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Working Files, 1955-2018

68 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT
Restrictions may apply. See Access Note.
Collection Creator:
Morrison, Toni
Dates:
1955-2018
Extent:
68 boxes
Languages:
English
Scope and Contents

This series consists of files maintained by Morrison and her administrative assistants, including Ronaline Saunders, Rene Boatman, and John Hoppenthaler. The first subseries of files concern Morrison's book and writings projects, and include correspondence with editors, publishers, and translators, as well as publicity tour schedules and related material. The office files, maintained at Morrison's offices at SUNY Albany and later Princeton University, document Morrison's activities, including awards, conferences, lectures, interviews, etc., throughout her career as a public figure. The office files also include subject files pertaining to her publishers, literary agency, various professional organizations, and individuals; letterbooks of administrative correspondence sent by Morrison and her assistants, various requests received, and fan mail. The files from Morrison's home office are similar in content to the office working files, but are the primary location of book contracts and royalty statements.

Conditions Governing Access

Toni Morrison has required the Library to make surrogate copies of all of her manuscripts (including typescripts, proofs, and notes) that are primarily part of the Writings series as well as her diaries (appointment books), including but not restricted to those damaged by fire in 1993. This is for conservation reasons, to prevent damage and deterioration by repeated use. Researchers are required to use digital surrogates in the reading room of the Special Collections. These include material found in boxes 1-11; 13-19; 22-29; 32-47; 50-56; 59-62, 64-66, 280-290, 291, 305-308, 311-318, 323, 325-326, 336, B-002118, and P-000145. Morrison's untitled, unfinished work is completely restricted until 2094.

A small amount of material is temporarily restricted at the request of the collection creator or due to the presence of personally identifiable or other legally protected information. This includes portions of the Academic Career series that are restricted until 75 years from the date of creation due to the presence of student and faculty/personnel records, including materials housed in boxes 105-109 and 112-114, as indicated at the file level. Some materials found within Correspondence, including Box 319; the Working Files series, including materials in boxes 183 and 184; Printed Matter, Box 223, Folder 53; and two floppy disks in Box 228 are also restricted as indicated at the file level.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. For permissions and copyright questions related to Toni Morrison and her writings, please contact the Toni Morrison Estate via Rene Boatman (boatman@princeton.edu). To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Credit this material:

Working Files; Toni Morrison Papers, C1491, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • ReCAP (rcpxm): Boxes 122-184; 266; 321
  • Firestone Library (mss): Boxes 330-332; B-001492; B-001490; B-001491; B-002108; B-002109; B-002110; B-002111; B-002112; B-002113; B-002114; B-002117
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Some material in this collection, particularly found in the Writings and Correspondence series, was damaged by the fire that destroyed Morrison's upstate New York home in 1993. Damage ranges from charred edges to pages missing significant portions or rendered illegible.

Processing Information

Some materials in this collection were treated for fire damage and encapsulated in mylar in 1994.

This collection was processed by Allison Hughes, with the assistance of Sophia Alvarez, Fiona Bell, Kristine Gift, Isabelle Litke, Chloe Pfendler, and Ann-Elise Siden in February 2015-February 2017. Processing of the born-digital material was done by Elena Colón-Marrero, Jarrett Drake, and Allison Hughes in 2015-2016. Finding aid written by Allison Hughes in 2016-2017.

New additions were processed and the finding aid was updated by in March-November 2017 by Kelly Bolding, in 2018 by Faith Charlton, in January-February 2020 by Chloe Pfendler, and in 2024 by Faith Charlton. Additional born-digital materials were processed by Kathryn Antonelli and Kelly Bolding in July-August 2017.

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

This series consists of files maintained by Morrison and her administrative assistants, including Ronaline Saunders, Rene Boatman, and John Hoppenthaler. The first subseries of files concern Morrison's book and writings projects, and include correspondence with editors, publishers, and translators, as well as publicity tour schedules and related material. The office files, maintained at Morrison's offices at SUNY Albany and later Princeton University, document Morrison's activities, including awards, conferences, lectures, interviews, etc., throughout her career as a public figure. The office files also include subject files pertaining to her publishers, literary agency, various professional organizations, and individuals; letterbooks of administrative correspondence sent by Morrison and her assistants, various requests received, and fan mail. The files from Morrison's home office are similar in content to the office working files, but are the primary location of book contracts and royalty statements.

Arrangement

This series is arranged into subseries following the original grouping of material. The Office Working Files are divided into roughly chronological files groupings, with Office Working Files I being the oldest and Office Working Files IV being the most recent, although there is considerable overlap between II and III. The Additional Working Files subseries includes additional materials received after the bulk of the papers were arranged.

Collection History

Appraisal

Some floppy disks were deaccessioned after imaging due to a lack of archival value. Duplicate papers and audiovisual materials were removed from the collection.

Processing Information

Some materials in this collection were treated for fire damage and encapsulated in mylar in 1994.

This collection was processed by Allison Hughes, with the assistance of Sophia Alvarez, Fiona Bell, Kristine Gift, Isabelle Litke, Chloe Pfendler, and Ann-Elise Siden in February 2015-February 2017. Processing of the born-digital material was done by Elena Colón-Marrero, Jarrett Drake, and Allison Hughes in 2015-2016. Finding aid written by Allison Hughes in 2016-2017.

New additions were processed and the finding aid was updated by in March-November 2017 by Kelly Bolding, in 2018 by Faith Charlton, in January-February 2020 by Chloe Pfendler, and in 2024 by Faith Charlton. Additional born-digital materials were processed by Kathryn Antonelli and Kelly Bolding in July-August 2017.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Toni Morrison has required the Library to make surrogate copies of all of her manuscripts (including typescripts, proofs, and notes) that are primarily part of the Writings series as well as her diaries (appointment books), including but not restricted to those damaged by fire in 1993. This is for conservation reasons, to prevent damage and deterioration by repeated use. Researchers are required to use digital surrogates in the reading room of the Special Collections. These include material found in boxes 1-11; 13-19; 22-29; 32-47; 50-56; 59-62, 64-66, 280-290, 291, 305-308, 311-318, 323, 325-326, 336, B-002118, and P-000145. Morrison's untitled, unfinished work is completely restricted until 2094.

A small amount of material is temporarily restricted at the request of the collection creator or due to the presence of personally identifiable or other legally protected information. This includes portions of the Academic Career series that are restricted until 75 years from the date of creation due to the presence of student and faculty/personnel records, including materials housed in boxes 105-109 and 112-114, as indicated at the file level. Some materials found within Correspondence, including Box 319; the Working Files series, including materials in boxes 183 and 184; Printed Matter, Box 223, Folder 53; and two floppy disks in Box 228 are also restricted as indicated at the file level.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. For permissions and copyright questions related to Toni Morrison and her writings, please contact the Toni Morrison Estate via Rene Boatman (boatman@princeton.edu). To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Some material in this collection, particularly found in the Writings and Correspondence series, was damaged by the fire that destroyed Morrison's upstate New York home in 1993. Damage ranges from charred edges to pages missing significant portions or rendered illegible.

Credit this material:

Working Files; Toni Morrison Papers, C1491, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Firestone Library
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Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
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Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • ReCAP (rcpxm): Boxes 122-184; 266; 321
  • Firestone Library (mss): Boxes 330-332; B-001492; B-001490; B-001491; B-002108; B-002109; B-002110; B-002111; B-002112; B-002113; B-002114; B-002117

Find More

Related Materials

Other materials relating to Toni Morrison's work at Random House may be found in the Random House records at Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Original drafts of Toni Cade Bambara's writings and related materials may be found in the Spelman College Archives.

A number of recordings of PEN American Center events in which Toni Morrison participated can be found in the PEN American Center Records (C0760). Online access to these recordings is available through the PEN America Digital Archive site.