Inventory   [ + ]

Guide to the Theodore Roethke papers and collected materials on Theodore Roethke
1891-2002

Biographical Note

American poet and author Theodore Roethke was born on May 25, 1908, in Saginaw, Michigan. He received his A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1929 and his M.A. in 1936; he also was enrolled in the graduate program at Harvard University in 1930-1931. He married Beatrice Heath O'Connell on January 3, 1953. He died on August 1, 1963, on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

His taught English at a number of universities:

• Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, instructor in English, 1931-1935
• Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, instructor in English, 1935
• Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, instructor, 1936-1939, assistant professor of English, 1939-1943, 1947
• Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont, assistant professor of English, 1943-1946
• University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, associate professor, 1947-1948, professor of English, 1948-1962, poet-in-residence, 1962-1963
• Fulbright lecturer in Italy, 1955

His published poetry included the following works:

• Open House (New York: Knopf, 1941).
• The Lost Son and Other Poems (Garden City: Doubleday, 1948; London: Lehmann, 1949).
• Praise to the End! (Garden City: Doubleday, 1951).
• The Waking, Poems: 1933-1953 (Garden City: Doubleday, 1953).
• Words for the Wind (London: Secker & Warburg, 1957; Garden City: Doubleday, 1958).
• I Am! Says the Lamb (Garden City: Doubleday, 1961).
• Party at the Zoo (New York: Crowell-Collier, 1963).
• Sequence, Sometimes Metaphysical (Iowa City: Stonewall Press, 1963).
• The Far Field (Garden City: Doubleday, 1964; London: Faber & Faber, 1965).
• On the Poet and His Craft, editor Ralph J. Mills, Jr. (Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, 1965).
• The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke (Garden City: Doubleday, 1966; London: Faber & Faber, 1968).
• Theodore Roethke: Selected Poems, editor Beatrice Roethke (London: Faber & Faber, 1969).
• Straw for the Fire. From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63, editor David Wagoner (Garden City: Doubleday, 1972).
• Dirty Dinkey and Other Creatures: Poems for Children, editor Beatrice Roethke and Stephen Lushington (Garden City: Doubleday, 1973).
• The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1982).

Arrangement

Arranged in 31 accessions:

• Accession No. 0418-001, Theodore Roethke papers, 1930-1963
• Accession No. 0418-002, Theodore Roethke poems from the Richard P. Blackmur papers at Princeton University, undated
• Accession No. 0418-003, Theodore Roethke correspondence to Dorothy Gordon, 1933-1945
• Accession No. 0418-004, Theodore Roethke poems, undated
• Accession No. 0653-001, Rolfe Humphries recordings and notes on Theodore Roethke, 1966
• Accession No. 0653-002, Theodore Roethke correspondence to Rolfe Humphries, 1933-1952
• Accession No. 0653-003, Theodore Roethke papers, 1933-1963
• Accession No. 1396-001, Theodore Roethke correspondence to John Warriner, 1931
• Accession No. 1484-001, Transcription of sound recording of Theodore Roethke and Linenthal Myers, 1963
• Accession No. 1624-001, Theodore Roethke papers, 1953-1959
• Accession No. 1624-002, Theodore Roethke papers, circa 1966-1968
• Accession No. 1624-004, Theodore Roethke photographs, 1954
• Accession No. 1624-005, Theodore Roethke microfilmed correspondence, 1935-1962
• Accession No. 1624-006, Theodore Roethke papers, 1961, undated
• Accession No. 1624-007, Theodore Roethke artifacts and memorabilia, circa 1898-1963
• Accession No. 1624-008, Theodore Roethke poems, undated
• Accession No. 1624-009, Theodore Roethke telegram, 1947
• Accession No. 1624-010, Sound recordings, writings, and portrait of Theodore Roethke, 1937-1955
• Accession No. 1624-011, Theodore Roethke memorabilia and scrapbooks, undated
• Accession No. 1624-012, Music scores of Theodore Roethke poems, 1947-1963
• Accession No. 1624-013, Theodore Roethke periodical collection, 1922-1965
• Accession No. 1624-014, Theodore Roethke annotated books
• Accession No. 1624-015, Theodore Roethke letters to Mary Kunkel, 1935-1938
• Accession No. 1624-016, Theodore Roethke microfilmed notebooks, 1930-1962
• Accession No. 1624-018, Theodore Roethke sound recordings of poetry readings, 1937-1955
• Accession No. 1624-020, Collected materials about Theodore Roethke, 1982-1990
• Accession No. 1624-021, Theodore Roethke papers, 1947-1971
• Accession No. 1624-022, Theodore and Beatrice Roethke letters and notes, 1944-1963, 2002
• Accession No. 1624-023, Theodore Roethke poem, undated
• Accession No. 1922-001, Catalog of Theodore Roethke's personal library, undated
• Accession No. 1923-001, Selections from Theodore Roethke's personal library, undated

Scope and Content

Correspondence, literary manuscripts, notebooks, annotated publications, sound recordings and other materials.

Alternate Forms Available

Microfilm reproductions of select portions of the papers are available.

Restrictions on Access

Open to all users with specific research projects.

Microfilm must be used in place of originals whenever possible. Permission of the Pacific Northwest Curator required to use original materials when microfilm is available.

Note: This material is not available for use on Saturdays and holidays.. For general information on our normal business hours, please see our hours of operation listing.

Restrictions on Use

Theodore Roethke's literary rights are retained by his widow, Mrs. Beatrice Roethke Lushington.

Bibliography

Publication information about Roethke's work may be found in Matheson, John W.Theodore Roethke: a bibliography (University of Washington School of Librarianship Master's Thesis, 1958.)

Inventory