Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Sturgis E. Leavitt papers, #1967, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Gifts of Stugis E. Leavitt in the 1960s and 1970s and from Catherine McKnight of Chapel Hill, N.C., in January 1988.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, July 1992

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Chile--Description and travel.
• College teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Cuba--Description and travel.
• Europe--Description and travel.
• Latin America--Description and travel.
• Leavitt, Sturgis E. (Sturgis Elleno), b. 1888.
• Mart#x00ED, Jos#x00E9, 1853-1895.
• Medina, Jos#x00E9 Toribio, 1852-1930.
• Spanish language--Study and teaching (Higher)--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Spanish literature--Study and teaching (Higher)--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Faculty--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Faculty--History.
• Zalamea de la Serena (Spain)

Sturgis Elleno Leavitt was born in Newhall, Me., in 1888. He received his A.B. degree from Bowdoin College in 1908 and his M.A. in 1913 and Ph.D. in 1917, both from Harvard University. Also in 1917, he began his teaching career at the University of North Carolina, advancing through the ranks to Kenan Professor of Spanish and retiring in 1960. In 1941, he was named director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at UNC, and, in 1947, he help found the Southern Humanities Conference, which included fifteen societies focused on Latin American interests.

Leavitt was a widely recognized expert in Spanish literature and wrote and spoke extensively on the teaching of Spanish and on Pan-American international relations. He also authored many Spanish textbooks and compiled numerous bibliographies of Spanish literature. He also served as editor of the South-Atlantic Bulletin, the Revista Iberoamericana, and as associate editor of the Hispanic Review. He was a member of the board of trustees of the American Council of Learned Societies from 1946 to 1950 and chair of the Southern Humanities Conference from 1948 to 1951. He also served twice as president of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and once as president of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association.

Leavitt traveled extensively, especially in Spain and Latin America. In 1953, he visited the west coast of South America lecturing at cultural centers and universities under the auspices of the U.S. State Department.

Throughout his long career, Leavitt received numerous honors, including honorary degrees from Davidson College and Bowdoin College. In 1959, he was made honorary mayor for life of Zalamea de la Serena, Spain. In 1961, he received a National Foreign Language Award from the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations. In 1972, he was selected as one of the top ten scholars of Spanish in the U.S., and, in 1974, was elected to the Mexican Academy and as one of the first members of the Academy of Spanish Literature.

Leavitt was a member of the Mayflower Society and married to Alga Leavitt (d. 1964), who coached Thomas Wolfe when he acted with the Carolina Playmakers in the 1919 season.

The collection includes a small amount of general correspondence, 1923-1960s, chiefly relating to awards Leavitt had received or to trips he had taken or was about to take. Only a few more substantive letters dealing with Spanish language or literature are included. There are also lengthy letters, 1911-1960s, that Leavitt wrote during his travels. These letters document travels in Europe, South America, and around the United States. Also included are a few speeches, essays, and reports written by Leavitt, chiefly on the study and teaching of Spanish literature, biographical materials, clippings, materials relating to his 1952 trip to the west coast of South America for the U.S. State

Department's Educational Exchange Program, materials from the centenary celebrations Leavitt attended of Cuban patriot Jose Marti in 1953 and Chilean scholar Jose Toribio Medina in 1952, and items relating to Leavitt's being named mayor for life of Zalamea de la Serena, Spain, in 1959. There are also a few photographs of Leavitt at various stages of his career.

• P-1967/1-7