Guide to the Leonard Bacon papers, 1871-1954

Special Collections, James P. Adams Library
Rhode Island College
600 Mount Pleasant Ave
Providence, RI, 02908
Tel: 401-456-8380
email:digitalcommons@ric.edu

Published in 2024

Collection Overview

Title:	Leonard Bacon papers
Date range:	1871-1954
Creator:	Bacon, Leonard, 1887-1954
Extent:	0.95 cubic feet
Abstract:	Leonard Bacon’s collected papers consisting of correspondence, publications, poetry, bank statements, and legal agreements.
Language of materials:	English, Spanish
Repository:	Special Collections, James P. Adams Library
Collection number:	MSS-0094

Scope & content

The collection consists of Leonard Bacon’s collected papers including incoming and outgoing correspondence; bank statements; documents relating to trusts, insurance, and legal agreements; publications and articles; poetry; and travel brochures.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Bacon, Leonard, 1887-1954
• Bacon, Nathaniel Terry, 1857-1926
• Bacon, Helen Hazard, 1861-1925

Subject Topics

• Rhode Island history

Geographical Names

• Syracuse (N.Y.)
• Providence (R.I.)
• Peace Dale (R.I.)
• Berkeley (Calif.)

Occupations

• Poets

Document Types

• Correspondence
• Publications
• Poetry
• Travel brochures
• Postcards
• Receipts
• Bank statements

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged into the following series:

• Series 1: Correspondence; 1888-1953
• Series 2: Financial papers; 1925-1943
• Series 3: Legal papers; 1913-1937
• Series 4: Writings; 1909-1943
• Series 5: Other papers; circa 1900-1954

Biographical/Historical Note

Leonard Bacon, son of Nathaniel Bacon and Helen Hazard Bacon, was born May 26, 1887, in Syracuse, New York. A poet and literary critic, he was class poet and editor of the Literary Magazine at Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1909. Upon graduation, he taught English at the University of California at Berkeley until 1923, when he left California and returned to Peace Dale, Rhode Island, to concentrate exclusively on his writing. He won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1940 for his work, “Sunderland Capture;” he was also a literary critic for Saturday Review of Literature and Harper’s. He married Martha Stringham in 1912 and was the father of three children: Helen, Alice, and Martha. He died January 1, 1954.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	The collection is open for research.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Leonard Bacon papers, MSS-0094, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
Contact information:	Special Collections, James P. Adams Library Rhode Island College 600 Mount Pleasant Ave Providence, RI, 02908 Tel: 401-456-8380 email:digitalcommons@ric.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The collection was given to Rhode Island College in 1968 by Martha Bacon Ballinger, with the consent of her husband, Ronald B. Ballinger, as well as her sister, Helen Bacon Westlake, and Helen’s husband, J.T. Westlake.
Processing information:	After the collection arrived in 1968, Rhode Island College Professor Norman Smith conducted preliminary sorting of the collection. The processing of the papers and the preparation of the original finding aid was funded by a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant. The initial finding aid was prepared by Norene Rickson, library assistant in RIC Special Collections, with the assistance of Michael Kohl, Assistant Librarian in Special Collections. At this time, photographs were removed from their original locations and added to the other photograph files. Books were also removed from the collection and added to various book collections in Special Collections. In 2022, a nitrate negative was removed from the collection, digitized, and destroyed due to preservation and conservation concerns by Molly Bruce Patterson, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at the time. In 2023, the finding aid was converted to current archival standards by Veronica L. Denison, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at Rhode Island College. At this time, the papers of Rowland Hazard, Joseph Peace Hazard, Thomas Rutherford Bacon, Caroline Hazard, Helen Hazard Bacon, and Leonard Bacon were removed from the Nathaniel Terry Bacon papers and made into their own separate collections to better reflect the various creators and their materials. Items in this collection were also reboxed into archival boxes, items foldered, and additional materials (items in the oversize folder) added to the collection.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Melissa Moniz and Veronica L. Denison.
Encoding:	This finding aid was encoded by Veronica L. Denison, 2024
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:	The Rhode Island College Special Collections contains a table that was used by Leonard Bacon, as well as a bust of Bacon. Rhode Island College Special Collections holds the Leonard Bacon letters, MSS-0107, which were purchased in 1977 and 1981. The Special Collections also holds additional collections relating to the Bacon and Hazard families: Nathaniel Terry papers, MSS-0005,Rowland Hazard papers, MSS-0089;Joseph Peace Hazard papers, MSS-0090;Thomas Rutherford Bacon papers, MSS-0091;Caroline Hazard papers, MSS-0092; Hazard family letters, MSS-0055; and the Helen Hazard Bacon papers, MSS-0093.Additionally, Yale University Manuscripts and Archives holds the Nathaniel Terry Bacon papers, MS 696; the Bacon Family Papers, MS 46; and the Leonard Bacon papers, MSS 487. The Rhode Island Historical Society holds the Bacon Family Papers, MSS 483 as well as the Rowland and Mary Peace Hazard papers, MSS 483 sg4. And the University of Rhode Island holds the Rowland Hazard papers (son of Rowland Gibson Hazard), Mss. Gr. 6; the Rowland Gibson Hazard papers, Mss. Gr. 9; and the Leonard Bacon papers, Mss. Gr. 145.
Separated material:	This collection was separated from the Nathaniel Terry Bacon papers (MSS-0005) and made into its own collection in 2023. Several books were removed from the collection when it was initially arranged and described in 1968 and added to the Special Collections Book Collections. Additional published materials were removed from the collection and some added to the Special Collections Book Collections in 2023. Please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections for further information regarding these items.
Location of originals:	This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections.

Inventory

---