Finding aid for the Alberta T. Turner collection


Title:
Alberta T. Turner collection
Repository:
Cleveland State University
Phone: 216-687-2449
http://library.csuohio.edu/speccoll
Creator:
Turner, Alberta T.
Dates:
1939-1992
Quantity:
13.5 linear feet
Abstract:
The personal and professional papers of Alberta T. Turner; poet, English instructor, and director of the Cleveland State University Poetry Center from 1964-1990. Collection includes journals, artwork, early and unpublished works, books, manuscripts and copies of published works, personal and official correspondences, and records and ephemera relating to academic career as both student and teacher.
Identification:
A.Turner1
Location:
Collection is housed at Cleveland State University Special Collections
Language:
The records are in English

Biography of Alberta T. Turner

Alberta T. Turner (1919 - 2003) Professor Emerita of English and a widely honored poet, died at her home in Oberlin, Ohio, on May 21, 2003, after a long illness. She was married to the late Arthur Turner, a professor of English at Oberlin College , and is survived by their two children and five grandchildren. Alberta taught English at Cleveland State University part time from 1964 to 1969, then full time until her retirement in 1990, and part time again for several years after that. Before 1969 she also taught English courses at Oberlin College . She was director of the CSU Poetry Center from 1964 to 1990, during which time it gained an international reputation for its publication and service to poets locally and worldwide. In 1969 she became a founding editor of the literary magazine Field , published by Oberlin College , and she remained an associate editor until 2000. A graduate of Hunter College , with advanced degrees from Wellesley College and Ohio State University , Alberta Turner during her years at Cleveland State became a poet of international stature. She published eight volumes of poetry including Learning to Count and Lid and Spoon (Pitt Poetry Series), A Belfry of Knees ( Alabama ), Beginning with And: New and Selected Poems (Bottom Dog), and Tomorrow Is a Tight Fist (Mellen) - her last book, published in 2001. She was author of several books on the writing of poetry, including To Make a Poem, 50 Contemporary Poets, and Poets Teaching , which are still in use around the country, and she was an authority on John Milton, with scholarly publications on his works. The CSU Poetry Center was for a while the focus of poetic activity in Cleveland , especially its free monthly workshop, the Poetry Forum. The Forum was open to the public, and the public came-academics, street poets, high-schoolers, housewives, the brilliant and the mad. Alberta moderated and took all comers in stride. Sessions sometimes lasted three or four hours, and everybody's poem received serious attention. Under her directorship the Poetry Center became a major publisher of contemporary poetry, with over a hundred titles in print, many of them first books by young writers who have since become leading figures in American letters. At the height of its publication activity, the Poetry Center received between 800 and 1000 book-length manuscript submissions each year from all over the country, indeed the world. Her involvement with Field magazine, along with her duties as director of the CSU Poetry Center , brought Alberta into contact with most of the major poets writing at the time, and she lured them to Cleveland State to give readings and workshops. One can scarcely name a major American or British poet active between 1965 and 1990 who did not visit CSU; the Poetry Center still retains audiotapes of most of these live readings made over three decades. To the end of her life Alberta lived in the house that she and her husband built in Oberlin and where they raised their family. She commuted to Cleveland on the Greyhound bus, often leaving home before daylight and not returning until late in the evening. Her energy was amazing: after having gotten up at dawn to catch the bus, taught and conferred with students at CSU all day, and then conducted a grueling workshop until eleven p.m., she would lift her arms and exclaim with enthusiasm, "It 's been such a wonderful day!" Though she was in fact a model of reliability and scholarly rigor, Alberta enjoyed playing the role of the inscrutable poet in the staid university workplace, slyly calling attention to the emperor's new clothes that she sometimes detected in academic rigmarole, and mystifying administrators with her sibylline comments. But she took her work seriously and was proud of her academic status, no doubt in part because she had worked so hard to establish it. She loved Cleveland State and was grateful for the opportunities it gave her. In spite of being a distinguished author, she remained devoted to her students and accessible to them. If she had had to choose between her literary laurels and her teaching, she would not have hesitated to take the latter. I have never seen her so desolate as at the farewell reception in her honor upon her mandatory retirement at age 70. Happily, she returned to teach part time for several more years. A whole coterie of former students kept in touch with her, years and decades after they had been in her classes. Though we now mourn her loss, we can be grateful for her contributions to the world of letters in general and to this university in particular. -- Source: Trawick, Leonard. Eulogy for Alberta T. Turner [electronic resource]. Minutes of Cleveland State University Faculty Senate Meeting, Nov. 5 2003. Viewed Sept. 12, 2008: http://www.csuohio.edu/organizations/facultysenate/min20031105.html

Scope and Content

The majority of the Alberta Turner Collection consists of manuscripts of Turner's published works, reflecting the variety of forms each took before finally being published. Many manuscripts, containing handwritten notes by the author and direction from editors, reveal both the creative and publishing process. Likewise, the collection contains many letters from friends, colleagues, poets, and publishers; giving insight into Turner's personal and professional life.

Additional materials include an extensive series of index cards with individual publishing histories for each poem, employment records, press clippings, research materials, unpublished works, journals and artwork, student submissions, certificates and awards, and one photograph of Turner receiving the Governor's Award from the Ohio Arts Council in 1988.

Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in approximate chronological and topical order into the following set of series:
Early Life and Works, 1933-1967
Research on Adrienne Rich, 1975
Writing "The Lid and Spoon", 1977
Writing "A Belfry of Knees", 1979-1983
Writing "45 Contemporary Poems: the Creative Process", 1985
Drafts of Poems, 1982-1985
Writing "Surprising Yourself: an Inductive Approach to Poetry", 1980
Writing "The Dog Poems": "Stumping Wise" and "Making Old Bones", 1971-1992
Poetry Teaching and Textbook Materials, 1980-1992
Professional Papers and Projects, 1971-1990

Restrictions on Use

Requests for permission to publish materials from this collection should be discussed with the Special Collections Department at the Cleveland State University Library.

Restrictions on Access

Access to this collection is unrestricted.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Poets, American -- 20th century

Persons:

Turner, Alberta T.
Turner, Alberta T.

Organizations/Corporations:

Cleveland State University. Poetry Center
Cleveland State University. Poetry Center

Provenance

The Alberta Turner Collection was originally maintained by the Cleveland State University Department of English.

Preferred Citation

[Box Number, Folder Name] Alberta Turner collection. Cleveland State University.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated by the Cleveland State University Department of English

Alberta Turner Collection, Series 1-10



Early Life and Works, 1933-1967

Physical Location : Boxes: A.Turner1-2

Scope and Content
Included in this series are collections of Turner's early poems (1939-1964; 1942-?; 1955-1965; undated), student papers and manuscripts (1940-1941), writings and other items relating to Oberlin College's Philologues publication, watercolor paintings, and various writings, records and artifacts from Turner's high school and college years, including grade cards and details on early publishing activities. Other poems, including "Mortuary Verse" and "To Prue, Below Sleep." Other notes and writings included in this series are undated and unlabeled.


Research on Adrienne Rich, 1975

Physical Location : Box: A.Turner2

Scope and Content
This series includes manuscripts and various notes, press clippings, and academic and journalistic resources relating to Turner's research on poet Adrienne Rich. Of special note are a 1975 Master's thesis by Eva M. Green, entitled "A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of the Poems of Adrienne Rich, Including a Biographical Essay, Reviews and Commentaries" and a manuscript by Turner entitled "Response to Richard C. Turner's Paper 'At Home in the Wasteland: the House Image in Adrienne Rich's Poetry."


Writing "The Lid and Spoon", 1977

Physical Location : Box: A.Turner2

Scope and Content
Included in this series are items relating to Turner's 1977 book, "The Lid and Spoon" (Univ. of Pitt. Press). Includes signed copy of the book, annotated manuscripts, editing notes, and correspondences.


Writing "A Belfry of Knees", 1979-1983

Physical Location : Box: A.Turner3-4

Scope and Content
This series includes notes, early annotated manuscripts, correspondences, and other items relating to Turner's 1983 book "A Belfry of Knees" (Univ. of Ala. Press).


Writing "45 Contemporary Poems: the Creative Process", 1985

Physical Location : Box: A.Turner4

Scope and Content
This series includes correspondences with notable poets regarding the creation and meaning of their poetry. Turner collected essays and questionnaires from authors (some of which are included here) for use in her 1985 book "45 Contemporary Poems: the Creative Process" (Longman Press).


Drafts of Poems, 1982-1985

Physical Location : Boxes: A.Turner5

Scope and Content
This series consists of one envelope, labeled "Drafts of Poems since 'Belfry...' 1982~1985, Before Oct. 11 -- MacDowell," which includes handwritten and typed notes and manuscripts.


Writing "Surprising Yourself: An Inductive Approach to Poetry", 1980

Physical Location : Boxes: A.Turner5

Scope and Content
Series consists of one document case entitled, "Surprising yourself: an inductive approach to writing poetry," which includes a manuscript and related correspondences. Publishing status unknown.


Writing "The Dog Poems": "Stumping Wise" and "Making Old Bones", 1971-1992

Physical Location : Boxes: A.Turner6

Scope and Content
This series consists of manuscripts, notes, correspondences, and other items relating to Turner's "Dog Poems" series, later published as the collections, "Stumping Wise: Poems New and Selected, 1971-1990" and "Making Old Bones" (complete publishing information unknown).Also includes manuscript, "Boneman Goes to Charleston -- for Margaret Lally" by David Evett.


Poetry Teaching and Textbook Materials, 1980-1992

Physical Location : Boxes: A.Turner7-8

Scope and Content
This series consists of manuscripts, notes, correspondences, and other resources relating to Turner's books "Poets Teaching: the Creative Process" (Longman, 1980) and "To Make a Poem" (Longman, 1982), as well as assorted classroom materials, notes, and student submissions. Includes eight published copies of "Poets Teaching: the Creative Process."Also included is the manuscript entitled, "Address to the Ohio Aesthetics Society" which is accompanied by assorted press clippings.


Professional Papers and Projects, 1971-1990

Physical Location : Boxes: A.Turner8-9

Scope and Content
This series documents Turner's activities as a faculty member at Oberlin College and Cleveland State University, and includes applications for promotion, annual faculty activity reports, manuscripts of submitted journal articles, contracts and materials for academic and literary engagements, reviews and clippings of Turner's works, curriculum vitae, press materials, as well as various manuscripts and correspondences relating to Turner's work and the work of the Poetry Center. Additional materials include certificates and awards presented to Turner, as well as a 1988 photograph of Turner receiving the Governor's Award for Arts in Education from the Ohio Art Council.Of special note is a selection of materials by and about Cleveland Poet James A. Miller, which may be related to archival holdings by the English Department at Cleveland State University. The James A. Miller collection has since been transferred to Cleveland State University Special Collections.


Manuscripts of poetry, correspondence, cassette tapes of work by Alberta Turner, donated from the Poetry Center, 1950-1970