Title: James Agee / David McDowell Papers

Date/Date Range :    1919-1985

Extent: 6.0 linear feet

Abstract:

The first portion of this collection is composed of the material gathered by David McDowell for a planned, but never finished, biography of his friend James Agee. The second portion relates to David McDowell's career in the publishing industry.

Call number: MS-1500

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

These papers were purchased with funds from the Lindsay Young Endowment.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], James Agee / David McDowell Papers, MS-1500. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of two series:

1. Series I: James Agee Papers
2. Series II: David McDowell Papers

James Rufus Agee (27 Nov. 1909 - 16 May 1955) was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to Hugh James Agee and his wife Laura. Respecting his mother and loving his father, the younger Agee was devastated by his father's death in 1916 in an auto accident. Two years later, his mother moved him and herself to Sewanee to be near the Episcopal monastery located there and to enroll her son in a school run by the monks. From there he went to Phillips Exeter Academy and then to Harvard, where he discovered his vocation to be a writer.

It was a parody written for the Harvard Advocate that landed him a job as a writer with Fortune Magazine. An expanded version of an article for Fortune became his first book: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. From Fortune, Agee moved on to Time to review books and movies. His movie reviewing for Time led him to writing scripts for television and movies. His most famous scripts were done for the African Queen and The Night of the Hunter.

In 1955, the three times married author died of a heart attack while riding in a New York cab. Besides his three wives and four children, Agee left behind an unfinished novel about the effect his father's death had had on his childhood. Agee had been working on it off and on for close to two decades. It was left to his friend David McDowell (1918-1985) to turn the chaotic fragments and draft chapters into a coherent novel. His success was such that A Death in the Family posthumously won for Agee the Pulitzer Prize in 1957.

McDowell was a native of Minneapolis, Minneasota. He began his career in publishing as a sales manager and publicity director at New Directions. In 1949, he became an editor at Random House. Eight years later with Ivan Obolensky he established the publishing house of McDowell, Obolensky. One of their first books was A Death in the Family. In 1960, McDowell left the company he had co-founded to join Crown Publishers. McDowell served as head of the trust established for Agee's children with the royalties from Agee's writings. At the time of his death in 1985, McDowell was engaged in working on a biography of James Agee.

The Agee material consists of numerous examples of the writer's works, some unpublished. Included among these are notes, typescripts and manuscripts of John Carter, several published and unpublished poems, an issue of the Harvard Advocate with an early Agee poem, and two examples of screenplays. Agee's thoughts are well represented by the three spiral notebooks contained within the collection, each with numerous diary entries and personal notes. They allow glimpses into the man whom very few people felt they knew. Accompanying the notebooks are two unpublished chapters of A Death in the Family, Agee's Pulitzer Prize-winning work edited by David McDowell after his death. These chapters give a further insight into Agee's childhood while bringing to light previously unseen pages of his celebrated work.

While McDowell's papers largely concern his considerable editorial and publishing pursuits, there are pieces which involve Agee and his writings. As Trustee for the James Agee Trust, McDowell frequently communicated with Agee researchers and biographers, as well as with the writer's family and friends. Undoubtedly the most significant Agee-related material in this portion of the collection is the extensive correspondence between McDowell and Agee mentor/confidante, Father James H. Flye of St. Andrew's School in Tennessee.

Important Note: Patrons who wish to photocopy from the Agee portion of this collection must first obtain written permission from the owners of the copyrights (The Agee Trust). Upon presentation of such written permission from the Trust, photocopying will be allowed to the extent granted in the permission. UT Libraries reserves the right to deny photocopying if the material is too fragile or if in our judgment photocopying will contribute significantly to its deterioration. Patrons should note that permission to photocopy does not grant permission to publish.

• Agee, James, 1909-1955.
• McDowell, David Ulrey, 1918-1985.