David H. Hirsch papers, 1826-2000

(bulk 1961-1999)

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2015

Collection Overview

Title:	David H. Hirsch papers
Date range:	1826-2000, (bulk 1961-1999)
Creator:	Hirsch, David H.
Extent:	22.0 linear feet
Abstract:	The David H. Hirsch papers (1826-2000; bulk, 1961-1999) include correspondence, essays, manuscripts, translated materials, research and lecture notes, course syllabi, annotated critical material, financial documents, conference proceedings, committee agendas, notebooks, and photographs. These materials relate primarily to his tenure as Professor of English at Brown University. Most of the collection reflects his extensive research and writing in American literature and literary theory, as well as in Holocaust literature and interpretation. A portion of the collection contains the fiction of his son, Joe Hirsch.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	MS.2012.030

Scope & content

Series 1. Correspondence (1960-1999). This series is divided into professional and personal correspondence. The professional correspondence (1961-1999) is to and from publishers, universities, journals, and societies with notable correspondence with George Core, editor of the Sewanee Review (Box 1, folder 15). The personal correspondence (1960-1999) is on personal and professional topics with notable materials to and from Cleanth Brooks, Maynard Mack, James Reston, A.M. Rosenthal, Abraham Sutzkever, Hyatt Waggoner, Elie Wiesel, and George Will.

Series 2. Personal and teaching (1961-2000). This series is divided into six subseries. The Personal subseries (1961-1999) contains curriculum vitae; financial, medical, and family documents; tuition receipts for Hirsch’s son and daughter; photographs; and miscellaneous notes, including telephone memos and scraps of paper. The Teaching subseries (1968-2000) includes Brown University department, faculty, and administrative memos; course proposals; course materials for his classes in English, Judaic Studies and Religious Studies; writings on teaching and education; and awards and committee activities. Notable within this subseries are the materials on the Educational Policy Committee and the formation of the Modern Culture and Media Department at Brown University (Box 3, folder 1) and the Phi Beta Kappa Gauss Award Committee documents (Box 3, folders 11-15). The Conferences (1971-1999) subseries comprises mostly conference proceedings on Holocaust-related topics. Notable among these proceedings is the Holocaust Symposium held at Wroxton College (Box 3, folders 21-25). Materials from the courses taught by Professor Hirsch are arranged numerically by course number within each department. Judaic Studies classes (1983-1999) include Holocaust literature and history; Religious Studies classes (1974-1978) include Old Testament narrative and Joban literature; and English Literature classes (1966-1992) include Literary Criticism and nineteenth-century American literature, especially that of Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville, as well as classes in British and American Romanticism and Musical Comedy.

Series 3. Research and writing (1826-1999; bulk 1961-1999). This is by far the largest series and is subdivided into 18 subseries by field of inquiry. It includes research notes, drafts of essays and longer writings, and finished manuscripts. Early English literature (1968-1985) is a small subseries of research on Colonial and Puritan literature, and includes “New England Writers and the Legacy of Puritanism: a Prolegomena,” a Hirsch paper presented to the Newport Historical Society (Box 6, folder 12). Nineteenth-Century American Literature (1826-1999) comprises annotated critical material and writings on authors Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry James. Most of the material in this section is devoted to Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe. Nineteenth-Century British Literature (1964-1968) includes the British Romantics, primarily Wordsworth research and writing. Twentieth-Century Literature (1930-1989; bulk 1960-1989) includes John Barth, Wallace Stevens, but is primarily devoted to T. S. Eliot research and writing, including manuscript versions of the Hirsch paper “T.S. Eliot and the Vexation of Time,” and the collection Critical Essays on T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, edited by Hirsch and Lois Cuddy (Box 10, folders 23-26; Box 11, folders 1-8). The subseries devoted to Literary Criticism (1953-1999) contains Hirsch’s review essays on theoretical books by Sacvan Bercovitch, Gerald Bruns, Stanley Fish, Edwin Fussell, and Christopher Norris; and Hirsch’s papers on structuralism, modernism, imagism, and poetics (Box 11, folders 24-28; Box 12, folders 1-5). The subseries also includes Hirsch’s undergraduate papers, notebooks, notes, and manuscript fragments, as well as a topical collection of annotated research materials on related literary topics such as Intellectual History, Linguistics and Semiotics, and Postmodernism. See also: Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Heidegger, Deconstruction, and Related Literary Theory (Box 20, folders 15-26; Box 21, folders 1-5).

The multiple subseries for Judaica and Holocaust studies (1939-1999; bulk 1983-1999) contain topical research material on the Holocaust as a historical event, including photocopies of contemporary New York Times articles (Box 14, folder 2); miscellaneous writings on Hitler and Nazi officers, concentration camps, ghettos, refugees, and resistance movements. The material in this series is also divided into the following categories: Post-Holocaust politics, judicial proceedings, survivors, Holocaust denial; Interpretations of the Holocaust, including the writings of Primo Levi (Box 15, folder 8) and Elie Wiesel (Box 15, folders 11-15); Literature of the Holocaust, including memoirs, poetry, camp songs, and fiction. Notable within the literature category are Rosalyn and David Hirsch’s translation of Gusta Davidson Draenger’s Justyna’s Narrative (Box 16, folders 4-10) and their translation of Sara Nomberg-Przytyk’s Pillars of Samson (Box 16, folders 18-20); Hirsch translations of Abraham Sutzkever’s poetry and writings (Box 17, folders 16-27); and Hirsch translations of Isaiah Spiegel’s collection of stories Ghetto Kingdom (Box 18, folders 19-23). Additional categories are: Holocaust in contemporary culture, which includes research and writing on modern German literature and drama; films such as Schindler’s List, Life Is Beautiful, Shoah, and Seven Beauties; contemporary Jewish writers such as Philip Roth and Isaac Bashevis Singer; and Hirsch’s response to Peter Novick’s The Holocaust in American Life (Box 19, folder 31; Box 20, folders 1-2).

The subseries Judaic Theology, Literature, and Philosophy is wide-ranging and includes topical research on Judaism and the Bible as literature; Jewish philosophers such at Ernst Cassirer, Emmanuel Levinas, and Franz Rosenzweig; and a substantial collection of research and writing on Martin Heidegger, Deconstruction, and related literary theory where much of the material concerns Heidegger’s association with the Nazi Party, and his philosophical contributions to what would later be called Deconstruction Theory. Hirsch writings on these topics are in Box 20, folders 19-25. Research on Hannah Arendt (Box 21, folder 1) and Yale critic Paul De Man (Box 21, folders 2-3) is related to the Heidegger material. See also Literary Criticism (Box 11, folders 16-28; Boxes 12 and 13; Box 22, folder 10).

Series 4. Posters (1977-1995). This is a small collection of educational and popular culture posters and one oversized publication relating to the Holocaust.

Series 5. Joe Hirsch (1974-1988) includes short fiction, poetry, and drama written by David Hirsch’s son Joe. Also included in this series are notebooks and correspondence relating to publication of his work.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965
• Hirsch, Joe, 1959-
• Hirsch, Roslyn
• Melville, Herman, 1819-1891
• Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849
• Sutzkever, Abraham, 1913-2010
• Wiesel, Elie, 1928-

Subject Organizations

• Brown University--Faculty--Correspondence.
• Brown University--Faculty.

Subject Topics

• American literature
• American literature--19th century
• Authors, Yiddish
• Concentration camps--Poland
• Criticism
• Deconstruction
• Education, Higher
• English literature--Study and teaching (Higher)
• Hebrew literature--Translations into English
• Holocaust survivors' writings
• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Historiography
• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives
• Jewish ghettos
• Judaism
• Linguistics
• Postmodernism (Literature)
• Romanticism
• Structural linguistics
• Translating and interpreting
• Yiddish language
• Yiddish literature
• Yiddish literature--Translations in English

• Bible--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Document Types

• Agendas (administrative records)
• Audiocassettes
• Bibliographies
• Catalogs (documents)
• Clippings (information artifacts)
• Correspondence
• Curriculum vitae
• Drafts (Documents)
• Essays
• Examinations (Documents)
• Financial records
• Floppy disks
• Lecture notes
• Manuscripts (document genre)
• Microfilms
• Notebooks
• Notes
• Photocopies
• Photographs
• Posters
• Research (Document genres)
• Research notes
• Writings (Document genre)

Subject Topics

• Education
• Language and Literature
• Race, Ethnicity and Gender

Arrangement

The David H. Hirsch papers have been organized into the following 5 series. Each series is further divided into subseries.

Series 1: Correspondence

• Subseries 1. Professional
• Subseries 2. Personal

Series 2: Personal and professional papers

• Subseries 1. Personal
• Subseries 2. Teaching
• Subseries 3. Conferences
• Subseries 4. Courses: Judaic Studies
• Subseries 5. Courses: Religious Studies
• Subseries 6. Courses: English Literature

Series 3: Research and writings

• Subseries 1. Early English Literature
• Subseries 2. Nineteenth Century American Literature
• Subseries 3. Nineteenth Century American Literature: Herman Melville
• Subseries 4. Nineteenth Century American Literature: Edgar Allen Poe
• Subseries 5. Nineteenth-Century British Literature
• Subseries 6. Twentieth-Century Literature
• Subseries 7. Literary Criticism
• Subseries 8. Literary Criticism: topical
• Subseries 9. Judaica and Holocaust Studies
• Subseries 10. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Poland
• Subseries 11. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Post-war
• Subseries 12. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Holocaust Literature
• Subseries 13. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Holocaust Memoirs
• Subseries 14. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Camp Songs and Poems
• Subseries 15. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Yiddish Literature
• Subseries 16. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Contemporary culture
• Subseries 17. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Judaic theology, literature, and philosophy
• Subseries 18. Judaica and Holocaust Studies: Heidegger, Deconstruction, and Related Literary Theory

Series 4: Posters

Series 5: Joe Hirsch papers

• Subseries 1. Fiction
• Subseries 2. Poetry
• Subseries 3. Drama
• Subseries 4. Notes, correspondence, etc.

Biographical Note

David Harry Hirsch (1930-1999) taught English and American literature and Judaic Studies at Brown University from 1961 until his death in 1999 at age 69.

David Hirsch earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from New York University, and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1961, where he was an assistant instructor of English before coming to Brown University. His field of study was English and American literature, with an emphasis on the literature of Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and T. S. Eliot. He published numerous critical essays in The Sewanee Review, The Southern Review, and Modern Language Studies, which he also edited. His book-length publications include Reality and Idea in the Early American Novel (1971) (based on his dissertation) and Critical Essays on T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ (1991), co-edited with Lois Cuddy. In addition to his Brown University position, Hirsch was president of the Poe Studies Association from 1986-1988 and a visiting lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv, during 1966-1967.

He also contributed greatly to the fields of Literary and Linguistic theory. His collection of essays The Deconstruction of Literature: Criticism After Auschwitz (1991) was the product of his research on Deconstruction theory and its relation to the ideas of Martin Heidegger, who was a supporter of Nazi politics.

Professor Hirsch introduced the literature of the Holocaust to the Brown University curriculum in 1983, and he taught courses in Holocaust memoir, song, poetry, and fiction. In collaboration with his wife Roslyn, a survivor of the Tarnopol Ghetto, he translated Justyna's Narrative, a Polish Holocaust memoir by Gusta Davidson Draenger, and Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land, by Sara Nomberg-Przytyk. He also translated from Yiddish Ghetto Kingdom, the stories of Isaiah Spiegel; the poetry of Abraham Sutzkever; and Aleksander Kulisiewicz’s songs from the Nazi death camps.

Professor Hirsch died in 1999 and was survived by his wife Roslyn and son Joe.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), restrictions may apply to student materials in the David H. Hirsch papers. The collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	David H. Hirsch papers, Ms.2012.030, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The David H. Hirsch papers were donated to the Brown University Library by Roslyn Hirsch in 2000.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Deborah Peterson.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2015-02-24
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Separated material:

Non-annotated duplicate copies of research material were removed from the collection. A listing of those research materials is available as a PDF here.

Inventory

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