The Burl Ives Papers consist of manuscript
and typescript drafts, proofs, correspondence, legal and financial documents, publicity,
contracts, scripts, and scrapbooks of press clippings that document Ives’ published
and
recorded works as well as his concerts and personal appearances.
Call Number:
Performing Arts Collection PA-00047
Language:
English
Access:
Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials. Part or all of this collection is housed off-site and may require up to three business days’ notice for access in the Ransom Center’s Reading and Viewing Room. Please contact the Center before requesting this material: reference@hrc.utexas.edu
Use Policies:
Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information
that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers
are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable
living
individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals
may have
legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy
may
arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be
deemed
highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University
of
Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.
Restrictions on Use:
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the
owner of
the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright
holder
which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom
Centers' Open Access and Use Policies.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. Burl Ives Papers (Performing
Arts
Collection PA-00047).
Acquisition:
Gift and purchases, 1963-1966
Processed by:
Valerie Burns, 2002; Helen Adair, 2006; Helen Baer, 2012; Daniela Lozano, 2017
Folk singer, actor, and author Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was born on June 14, 1909 in
Hunt,
Illinois. He attended Eastern Illinois State Teachers College for three years but
left
school to hitchhike around the United States. He wrote about his hitchhiking adventures
in
the autobiographical The Wayfaring Stranger (1948).
In 1945, Ives performed his first folk concert at Town Hall in New York City. Some
of his
best-known renditions of folk ballads and songs include "Big Rock
Candy Mountain,"
"Frosty the Snowman," and "I
Know an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a Fly)." He made his first film appearance in
Smoky in 1946. Future notable roles include Big Daddy in
the Broadway play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) which he
reprised in the 1958 screen version; and a feuding landowner in The
Big Country (1958) for which he was awarded an Academy Award for best supporting
actor.
Ives recorded more than 100 albums and appeared in 13 Broadway productions and numerous
television shows. He died on 14 April 1995 at the age of 85.
Sources:
The editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Burl Ives."
Encyclopaedia Britannica,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Burl-Ives (accessed 26 October 2017).
Barnes, Bart. "Singer, Actor Burl Ives Dies." The Washington Post,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/04/15/singer-actor-burl-ives-dies/617ec2f8-3515-4762-885d-d46b9981de1b/?utm_term=.4dae612d05ba
(accessed 26 October 2017).
Scope and Contents
The Burl Ives Papers document Ives’ published and recorded works as well as his concerts
and personal appearances. The collection is arranged in the following four series:
I. Works,
1946-1963, undated; II. Concerts and Personal Appearances, 1944-1954; III. Personal
and
Career Related, 1947-1959, undated; and IV. Scrapbooks of Press Clippings, 1944-1962.
Series I. Works includes manuscript and typescript drafts, proofs, correspondence,
legal
and financial documents, publicity, and other related documents for book and recording
projects. Works represented include The Wayfaring Stranger
(1948), Historical America in Songs (1950), The Burl Ives Song Book (1953), Tales of
America (1954), Song in America: Our Musical
Heritage (1962), The Wayfaring Stranger’s Notebook
(1962), and The Burl Ives Sing-Along Book (1963). The works
are in alphabetical order by title. The original folder labels and arrangement were
retained. A few folders were empty and are indicated as such in the container list.
Series II. Concerts and Personal Appearances is made up of correspondence, contracts,
itineraries, programs, publicity, schedules, and financial and legal documents pertaining
to
performances by Ives. United States venues are predominantly represented, although
tours to
Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, and Scotland are included. There are two
groups of
files – group I consists of Ives’ files for performances in the United States; group
II
files originated from Ives’ concert representative’s office and includes performances
in the
U.S. and abroad. Both groups of files are arranged in chronological order.
Series III. Personal and Career Related consists of financial files, legal files,
itineraries, programs, and radio scripts that were separated into format categories
according to past Ransom Center Theater Arts Department processing procedures. Other
files
in this series retained their original labels and were arranged during processing
for this
finding aid to better reflect the creator’s original order. These include clippings,
lists
and an invoice, and the text of a guest of honor speech. Also included in the series
are two
framed portraits of Ives – one by Jan Hoowij from 1961 and an undated one by John
Falter.
Series IV. Scrapbooks of Press Clippings is made up of scrapbooks containing press
clippings related to concerts, radio, and several publications.
Related Material
The Library of Congress has a collection of materials received from Ives in 1965 primarily
concerning his career in radio and television.
Separated Material
Published works were transferred to the Ransom Center’s Library. Commercial audio
recordings were transferred to the Ransom Center’s Sound Recordings Collection.
