers relating to the Citizen's Mission to Cambodia

Source

Purchase, December 1992.

Citation

MSS 287, Kay Boyle papers relating to research on Irish women, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Biographical Note

Kay Boyle, born in 1902, is best known for her work and accomplishments as a poet, short story writer, novelist, journalist, teacher, and political activist. One of the prominent American expatriates during the 1920s and 1930s, much of Kay Boyle's work reflects the influences of that literary circle.

Kay Boyle's career as a writer began in 1923, after moving from St. Paul to New York City, with the publishing of her poem, "Morning," in Harold Loeb's art and literary magazine, Broom. Soon after, she married a French exchange student, Richard Brault, and moved to France for a 20 year period. During that time she divorced Brault and, in 1931, married a fellow expatriate, Laurence Vail (previously the husband of Peggy Guggenheim). She published four novels, Plagued by a Nightmare, Year Before Last, Gentlemen, I Address You Privately, and My Next Bride, which reflected her experiences in France. Boyle divorced Vail and, in 1943, married Baron Joseph von Franckenstein. The two were together until his death in 1963.

A prolific short story writer, Boyle won the first of her two O. Henry short story awards in 1935 for the title story of The White Horses of Vienna and Other Stories. Her second O. Henry was awarded in 1941 for "Defeat." She continued to write short stories throughout her life. The last collection, Life Being the Best and Other Stories, was published in 1988. In addition to the O. Henry award she was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1934) and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In 1960 Boyle moved to San Francisco and took a position as an English professor at San Francisco State University. Kay Boyle's later works include the 1967 Autobiography of Emanuel Carnevali and a 1968 revision of Robert McAlmon's memoirs, Being Geniuses Together, 1920-1930, to which Boyle added several supplementary chapters.

Throughout her life, Kay Boyle was politically active. This activism reflected a general belief, fostered by her mother, that privilege demands social responsibility. In the 1950s her activism became reinvigorated as she worked toward furthering integration policies, civil rights, a ban on nuclear weapons, America's withdrawal from Southeast Asia, women's rights, and global peace initiatives.

Kay Boyle died on December 27, 1992 in Mill Valley, California.

Biographical Sources: "Kay Boyle, 90, Writer of Novels and Stories, Dies." The New York Times. December 29, 1992.

Note: Biographical data is also derived from material contained in the collection.

Scope and Content Note

The Kay Boyle Papers Relating to Research on Irish Women consists of 2.3 linear feet of material. Spanning the dates 1920-1988, with the bulk of material from 1976-1981, the papers include notebooks, letters, books, periodicals, clippings, photographs, drafts, poems, calendars, a reel-to-reel tape, and pamphlets. Three-quarters of the papers relate to research completed by Kay Boyle for a book on Irish women. Kay Boyle was very interested in the struggles which women faced throughout history in their attempts to achieve civil and economic rights. That interest, in addition to curiosity about the Boyle family ancestry in Ireland and concern for a peaceful settlement of troubles in Northern Ireland, brought her to Ireland in 1976 to begin research for a book about the women of Ireland. Series I. consists of material which documents Boyle's trips to Ireland between 1976 and 1977, records her interviews with numerous Irish women, and includes literature she gathered during her research. The book on Irish women, which was to have been published by Doubleday & Company, was never written and the contract for the book was cancelled in 1980. Although Boyle never completed this book, she did draft several chapters for it. These drafts, which are found in Series I.3, indicate that Boyle intended to portray the lives and issues of a wide spectrum of women in Ireland. Kay Boyle interviewed women with extremely divergent political, religious, and social views, as well as different lifestyles. Boyle developed lasting friendships with several of the women, including Bernadette Quinn, Mary Fay, Hilary Boyle, and Mairin de Burca. Brief biographical sketches for these women are included in Series I.1. Boyle's drafts incorporate information gathered from the interviews (Series I.2), her journal notes (Series I.2), letters from women she met (Series I.1), and the clippings and Irish publications which these women sent to her (Series I.6 and I.7). Series I. also includes photographs of Boyle taken during her 1976 trip to Ireland (I.4); a reel-to-reel tape of a program which included Mairin de Burca (I.5); and finally files of clippings and U.S. publications, collected by Kay Boyle during her research on Irish issues. The notebooks, which contain Boyle's journal during her travels to Ireland and her notes from interviews, also include several poems inspired by her experiences in Ireland and notes for some of her other writing projects, including her unpublished research toward a book on German women (See MSS 131 Kay Boyle papers). Series II. consists of material which is unrelated to Boyle's research on Irish women. Letters written to Boyle from her many friends, including noted writers, are found in Series II.1. Notable correspondents include Kenneth Burke (who also sent two of his poems), William Dickey, John Hersey, Denise Levertov, Archibald MacLeish, Arthur Miller, Studs Terkel, Robert Penn Warren, Charles Henri Ford, Hugh Ford, and Jacques Barzun. Among topics discussed in the correspondence are the American Academy of Arts and Letters, to which Boyle had been elected, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, writing projects, and the writers' daily lives. Of historical interest are four letters written by San Francisco activist and attorney Fay Stender, who defended Black Panther leader Huey Newton and sought prison reforms in California. The letters originated from Hong Kong where Stender had fled following an attempt on her life which left her disabled. The letters convey her bitterness and confusion following the assassination attempt by a black militant. Her final letter to Boyle was written on the day Stender committed suicide. Series II.2 "Poetry written by Kay Boyle" includes a notebook of drafts for eight poems. There are from four to seventeen drafts for each poem, each demonstrating Boyle's meticulous attention to detail in her writing and revealing her style in revising her work. The second series also includes drafts of "In Memory of Joseph Franckenstein," a tribute Boyle delivered at the Low-Heywood Thomas School in Connecticut (II.3), where her late husband taught in the 1950s. Several notebooks, containing ideas for stories and poems (II.4), and four calendars bearing Boyle's daily appointments (II.5) complete the second series. Although the bulk of the material in these papers chronicles a relatively brief period of Kay Boyle's life, the material reflects her constant efforts to promote peace, political justice, and the rights of women. The arrangement of material in each series and subseries varies and is described in the series and subseries notes.

Arrangement

• Series I. Material related to research on Irish women, 1974-1986
  • I.1. Letters to Kay Boyle from Irish women, 1974-1986
  • I.2. Notebooks and notes, 1972-1987
  • I.3. Drafts for chapters of a book on Irish women, 1977-1979
  • I.4. Photographs of Kay Boyle in Ireland, 1976
  • I.5. Tape of program with Mairin de Burca, undated
  • I.6. Publications of Irish organizations concerning Irish women and issues, 1920-1984
  • I.7. Clippings from Irish publications, 1975-1980
  • I.8. U.S. publications and clippings related to Irish issues, 1959-1981
• Series II. Letters, manuscripts, and ephemera unrelated to Irish women, 1956-1988
  • II.1. Letters to Kay Boyle, 1969-1988
  • II.2. Poetry written by Kay Boyle, 1960-1985
  • II.3. Speech by Kay Boyle and related material, 1964-1984
  • II.4. Notebooks and notes by Kay Boyle, 1956-1981
  • II.5. Calendars kept by Kay Boyle, 1980-1985

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Selected Search Terms

Personal Names

Boyle, Hilary.

Quinn, Bernadette.

Topical Terms

Feminists--Ireland--Correspondence.

Women--Ireland--History--20th century--Sources.

Geographic Names

Ireland--History--20th century--Sources.

Form/Genre Terms

Correspondence.

Clippings.

Research notes.

Interviews.

Drafts (documents)

Poems.

Pamphlets.

Books.

Photographs.

Sound recordings.

Speeches.

Calendars.

Occupation

Authors.

Poets.