Paul Patrick Rogers was born on January 5, 1900, in Snohomish, Washington. Educated at the University of Mississippi (B.Sc., 1921), Acadia University (MA, 1925) and Cornell University (Ph.D., 1928), he was Professor of Romance Languages at Oberlin College from 1928 to 1966. He died in 1989 in Austin, Texas. Rogers' specialization was Spanish literature, and his publications include
A friend and colleague of William Faulkner, Rogers enjoyed correspondence with a number of writers eager to learn from his experiences.
Gifts, 1971-1985
Open for research
Sarah Demb, 1995
The Paul Patrick Rogers Collection, 1929-1985 (bulk 1929-1937, 1980-85) documents his trip to Spain as an observer on an international commission during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 and his correspondence with various colleagues in the disciplines of Spanish and American literature during the 1930s and the early part of the 1980s. Materials in the collection were received by the Harry Ransom Center at varying times and in no particular order. They have been arranged into two series: Correspondence, and Spanish Civil War Materials, which include documents and ephemera from Rogers' trip to Spain in 1937, and items relating to the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy.
Incoming correspondence is arranged alphabetically by author. The bulk of the material is by Joseph Blotner, biographer of William Faulkner, and Léon Felipe, Rogers' friend and colleague. Some items are annotated by Rogers. Outgoing correspondence is arranged chronologically (1966, nd) and consists of one letter to Léon Felipe and another to Carleton Lake, then the Ransom Center Acting Director, regarding the sensitive nature of some donated material.
Spanish Civil War materials include Rogers' diary of his trip to Spain in 1937, safe conduct passes and letters of introduction, a speech he wrote and read for radio broadcast in Madrid, manuscripts he received (including a poem written and inscribed by Langston Hughes), photographs of the Italian prisoners of war visited by Rogers' delegation, broadsides, and other paper ephemera. Some items have been labeled by Rogers. Much of the material is in fragile condition.
Books from Paul Patrick Rogers' collection can be found in the the Ransom Center Library and contains works by Spain's leading intellectuals on both sides of the conflict. Related materials are located in the Vertical File, which contains postcards and clippings relating to the Spanish Civil War. As well, further Rogers material, including correspondence relating to his work as a poet, critic, and translator, can be found in the Stanley Burnshaw Papers.
Names in