A Guide to the Allen Polite Papers
2010.0117
Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries
11.0 Linear feet
1955-1993.
Handwritten manuscripts, notebooks, letters, typed transcriptions of poetry, prose and a play for voices, by Allen Polite, writer and artist affiliated with the Black Arts Movement. Published works of Allen Polite's poetry, and transcriptions, produced by his widow Helene Polite can be found throughout.
Polite, Allen, 1932-1993.
Biography
Writer and artist
Allen Polite (1932-1993) was born in
Newark, NJ. He was raised and went to school there until he was drafted into the
United States Army. He served in
Korea and
Japan in 1952 and 1953. Polite settled in Greenwich Village, and between 1954 and 1956, studied philosophy at
Columbia University. After 1958, he worked at the
United Nations headquarters in New York. The writer
LeRoi Jones acknowledged Polite as his 'mentor' in his
Autobiography and first published Polite's poetry in 1958 in the magazine
Yugen. In the early 1960s Polite worked on a novel (never completed) and a long cycle of poetry and prose called "The Dead Seeds," but he refused to publish his work. Polite's writing was included in
Sixes and Sevens, An Anthology of New Poetry (Paul Breman, London, 1962), and
Langston Hughes'
New Negro Poets, U.S.A. published in 1964.
Carlene Hatcher Polite in her first novel
The Flagellants, published initially in
France in 1966, featured the relationship of a young couple that is partially based on her relationship with
Allen Polite.
In 1963 Polite left New York for Paris, London, and Stockholm, where he visited his friend the artist
Harvey Cropper. He decided to settle in Stockholm, where he joined an international group of artists which centered on a number of black Americans already resident there. Polite began drawing and painting in addition to his writing, and in 1964 he organized and sponsored the exhibition "10 American Negro Artists Living and Working in Europe" at Den Frie, the largest gallery in Copenhagen. To support himself, Polite took a job as a clerk at
CWZ Grafiska AB, a company that supplied material for the graphic industry, and subsequently gained the position of head buyer for bookbinding material. In Sweden he met
Helene Etzelsdorfer who remained his companion, and later his wife, from 1963 until his death from cancer in 1993. She prepared Allen's work for publication and privately published three volumes including
Poems (1996),
The Rice and Fiol of the Turd Rake (1996), a 'rhapsodic play for three voices', and
Looka Here, Now! (1997), poems from the 1950s.
Scope and Content
The collection contains handwritten manuscripts by
Allen Polite of poetry, prose, aphorisms, dialogues, songs and a play for voices; early writing and student work; notebooks including drafts and notes; transcriptions of poetry by
Helene Polite; published works edited and produced by Helene Polite, and a self-portrait in watercolor.
Arrangement
Handwritten manuscripts and notebooks are filed with typed transcriptions by
Helene Polite. Titles for individual texts are linked in this inventory to their location in the collection, and additionally, are filed in hardcopy with their associated manuscripts.
Series I: Box Inventory (
1955-1993)
Restrictions on Use
Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from the owner of the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Item description, #:#]
Allen Polite Papers.
Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center,
University of Connecticut Libraries.
Acquisition Information
This collection was donated by
Helene Polite in September 2010, with the generous assistance of Samuel and
Ann Charters.
Access
The collection is open and available for research.
African American authors
African American poets
Correspondence
Manuscripts (document genre)
Notes
Photographs
Publications
Sketches
United States
Works of Art
Series I: Box Inventory
1955-1993
Family letters and student work,
1:
1-3
circa 1955-1958
Manuscripts (uncataloged),
1:
4-9
undated
Postcard (
LeRoi Jones) and personal documents,
1:
10
undated, 1958
Notebooks and typed transcriptions of the poetic cycle 'The Dead Seeds', and other poems including 'Politics' [Reference: Binder 1A]
2:
11-14
undated
Poem titles included in this series [link below], undated
Typed transcriptions [Reference: Binder 1B]
2:
15-18
undated
Notebooks (1959, 1964) and draft transcriptions of 'May 66', 'Aug 59', '64 doc', 'Mephisto', and others [Reference: Binder 2A],
2:
19-20
1959, 1964
Poem titles included in this series [link below], 1959, 1964
Notebook (1966) and draft transcriptions of 'May 66', and others [Reference: Binder 2A]
3:
21-22
1966
Poem titles included in this series [link below], 1966
Typed transcriptions [Reference: Binder 2B]
3:
23-25
undated
Manuscripts and longer prose texts, including section 'Intimate Letters' and 'Teaball'; and notebooks and draft transcriptions. [Reference: Binder 3A]
3:
26-29
undated
Poem titles included in this series [link below], undated
Typed transcriptions [Reference: Binder 3B],
4:
30-33
undated
Manuscripts and transcriptions [Reference: Binder 4A],
4:
34-36
undated
Poem titles included in this series [link below], undated
Typed transcriptions [Reference: Binder 4B],
4:
37-38
undated
Typed transcriptions [Reference: Binder 4B],
5:
39-40
undated
Manuscripts, including 'In the North' and poems from 'The Dead Seeds' and 'Abra - Beuhla - Cadabra (play for voices)'; a notebook, and draft transcriptions. [Reference: Binder 5A],
5:
41-42
undated
Poem titles included in this series [link below], undated
Typed transcriptions [Reference: Binder 5B],
5:
43-45
undated
Manuscripts, including 'The New Poets', 'Tolstoy', and two notebooks (ca. 1963 to 1965), with transcriptions [Reference: Binder 6A],
6:
46-49
undated
Poem titles included in this series [link below], undated
Typed transcriptions [Reference: Binder 6B],
6:
50-54
undated
Materials chosen for 'The Dead Seeds' with copious notations by several different readers (no manuscript materials included). [Reference: Binder 8A],
6:
55-57
undated
Materials chosen for 'The Dead Seeds' with copious notations by several different readers (no manuscript materials included). [Reference: Binder 8A],
7:
58-61
undated
Final draft of 'The Dead Seeds' (poems selected by
Helene Polite from various manuscripts and transcriptions). [Reference: Typescript 8B],
7:
62-65
undated
Self portrait in watercolor
X II.5 no. 7
Transcripts of interviews by and about Allen Polite, typed draft manuscript for "Looka Here, Now!" edited by Helene Polite, books of Allen Polite poems published by Helene Polite, Helene Polite memoir
8
1964, 1996, 1997, 2010, 2014