The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Percy Boynton Papers 1925-1936
© 2002 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Boynton, Percy. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1925-1936(inclusive) |
| Size: | 0.75 linear ft. (2 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Percy H. Boynton, professor of American Literature. The Percy H. Boynton Papers consist of correspondence and three scrapbooks dating from 1925 to 1936. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is:
Percy Boynton. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Percy Holmes Boynton was born on October 30, 1875 in Newark New Jersey to George Mills Boynton and Julia Holmes Boynton. Boynton received an A.B. from Amherst University (1897), an A.M. from Harvard University (1898), and a Doctorate in Literature from Amherst (1939).
Boynton was an instructor at Smith Academy in St. Louis from 1898 to 1902. From 1903 to 1912 he was Secretary of Instruction at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State, and became Principal of Summer Schools there until 1916.
Boynton became a Professor of English at the University of Chicago in 1903. He remained there until his retirement in 1941, but taught at the University of Puerto Rico from 1944 to 1945. He received the Chicago Foundation for Literature Award for distinguished service to literature in 1941.
Boynton's works include Some Contemporary Americans (1924), More Contemporary Americans (1927), The Rediscovery of the American Frontier (1931), Literature and American Life (1936), and America in Contemporary Fiction (1940). Boynton's professional memberships included the Modern Language Association and the American Association of University Professors.
Boynton married Lois Damon. She died on July 6, 1939. They had two children, Holmes and Damon. His second wife was Florence Rice.
Percy H. Boynton died on July 8, 1946 in New London, Connecticut.
The Percy H. Boynton Papers consist of correspondence and three scrapbooks.
The correspondence is arranged alphabetically and dates from 1925 to 1936. The scrapbooks contain articles written by Boynton for the Chicago Daily Journal from 1925 to 1929.
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Correspondence, A |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Correspondence, B |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Correspondence, Boynton family |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Correspondence, C-E |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Correspondence, K-L |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Correspondence, M-O |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Correspondence, Perry Miller |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Correspondence, Publishers |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Correspondence, "Book Talk, " weekly radio program |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Correspondence, P-S |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Correspondence, T-W |
| Box 2 |