Harriette Simpson Arnow Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection is comprised of papers and records relating to the life and writings of Harriette Simpson Arnow (1908-1986). The collection consists mainly of clippings, correspondence, manuscript fragments, miscellaneous essays, and reviews of Arnow’s work. Included in the collection are Pulaski County school photographs with Arnow’s handwritten captions and Detroit News photos of Arnow and her children. Papers relating to the life and writings of Arnow are also included.
Dates
- created: 1936 - 1986
- Other: Majority of material found in 1949-1986
Conditions Governing Access
Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.
Conditions Governing Use
There are no known restrictions other than federal copyright regulations. Please cite information.
Extent
1.00 ms_boxes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Arnow was born and grew up in Wayne County, Kentucky, attended Berea College for two years (1926-28), and graduated with a degree in sciences from the University of Louisville (1930). She taught school in Louisville and Pulaski County before moving to Cincinnati in 1934 to concentrate on her writing. There she supported herself variously as a waitress, library clerk, and assistant in the Federal Writers’ Project. Writing as Harriette Simpson while in Cincinnati, she produced several essays and two novels, Mountain Path (1936) and Between the Flowers, which didn’t come to print until 1999. In 1939 she married Harold Arnow and they moved to Pulaski County where they lived five years writing and farming.
In 1944, the Arnows moved to Michigan where Harold worked as a reporter for The Detroit News. In 1947, they and their two children, Marcella and Tom, moved to a farm outside of Ann Arbor. Major publications that followed include Hunter’s Horn (1949), The Dollmaker (1954), Seedtime on the Cumberland (1960), Flowering of the Cumberland (1963), The Weedkiller’s Daughter (1970), The Kentucky Trace (1974), and Old Burnside (1977). A film rendition of The Dollmaker staring Jane Fonda was released in 1984. Arnow published numerous articles as well and served as an instructor at the Appalachian Writers Workshop held annually at Hindman Settlement School. She died March 21, 1986 and was buried at her farm at Keno in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
Arrangement Note
The collection is arranged in series as follows:
Series 1: Personal / Biographical
Series 2: Correspondence
Series 3: Writings
Series 4: Photographs
Other Descriptive Information
BCA 0051 SAA 051
Processing Information
The finding aid was updated in November 2015.
- Title
- Harriette Simpson Arnow Collection Finding Aid
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- eng
Repository Details
Part of the Berea College Special Collections and Archives Repository
Hutchins Library
100 Campus Drive
Berea Kentucky 40404 US
859.985.3262
special_collections@berea.edu