Finding aid for the Donald M. Hassler Collection

Biography of Donald M. Hassler

Donald M. Hassler was born January 3, 1937 in Akron, Ohio and stayed in Akron until he was 18 years old. He attended Williams College; majoring in American History and Literature. Hassler, next went on to Columbia University, attaining a Ph.D. in English. He then went to New York, got married, and taught at Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn. He later worked for Crowell-Collier Publishing Company in New York as a writer of articles for a junior encyclopedia. He next accepted a teaching job at the University of Montreal and then a teaching position at Kent State University. Hassler was a professor at the University when the Kent State shootings took place on May 4, 1970. He presently resides in Kent and continues to teach at the University.

Scope and Content

The Donald M. Hassler Collection is a comprehensive gathering of Hassler's work spanning from 1960 to 1983. The collection has been arranged into seven series: manuscripts, notes, letters, correspondence, printed matter on Hal Clemont, other printed matter, and photographs and memorabilia. The manuscripts include the books Hassler has written: The Comedian as Letter D: Erasmus Darwin's Comic Materialism, Erasmus Darwin: Comic Materialist, Erasmus Darwin, The Poems of Erasmus Darwin, and Comic Tones in Science Fiction: The Art of Compromise with Nature. Manuscripts also include short stories, speeches and talks, and essays, reviews written for Twentieth Century Science Fiction Writers, book reviews for Ohio Arts Council, essays for Academic Programming at Chicon IV all by Hassler, essays not by Hassler, and poetry by Hassler. Notes include: notes for specific chapters in Darwin books, miscellaneous notes on Darwin, notes for essays, and miscellaneous notes on various topics. Letters are arranged alphabetically by the sender and include personal and business letters and letters from Harry C. Stubbs ("Hal Clemont"). The letters are dated from June 13, 1962 to January 28, 1983. Correspondence is arranged chronologically and is dated from June 1, 1960 to March 18, 1983. It includes both personal and business letters written by Hassler. Printed matter on Hal Clemont includes the book, Hal Clemont, written by Hassler. It also includes notes, essays, and an interview of Hal Clemont done by Hassler. Other printed matter includes pamphlets by Hassler or Hassler and others. Of special note are pamphlets "Four: In Memory" and "Kent State, Ten Years After" that deal with the Kent State shootings. It also includes issues of the "Mini Catalog" (course descriptions for Experimental programs at Kent State written by Hassler), editions of "The Human Issue" for which Hassler was faculty advisor, Council of Academic Deans "Report on Experimental Programs" by Hassler, miscellaneous items by Hassler, pamphlets and articles mentioning or about Hassler, and printed matter not by Hassler. The final section of the collection is photographs and memorabilia. It includes photographs, newspaper articles, editions of the Daily Kent State newspaper, programs, bulletins, newsletters. The memorabilia are from Chicon IV, the American Society of the Eighteenth-Century Studies Bicentennial Conference, and the University of Akron.

Statement of Arrangement

Subject Terms

The following terms have been used to describe this collection.

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Preferred Citation

Researchers are requested to cite collection name, collection number, and Ohio University, Athens, Ohio in all footnotes and bibliographical references.