Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4307
SISTER BERNETTA QUINN PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Sister Bernetta Quinn (1915- ) received a B.A
degree from the College of St. Teresa in 1942, an M.A.
from the Catholic University of America in 1944, and a
Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1952. A
teacher and poet, Sister Bernetta's two primary areas
of scholarship are the Catholic Church and modernist
poetry, especially the life and work of Ezra Pound and
Randall Jarrell.
Correspondence, writings by Sister Bernetta and
others, photographs, and other papers. Correspondence
is between Sister Bernetta and a wide circle of
friends, colleagues, and fellow scholars. Much
correspondence is personal in nature, but a good
portion of it concerns Sister Bernetta's scholarship,
particularly her work on Randall Jarrell and Ezra
Pound. Major correspondents include Jarrell's wives
Mackie and Mary and brother Charles, Robert Penn
Warren, Pound's daughter Mary De Rachewiltz and
longtime companion Olga Rudge, Flannery O'Connor's
mother Regina O'Connor, Richard Wilbur, Donald
Davidson, Peter Taylor, Sylvia Wilkinson, Doris Betts,
Robie Macauley, Heather Ross Miller, Gibbons Ruark,
Shelby Stephenson, Ron Bayes, Carolyn Kizer, Denise
Levertov, Seamus Heaney, Grace DiSanto, and Fred
Chappell. Writings by Sister Bernetta include
scholarly articles, poetry, book reviews, journals and
meditations, and notes. There are also drafts of her
prose adaptation for children of Dante's Divine Comedy
and other Dante commentary. Photographs include one
of poets James Wright and Robert Bly on horseback,
probably from the 1960s.
Online Catalog Terms:
Bayes, Ronald H., 1932- .
Betts, Doris.
Bly, Robert.
Chappell, Fred, 1936- .
Davidson, Donald, 1893-1968.
DiSanto, Grace.
Heaney, Seamus.
Jarrell, Randall, 1914-1965--Criticism and interpretation.
Kizer, Carolyn.
Levertov, Denise, 1923- .
Macauley, Robie.
Miller, Heather Ross, 1939- .
Nuns--United States--History--20th century.
O'Connor, Flannery--Criticism and interpretation.
O'Connor, Regina.
Poets, American--20th century.
Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972--Criticism and interpretation.
Quinn, Mary Bernetta.
Rachewiltz, Mary de.
Ruark, Gibbons.
Rudge, Olga, 1895- .
Stephenson, Shelby, 1938- .
Taylor, Peter Hillsman, 1917- .
Warren, Robert Penn, 1905- .
Wilbur, Richard, 1921- .
Wilkinson, Sylvia, 1940- .
Women--Religious life--History--20th century.
Women poets, American--20th century.
Wright, James Arlington, 1922- .
Size: About 5,100 items (8.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Sister Bernetta Quinn, OSF, of
Rochester, Minn., beginning in 1982.
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Correspondence and Related Materials
Series 2. Writings by Sister Bernetta
Series 3. Writings by Others
Series 4. Pictures
Series 5. Other Papers
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Sister Bernetta Quinn was born on 19 September 1915 in Lake
Geneva, Wisc. She received a B.A degree from the College of St.
Teresa in 1942, an M.A. from the Catholic University of America
in 1944, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1952.
She has taught on the elementary and high school levels, as well
as at colleges, including the College of Saint Teresa, Allen
University, Norfolk State University, and Saint Andrews
Presbyterian College.
An accomplished poet in her own right, Sister Bernetta's two
primary areas of scholarship are the Catholic Church and
modernist poetry, especially the life and work of Ezra Pound and
Randall Jarrell. Among her publications are Ezra Pound: An
Introduction to the Poetry; Give Me Souls: A Life of Raphael
Cardinal Merry del Val; The Metamorphic Tradition in Modern
Poetry; To God Alone the Glory: A Life of Saint Bonaventure;
Randall Jarrell; and Dancing in Stillness, a book of poems. Her
scholarly articles and poems have appeared in the PMLA,
Shenandoah; Contemporary Literature; College English; and the
Sewanee Review.
Collection Overview
Correspondence, writings by Sister Bernetta and others,
photographs, and other papers. Correspondence is between Sister
Bernetta and a wide circle of friends, colleagues, and fellow
scholars. Most letters are filed by name of correspondent, but
some are categorized by subject.
Writings by Sister Bernetta include scholarly articles,
poetry, book reviews, journals and meditations, and notes.
Writings in their published forms are filed in subseries 2.6.
Writings by others include articles, poems, and books that Sister
Bernetta collected. Note that some writings by others are
included as enclosures in the correspondence series.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series 1. Correspondence and Related Material
Subseries 1.1. Major Correspondents
Subseries 1.2. Correspondents Identified by First Name
Only
Subseries 1.3. Miscellaneous Correspondence
Series 2. Writings by Sister Bernetta
Subseries 2.1. Scholarly Writings
Subseries 2.2. Poetry
Subseries 2.3. Book Reviews
Subseries 2.4. Journals and Meditations
Subseries 2.5. "Pilgrimage to the Stars"
Subseries 2.6. Miscellaneous Writings
Subseries 2.7. Writings in Published Form
Series 3. Writings by Others
Series 4. Pictures
Series 5. Other Papers
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence and Related Material
Ca. 1950-1994. About 4,000 items
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence between Sister Bernetta and a wide circle of
friends, colleagues, and fellow scholars. The series is divided
into three subseries: letters of major correspondents, including
a few folders of material arranged by topic; letters of
correspondents, chiefly members of religious orders, who are
identified by first name only; and miscellaneous correspondence,
some of which is categorized by subject.
Subseries 1.1. Major Correspondents
Ca. 1950-1994. About 3,600 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Letters between Sister Bernetta Quinn and important
individuals or those with substantive correspondence. Most
folders are labeled with the correspondent's name, but there are
some that are labeled by subject.
Much of the correspondence is personal in nature, but a good
portion of it concerns Sister Bernetta's scholarship,
particularly her work on Randall Jarrell and Ezra Pound. Jarrell
materials include letters solicited by Sister Bernetta in the
course of gathering information for her Twayne Series book called
Randall Jarrell. Among the correspondents are Jarrell's wives
Mackie and Mary, as well as his students, colleagues, and
contemporaries, many of whom offered anecdotes and remembrances
of the man and the poet. Mackie Jarrell's letters serve mostly
as background to Jarrell's family and early adulthood. Sister
Bernetta and Mary Jarrell became close friends, and there is
personal exchange in letters between them, as well as references
to Randall Jarrell. There are also some letters of Charles
Jarrell to his mother and to his brother Randall.
Letters relating to Ezra Pound include those of Sister
Bernetta's friend Mary De Rachewiltz, Pound's daughter. De
Rachewiltz, who has taken an active role in Pound scholarship,
mentioned her father in several letters. The references,
however, relate to Pound's work, not to the man himself. There
are also a number of letters from Olga Rudge, a music scholar and
Pound's longtime companion (pictures of Rudge are enclosed with
several De Rachewiltz letters).
Also included are one letter from Richard Wilbur; a copy of a
letter from Donald Davidson to Suzanne Ferguson; letters from
Mackie and Mary Jarrell to Suzanne Ferguson; and letters from
Peter Taylor, Sylvia Wilkinson, Doris Betts, Robie Macauley,
Heather Ross Miller, Gibbons Ruark, Shelby Stephenson, Ron Bayes,
Carolyn Kizer, Denise Levertov, Robert Penn Warren, and Seamus
Heaney.
Many of these letters concern Sister Bernetta's interest in
seminars, grants, and teaching positions. Letters from Grace
DiSanto and Fred Chappell relate to DiSanto's long illness.
Letters from Regina O'Connor contain a few references to her
daughter Flannery. Other writers represented in this series
include Chuck Sullivan, John Stone, and Sister Raphael Tilton.
Folders for Ronald Reagan, Malcolm Cowley, Michael Dukakis,
and Alex Haley contain items of minor importance.
Folder 1 Adcock, Betty
2 Anderson, Alice Ruth Nelson
3 Anderson, Peggy
4 Andre, Michael
5 Arts, Herwig
6 Baechler, Lea
7 Bales, Kent
8 Barrett, Louis
9 Bates, Milton
10 Bauer S. Viveriano
11 Baughman, Ron
12 Bayes, Ron
13 Bell, Vereen
14 Bly, Robert
15 Bodo, Fr. Murray
16 Boran, Pat
17 Boschwitz, Rudy
18 Bossman, David
19 Bradley, E. Skulley
20 Brinkman, Fr. Gervase
21 Brown, Ashley
22 Brown, Steven Ford
23 Bruchac, Joe
24 Bruns, Jo Anne
25 Butts, Bill
26 Carroll, Joseph
27 Casper Leonard
28 Chappell, Fred
29 Chorlton, David
30 Clark, Jim
31 Cole, Thomas
32 Compton, H. Thorne
33 Connell, Maureen
34 Corso, Gregory
35 Cowley, Malcolm
36 Craver, Robert
37 Creeley, Robert
38 Cunner, Joe
39 Cunningham, Phyllis
40 Davenport, Guy
41 Davis, Steve
42 Deagon, Ann
43 Death penalty
44 Decker, Mary and Lee
45 De Grazia, Emilio
46 De Loach, Allen
47 De Rachewiltz, Mary
48 Detro, Gene
49 Di Santo, Grace
50 Domina, Lynn
51 Donovan, Stewart
52 Dukakis, Michael
53 Durenberger, Dave
54 East, Grant
55 Eckley, Penny
56 Ellis, Grace
57 English departments (letters from English departments
at various institutions)
58 Farrell, Bernard
59 Fatisha
60 Fawcett, Susan
61 Ferguson, Suzanne
62 Festa, Conrad
63 Festa, Jean
64 Filreis, Alan
65 Flint, Rowland
66 Fox, Thomas
67 Fumabashi, Naoko
68 Furia, Philip
69 Gallup, Donald
70 Gardiner, Harold C.
71 Garrison, David
72 Gernes, Sonia
73 Gibson, Grace
74 Ginsburg, Louis
75 Gironda, Belle
76 Girvalt, Norton
77 Give Me Souls
78 Goodreau, Bill
79 Green, Eleanor
80 Griffin, Alison
81 Halbert, John
82 Haley, Alex
83 Hall, Dorothy Judd
84 Hamilton, Tom
85 Hanchak, Peter
86 Hannaker, Liam
87 Harnack, Curtis
88 Heaney, Seamus
89 Heffernan, Michael
90 Heffernan, Tom
91 Honig, Edwin
92 Hurschler, Elsa
93 Jabbour, Michael
94 Jacobsen, Josephine
95 Jarrell, Mackie
96 Jarrell, Mary
97-108 Jarrell, Randall (about)
109 Joyce, Catherine
110 Kallet, Marilyn
111 Kay, Albert
112 Keeble, John
113 Kerrey, Robert
114 Kessler, Milton
115 Kilmer, Nicholas
116 Kinsella, Thomas
117-118 Kizer, Carolyn
119 Klein, David
120 Kravec, Maureen
121 Larson, Wendy
122 Laszlo, Louis
123 Lautermilch, Steve
124 Leary, Fr. Patrick
125 Lensing, George
126 Leonard, Chris
127 Levertov, Denise
128 Levy, Robert
129 Loughlin, Bernard
130-131 Lucas, John
132 Mangan, Laury
133 Malone, E. T., Jr
134 Mangum, Msgr. Bernard
135 Mapp, David
136 Mariani, Paul
137 Martin, Dr. M. J.
138 Matsumoto, Fumihisa
139 Mazzaro, Jerome
140 McCann, Janet
141 McCurdy, Harold
142 McDonald, Agnes
143 McGrath, Fr. Ed
144 McInerney, Jim/Marcie
145 Marchant, Fred
146 Merry de Val, Marquis of
147 Metzger, Deena
148 Michael, Chester
149-150 Michael, Elizabeth
151 Mickey, Douglas Scott
152 Miller, Heather Ross
153 Miller, J. Hillis
154 Miller, Vassar
155 Moore, Margaret
156 Moore, Sister Janet
157 Moss, Alwyn
158 Muldoon, Paul
159 Mullen, Kay
160 Murphy, Charles
161 NEA, NCA
162 Ochtrup, Monica
163 O'Connell Richard
164 O'Connor, Regina
165 O'Neil, Elizabeth
166 Other poets (miscellaneous)
167 Pacernick, Gary
168 Pankey, Eric
169 Parris, Ed
170 Paulson, Suzanne
171 Paz, Octavio
172 Peacock, Molly
173 Penny, Timothy
174 Perlis, Alan
175 Peters, Robert
176 Peterson, Ingrid
177 Plotz, Stacey
178 Poggenburg, Raymond
179 Price, Bobby
180 Public officials (letters from)
181-185 Publishers
186 Quinlan, Fr. Thomas
187 Quinn, Bernetta (outgoing letters)
188 Quinn, Patrick
189 Quinn, Roseland
190 Ragan, Sam
191-192 Ray, David
193 Reagan, Ronald
194 Rice, Susan
195-196 Rigsbee, David
197 Roselip, Ramond
198 Ross, Sr. Collette
199 Roper, Jack
200 Ruark, Gibbons
201 Rudge, Olga
202 Saint Andrews College
203 Sanderson, George
204 Schandelmeir, Nancy
205 Schwartz, Joe
206 Scott, Winfield Townley
207 Selness, Kathryn
208 Serio, John
209 Smart, Bill
210 Smith, Rod
211 Smyth, Gerard
212 Stamps, David
213-214 Stephenson, Shelby
215 Stevens, Wallace (about)
216 Stewart, Jack
217 Stitt, Pete
218 Stockum, Eleanor
219 Stone, Carol
220-221 Stone, John
222-223 Sullivan, Chuck
224 Sullivan, Walter F.
225 Susman, Bea
226 Sutton, Walter
227 Synnot, Audrey
228 Szladits, Lola
229 Tabachnick, Anne
230 Terrell C. F.
231 Theobald, John
232-233 Tilton, Sr. Raphael
234 UAB Elderhostel
235 Urbas, Elisheva
236 Usher, Valerie
237 Vaughn, Sherry (Elizabeth)
238 Vesper, Lee J.
239 Vesper, Rose
240 Vlazny, Rev. John
241 Wagner-Martin, Linda
242 Warren, Robert Penn
243 Watson, Robert
244 West, Robert
245-246 West, Tim
247 Wilbur, Richard
248 Williams, William E.
249 Willis, Patricia C.
250 Willoughby, H. Lee
251 Wright, Stuart
252 Yuhaus, Fr. Cassian
253-254 Zimmer, Paul
Series 1.2. Correspondents Identified by First Name Only
Ca. 1965-1994. About 200 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Letters from individuals who are identified by first name
only, many of whom are or were connected with the Catholic
Church.
255 Sister Alcantara
256 Mother Angelica
257 Williams, Floss
258 Janet
259 Fr. Michael
260 Fr. Paul
261 Roger (Gordian Press, Inc.)
262 Susan
263 Teresa
264 Fr. Vormwald
265 Walter
Subseries 1.3. Miscellaneous Correspondence
Ca. 1965-1990. About 200 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Miscellaneous letters, some of which is categorized by
subject. Professional letters are chiefly about grant
applications, job interviews, and related matters. Religious
letters are on religious themes.
Folder 266 Correspondents with last names A-M
267 Correspondents with last names N-Z
268 Correspondents identified by first names only
269 Unidentified correspondents
270 Professional letters
271 Religious letters
Series 2. Writings by Sister Bernetta
Ca. 1951-1990s. About 700 items.
Writings by Sister Bernetta, including scholarly articles,
poetry, book reviews, journals and meditations, and notes. This
series is divided into subseries according to genre, except for
subseries 2.6 which contains various writings in their published
forms.
Subseries 2.1. Scholarly Writings
Ca. 1959-1988. About 70 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Scholarly writings by Sister Bernetta about T. S. Eliot,
Wallace Stevens, and others, but focusing on Randall Jarrell.
The Jarrell criticism includes articles by Sister Bernetta, as
well as material for an apparently unpublished book on Jarrell
(folders 277-279). Also included are two audio cassette tapes of
lectures by Sister Bernetta.
Folders 272-281 Writings on Randall Jarrell
T-4307/1 Lecture on Jarrell
Folders 282-286b Writings on other authors
T-4307/2 Lecture on Dorothy Day
Subseries 2.2. Poetry
Ca. 1947-1990s. About 500 items.
Copies of poems by Sister Bernetta, many of them written in
the 1980s. This subseries is organized by composition stage,
with holograph drafts are first, followed by poems written in
journals, then poems with both holograph and typescript drafts,
offprints of published poems, and finally miscellaneous
typescript poems. Poems in their published form can be found in
Series 2.6. Also included is an audio cassette tape of Kay
Mullen reading from Sister Bernetta's Dancing in Stillness.
Folders 287-296
T-4307/3 Kay Mullen reading from Dancing in Stillness
Subseries 2.3. Book Reviews
Ca. 1966-1972. About 40 items.
Book reviews written by Sister Bernetta for newspapers and
journals. Book reviews in their published form can be found in
Series 2.6.
Folders 297-300
Subseries 2.4. Journals and Meditations
Ca. 1972-1988. About 20 Items.
Journals and meditations, most with religious themes. Much of
the material focuses on Sister Bernetta's relationship to God.
There are, however, several journals recording trips Sister
Bernetta made to Japan. Among these journal entries are included
postcards and newspaper clippings documenting her travel
experiences. Also included in several of the volumes are notes
and scholarly material.
Folders 301-307
Boxes 12-13
Subseries 2.5. "Pilgrimage to the Stars"
1987? 5 items.
In the 1980s, Sister Bernetta was preparing a prose adaptation
for children of Dante's Divine Comedy. These five notebooks
contain early drafts of this project.
Box 13
Subseries 2.6. Miscellaneous Writings
Ca. 1973-1991. About 30 items.
Bibliographies, letters to editors, and lectures given by
Sister Bernetta from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. The
bibliographies document her poetic and critical production over
the course of her career. The letters to editors are to both
newspapers and scholarly journals. Among the topics covered are
capital punishment and Ezra Pound. Lectures are entitled "What
Literature Affirms and How," "Portrait of a Distinguished Alumna:
Sonia Gernes," and "Image and Idea: The Collage in Freshman
Composition."
Folder 308 Bibliographies
309 Letters to editors
310 Lectures
Subseries 2.7. Writings in Published Form
Ca. 1951-1988. About 35 items.
Articles, poems, book reviews, and books by Sister Bernetta in
published form. Included are her books To God Alone the Glory:
A Life of Saint Bonaventure; Give Me Souls: A Life of Raphael
Cardinal Merry del Val; and Randall Jarrell (Twayne Series).
Also included are books in which her articles appear, such as
Modern American Poetry ("Paterson: Listening to Landscape") and
Sylvia Plath: New Views on the Poetry ("Medusan Imagery in
Sylvia Plath"). Also included are essays, book reviews, and
poems in Pembroke Magazine, the Georgia Review, Shenandoah, Saint
Andrews Review, and other journals. Dancing in Stillness, a
chapbook of Sister Bernetta's poems, is also included.
Boxes 14-15
Series 3. Writings by Others
Ca. 1958-1984. About 20 items.
Articles, poems, and books written by Arthur Axlerod, Mary
Belle Campbell, David Gascoyne, Pauline Hanson, Anne Kernan,
Heather Ross Miller (three books of poetry), Robert Peters, Ezra
Pound (Sister Bernetta's annotated copy of the Cantos), Shelby
Stephenson, and John Stone. Also included are the issues of
Wharrie Review, Medicine at Emory, Censer (College of Saint
Teresa, 1958), and LNII (Laurinburg Institute Yearbook, 1970-
1971). Also included are two audio cassette tapes that contain
readings by Sister Bernetta of Shelby Stephenson's "Finch's Mash"
and "The Persimmon Tree Carol."
Box 16
T-4307/4 "Finch's Mash"
T-4307/5 "The Persimmon Tree Carol"
Series 4. Pictures
Ca. 1937-1988. 33 items.
Photographs of Sister Bernetta, friends, and relatives. Of
interest is a photograph of poets James Wright and Robert Bly on
horseback, undated but apparently from the 1960s.
P-4307/1 James Wright and Robert Bly, undated.
P-4307/2 Caption: "Henry Moore's statue 'Knife Edge'
unveiled as a memorial to W. B. Yeats," 1976.
P-4307/3-23 Sister Bernetta with friends and family. Of note
are the "Class of 1937" pictures (P-4307/3 and P-
4307/10).
P-4307/24-33 Miscellaneous people.
Series 5. Other Papers
Ca. 1966-1992. About 250 items.
Newspaper clippings, newsletters, bulletins, handouts, flyers,
notices, and biographical material concerning Sister Bernetta,
her readings, and other topics.
Folder 311-315
Shelf List
Box 1 Series 1.1. (folders 1-46)
Box 2 Series 1.1. (folders 47-80)
Box 3 Series 1.1. (folders 81-119)
Box 4 Series 1.1. (folders 120-161)
Box 5 Series 1.1. (folders 162-191)
Box 6 Series 1.1. (folders 192-218)
Box 7 Series 1.1. (folders 219-252)
Box 8 Series 1.1. (folders 252-254)
Series 1.2. (folders 255-265)
Series 1.3. (folders 261-271)
Box 9 Series 2.1. (folders 272-283)
Box 10 Series 2.1. (folders 284-286b)
Series 2.2. (folders 287-295)
Box 11 Series 2.2. (folder 296)
Series 2.3. (folders 297-300)
Series 2.4. (folders 301-307)
Box 12 Series 2.4.
Box 13 Series 2.4.
Series 2.5.
Series 2.6. (folders 308-310)
Box 14 Series 2.7.
Box 15 Series 2.7.
Box 16 Series 3.
Box 17 Series 5. (folders 311-315)
Items separated:
T-4307/1-5
P-4307/1-33