Guide to the Frank McConnell Towne Papers 1938-1978
Cage 399

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Creator
Towne, Frank McConnell
Title
Frank McConnell Towne Papers
ID
Cage 399
Date [inclusive]
1938-1978
Extent
3 containers., 3 linear feet of shelf space., 6200 items.
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, drafts, class and research notes, and other papers concerning teaching, research, and departmental administration.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 399, Frank McConnell Towne Papers. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

Frank McConnell Towne was born on January 8, 1913, at Fullerton, California. He received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1935, his M.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1941, and his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1949, Aside from a stint in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945, Dr. Towne has principally taught English and Humanities at various colleges and universities at home and abroad. From 1936 to 1940 he was an instructor at Athens College, Alabama, and from 1940 to 1941 he was a Teaching Assistant at the University of California at Los Angeles, returning here as an instructor in the extension division from 1946 to 1947. Dr. Towne was a Professor in the Department of English at Washington State University from 1947 to 1978, serving as chairman from 1968 to 1970; during that time he was also a Visiting Associate Professor at Columbia University, New York, 1953-1954, and a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Salonika, Greece, 1957-1958, and at the University of Athens, Greece, 1958-1959. His major teaching interests have been the History of Literary Criticism and the Humanities, He retired as Professor Emeritus from the Department of English in June 1978.

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Scope and Content

The papers of Frank McConnell Towne consist of four series: Teaching Materials, Subject File, Departmental Material, and Dissertation Notes.

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Arrangement

The Teaching Materials are arranged alphabetically by discipline (e.g., English, French, etc.) and numerically by class number; they date from 1946 to 1978 and consist of class notes, syllabi, copies of exams, assignments, clippings, some correspondence, and a few term papers.

The alphabetically arranged Subject File dates from 1938 to 1978, although most of the material is subsequent to 1952; it consists of reprints of articles, rough drafts of articles and speeches, manuscripts, addresses, bibliographies, reviews, dittoes, lectures, memos, letters, copies of exams, typewritten quotations, and some clippings.

The Departmental Material dates from 1950 to 1978 and contains his records as a member of the English faculty at Washington State University; alphabetically arranged, it consists of minutes, meeting agendas, memos, program proposals, program reviews, correspondence, conference material, flyers, addresses, reports, typescripts, manuscripts, and copies of exams, as well as some clippings-, dittoes, and reprints.

The undated Dissertation Notes consist of a bundle of papers (notes, references, bibliographies, rough drafts, lists, typewritten copies of poems, some correspondence, quotes, summaries of books and articles, and some manuscript pages) concerning Dr. Towne's dissertation which was entitled Active Life and Contemplative Life: A Study of Patterns for Living in Medieval England (UCLA, 1949). The notes are subdivided within the bundle by alphabetically listed general subject headings within which references are also alphabetically arranged; material other than the specific references of bibliographies are inserted randomly without any apparent system.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2012

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Acquisition Information

The Frank McConnell Towne Papers were donated to the Washington State University Libraries in June 1978 by Dr. Towne (78-26).

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Washington State University. Dept. of English.
  • Washington State University -- Faculty -- Archives.

Personal Name(s)

Creator(s) :
  • Towne, Frank McConnell, 1913- --Archives

Subject(s)

  • English literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Washington (State) -- Pullman
  • Literature
  • Colleges and Universities

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Detailed Description of Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series 1: Teaching Material 1946-1978 

box folder

English 1A: Composition (UCLA) 1948  1

1 1

English 1B: Composition (UCLA) 1948  19

1 2

English 8: Introduction to Literature 1948-1953  105

1 3

English 101: Composition 1950-1960  34

1 4

English 101: Honors Composition 1956-1957  15

1 5

English 102: Composition 1948-1960  50

1 6

English 108: Introduction to Literature 1955-1973  15

1 7

English 109: Old English & Medieval Literature 1948-1951  22

1 8

English 119: Word Derivation 1948-1949  8

1 9

English 198: Honors Composition 1961-1964  38

1 10

English 199: Composition & Literature Honors 1968-1976  49

1 11

English 225: Advanced Composition 1964  25

1 12

English 304: Shakespeare 1949-1961  88

1 13

English 308: Literary Criticism 1965-1970  77

1 14

English 401: Advanced Composition 1965-1972  44

1 15

English 407: Early Drama 1948-1957  130

1 16

English 410: English- Drama 1977  4

1 17

English 433: Renaissance Literature 1951-1956  120

1 18

English 436: Age of Johnson undated  12

1 19

English 445: Greek & Roman Masterpieces 1963-1964  67

1 20

English 446: European Literature 1956-1967  80

1 21

English 537: The Poetic Mind and Its Modes 1963  7

1 22

English 537: Modes of Poetry 1963  34

1 23

English 551: Madness in Literature 1970-1971  4

1 24

English 547: Literary Criticism 1960-1978  250

1 25

English 548: Critical Writing 1976-1977  4

1 26

English 548: Literary Criticism (Novel) 1962-1976  110

1 27

English 548: Critical Approaches to Poetry 1967  25

1 28

English 548: The Fictive 1974-1975  120

1 29

English 548: Critical Approaches to Drama 1968  25

1 30

English 561: Seminar in Comedy 1974-1975  35

1 31

English 591: Philosophical Poetry 1946-1971  70

1 32

French 451: Twentieth-Century Literature 1966-1968  60

1 33

Humanities Al: Introduction (Columbia) 1952-1955  35

1 34

Humanities 101: Introduction 1952-1967  250

1 35

Humanities 102: Introduction (Spokane) 1952  25

1 36

Humanities 345: General (Central Washington State College) 1963  80

1 37

University Honors 330: Western Civilization 1971-1977  70

1 38

University Honors 350: Eastern Civilization 1953-1971  200

1 39

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Series 2: Subject File 1938-1978 

box folder

American Literature (University of Athens) 1958-1959  33

1 40

Bhagavad-Gita undated  7

1 41

Chandler, Raymond undated  4

1 42

Duras, Marguerite 1969-1976  120

1 43

Edison, E.R. undated  4

1 44

Literary Criticism 1938-1972  45

1 45

Literature, General (Greece)  1957-1959  45

1 46

Methods of Literary Study 1952  30

1 47

Nineteen-Twenties undated  2

2 48

Novel, The 1969-1972  150

2 49

Poetry as Philosophic Context undated  36

2 50

Reprint 1950  1

2 51

Ricardou: "L'Or du Scarabee 1976  10

2 52

Shakespeare undated  50

2 53

Woolf, Virginia, The Waves undated  30

2 54

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Series 3: Departmental Meterial 1950-1978 

box folder

American Studies Program 1970-1978  80

2 55

AAUP 1973  1

2 56

Association of Departments of English 1968  30

2 57

Calendar 1970  2

2 58

Central Washington State College Correspondence 1963-1964  23

2 59

Classics Program 1977  12

2 60

Committee for the Arts & Humanities of the Graduate School 1967-1969  31

2 61

Committees 1969-1973  13

2 62

Course Offerings: Undergraduate & Humanities 1975-1976  5

2 63

Curriculum Advisory Program 1960-1963  20

2 64

Doctor of Arts Degree 1970  2

2 65

Educational Policies Committee 1961-1972  15

2 66

Educational Policy & Theory 1967  3

2 67

English Department: Miscellaneous 1960-1973  200

2 68

English Major: Advising 1970  6

2 69

English Major: Program 1966-1967  2

2 70

ESQ 1971-1972  6

2 71

Faculty Forum undated  4

2 72

Foreign Language Exam 1963-1971  25

2 73

Grading Practices Committee 1972  8

2 74

Graduate Faculty 1950-1965  2

2 75

Graduate Faculty Business 1958-1975  30

2 76

Graduate Faculty Meetings 1970-1974  26

2 77

Graduate Program 1963-1975  70

2 78

Graduate School Announcements 1973  4

2 79

Graduate Studies Bulletin 1969-1974  15

2 80

Graduate Studies Committee 1971-1978  360

2 81-83

Honors Program 1960-1970  30

2 84

Honors: Summer Reading 1972-1977  40

2 85

Humanistic Studies, Center of 1965-1966  30

2 86

Humanistic Studies, Council of 1966-1968  25

2 87

Humanities Program 1961-1966  10

2 88

Library 1966-1973  11

2 89

Library Advisory Committee 1963-1973  25

2 90

Literary Studies Program 1963-1978  100

2 91

M.A. Exams 1970-1974  6

2 92

M.A. Review Committee 1977-1978  5

2 93

Meetings 1971-1977  40

2 94

Ph.D. Exams 1970-1972  60

3 95

Ph.D. in English 1961-1970  80

3 96

Phi Beta Kappa 1961-1970  11

3 97

Promotion & Tenure Criteria 1974-1975  30

3 98

Public Schools Relations Committee 1971  2

3 99

Research, College Committee on 1956-1970  20

3 100

Resident Instructional Staff 1975  2

3 101

Sciences & Arts 1971-1976  4

3 102

South Asian Language & Literature Program 1970  2

3 103

Ten-Year Planning Suggestions 1966-1975  14

3 104

University Faculty Meetings 1969-1975  21

3 105

University Publications Subcommittee 1972-1973  6

3 106

Washington Commission for the Humanities 1973-1975  15

3 107

WSU Senate 1972  1

3 108

Writing Courses Committee 1972-1976  75

3 109

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Series 4: Dissertation Notes ca 1946-1949 

box folder

Dissertation Notes undated  1,700

3 110

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