Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Biographical Note
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
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Creator: | Cornelisen, Ann, 1926- |
Title: | Ann Cornelisen Papers |
Inclusive Dates: | 1714-1994 |
Bulk Dates: | 1954-1990 |
Quantity: | 20 cubic feet (50 boxes) |
Abstract: | Correspondence, manuscripts, research material, as well as audio-visual material relating to the life and work of Ann Cornelisen, writer and photographer. |
Biographical Note
Ann Cornelisen is best known as the author of several books detailing the landscape and culture of southern Italy. She first went to Italy in 1954 with plans of studying archaeology in Rome. However, after meeting Giovanna "Gianna" Thompson, a representative of the British Save the Children Fund, the course of her life was forever changed. She traveled with Gianna to many small, impoverished towns in central and southern Italy documenting her experiences in her journals, letters home, and on film. She eventually made Ortona in the Abruzzo region her permanent home, but spent much of her time studying the town of Tricarico in Basilicata, which was the focus of her first book, Torregreca. Cornelisen spent the rest of her professional career in Italy and published three more nonfiction books about the country as well as two novels.
More biographical information is available in her books, but also in the Biography series of this collection and in the reference work, Contemporary Authors, volume 144 (Ref PN451 .C66).
TopChronology
12 Nov 1926 | Born in Cleveland, Ohio |
1944-1946 | Studied at Vassar College |
1944 | Made her debut into Chicago society |
7 Feb 1953 | Married Gordon Carpenter O'Gara |
1954 | First trip to Italy |
27 Nov 1957 | Married Charles Walker Cammack III |
1974 | Special award, National Institute of Arts and Letters |
1974 | American Academy Award in literature |
1977 | Guggenheim fellowship |
1979 | Indiana University, Patten Foundation Lecturer |
1980 | Christopher Award |
12 Nov 2003 | Died in Rome, Georgia |
Publications
1969 | Torregreca: Life, Death, Miracles. Little, Brown: Boston, MA (reprinted in 2002 by Steerforth Italia: South Royalton, VT). |
1971 | Vendetta of Silence. Little, Brown: Boston, MA. |
1976 | Women of the Shadows. Little, Brown: Boston, MA (reprinted in 2001 as Women of the Shadows: Wives and Mothers of Southern Italy, Steerforth Italia: South Royalton, VT). |
1980 | Strangers and Pilgrims: The Last Italian Migration, Holt: New York, NY (published in London, England as Flight from Torregreca, Macmillan, 1980). |
1983 | Any Four Women Could Rob the Bank of Italy. Holt: New York, NY. |
1990 | Where It All Began: Italy, 1954. Dutton: New York, NY. |
Scope and Content Note
The Ann Cornelisen collection includes correspondence, manuscripts, research material, as well as audio-visual material such as postcards, maps, photographic prints, slides, negatives and audiotapes. Although there is material from her young life in Chicago and her student years at Vassar, the bulk of the collection relates to her time in Italy. Of particular note is the correspondence to her parents. Cornelisen wrote to her parents several times per week, chronicling her experiences in Italy and other parts of Europe; thus, the correspondence serves as a kind of journal. The manuscripts in the "Writings" series document her process as both a fiction and non-fiction writer, and include much unpublished material. The photographic material, much never published or exhibited, is particularly significant because of the artistic merit of the images and the detail with which she documented life in mid-century Southern Italy.
TopAccess and Use
Access
The audio material in this collection is restricted due to fragility. Please contact the staff for further information. The remainder of the collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Librarywithout any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Subject Headings
Organizations:
- Save the Children Fund (Great Britain)
Subjects:
- Authors, American--20th century--Homes and haunts--Italy
- Photography--Italy
- Women authors, American--20th century
- Women photographers
- Women--Italy, Southern
Places:
- Italy, Southern--Description and travel
- Italy, Southern--Social conditions
- Italy, Southern--Social life and customs
- Ortona (Italy)--Description and travel
- Ortona (Italy)--Social life and customs
- Rome (Italy)--Description and travel
- Tricarico (Italy)--Description and travel
VCL Categories
- Literature and Writing
- Travel
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Audiovisual material may require special viewers/players.
TopAdministrative Information
Preferred Citation
Ann Cornelisen Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Laura Streett, November 2006. Updated [description of the negatives added], November 2008. Last updated March 2019.
Acquisition Information
Bequeathed by Ann Cornelisen in 2004.
Series List
Series I. Biography, 1943-1991, n.d. (Boxes 6, 7, 20, 21, and 29) | |
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This series consists of three versions of one "diary" dating from 1959-1960, news clippings, date and address books and financial information. It also includes two scrapbooks. One, from 1943-1945 includes photographs and clippings relating to her debut into Chicago society and other aspects of her young social life. The other, from 1947-1951, includes photographs and clippings relating to the Junior League and her other civic work. |
Series II. Correspondence, 1943-1994, n.d. (Boxes 1 and 2) | |
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This series includes both personal and professional correspondence. By far the largest cache of letters are to Cornelisen's parents. She wrote several times per week throughout most of her life in Europe. Other significant correspondents include her editor, William "Billy" Abrahams and her agent, Cyrilly Abels. There are also letters from her friend Giovanna "Gianna" Thompson and a few letters from one of the main subjects of her writings, Chichella. |
Series III. Writings, 1954-1991, n.d. (Boxes 3-6 and 29) | |
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The Writings series consists of drafts, notes, and reviews of Cornelisen's books, articles and short stories. The material that best depicts the editing process is that relating to Any Four Women Could Rob the Bank of Italy, her mystery/adventure novel. There are also a number of published reviews of other writers' work in the series. The research material in this series includes translated transcripts of interviews with Chichella. The audio reels of these interviews are in Series VII. | |
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Series IV. Photographs, 1941-1990, n.d. (Boxes 8-17, 22, 24-28 and 30-50) | |
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This series includes four kinds of photographic material: prints, contact sheets and prints, slides, and negatives. | |
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Series V. Postcards, 1954-1986 (Boxes 18 and 19) | |
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Cornelisen saved most of her postcards separately from her other correspondence, roughly organized by country and region. Some are blank, some she sent to her parents, and some came from other friends from Italy and elsewhere. Photocopies of the message side of these postcards have been filed with her correspondence. |
Series VI. Maps and Posters, 1714-1980, n.d. (Box 29 and map case) | |
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This series includes five maps of Italy and several posters. One map is a modern map Cornelisen probably used in lectures, but the other maps seem to date from the 18th century. |
Series VII. Audio Tapes, 1963-1969, n.d. (Box 23) | |
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Includes 24 reels ranging from 3 to 7 inches. The original box was labeled "Original Chichella tapes made in 1963-64 with AC." These are numbered 1-12, with reels 5 and 10 missing. There are also other reels, labeled "Ferrarotti," "Jimmy Crosse" and "Folk Songs - Tuscany." Several of the 5 inch reels have no identifying information and may be blank. The 7 inch reels say they have been erased. |
Container List
Return to the Table of Contents
Details
Correspondence, manuscripts, research material, as well as audio-visual material relating to the life and work of Ann Cornelisen, writer and photographer.