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COLLECTION Identifier: HUGB J651.xx

Howard Mumford Jones writings and publications

Overview

Howard Mumford Jones (1892-1980), a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian of American culture, was the Abbott Lawrence Lowell Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. Jones taught English, American, and comparative literature. In addition, his work focused on the study of American cultural history. The collection consists of articles, reprints, poems, book reviews, public lectures, and essays documenting Howard Mumford Jones' professional and academic contributions to the study of American cultural history from 1911 to 1980.

Dates

  • Creation: 1911 - 1980

Creator

Researcher access

Open for research.

Extent

6.25 cubic feet (17 document boxes, 2 pamphlet binders, 1 card box, 1 flat box)

This collection consists of articles, reprints, poems, book reviews, public lectures, and essays documenting Howard Mumford Jones' professional and academic contributions to the study of American cultural history from 1911 to 1980. The collection includes Jones' writings on Anglo-Irish literature, the European Romantic movement, American intellectual history, English and American literature, French cultural influences on America, and the place of learning in the United States. Also found in the collection is a bibliography of Jones' publications, prepared by his wife, Bessie Judith Zaban Jones.

Biographical note on Howard Mumford Jones

Howard Mumford Jones (1892-1980), a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian of American culture, was the Abbott Lawrence Lowell Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. Jones taught English, American, and comparative literature. In addition, his work focused on the study of American cultural and intellectual history. Before joining the Harvard faculty, Jones taught at several universities, including the University of Texas (1916-1917, 1919-1924), Montana State University (1917-1919), the University of North Carolina (1925-1930), and the University of Michigan (1930-1936). In 1936 Jones received an honorary doctoral degree from Harvard and joined its faculty as a professor of English, retiring in 1962. Jones was also dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1943-1944) and editor-in-chief of the John Harvard Library (1958 to 1962).

Jones' published more than thirty books on poetry, plays, biographies, and intellectual history ranging from scholarly treatises on Irish literature, Lord Byron, French and German culture, and American literary history. In 1965, Jones won the Pulitzer Prize in general non-fiction for his account of the formative years of American culture, O Strange New World. In 1975, Jones published his autobiography, which recounted his work in the humanities.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into five series:

  1. Obituaries and memorials, [circa 1911-1980] (HUGB J651.55)
  2. Bibliography of works by Howard Mumford Jones, [circa 1980] (HUGB J651.71)
  3. Published writings by Howard Mumford Jones, 1911-1980 (HUGB J651.71.1)
  4. Academic Freedom Once More, 1953 March 16 (HUGB J651.72.6)
  5. The Scholar as American, 1960 (HUGB J651.72.8)

Former call number

Some publications in this collection were previously classified as HUH 468.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Howard Mumford Jones [Bessie Judith Zaban Jones], 1980 July 14; Accession 8942.

Related Material

In the Harvard University Archives
  1. Papers of Howard Mumford Jones, 1916-1980 (HUGFP 36.xx): https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua56021/catalog
  2. Photographs of Howard Mumford Jones are contained in the Harvard University Archives Photograph Collection: Portraits, approximately 1852-approximately 2004 (HUP): https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua04006/catalog
In the Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
  1. Howard Mumford Jones miscellaneous papers, 1922-1976: Guide (MS Am 1684): https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hou01360/catalog

Inventory update

This document last updated 2022 April 25.

Processing Information

This finding aid was created in July 2021 by Dominic P. Grandinetti.

Information for this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories, reference sources, and container management data. The collection was not re-examined.

Dates and titles supplied by the archivist appear in brackets.

Title
Jones, Howard Mumford, 1892-1980. Howard Mumford Jones writings and publications, 1911-1980: an inventory
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua60021

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:
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