Research Catalog

Albert Halper papers

Title
Albert Halper papers, 1909-1984, bulk (1933-1982).
Author
Halper, Albert, 1904-
Supplementary Content
Finding Aid

Details

Additional Authors
  • Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981.
  • Appel, Benjamin, 1907-
  • Aswell, Edward C. (Edward Campbell), 1900-1958.
  • Best, Marshall.
  • Cohen, Elliot.
  • Ehrlich, Leonard, 1905-
  • Epstein, Joseph, 1937-
  • Fante, John, 1909-
  • Lieber, Maxim, 1897-
  • Nowell, Elizabeth.
Description
23 linear feet (28 boxes, 1 charter case file).
Summary
  • Papers consist chiefly of Halper's correspondence, 1919-1984, and literary work, 1928-1982.
  • There is a separate box of correspondence and other papers concerning the two anthologies he edited, This is Chicago (1952) and The Chicago Crime Book (1965-1967).
  • Halper's correspondents in the literary world include Benjamin Appel, Edward Aswell, Leonard Ehrlich, John Fante, Nelson Algren, Elliot Cohen, Marshall Best, Maxim Lieber, Elizabeth Nowell, and Joseph Epstein. In addition, there are single letters of encouragement or recommendation from Sherwood Anderson, H.L. Mencken, Marianne Moore, Lewis Mumford, and Paul Rosenfeld during the years 1928 to 1933.
  • The most extensive series in Halper's papers consists of his writings, both published and unpublished. It includes preliminary notes and outlines, drafts, manuscripts, typescripts, and published copies of his novels, short stories, essays, plays, and screenplays. Published copies consist primarily of magazines containing his shorter works, and press clippings. Included also is a copy of Post War (1942), his privately published volume of drawings.
  • The remainder of the collection consists of publishing records (contracts, royalty statements, releases, and copyright and permission records), personal financial and legal records, desk calendars, 1975-1981, art work by Halper and others, photographs, ephemera and memorabilia, press clippings and writings about Halper and his work. Latter includes a biography, a disseration, journal articles, book reviews, and other items clipped from magazines and newspapers.
Subject
  • Halper, Albert, 1904-
  • American literature > 20th century
  • Working class in literature
  • Jews > United States
  • Chicago (Ill.)
Genre/Form
  • Photographs.
  • Drawings.
Access (note)
  • Restricted access;
Source (note)
  • Halper, Lorna and Thomas
Biography (note)
  • Albert Halper (1904-1984), American author best known for his naturalistic short stories and novels, was born on Chicago's West Side, the fifth child of Jewish-Lithuanian immigrants.
Processing Action (note)
  • Accessioned
  • Cataloging updated
Call Number
MssCol 1294
OCLC
NYPW86-A23
Author
Halper, Albert, 1904-
Title
Albert Halper papers, 1909-1984, bulk (1933-1982).
Restricted Access
Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.
Biography
Albert Halper (1904-1984), American author best known for his naturalistic short stories and novels, was born on Chicago's West Side, the fifth child of Jewish-Lithuanian immigrants. After graduating from high school, Halper worked at a variety of jobs in a mail order house, electrotype foundry, loose-leaf binder factory, wholesale beauty parlor supply house, and the post office. His career as a writer began in 1928, when Marianne Moore accepted an essay and a short story for publication in The Dial magazine. Thus encouraged, Halper moved to New York City. He first came to national attention in 1933 with the publication of Union Square, a novel about the lives of several residents of the neighborhood adjacent to New York's Union Square. The novel's theme of social protest and its focus on working class characters led critics to deem him a proletarian novelist, although the left-wing press chided him for not being sufficiently revolutionary and Halper himself rejected this classification.
The success of Union Square was followed by the publication of a volume of short stories, On the Shore (1934), and four novels, The Foundry (1934), The Chute (1937), Sons of the Fathers (1940), and The Little People (1942), based on his experience of Jewish family life and labor in Chicago. A collection of related short stories, The Golden Watch (1953), drew on the same background. Halper's memoir of the Thirties, Good-Bye, Union Square, was published in 1970. A biography, Albert Halper by John E. Hart, appeared in 1980.
Finding Aids
Collection guide available in repository and on internet.
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Finding Aid
Occupation
Authors.
Added Author
Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981.
Appel, Benjamin, 1907-
Aswell, Edward C. (Edward Campbell), 1900-1958.
Best, Marshall.
Cohen, Elliot.
Ehrlich, Leonard, 1905-
Epstein, Joseph, 1937-
Fante, John, 1909-
Lieber, Maxim, 1897-
Nowell, Elizabeth.
Research Call Number
MssCol 1294
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