This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least 2 business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
The collection consists of Margaret Brenman-Gibson's research files for her biography on American playwright, Clifford Odets, entitled Clifford Odets - American Playwright: The Years from 1906-1940. Brenman-Gibson constructed detailed chronologies of Odets life, taken through his various diaries, notes, and correspondence. These chronological notebooks form the basis for the collection. She also, in the course of her research, copied a good deal of Odets personal papers: correspondence, diaries, notes, plays, and screenplays. The files she created when applying for grants while writing and researching the biography are represented in the collection. Additionally, Brenman-Gibson performed interviews with numerous friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and family members of Odets. Both her notes on the interviews and the tapes of the interviews can be found in the collection. Additionally, she corresponded with many of her interviewees, including Marlon Brando, Harold Clurman, Sammy Davis Jr., Elia Kazan, Lee and Paula Strasberg, and Luise Rainer. The correspondence in the collection primarily relates to the biography, and includes permission agreements. There is a small section of personal correspondence between Margaret and her husband William Gibson with Clifford Odets during the 1950s as well as with the Gibson's and Clifford's son and daughter, Walt and Nora, after his death in 1963.
Material is arranged into three series.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least 2 business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Margaret Brenman-Gibson Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Clifford Odets Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University
No additions are expected
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
The Margaret Brenman-Gibson Papers were the gift of William Gibson in 2008. The donor agreement was signed by Montana Katz, who had power of attorney for Gibson. It came through the rare book dealer George Robert Minkoff. An addendum to the collection was donated in 2011.
2008.2009.M008: Source of acquisition--William Gibson. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--2008.
2011.2012.M003: Source of acquisition--William Gibson. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--2011.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Papers processed Adrien Hilton October 2012.
Finding Aid written Adrien Hilton 10/25/2012.
Collection is processed to folder level.
2012-10-26 xml instance created by Adrien Hilton
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Margaret Brenman-Gibson was a Harvard professor in the department of Psychiatry. In 1982, she became the first woman to be appointed as a full professor. Brenman-Gibson was the first non-physician from any discipline to receive full clinical as well as research psychoanalytic training in America. She is considered the first psychologist. Brenman-Gibson also had a deep interest in nuclear weapons and the use of nuclear power. She picketed and protested in numerous places, including Los Alamos. William Gibson, the husband of Margaret was an American playwright and novelist. The couple married in 1940. Shortly thereafter, Brenman-Gibson took a job as psychoanalyst at Stockbridge, Massachusetts and William published his book, The Cobweb, which was set in a psychiatric ward. In addition to her work on hypnosis and hypnotherapy, and her interest in nuclear weapons, she was also the biographer of American playwright Clifford Odets. Odets and the Gibson's were friends, as the correspondence between them reveals.
Series I: Research Files consists of Brenman-Gibson's research files for her biography on the American playwright, Clifford Odets entitled, Clifford Odets - American Playwright: The Years from 1906-1940. It contains chronological notebooks, which are basic summaries of Odets' life taken from his own diaries and correspondence, as well as interviews Brenman-Gibson conducted during the course of her research with Odets' family, friends, and acquaintances. Also found in Series I is the correspondence Brenman-Gibson had with various people related to Odets. Additionally, summaries, transcripts, and audio of the interviews are found in Series I. There are her files for grants in which she applied to conduct her research. There is significant material copied from Clifford Odets papers. This includes his diaries, correspondence, and notes. Rough drafts for Volume II of Brenman-Gibson's biography, which she never published, are also in Series I.
Subseries I.1: Chronological Notebooks consists of the notebooks that Brenman-Gibson compiled during the course of writing her biography on Clifford Odets. The notebooks outline each year of Odets' life; the overviews provided by Odets' own original correspondence, diaries, and notes, but also from interviews Brenman-Gibson conducted with Odets' family, friends, and acquaintances. Odets' secretary, Virginia Rowe, worked with Brenman-Gibson during the course of her work on the biography. She provides her own recollections and summaries for each chronological notebook. The notebooks begin with an "early chronology", summarizing Odets' childhood, and then follow yearly from 1924-1963, the year Odets died. There are also notebooks entitled, "Aftermath", which trace the years following Odets' death.
Box 1
Box 1
1924, (2 folders)
Box 1
1926, (2 folders)
Box 1
1927, (2 folders)
Box 1
1930s, (3 folders)
Box 1
1941-1942, (3 folders)
Box 1
1943-1945, (2 folders)
Box 1
1944, (4 folders)
Box 1
1945, (4 folders)
Box 2
1945
Box 2
1946, (4 folders)
Box 2
Box 2
1947, (8 folders)
Box 2
1947-1948
Box 2
1948, (4 folders)
Box 2
1949, (6 folders)
Box 3
1950, (5 folders)
Box 3
1951, (4 folders)
Box 3
Box 3
1952, (5 folders)
Box 3
1953, (5 folders)
Box 3
1954, (2 folders)
Box 3
1954-1955
Box 4
1954-1955, (3 folders)
Box 4
1955
Box 4
1956, (3 folders)
Box 4
1957, (3 folders)
Box 4
1958, (4 folders)
Box 4
1959, (4 folders)
Box 4
1960, (2 folders)
Box 4
1960-1961, (3 folders)
Box 5
1960-1961
Box 5
1961, (2 folders)
Box 5
1962, (3 folders)
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Subseries I.2: Correspondence contains the correspondence Brenman-Gibson had with people related to her work on the biography. Included here are letters from Odets' longtime friends and acquaintances: Stella Adler, Marlon Brando, Harold Clurman, Aaron Copland, Helen Deutsch, Alfred Hitchcock, Elia Kazan, Paula and Lee Strasburg, among numerous others. Much of the correspondence is carbon copies of Brenman-Gibson's outgoing letters, however, there are original letters from her correspondents. There is a section of the correspondence securing permissions to quote for her book from various people. The correspondence ranges in date from 1963-1989.
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
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Box 5
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Box 5
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Box 5
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Box 5
Box 5
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
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Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
1965-1978
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
1963-1966
Box 7
Box 7
Subseries I.3: Grants contains the files that Brenman-Gibson kept which document her application for grant funds to conduct her research on the Clifford Odets' biography. There are application materials for such funds as American Association of University Women, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Institute for Mental Health. The grant files range in date from 1957-1980.
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
1968-1976, (3 folders)
Box 7
Box 7
1965-1968
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Subseries I.4: Interviews contains the summaries, transcripts, and audio of interviews Brenman-Gibson conducted while researching for her biography on Clifford Odets.
Sub-subseries I.4.A: Notes and Transcripts consists of notes and transcripts to interviews that Brenman-Gibson conducted in the course of research her biography on Clifford Odets.
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
1963, (4 folders)
Box 8
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
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Box 9
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Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
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Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Sub-subseries I.4.B: Audio consists of the audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes of interviews Brenman-Gibson conducted while writing her biography on Clifford Odets.
Box 17
Subseries I.5: Clifford Odets Materials (copies of) contains copied material from Odets' original papers. Found here are copies of Odets' correspondence from 1961-1963, copies of his appointment books and diaries from 1940-1963, as well as notes he wrote for various productions, including:Mafia Man, North Star, Only the Young, Strange Hunt,andTwo Agents.
Box 10
1953, (2 folders)
Box 10
1954
Box 10
1955
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
1940, (4 folders)
Box 11
1958
Box 11
1961
Box 11
Box 11
1963
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
1961, (2 folders)
Box 11
1962-1963, (3 folders)
Box 11
1963
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Subseries I.6: Original Worksheets consists of handwritten notes by Brenman-Gibson taken during the course of her work on the Odets' biography. These worksheets range in date from 1970-1975.
Box 11
1970, (3 folders)
Box 12
1970, (3 folders)
Box 12
1971-1972, (2 folders)
Box 12
1974-1975, (4 folders)
Subseries I.7: Reference Files is a general filing system Brenman-Gibson kept, which contains articles and notes on art, artists, creativity, and the theater.
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Subseries I.8: Research Files are files of notes that Brenman-Gibson kept on each of Odets' plays, screenplays, and television shows.
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
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Box 12
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Box 12
Subseries I.9: Rough Drafts contains early drafts of Volume II of Brenman-Gibson's biography on Clifford Odets. The drafts cover the years 1940-1944.
Box 12
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1942-1943, (2 folders)
Box 13
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Subseries I.10: Themes is a section of research files that Brenman-Gibson kept, which document her developing ideas on themes for the Clifford Odets biography. She delves into ideas such as creativity, psychoanalysis, sex, and relations that Odets' had with men, women, and his family and children.
Box 13
Box 13
1965
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
undated
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1964
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1964-1965
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1964-1966
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1964-1969, (3 folders)
Box 14
Subseries I.11: General Files is an assortment of files that did not fit in with the previous subseries. It consists of administrative and financial files, as well as logistics related to a trip that Brenman-Gibson took to California in 1965 to conduct research for her biography. There are two folders with material related to Odets' friend, Harold Clurman. Several files contain material from Virginia Rowe, who was both Odets' secretary, and later an assistant to Brenman-Gibson. Additionally, there are articles, clippings, notes, and notebooks. One of the notebooks is entitled, "Birdseye" and offers a broad summary of Odets' life.
Box 14
Box 14
1965-1999, (2 folders)
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1961, (2 folders)
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
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Box 15
Box 15
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Box 15
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Box 15
Box 15
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Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Subseries I.12: Rolodex consists of Brenman-Gibson's rolodex of index cards. The index cards document the people with whom Brenman-Gibson conducted interviews as well as their correspondence.
Box 18
Series II: Personal Correspondence is a small series consisting of correspondence Margaret Brenman-Gibson had with Clifford Odets. It contains letters that Brenman-Gibson wrote to Odets, as well as the letters between her husband, William Gibson and Odets. There are original letters from Odets to Brenman-Gibson and her husband as well. Also included here is correspondence between the Gibson's and Odets' two children, Nora and Walt. The correspondence between Odets and the Gibson's ranges in date from 1953-1963, while the letters between the children is later from 1967-1993.
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Series III: Nuclear Weapons Activism is a small series of material related to nuclear weapons activism that Brenman-Gibson engaged in during the 1980s. There are transcripts of interviews she did with two men: Peter Hagelstein and Lowell Wood. Additionally, there are audiocasettes of interviews she conducted with various people.
Box 16
Box 16
Box 17 Container 17a
Box 17 Container 17b
Box 17 Container 17c