Guide to the Donald Torchiana (1923-2001) Papers
| Collection Title: | Donald Torchiana (1923-2001) Papers |
| Dates: | 1958-2001 |
| Identification: | 11/3/11/31 |
| Creator: | Torchiana, Donald T. |
| Extent: | 5 Boxes |
| Language of Materials: | English |
| Abstract: | The Donald Torchiana Papers fill five boxes and span the period 1958-1992. The papers are divided into six subseries: biographical materials, correspondence, teaching files, research files, speeches, and publications, including additions. The bulk of the papers consists primarily of undated research notes and drafts of his more significant articles. Torchiana’s research interests were in English, Irish, and American literature with emphases on eighteenth-century English and Irish literature, the Irish Literary Renaissance, modern literature, and the writings of Joyce, Yeats, Swift, and Pope. |
| Note: | Other Information:Two items from an addition were interfiled with the original series (Box 1, folder 1): a program from a W. B. Yeats Summer School session in 1981, and two vitae from 1971 and 1989. |
| Acquisition Information: | The Donald Torchiana Papers were transferred to the University Archives by R. Russell Maylone of the University Library's Special Collections on May 25, 1993 and June 26, 1995 as Accessions 93-69 and 95-97, respectively. They had previously been donated to the Special Collections Department by Professor Torchiana. |
| Processing Information: | Michael A. Napora; March 1997. |
| Separated Materials: | Approximately three cubic inches of extraneous materials were separated from the collection and discarded. A folder of photographs used as proofs for Torchiana's 1966 book W. B. Yeats and Georgian Ireland were discarded after their reproduction in the book was confirmed. |
| Conditions Governing Access: | Box 1 / Folder 11, Box 3 / Folder 15, and Box 4 / Folders 1-5 contain student information and are restricted. |
| Repository: | Northwestern University Archives Deering Library, Room 110 1970 Campus Dr. Evanston, IL, 60208-2300 URL: http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives Email: archives@northwestern.edu Phone: 847-491-3354 |
Biographical/Historical Information
Donald Thornhill Torchiana was born to Paul John and Martha (Fitzgerald) Torchiana on October 22, 1923 in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Torchiana joined the faculty of Northwestern University in 1953, afters serving in the Air Force and earning a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. His research interests focused on 18th century English and Irish literature, the Irish Literary Renaissance, modern literature, and the writings of Joyce, Yeats, Swift and Pope. Torchiana retired in 1989 and died in 2001.
After attending Onarga Military Academy from 1937-1941, he served as a captain and B-17 pilot in the U.S. 8th Air Force during the last three years of World War II and was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. After the war, he transferred to the Air Force Reserve, where he served until 1960.
Torchiana attended DePauw University following his active military service. He was graduated in 1947 with a B.A. in English literature, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then studied at the University of Iowa, and was awarded an M.A. in English literature in 1949 and a Ph.D. in English language and literature in 1953. During this time, he worked as a graduate assistant and English instructor.
He came to Northwestern University in 1953 and was Instructor in English from 1953-1959; Assistant Professor of English, 1959-1963; Associate Professor of English, 1963-1968; Professor of English, 1968-1989; and Professor Emeritus of English beginning in 1989. During these years he served on many departmental and University committees, including the Comparative Literature Committee, General Faculty Committee, Para-Education Committee, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, General Studies Committee, Budget Committee, Executive Committee, and the Department of English Graduate Committee. His instructional involvement beyond Northwestern included participation in the Yeats International Summer School as either lecturer or seminar director in 1961, 1962, 1965, 1972, 1976, and 1981. He also was Fulbright Lecturer at University College, Galway, Ireland from 1960-1962, 1969-1970, and 1988-1989.
Torchiana's research interests were in English, Irish, and American literature with emphases on eighteenth-century English and Irish literature, the Irish Literary Renaissance, modern literature, and the writings of Joyce, Yeats, Swift, and Pope. In pursuit of these interests, he was active in many organizations at Northwestern—serving for example, as President of the Modern Language Club and Director of the Northwestern University W. B. Yeats Festival. His professional involvements extended beyond Northwestern as well. He was a member of the Irish Georgian Society, the American Committee for Irish Studies, the International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature, the Dublin Round Table, and the Eighteenth-Century Studies Society of America. In addition to his membership in the Modern Language Association, he also served as Secretary of its Committee on Celtic Literature, 1968-1969; Chair of the Celtic Section, 1970-1971; member of the Executive Committee, Anglo-Irish Section, 1980-; and Chair of the Anglo-Irish Section, 1982-1983. Since 1970, he has also been a consultant for the Royal Irish Academy.
Torchiana's standing in the field of English language studies was recognized over the years by many grants and fellowships awarded him, including a Northwestern summer grant-in-aid to study in Ireland, 1958; a Newberry Library fellowship, 1959; an ACLS grant to study in England, 1963-1964; and a NEH/Newberry Library grant, 1980.
A prolific writer, Torchiana's publications include numerous articles and book reviews, as well as two books, W. B. Yeats and Georgian Ireland (1966) and Backgrounds for Joyce's Dubliners (1986). He also edited Some New Letters from W. B. Yeats to Lady Gregory (1963) and served as a compiler for English Literature, 1660-1800; A Bibliography of Modern Studies, v. V: 1961-1965 and v.VI: 1966-1970 (1972), edited the Eighteenth-Century Bibliography section of Philological Quarterly, and was General Editor for the Modern Irish Writers Series, Northwestern University Press.
Torchiana and Rena Margarida LaSueur married on May 17, 1952 and divorced in July 1972. They had three children: Katherine Leslie, b. 1953; David Fitzgerald, b. 1954; and William DeGroot, b. 1958.
Donald T. Torchiana died on May 9, 2001.
Scope and Content
The Donald Torchiana Papers fill two boxes and span the period 1958-1992. The papers are divided into six subseries: biographical materials, correspondence, teaching files, research files, speeches, and publications. The bulk of the papers consists primarily of undated research notes and drafts of his more significant articles.
The biographical files include various curricula vitae with attached bibliographies, newspaper clippings, and a detailed background description written by Torchiana sometime around 1967. One of the more interesting details is his statement on a curriculum vitae supplement dated February 8, 1982 mentioning his hobbies/avocations as “violent athletics, collecting books and pictures, and raising hell in general.” Obituaries and memorial materials were added to the biographical file in 2002.
There are many letters to and from people in Ireland and England whom Torchiana had contacted in the course of his research soliciting information and arranging visits. Notable among them are letters from Michael Yeats and G.M. Trevelyan. There are also many letters from family members, colleagues, and publishing houses, as well as postcards and holiday greeting cards.
Torchiana's teaching files from Northwestern include exams, syllabi, lecture notes, and student papers. There are also materials from the Yeats International Summer School, including programs, correspondence, and lecture schedules.
Torchiana's research notes are extensive. Notes from his 1958 summer fellowship include a notebook, note cards, and an admission ticket to the British Museum reading room. The balance of his research notes fill thirteen folders. Included are transcriptions of sources (books, articles, and letters), bibliographic citations, lists of various sources, photostatic copies and proofs of articles with notes written in the text and margins, and lists of contacts both in the U.S and abroad.
The balance of the papers relate to Torchiana's publications, including a paper read at the 1970 conference of the International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature, and drafts, notes, galleys, proofs, and correspondence related to articles published between 1958-1975. Notes and proofs from his book W. B. Yeats and Georgian Ireland are also included. There are also book reviews written by Torchiana and reviews of books written by him.
Addition, Boxes 3-5
This addition to the Donald Torchiana Papers fills three boxes and spans the years 1951 to 1993. Papers within the addition fall into five subseries: correspondence; teaching materials; lecture notes; speeches, addresses, and papers; and publications. A significant portion of the addition consists of Torchiana’s lecture notes. The materials within the addition have been arranged chronologically by date in each folder. Two items were interfiled with the original series (Box 1, folder 1): a program from a W. B. Yeats Summer School session in 1981, and two vitae from 1971 and 1989.
The addition contains extensive correspondence between Torchiana and friends and colleagues in Ireland, Britain, and the United States. A majority of the correspondence was with friends overseas from whom he sought assistance in his research on W. B. Yeats, and Irish literature and history. A portion of the correspondence relates to arrangements for the shipment of copies of letters Yeats wrote to American friends, which Torchiana intended to compile and edit. Some of his correspondents from the world of literature include Aldous Huxley (letters from 1953), Yeats scholar Hazard Adams (letters from 1958), Samuel Becket (letter from 1981), and Marianne Moore (letter from 1964). Other letters of interest include those from the Irish Ambassador (letter from 1959) and from Gladys Van Wyck Brooks (letters from 1963). Torchiana also turned to the Yeats family for help in his research, and an extensive amount of correspondence documents his efforts. The correspondence also includes letters to and from publishing houses regarding Torchiana’s research or articles he was writing, as well as comments from friends about various speeches and papers he presented at conferences. The material in the addition also documents grants received by Torchiana, including the Fulbright Scholar Award and a grant from the American Philosophical Society.
The correspondence is divided into general correspondence, spanning the years 1951-1993, and individual or subject correspondence, spanning the years 1958-1991. The general correspondence is arranged chronologically, while the individual and subject correspondence files have been arranged alphabetically by folder title, and chronologically within each folder. Some typed transcriptions of letters Torchiana received are interfiled in the appropriate locations.
Torchiana’s teaching files are arranged chronologically by course number, and chronologically by date within each folder. They include student papers, exams, class lists, schedules, syllabi, and extensive lecture notes. Torchiana lectured on a host of writers ranging from F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce to Nathanael West to Arthur Miller, covering many different aspects of literature including literary criticism, modernism, and rituals in novels from Robinson Crusoe to Pnin. The lecture notes also reflect Torchiana’s studies of the English Aesthetic Movement of the 1890’s.
Torchiana wrote and published extensively on literary works in his field. His articles treat themes and characters in various literary works, writers, Irish poetry, and the centennial of the birth of W. B. Yeats. Torchiana’s publications include book reviews, a draft of a memoir, and a small number of reprinted articles. The articles, book reviews, and reprints are arranged chronologically by publication date.
Subjects
Corporate Name
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Dept. of English
Personal Name
Subjects
English literature--Study and teaching--United States
Irish literature--Study and teaching--United States
