Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1530

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.209 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Barry Wallenstein collection of James T. Farrell material, 1960-2005, Ms. Coll. 1530, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1960-2005 (inclusive) and 1963-1979 (bulk)

Creator:

Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979

Abstract:

Barry Wallenstein met James T. Farrell in the early 1960s and the two developed a professional and personal relationship. Wallenstein and Farrell began collaborating on a collected work of Farrell's letters, entitled Selected Letters of James T. Farrell, in which Wallenstein would serve as editor. Farrell broke the contract for the book, 6 months after signing with Summit Books. These letters, articles, clippings, invitations, legal documents, interviews and diary excerpts provide documentation of the ill-fated publication project.

James T. Farrell (1904-1979) was born to a struggling working class Irish-Catholic family in Chicago. As a young boy he was sent away to live with his grandparents to a different neighborhood in Chicago which, coupled with his parochial school education, set the tone for his writings throughout his lifetime. After enrolling in 1925 at the University of Chicago for pre-law, Farrell quickly showed a keen interest in the social sciences. However, by 1927 he decided it was his calling to be a fiction writer, drawing off of his experiences and newly formed social attitudes emulating John Dewey, Theodore Dreiser, and Leon Trotsky. Best known for his Studs Lonigan trilogy, a series of novels published between 1932 and 1935, Farrell portrays the life of a young Irish Catholic man growing up on the streets of Chicago. Brutally realistic, the Lonigan series is revered by many historians and sociologists as one of the most accurate portrayals of everyday life for urban Irish Catholics for the time period. Despite publishing over fifty works—in addition to other forms of writing—Farrell's acclaim never could grow past the shadow ofStuds Lonigan. Despite his struggles—both real and perceived—Farrell continued to produce an unprecedented amount of writing, as an author as well as a correspondent and philosopher. In addition to writing, Farrell was extremely engaged in politics and social activism as a member of the Socialist Workers Party (subsequently split to the Workers Party), as well as the American Committee for Cultural Freedom. Well after withdrawing from active participation, Farrell remained extremely lively in championing social causes which he demonstrated through personal correspondence and less formal writings. Farrell maintained an undying passion for the game of baseball throughout his life. In 1957 he published a collection of writings, My Baseball Diary; a second was published well after his death. Farrell was married three times and divorced twice. His first (and third) wife, Dorothy Butler Farrell was a University of Chicago student at the time of their meeting in 1928. In April of 1931 they were secretly married, immediately setting off on a ship for a year in Paris, France. In November their son Sean was born, but passed away after four days. Separation due to Dorothy's employment eventually led its way to infidelity, and in 1935 Farrell would meet his second wife, Hortense Alden, a Broadway actress. In June of 1940, Farrell and Dorothy were officially divorced, and several months later Hortense gave birth to their first son, Kevin. In January of 1941 they were married (Landers, An Honest Writer, 237). The autumn of 1947 brought their second son, John Steven, who showed severe signs of mental disability and by 1949 was sent to the Letchworth Village residential institution, where he passed away in 1994. In January of 1951, Kevin was sent away to boarding school in Massachusetts, and shortly afterward Farrell and Hortense divorced. By September 1955, he remarried Dorothy Butler. Financial hardship and accused infidelity on Dorothy's part with jazz violinist Leroy "Stuff" Smith, led to another separation in 1958—although they would never officially divorce. Two years later he met his secretary and final life partner Cleo Paturis, with whom he remained until his death on August 22, 1979. For more information on Farrell see James T. Farrell papers, Ms. Coll. 886.

Poet, professor and recording artist, Barry Wallenstein was born in New York City and received his PhD in Literature and Modern Poetry from New York University in 1972. He was a professor of literature and creative writing at the City College of New York from 1965 until 2006, where he founded the journal, Poetry in Performance and the Poetry Outreach Center. He has published several collections of poetry and collaborates with jazz artists in the performance and recording of his poetry.

Sources:

University of Pennsylvania collections James T. Farrell collection, Ms. Coll. 1470, and James T. Farrell papers, Ms. Coll. 886.

Barry Wallenstein, 2023. https://www.barrywallenstein.com/.

This collection of letters, articles, clippings, invitations, legal documents, interviews and diary excerpts comprises the research for the ill-fated publication of, The Selected Letters of James T. Farrell, edited by Barry Wallenstein. Most of the material in this collection was probably photocopied from the James T. Farrell papers, Ms. Coll. 886, held here at the University of Pennsylvania. Also included, is an unpublished personal biography of Farrell written by his partner Cleo Paturis after his death.