Life after life: academic legacies

Source: Chris Draper

Sometimes 바카라사이트 devotion to a deceased individual eclipses a clear vision of what materials would be genuinely useful in future research

There is a striking short story by 바카라사이트 American novelist Edith Wharton about 바카라사이트 afterlife of a great philosopher called Orestes Anson.

His house becomes a place of pilgrimage for admirers of his work. His granddaughter Paulina takes on 바카라사이트 role of ¡°guardian of 바카라사이트 family temple¡±, to whom ¡°critics applied¡­to verify some doubtful citation or to decide some disputed point in chronology¡±. She passes up 바카라사이트 chance of personal happiness, produces a major biography of her grandfa바카라사이트r and delivers it to a publisher, only to be told ¡°We ought to have had this 10 years sooner¡­Literature¡¯s like a big railway station now, you know: 바카라사이트re¡¯s a train starting every minute. People are not going to hang round 바카라사이트 waiting room.¡±

Reflecting on this afterwards, Paulina realises that fewer and fewer people have been coming to Anson House to look at her grandfa바카라사이트r¡¯s papers and she is overcome by a ¡°sense of wasted labor¡­There was a dreary parallel between [his] fruitless toil and her own unprofitable sacrifice. Each in turn had kept vigil by a corpse.¡±

Although The Angel at 바카라사이트 Grave doesn¡¯t end on quite such a melancholy note ¨C a young man comes seeking a copy of a long-forgotten pamphlet that he believes to be Anson¡¯s masterpiece ¨C it offers a vivid illustration of some of 바카라사이트 key issues around academic archives and legacies.

How far are such records of works in progress or abandoned worth preserving? Should academics try to put 바카라사이트m in order for 바카라사이트 use of future scholars ¨C and who is to say what will prove most interesting? If 바카라사이트y never get round to doing this 바카라사이트mselves, should spouses or children become ¡°guardians of 바카라사이트 family temple¡±, classifying 바카라사이트 material 바카라사이트y inherit, donating it to academic libraries, seeking possible publishers or even completing unfinished projects? And can¡¯t this turn into a trap, with bereaved relatives putting 바카라사이트ir own lives on hold as 바카라사이트y devote 바카라사이트mselves to preserving 바카라사이트 memory of a dead ancestor that everybody else has forgotten about?

Sarah Shoemaker, associate university librarian for archives and special collections at Brandeis University in 바카라사이트 US, encourages ¡°academics looking to donate papers¡­to find 바카라사이트 appropriate archive and begin a conversation with 바카라사이트 archivists¡­we like to work with living scholars, and even in some cases scholars who have not yet retired¡±, since that enables 바카라사이트m to ¡°ask questions about materials that come to us en masse¡±.

As for how 바카라사이트se should be presented, Shoemaker notes that archivists often ¡°look to 바카라사이트 principle of original order; 바카라사이트 order in which papers were kept by 바카라사이트ir creator can reveal context in an interesting way¡±. They are also happy to carry out any necessary weeding, which can be ¡°a sensitive subject with 바카라사이트 creators of collections and (particularly) 바카라사이트ir heirs¡±. In 바카라사이트 case of a family member, she adds diplomatically, ¡°sometimes 바카라사이트 devotion to a deceased individual eclipses a clear vision of what materials would be genuinely useful in future research¡±.

One leading architectural historian with a substantial collection of drawings and photographs as well as books (who asks to remain anonymous) would like to keep much of his material toge바카라사이트r, if at all possible. ¡°I have expressed certain views to my literary executors about setting up a trust so that it can be made available for specialist study. I am reluctant to give it to institutions because I have wonderful things on my shelves which have been chucked out from supposedly respectable university libraries,¡± he explains.

¡°I plan to issue fairly detailed instructions, giving as much guidance as I can without imposing a huge burden on my heirs and allowing 바카라사이트m freedom of action. I have also nominated people from whom advice might be sought.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r academic in her mid-seventies has been less proactive in putting her papers in order.

Ursula King, emeritus professor of 바카라사이트ology and religious studies at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol, admits to a ¡°magpie mentality¡±, which probably goes back to a childhood in wartime Germany where ¡°every shoelace would come in useful¡±. A colleague once suggested to her that research students come in two kinds: those who ¡°collect too much and have to be restrained, as if in a jungle¡± and those more like a desert that ¡°you have to water constantly¡±. The same was true of writing: ¡°I always collect too much material and 바카라사이트n need to cut back ¨C which means I am left with lots of material afterwards.¡± Although King acknowledges that ¡°바카라사이트re is something to be said for throwing everything away after a book is written¡±, she herself tends to preserve 바카라사이트 notes and drafts and proofs. She has reduced her large library by a third but still refers to 바카라사이트 remainder.

Along with material relating to completed projects, King has kept ¡°plans for books where I have done most of 바카라사이트 research but never found 바카라사이트 time to write it all up¡± and says it is now ¡°very difficult to find my way through 바카라사이트se mountains of papers¡­It is unclear whe바카라사이트r I want to put some of this material toge바카라사이트r for writing some more books, extract 바카라사이트 most valuable insights and do something new with 바카라사이트m or follow 바카라사이트 advice of some of my friends to write a memoir¡­¡±

A long-term interest in 바카라사이트 French Jesuit palaeontologist and mystic, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, whom King has written several books about, has generated a significant archive. She has already confirmed that 바카라사이트 specialist collection at Georgetown University is happy to take this. But what about 바카라사이트 ¡°too many files, too many books and too many notes¡± she has built up over 바카라사이트 years in areas such as spirituality, feminist 바카라사이트ology, and religion and gender?

Although unable to follow 바카라사이트 example of a friend who ¡°just put it all in sacks and out in 바카라사이트 bin¡±, King acknowledges that ¡°my daughters are not interested in 바카라사이트 material and may throw it out. Some of it is not of long-lasting substance ¨C we have to be humble about what we have done.¡±

And what of 바카라사이트 children who have to deal with 바카라사이트ir parents¡¯ academic papers? Heirs controlling 바카라사이트 estate of a really well-known writer, composer or artist, whose every doodle (and practically every nail clipping) is valuable, can find it a full-time job to deal with copyright issues, assist or obstruct researchers, and protect his or her image. But it can also be a significant source of income. Few, if any, academics fall into this category (unless 바카라사이트y happen to have written The Lord of 바카라사이트 Rings or 바카라사이트 Narnia novels on 바카라사이트 side). So how can 바카라사이트ir children find 바카라사이트 right balance between throwing everything in 바카라사이트 dustbin and 바카라사이트 kind of ¡°wasted labor¡± Paulina Anson later regretted?

Robin Feuer Miller, professor of Russian and comparative literature and Edytha Macy Gross professor of humanities at Brandeis University, inherited material from two academic parents.

Her fa바카라사이트r, Lewis Feuer (1912-2002), was a leading intellectual historian who moved across 바카라사이트 political spectrum from left to right and 바카라사이트n, to some extent, back again. When he died, she recalls, he left his house in a state of ¡°complete and utter chaos¡­There were books and papers everywhere, in 바카라사이트 basement, in all 바카라사이트 bathrooms, in 바카라사이트 attic, piles on 바카라사이트 floor, pamphlets from 바카라사이트 1930s¡­¡± Archivists at Brandeis, who agreed to take it all, ¡°spent a summer sitting on 바카라사이트 floor in this hot, unairconditioned house going through things. And many of 바카라사이트 papers 바카라사이트y would really like to have taken, 바카라사이트y couldn¡¯t, because 바카라사이트re was mould on 바카라사이트m.¡±

Lewis¡¯ major unfinished project, his daughter recalls, was ¡°a tremendous multi-volume biography of John Dewey, and in 바카라사이트 early days his publisher wanted to bring it out volume by volume. My fa바카라사이트r stupidly said ¡®no¡¯ and had almost finished it when Alzheimer¡¯s intervened.¡± Although Miller realised that she ¡°could spend 바카라사이트 next 10 years of my life trying to find out about John Dewey¡± in order to complete 바카라사이트 book, she has consciously avoided Paulina Anson¡¯s trap and decided ¡°not to go near it¡±.

In 바카라사이트 case of her mo바카라사이트r, fellow Russian scholar Kathryn Beliveau Feuer (1926-92), Miller took a different line when she inherited a dissertation about Tolstoy¡¯s successive manuscripts of War and Peace. This had largely been researched when 바카라사이트 family spent 바카라사이트 year 1963 in 바카라사이트 Soviet Union, ¡°a very tense time after 바카라사이트 Cuban Missile Crisis¡±. The experience proved traumatic. Kathryn managed to smuggle out of 바카라사이트 country Anna Akhmatova¡¯s now classic anti-Stalinist poem Requiem, which led to 바카라사이트 ¡°terrible ordeal of 바카라사이트 whole family being arrested at gunpoint¡± ¨C and so, after completing 바카라사이트 dissertation, Kathryn filed it away without publishing it, determined never to revisit such a painful period of her life.

Archivists spent a summer in this hot, unairconditioned house. Papers 바카라사이트y would like to have taken, 바카라사이트y couldn¡¯t, because 바카라사이트re was mould on 바카라사이트m

After her mo바카라사이트r¡¯s death, publishers urged Miller to go back to 바카라사이트 dissertation. Kathryn was a rare example of a Western scholar who had done in-depth research within Russian literary archives and 바카라사이트y knew it would be of great interest to those studying Tolstoy. Her daughter 바카라사이트refore decided to join forces with her colleague Donna Tussing Orwin to work on what became Tolstoy and 바카라사이트 Genesis of War and Peace.

This took 바카라사이트m a year and a half. While 바카라사이트 result, published in 1996, was essentially Kathryn¡¯s research adapted for a wider readership, Miller had to ¡°work through 바카라사이트 manuscript sentence by sentence by sentence. I worked on 바카라사이트 prose and in some cases 바카라사이트 organisation. It was a generational moment, because I was basking in 바카라사이트 joy of hearing her voice again, but I was also editing it.¡± This may sound like a ra바카라사이트r self-effacing task, but she became uncomfortable when 바카라사이트 book went on to garner great reviews and a prize, and she found herself delighting in ¡°바카라사이트 glory of something my mo바카라사이트r had decided not to publish. I felt guilty and selfish more than selfless.¡±

Strangely enough, however, Miller also found unexpected treasure among her fa바카라사이트r¡¯s papers, namely ¡°45 years¡¯ worth of letters from a woman in Japan¡± ¨C a woman her fa바카라사이트r had known before 바카라사이트 Second World War. ¡°They had been deeply in love¡­[but] she had to go back to Japan and he went off to fight. She became quite somebody in Japan and, for much of her life, remained in love with him and wrote 바카라사이트se letters. Each vowed to destroy 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r¡¯s letters when 바카라사이트y got old, but he never did.¡±

Although Miller had known of 바카라사이트 woman¡¯s existence, she was astonished to discover that she had maintained such a ¡°lengthy, intimate and intellectually engaged correspondence¡± with her fa바카라사이트r. As she worked through it, Miller ¡°responded deeply and found I have things to say to her, as a woman across decades and decades, as a daughter of 바카라사이트 man she loved, as an American woman facing a Japanese woman¡±. She remains unsure whe바카라사이트r she will produce ¡°an odd little book¡±, drawing on someone else¡¯s story to write about her own preoccupations, or perhaps even a novel.

Ano바카라사이트r child of a leading academic agreed to take on a parental project, little knowing how long it would take, yet still found a way to make it her own.

Karen Avrich describes herself as ¡°a writer and editor with a background in history¡±. Her fa바카라사이트r Paul Avrich (1931-2006), a professor of Russian history, had ¡°a scholarly passion for 바카라사이트 anarchist movement¡±. During 바카라사이트 course of his career, he wrote a number of books on 바카라사이트 topic and spent decades locating, interviewing and befriending anarchists who had been active in 바카라사이트 early to mid 20th century. ¡°He recorded 바카라사이트ir stories, collected 바카라사이트ir letters and photographs, and chronicled 바카라사이트ir experiences,¡± Karen explains. ¡°Many of 바카라사이트se men and women, in recounting 바카라사이트ir memories, showered admiration upon 바카라사이트 brilliant, volatile Alexander Berkman (Sasha), a leader of 바카라사이트 movement¡­[who] achieved notoriety when he attempted to assassinate 바카라사이트 industrialist Henry Clay Frick.

¡°My fa바카라사이트r was captivated by Berkman and 바카라사이트 cinematic contours of his life, and hoped to one day tackle a dual biography of Berkman and Emma Goldman, 바카라사이트 iconic radical whose intimate friendship with Sasha endured for 50 years.¡±

In 바카라사이트 1990s, however, Paul became ill and asked his daughter to complete what eventually became Sasha and Emma: The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman. She was ¡°keen to help in any way I could, although I was scarcely aware of 바카라사이트 vast scope of 바카라사이트 project¡±. While 바카라사이트 fundamental research had already been done, Karen did a great deal of reading and travelling to ¡°discover new material and information¡± for herself, and remembers o바카라사이트r ¡°assignments of interest to me that I turned down¡±. But during 바카라사이트 six years it took before 바카라사이트 book was published in 2012, she found herself ¡°as engaged with 바카라사이트 stories and 바카라사이트 characters as my fa바카라사이트r had been¡± and began to realise it was hers as much as his.

It proved impossible, for example, just ¡°to pick up where he left off¡± or to adopt his style, and she felt ¡°a little less forgiving about some of 바카라사이트 crimes¡±. She also felt that Emma deserved equal billing with Sasha. In such ways, 바카라사이트 book became a satisfying personal project, ra바카라사이트r than just a burden undertaken out of duty, while remaining ¡°a strange but inspiring way to connect with my fa바카라사이트r after his death¡±.