Inventory of the Jonathan Yardley Papers, 1792-2006

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Biographical Note

Jonathan Yardley, Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic, columnist, and author, was born 27 October 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pa., to William Woolsey Yardley and Helen Ingersoll Gregory Yardley. The bulk of his childhood was spent in Chatham, Va., where his father was the headmaster of Chatham Hall, a girls' boarding school. In 1957, Yardley graduated from the Groton School in Groton, Mass., and went on to attend the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C., from which he graduated with a degree in English in 1961. While at UNC, Yardley edited the school newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel. Upon graduation, Yardley became an intern at the New York Times, where he was an assistant to James Reston.

In 1964, Yardley began his newspaper career as an editorial writer and book reviewer at the Greensboro, N.C., News and Record, where he stayed for the next ten years. From 1968 to 1969, Yardley was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. From 1974 to 1978, he was the book editor at the Miami Herald, and, from 1978 to 1981, he held the position of book critic at the Washington Star, where he won a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism in 1981. When the Star folded in 1981, Yardley became book critic and columnist at the Washington Post.

Yardley was the author of several books, including a Ring (1977), a biography of Ring Lardner; Our Kind of People (1989), a family memoir about the lives of his parents; Out of Step: Notes from a Purple Decade (1991), a collection of his columns from the Washington Post; States of Mind: A Personal Journey Through the Mid-Atlantic (1993); Misfit, a biography of Fred Exley; and Monday Morning Quarterback (1998). His book reviews and articles appeared in the New Republic, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Esquire, Saturday Review, the New York Times Magazine, and other publications.

Collection Overview

The collection consists of subject files, clippings, book production materials, and family materials relating to book critic, columnist, and author Jonathan Yardley. Subject files relate to Yardley's career as a book critic, columnist, and author. Included is personal and professional correspondence with authors and others, among them Roger Angell, William Bennett, Doris Betts, Laurie Colwin, Robert Creamer, his agent Liz Darhansoff, Robb Dew, Fred Exley, Lynn Freed, Ellen Gilchrist, Gail Godwin, Don Graham, Paul Hemphill, Alfred Knopf, George McGovern, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, James Reston, Anne Tyler, Peter Taylor, Paul Theroux, and Ed Yoder. There is also correspondence regarding the publication of his books, articles, and his appointment on Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award committees and with members of his family. Subject files also include materials relating to books and projects that Yardley never completed, such as biographies of Stephen Crane and H. L. Mencken; materials relating to articles, reviews, and columns published in magazines and newspapers; materials relating to his childhood and school years through college; and materials relating to Yardley's family and heritage, including his father's work at the Chatham Hall girls' school in Chatham, Va. Clippings include columns and reviews written by Yardley during his tenure at the Washington Post and other newspapers. Book production materials relate to Ring, Our Kind of People, Out of Step: Notes from a Purple Decade, and States of Mind: A Personal Journey Through the Mid-Atlantic. Family materials include items relating to Yardley's parents, William Woolsey Yardley and Helen Ingersoll Gregory Yardley; family letters; memoirs; genealogical materials relating to the Yardley, Woolsey, Hart, Thorne, Gregory, and Ingersoll families; financial and legal documents; a diary; and carte de visite albums, photograph albums, and other images.

Arrangement of Collection

Items Separated

Detailed Description of the Collection

Three runs of subject files created by Yardley. See the descriptions below for the general contents of each run. Note that, for the most part, original order and folder titles have been retained.

Subject files containing both professional and personal materials. The bulk of the materials consists of correspondence with authors whose books Yardley reviewed or with whom he was friendly, with other people, about the publication of his books and articles, about his appointment on Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award committees, and with members of his family.

Notable correspondents include: Roger Angell, William Bennett, Doris Betts, Laurie Colwin, Robert Creamer, his agent Liz Darhansoff, Robb Dew, Fred Exley, Lynn Freed, Ellen Gilchrist, Gail Godwin, Don Graham, Paul Hemphill, Alfred Knopf, George McGovern, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, James Reston, Anne Tyler, Peter Taylor, Paul Theroux, and Ed Yoder.

Other subject files consist of materials relating to books and projects which Yardley undertook but never completed, such as biographies of Stephen Crane and H. L. Mencken; materials relating to articles, reviews, and columns published in various magazines and newspapers; and materials relating to his childhood and school years through college, including report cards, manuscripts, two scrapbooks compiled by Yardley while he attended Woodberry Forest, and an audiotape entitled "Squibs, '57." Other materials in the subseries include manuscripts, information regarding the Nieman Foundation, and a list of books owned by Yardley (folder 189).

Materials chiefly relating to Yardley's family and heritage, predominantly about the lives of his parents. These materials were most likely compiled as a result of Yardley's efforts to gather information for his book, Our Kind of People. ncluded are family papers, financial documents, and partial transcripts of interviews Yardley conducted with family members and friends on subjects relating to his father, William Woolsey Yardley, regarding aspects of his life as a father and husband and as headmaster of Chatham Hall, and to his mother, Helen Ingersoll Gregory Yardley, regarding aspects of her life as a wife and mother.

See Series 3.2 for other materials relating to Our Kind of People and Series 4 for other family materials.

Folder titles were retained whenever possible. Folders relating to Yardley's family members are filed by first name.

Clippings of reviews and columns written by Yardley during his tenure at the Washington Post. Most articles were published in the "Book World" section. Other clippings include "Second Readings" and reprints of articles.

Materials relating to the lives of Yardley's parents, William Woolsey Yardley and Helen Ingersoll Gregory Yardley, including letters; financial and legal documents; materials relating to their hobbies; and materials relating to William Woolsey Yardley's career as headmaster of Chatham Hall, a boarding school for girls, and as an Episcopalian minister.

Other family materials consist of memoirs; genealogical materials relating to the Yardley, Woolsey, Hart, Thorne, Gregory, and Ingersoll families; financial and legal documents; family letters; a diary written by Theodora Woolsey in 1874 and diary pages from "Elly's Diary", 1879 (folder 631); three carte de visite albums belonging to Ella Yardley and two photograph albums belonging to William H. Thorne; and other materials.

See Series 1.3 and 3.2 for other family materials relating to Our Kind of People.