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COLLECTION Identifier: HUG 4572.xx

Papers of Perry Miller

Overview

Perry Gilbert Eddy Miller (1905-1963), historian and educator, taught American history and literature at Harvard University from 1931 until his death in 1963. His papers contain correspondence, family and biographical materials, Harvard course materials, notes for manuscripts, photographs and scrapbooks, and writings. The collection includes a significant amount of material from Miller’s wife, Elizabeth Williams Miller, including her family photographs, correspondence, and examples of her college work and early creative literary efforts.

Dates

  • Creation: 1850-1987 and [undated]

Researcher Access

The Papers of Perry Miller are open for research with the following exceptions: Student records are closed for 80 years. Restrictions are noted at the series and folder level. Requires further review by the archivist; please see reference staff for details.

Extent

15.61 cubic feet (23 document boxes, 6 half-document boxes, 5 record cartons, 4 flat boxes, 2 pamphlet binders, 2 folders, 1 card box)

The Papers of Perry Miller document his personal life, including his service in World War II, as well as his professional research, teaching, and writing activities. The collection contains family and biographical materials, such as World War II insignia and service records, awards and degrees, and engagement calendars. It also includes a significant amount of material from Miller’s wife, Elizabeth Williams Miller, such as family photographs, correspondence, and examples of her college work and early creative literary efforts.

Miller’s papers also contain Harvard course materials, including teaching notes for his English 170a course; photographs and scrapbooks, including scrapbooks of visits to Europe and Japan; and writings, such as manuscripts and materials related to his works, Life of the Mind and Jonathan Edwards.

Biographical note on Perry Miller

Perry Gilbert Eddy Miller (1905-1963), historian and educator, taught American history and literature at Harvard University from 1931 until his death in 1963. He began studying at the University of Chicago, then dropped out to travel the world. Miller eventually re-enrolled at the University of Chicago, earning his Bachelor's degree and then his doctorate in 1931. That same year, he began teaching at Harvard University. In 1942, Miller resigned from his post at Harvard to join the United States Army; he was stationed in Great Britain, working for the Psychological Warfare branch of the Office of Strategic Services. Following the war, Miller returned to teaching at Harvard.

Miller was an expert on the history of early America, especially Puritanism, and is credited as co-founding the academic field of American Studies. Throughout his career, he wrote many articles and books; his work, The Life of the Mind in America, was posthumously published and awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1966. Among Miller's many notable students is author Margaret Atwood, who studied under him at Radcliffe; Atwood dedicated her book, The Handmaid’s Tale, to him. Miller died in 1963.

Biographical note on Elizabeth Williams Miller

Elizabeth Williams Miller (1904-1982) was born in Minnesota on January 27, 1904. Williams married Perry G.E. Miller on September 12, 1930; the couple had no children. She is credited as editing several of Miller’s books; in The New England Mind: From Colony to Province, Miller wrote that Elizabeth “worked with me in every stage of the research and writing.” She died on January 20, 1982 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in six series:

  1. Correspondence, circa 1918-1963 and [undated]
  2. Family and biographical records, 1850-1987
  3. Harvard course materials, 1942-1965 and [undated]
  4. Notes, 1952-1953 and [undated]
  5. Photographs and scrapbooks, circa 1850-1982 and [undated]
  6. Writings, circa 1940s-1963 and [undated]

Acquisition

Specific acquisition information, when available, is noted at the subseries or item level:

  1. Received by the Harvard University Archives in February 1966 (HUG 4572.5)
  2. Gift of Elizabeth Williams Miller, received September 23, 1976; Accession 7992
  3. Gift of G.S. Metraux, received August 19, 1980; Accession 8981
  4. Gift of William Hutchinson, received August 30, 1982; Accession 9546
  5. Gift of William Hutchinson, received December 21, 1982; Accession 9618
  6. Gift of William Hutchinson, received December 21, 1986; Accession 10959

Related Materials

In the Harvard University Archives:

  1. Perry Miller : a study in historical sophistication (HUC 8966.338.265)
  2. Student course notes for English 274, spring 1962 (HUC 8961.325.274)
  3. Notes on lectures given in a course on Jonathan Edwards, 1946 (HUC 8945.324)
  4. Student notes for courses in economics, English, and history, 1948-1951 (HUC 8948.300)
  5. Papers of Wendell Robert Carr, 1960-1969 (HUM 90) https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua25011/catalog
In Houghton Library:
  1. Saxe Commins letters to Perry Miller, 1954 (MS Am 2682)
  2. The complete notes to The New England mind, the seventeenth century (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1939) (US 10923.60.3*)

Inventory update

This document last updated 2022 November 4.

Processing Information

This finding aid was created by Olivia Mandica-Hart in July 2021. Information in this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories and container management data. The collection was not re-examined by the archivist.

Title
Miller, Perry, 1905-1963. Papers of Perry Miller, 1850-1987 and [undated] : an inventory
Status
completed
Author
Harvard University Archives
Date
July 7, 2021
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua59021

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository

Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.

Contact:
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461