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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 23.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 8,000 items) |
| Abstract | Betty Smith (1896-1972) was a white novelist and playwright of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Chapel Hill, N.C. Among her publications were A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943); Tomorrow Will Be Better (1948), Maggie-now (1958), and Joy in the Morning (1963). She was married successively to George H. E. Smith, Joseph P. Jones, and Robert V. Finch. The collection is largely professional and personal correspondence and writings by Betty Smith, Robert V. Finch (1909-1959), and others. Items are mainly incoming mail that relates to Smith's daily life, her family, and the publication of her works. Included are letters, 1943-1945, from Joe Jones, her second husband, then stationed at Fort Monroe, Va., and letters, 1937-1959, from her third husband, Robert V. Finch, both before and after their marriage, reflecting their personal and professional relationship. Writings are principally typescripts of plays, articles, short stories, novels, and an unfinished autobiography. Also included are scrapbooks, photographs, clippings, posters; and audio interviews conducted by independent scholar and oral historian, Valerie Raleigh Yow, during the writing of Betty Smith: Life of the Author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (2008). |
| Creator | Smith, Betty, 1896-1972. |
| Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Integration of materials in this collection has been deferred pending additions and changes in ownership and restrictions. Researchers are, therefore, cautioned to review the entire inventory to locate materials that may of be interest.
Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, June 1996
Encoded by: Jackie Dean, 1996
Updated by: Anne Wells and Melanie Meents, September 2021
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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Subject Headings
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.
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Related Collections
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Biographical Information
Elisabeth Wehner, professionally known as Betty Smith, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on 15 December 1896, to the children of German immigrants. She never completed high school and moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., when she married George H. E. Smith of Brooklyn, a senior law student at the University of Michigan. While in Ann Arbor, she was permitted to attend the University as a special student without being a candidate for a degree; she took classes in journalism, drama, writing, and literature. Smith won the Avery Hopw00d Award for work in drama and continued her studies at the Yale Drama School with Professor Baker as one of "Baker's Dozen, "thirteen students chosen to study play writing. Smith completed the three-year course, but was not awarded an M.F.A. since she held no other degrees.
Smith moved to New York with her two daughters, Nancy and Mary, in 1934 and worked for the Federal Theater, set up during the Depression by the W.P.A., which relocated her to Chapel Hill in 1936.
Smith and her first husband divorced in 1938. She was married to Joe Jones, a writer, journalist, and associate editor of the Chapel Hill Weekly, from 1943 to 1951. Smith was active in the theatrical community of Chapel Hill for many years, writing and helping with stage productions. She received both the Rockefeller Fellowship and the Dramatist Guild Fellowship for writing and wrote numerous plays before publishing her first novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, in 1943. Smith's other novels include Tomorrow Will be Better (1947), Maggie-Now (1958), and Joy in the Morning (1963).
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Scope and Content
Integration of materials in this collection has been deferred pending additions and changes in ownership and restrictions. Researchers are, therefore, cautioned to review the entire inventory to locate materials that may of be interest.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. General Materials, 1909-1971.
Included are volumes of scrapbooks; Smith's correspondence; letters to and about her third husband, Robert Finch; and correspondence with Harper and Brothers about the publication of her works. Note that similar materials may be found in other series.
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Subseries 1.1. Scrapbooks, Albums, and Index Cards, 1909-1931 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Scrapbooks compiled by Smith with poetry and other clippings, an autograph album, and index cards of Betty Smith. See also oversized volumes of newspaper clippings of articles on Smith in Subseries 4.2.
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Subseries 1.2. Correspondence and Other Papers, 1927-1971.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence, mainly incoming, relating to Smith's day-to-day life as a professional writer; the phenomenal response to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; the writing, promotion, and sale of her subsequent novels and related motion pictures and musical plays; and family and personal letters.
Personal correspondence includes letters from friends and family members, including her mother, children, and grandchildren, as well as fan letters from all over the world and requests for autographs and personal appearances. There are also more than 400 letters from her second husband, Joe Jones, while he was stationed at Fort Monroe, Va., May 1943-July 1945.
Business correspondence is composed chiefly of letters from various publishing companies with which Smith dealt in the course of her career (see Subseries 1.4 for Harper and Brothers correspondence). Other business correspondence deals with film productions of Smith's novels or translation rights. There is also correspondence pertaining to Smith's collaboration with Jack Woodford, Chase Webb, Jay Sigmund, and Robert Finch.
Throughout the collection, there are letters from Robert Voris Finch (1909-1959), Smith's third husband, who she met at Yale Drama School. They both worked for the Federal Writers Project in Chapel Hill until he moved back to New York City in 1937. He continued to write to Smith until the early 1950s when he returned to Chapel Hill. His correspondence reflects his personal relationship with Smith as well as various aspects of their professional teamwork, such as author agreements and clarifications of plot ideas. In most of their collaborations, Finch devised the plot and Smith staged the play. Finch died in 1959 and correspondence through 1960 deals with his estate (see also Subseries 1.3 for addition Finch materials).
Engagement calendars from 1964 and 1969 are filed at the end of those years. For some years, there are also financial papers (filed at the end of the year's listing). These typically include summaries of royalty accounts, income tax returns, and contracts.
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Subseries 1.3. Robert V. Finch, 1928 and 1944-1960.
Arrangement: chronological.
Army and military papers, correspondence, and business papers of Robert. V. Finch, Smith's third husband.
| Folder 213 |
1928, 1944-1947 |
| Folder 214 |
1952-1955 |
| Folder 215 |
1958 |
| Folder 216 |
1959-1960 |
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Subseries 1.4. Harper and Brothers Series, 1942-1972.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence of Harper and Brothers (now Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.) with Betty Smith and others about editing, production, royalties, rights, and translations of Smith's novels. Also included is the related office correspondence among members of the firm.
| Folder 217 |
1942 |
| Folder 218 |
1943: January-March |
| Folder 219 |
1943: April-July |
| Folder 220 |
1943: August-September |
| Folder 221 |
1943: October-December |
| Folder 222 |
1944: January-March |
| Folder 223 |
1944: April-17 May |
| Folder 224 |
1944: 18 May-June |
| Folder 225 |
1944: July-August |
| Folder 226 |
1944: September-16 October |
| Folder 227 |
1944: 17 October-December |
| Folder 228 |
1945: January-March |
| Folder 229 |
1945: April-June |
| Folder 230 |
1945: July-September |
| Folder 231 |
1945: October-December |
| Folder 232 |
1946: January-May |
| Folder 233 |
1946: June-August |
| Folder 234 |
1946: September-December |
| Folder 235 |
1947: January-April |
| Folder 236 |
1947: May-July |
| Folder 237 |
1947: August-15 October |
| Folder 238 |
1947: 16 October-December |
| Folder 239 |
1948: January-February |
| Folder 240 |
1948: March-9 May |
| Folder 241 |
1948: 10 May-June |
| Folder 242 |
1948: July-August |
| Folder 243 |
1948: September-October |
| Folder 244 |
1948 November-1949 |
| Folder 245 |
1951 |
| Folder 246 |
1952-1953 |
| Folder 247 |
1955-19 November 1956 |
| Folder 248 |
20 November-31 December 1956 |
| Folder 249 |
1957: January-June |
| Folder 250 |
1957: July-15 October |
| Folder 251 |
1957: 16 October-31 November |
| Folder 252 |
1957: December |
| Folder 253 |
1958: January-February |
| Folder 254 |
1958: March-May |
| Folder 255 |
1958 June-1961 |
| Folder 256 |
1963: January-July |
| Folder 257 |
1963: August |
| Folder 258 |
1963: September-October |
| Folder 259 |
1963 November-1964 February |
| Folder 260 |
1964: March-July |
| Folder 261 |
1964: August-December |
| Folder 262 |
1965: January-August |
| Folder 263 |
1965: September-December |
| Folder 264 |
966 |
| Folder 265 |
1967 |
| Folder 266 |
1968-1972 |
Folder 267-299
Folder 267Folder 268Folder 269Folder 270Folder 271Folder 272Folder 273Folder 274Folder 275Folder 276Folder 277Folder 278Folder 279Folder 280Folder 281Folder 282Folder 283Folder 284Folder 285Folder 286Folder 287Folder 288Folder 289Folder 290Folder 291Folder 292Folder 293Folder 294Folder 295Folder 296Folder 297Folder 298Folder 299 |
Not used |
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Series 2. Writings, 1921-1971.
Arrangement: chronological.
Principally typescripts of plays, articles, short stories, an unfinished autobiography, and novels. The arrangement is largely chronological, based upon where Smith was living when pieces were written, but the novels and autobiography are treated separately. Also included are plays by Smith's third husband, Robert V. Finch, with whom she collaborated on a few works, and a few works by other authors.
See also Series 3 for writings transferred from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Series 4 for printed articles, reviews, etc.; and Series 5 for other writings.
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Subseries 2.1. Articles, Plays, and Short Stories, 1921-1971.
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Subseries 2.1.1. Michigan Years, 1921-1931.
Articles, plays, and stories written by Smith while residing in Michigan, 1921-1931.
| Folder 300 |
"Casual Calvary" and "The Dreadful Obvious" |
| Folder 301 |
"Green Grow the Freshmen" |
Folder 302-304
Folder 302Folder 303Folder 304 |
"Jonica Starrs" |
| Folder 305 |
"Mr. Russell and Sex Education" |
| Folder 306 |
Articles: "I Want to Write," "Listen to America," "On Discovering Thomas Hardy," "On Imaginary Companionship" |
| Folder 307 |
Articles: "Special Matinee for Women Only," "What are we going to do about propaganda?" "What Good is College?" "Women Crucified" |
| Folder 308 |
Short sketches, "Interlewds" and others |
| Folder 309 |
Printed material from college courses |
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Subseries 2.1.2. Yale Years, 1931-1934.
Articles, plays, and other writings from the three years Smith was enrolled in the Yale Drama School.
| Folder 310 |
"The Country Lawyer" |
| Folder 311 |
"Divorce Lawyer" |
Folder 312-313
Folder 312Folder 313 |
"You Promised Me" |
Folder 314-315
Folder 314Folder 315 |
"Interne" |
Folder 316-317
Folder 316Folder 317 |
Printed material from a Yale drama course |
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Subseries 2.1.3. New York Years, 1934-1936.
Short stories and other writings from the period when Smith moved back to New York City and attempted to find work as a writer or playwright there.
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Subseries 2.1.4. Chapel Hill Years, 1936-1971.
Articles, plays, and other shorter works of fiction from the period after Smith was transferred by the W.P.A. to Chapel Hill and where she remained for the rest of her life.
Folder 329-330
Folder 329Folder 330 |
Federal Theater: "King Cotton" |
Folder 331-337
Folder 331Folder 332Folder 333Folder 334Folder 335Folder 336Folder 337 |
Federal Theater: Living Newspaper |
| Folder 338 |
Book reviews, foreword, articles |
| Folder 339 |
Articles |
| Folder 340 |
"Story Told in Indiana" and "An Understanding Heart" |
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Subseries 2.2. Autobiography, undated.
An unfinished, unpublished autobiography of Smith. Smith's daughter apparently regarded this telling of Smith's life as highly embellished.
| Folder 341 |
"A Child, A Tree, A Book" |
| Folder 342 |
"A Child, A Tree, A Book" and "Look Back with a Smile" |
Folder 343-344
Folder 343Folder 344 |
"Look Back with a Smile" |
| Folder 345 |
Notes |
Folder 346-347
Folder 346Folder 347 |
"Hummel Saga" |
Folder 348-350
Folder 348Folder 349Folder 350 |
Notes |
| Folder 351 |
Pages from which a fresh type draft for submission was taken |
Folder 352-354
Folder 352Folder 353Folder 354 |
Notes |
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Subseries 2.3. Novels, 1943-1971.
Drafts of novels written by Smith. See also Series 3 and Series 4.
| Folder 355 |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: miscellaneous material |
| Folder 356a |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (play) |
| Folder 356b |
"Becomes a Woman" |
| Folder 356c |
"Rendezvous in Brooklyn" |
| Folder 356d |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: fragments of early drafts |
Folder 357-359
Folder 357Folder 358Folder 359 |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: fragments of drafts |
| Folder 360 |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: motion picture script |
| Folder 361a-361e |
Maggie Now |
| Folder 362a-362h |
Annie Brown |
| Folder 363 |
Novel fragments |
| Folder 364 |
Out of the Prairie (fragment) and "Prairie Boy" |
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Subseries 2.4. Robert V. Finch Writings, undated.
Plays written by Finch and a few collaborative writings with Smith. See also Series 5.
| Folder 365 |
Plays (by Smith and Finch): "Upstage" |
| Folder 366 |
Telecast "Western Night" (by Smith and Finch) |
| Folder 367 |
Plays: "The Card," "A Certain Man had Two Sons," "The Day They all Came Back" |
| Folder 368 |
Plays: "The Desert Shall Rejoice, " "The Grass is Always Greener" |
| Folder 369 |
"The Invaders" |
| Folder 370 |
Plays |
| Folder 371 |
"Nature Man" |
| Folder 372 |
"Old What-his-name" |
| Folder 373 |
"The Peabody Plan" |
| Folder 374 |
"A Point of View" and "Rodeo" |
Folder 375-377
Folder 375Folder 376Folder 377 |
"Tina" |
| Folder 378 |
Short Story: "Certain Aspects of the Shore" |
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Subseries 2.5. Writings of Others, undated.
Writings by other authors, including Smith's children and her second husband, Joe Jones.
| Folder 379 |
Jay G. Sigmund |
| Folder 380 |
Joe Jones,Peter M. Jack,George B. Dowell, and Murray Swisher |
| Folder 381 |
Josephine Niggli and Chuck Mooney |
| Folder 382 |
Walter Carroll |
| Folder 383 |
Frederick G. Walsh |
| Folder 384 |
Smith children |
| Folder 385 |
Mary Smith |
| Folder 386 |
Nancy Smith |
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Subseries 2.6. Unidentified Writings and Fragments, undated.
Mainly unidentified writings or fragments found among Smith's papers.
| Folder 387 |
Writings probably by Betty Smith |
| Folder 388 |
Writings probably by other authors |
Folder 389-390
Folder 389Folder 390 |
Unidentified |
| Folder 391 |
Unidentified fragments |
Folder 392-394
Folder 392Folder 393Folder 394 |
Fragments |
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Series 3. Writings Transferred from the North Carolina Collection, 1933-1964.
Manuscripts relating to published works of Betty Smith that were transferred from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. See also Series 2 (especially Subseries 2.3) for related writings. Note that similar materials may be found in other series.
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Series 4. Printed Material, Clippings, and Other Items, 1928-1971.
Chiefly newspaper clippings and other printed material collected by Smith, some of which were mounted in oversize scrapbooks. Also included is biographical information, a taped interview, and materials relating to her novels and other works. Note that similar materials may be found in other series.
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Subseries 4.1. Loose Material, 1930s-1971.
Newspaper clippings and other material of interest to Smith, including articles by and about her; biographical information; audiotapes of an interview with Smith and her daughter going through her papers after her mother's death; and other items pertaining to the publication of her novels and the release of the film, Joy in the Morning.
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Subseries 4.2. Oversized Volumes of Clippings, 1928-1963.
Oversize volumes of clippings of articles by or about Smith, especially relating to the publication of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
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Series 5. Wachovia Bank and Trust Addition, 1932-1971.
RESTRICTED: No photocopying of materials is permitted without permission from a trust officer of the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company.
This addition to the Betty Smith Papers consists almost entirely of typed manuscripts of plays, novels, short stories, and articles by Betty Smith, as well as rough drafts, partly completed works, and handwritten notes. There are also works, chiefly plays, that Smith wrote in collaboration with others, particularly her third husband, Robert V. Finch, and writings by Finch and other authors.
The remainder of the material includes correspondence, mostly between Smith and her agent and publishers; biographical information on Smith; and assorted clippings. Twenty photographs, most of which are publicity stills from the film version of Smith's 1963 novel Joy in the Morning, are filed separately.
Note that similar materials may be found in other series.
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Series 6. Other Additions, undated.
Additions from the estate of Betty Smith in 1990 and the Joseph P. Jones Papers. These additions include scripts for play, papers from the 1951 Smith/Jones divorce, and insurance papers from Smith's house in Chapel Hill while she was married to Jones. Also included are materials relating to the Mangum family and letter from Smith to François Henroid.
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Series 7. Pictures, 1910s-1970s.
Image Folder PF-3837/1-2
PF-3837/1PF-3837/2 |
Photographs of Betty Smith. |
Image Folder PF-3837/3-4
PF-3837/3PF-3837/4 |
Photographs of Betty Smith with other people. |
Image Folder PF-3837/5-11
PF-3837/5PF-3837/6PF-3837/7PF-3837/8PF-3837/9PF-3837/10PF-3837/11 |
Friends and relatives of Betty Smith and other unidentified people. |
| Image Folder PF-3837/12 |
Photographs of scenes from plays, four of which include Smith in costume. |
Image Folder PF-3837/13-14
PF-3837/13PF-3837/14 |
Film stills and photographs relating to Joy in the Morning, 1963. |
| Image Folder PF-3837/15 |
Photographs from Chapel Hill and Nags Head, N.C. |
| Image Folder PF-3837/16 |
Photographs of unidentified locations. |
| Image Folder PF-3837/17 |
Watercolors and other pictures relating to Smith's novels. |
Image Folder PF-3837/18-19
PF-3837/18PF-3837/19 |
Photographs from additions of December 1998 and April 1999. |
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Series 8A. Betty Smith: Life of the Author of A Tree Grows audio interviews, 1999-2000 (Addition
of April 2013)
Acquisitions Information: Accession 101788.
Arrangement: as received.
Audiocassettes containing recorded interviews conducted by Valerie Raleigh Yow during the writing of Betty Smith: Life of the Author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Valerie Yow, 2008). Tape indexes to interviews are also included. Valerie Raleigh Yow is an independent scholar of Chapel Hill, N.C. Yow has been book review editor for the Oral History Review, a member of the governing council of the Oral History Association, and faculty at both the University of Rhode Island and Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.
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