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Lawrence Lipton papers

 Collection
Identifier: 0159

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Scope and Contents

The Lawrence Lipton papers, 1883-2009 (bulk 1950-1975), consist of correspondence, interviews, manuscripts, typescripts, periodicals, audio recordings, motion pictures, clippings, photographs, and ephemera, created and collected by novelist, poet, and Beat Generation chronicler Lawrence Lipton. The collection documents Lipton's prolific work as a novelist, poet, and columnist through a variety of materials. Typescripts and manuscripts of his works--including Erotic Revolution, Rainbow at Midnight--and Lipton's columns for Radio Free America, Interface, and the Los Angeles Free Press showcase Lipton's writing styles and core themes. Correspondence between Lipton and members of the Beats, including Allen Ginsberg, as well as Lipton's third wife, novelist Craig Rice, reveals Lipton's central position among the Beat movement. And interviews--included as both recorded audio and, sometimes, as textual transcripts--that Lipton conducted with a variety of notable writers and musicians during the 1960s provide examples of literary and political dialogue of that era. Also included are items that Lipton collected as research material, newspapers and magazines (many of which feature Lipton's published poetry), photographs, and motion pictures. Many of Lipton's articles and poems written in the era of the Beat Movement deal with subjects pertinent to "beatnik" ideology such as anti-materialism, sexual liberation, exploration of eastern philosophy, criticism of western Christendom, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, and denouncement of homophobia. Much of Lipton's poetry in this collection relates to his poetry and jazz project, as Lipton often combined these two art forms as a skilled jazz music composer.

Dates

  • Creation: 1883 - 2009
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1950 - 1975

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice required for access.

Rights Statement for Archival Description

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical note

Lawrence Lipton was born in Lodz, Poland, on October 10, 1898, and brought to America in 1903 by his father, Abraham Lipton. The family moved to Chicago where Abraham Lipton had close friends and relatives. When Lipton was fourteen, his father died.

Lipton worked at various times as a graphic artist, a journalist, the publicity director of a large movie theater, a writer and poet, and a jazz composer. In the 1920s, Lipton joined an influential circle of writers in Chicago, including Ben Hecht, Carl Sandburg, Edgar Lee Masters, Sherwood Anderson, and Harriet Monroe. Lipton also married his first wife, Dorothy Omansky, during the 1920s. After Dorothy died, Lipton married Betty Weinberg, with whom he had a son, James Lipton. In the late 1930s, Lipton divorced Betty and married Georgiana Randolph Craig, a well-known author of mystery novels and short stories who wrote under the pseudonym, Craig Rice. After divorcing Georgiana, Lipton married Nettie Esther Brooks in 1948.

In addition to Lipton's earlier mystery fiction and articles for such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Chicago Review, and Quarterly Review of Literature, he wrote two literary novels, Brother, The Laugh is Bitter (1942) and In Secret Battle (1944), and a book of poetry, Rainbow at Midnight (1955), which was a Book Club for Poetry selection.

The Holy Barbarians, the book that linked Lipton to the Beat writers, was published in 1959, when he was sixty-one years old. The cast of characters in the book included such "name" personalities as the writers Allen Ginsberg, Kenneth Rexroth, Kenneth Patchen, Stuart Z. Perkoff, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Dylan Thomas. When Lipton wrote The Holy Barbarians he had settled in Venice, California, where Lipton's home became an informal center for the arts -- with Lipton functioning as both teacher and catalyst. In Venice, Lipton was associated with the movement to restore poetry as a vocal art long before the Beats became famous, and he began experimenting with poetry and jazz in 1956. In 1957, he produced and directed a series of poetry-and-jazz concerts that became the first West Coast Poetry and Jazz Festival, dedicated to Dylan Thomas and playing to capacity audiences during its two-week run. In 1958, Lipton produced Jazz Canto, released by World Pacific Records.

Published in dozens of literary magazines and journals, Lipton's poetry and prose linked central themes relating to the social responsibility of the artist to participate in the formation of a society that was more than a collective. As a visionary, Lipton wanted the new society to be rational, functional, and responsible to the deepest needs of the human soul. During the last years of his life, Lipton wrote a long-running column of political commentary in the Los Angeles Free Press called "Radio Free America." Lipton died in Los Angeles on July 9, 1975.

[Biography adapted from Nettie Lipton's article in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 16: The Beats: Literary Bohemians in Postwar America. Edited by Ann Charters, University of Connecticut. Gale Research, 1983. pp. 352-356]

Extent

138.65 Linear Feet (140 boxes and 1 framed portrait)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Lawrence Lipton papers, 1883-2009 (bulk 1950-1975), consist of correspondence, interviews, manuscripts, typescripts, audio recordings, clippings, periodicals, photographs, motion pictures, and ephemera, created and collected by Beat Generation chronicler, novelist, and poet, Lawrence Lipton. The collection documents Lipton's prolific work as a novelist, poet, and columnist through typescripts and manuscripts of his works; correspondence between Lipton and members of the Beats, including Allen Ginsberg; and interviews that Lipton conducted with a variety of notable writers and musicians during the 1960s. Lipton was born in Lodz, Poland, on October 10, 1898. In 1903, Lipton and his family immigrated to the United States -- eventually settling in Chicago. Lipton worked at various times as a graphic artist, a journalist, the publicity director of a large movie theater, a writer and poet, and a jazz composer. In the 1920s, Lipton joined an influential circle of writers in Chicago, including Ben Hecht, Carl Sandburg, Edgar Lee Masters, Sherwood Anderson, and Harriet Monroe. In the late 1930s, Lipton married his third wife Georgiana Randolph Craig, a well-known author of mystery novels and short stories who wrote under the pseudonym, Craig Rice. In addition to his earlier mystery fiction and articles for such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Chicago Review, and Quarterly Review of Literature, Lipton wrote two literary novels, "Brother, The Laugh is Bitter" (1942) and "In Secret Battle" (1944), and a book of poetry, "Rainbow at Midnight" (1955), which was a Book Club for Poetry selection. In 1959, Lipton published "The Holy Barbarians," the book that linked him to the Beat Generation literary movement. When Lipton wrote "The Holy Barbarians," he had settled in Venice, California, where his home became an informal center for the arts, with Lipton functioning as both teacher and catalyst. In Venice, Lipton was associated with the movement to restore poetry as a vocal art long before the Beats became famous, and he began experimenting with poetry and jazz in 1956. During the last years of his life, Lipton wrote a long-running column of political commentary in the "Los Angeles Free Press" called "Radio Free America." Lipton died in Los Angeles on July 9, 1975.

Organization

The collection is organized into the following series:

  • Works by Lawrence Lipton
  • Correspondence
  • Works collected by Lawrence Lipton
  • Interview transcripts
  • Subject Files
  • Photographs
  • Audiovisual material
  • Acquisition

    Purchased 1986, with additional materials subsequently donated by the Lipton Estate.

    Processing Information

    This collection is partially processed.

    Title
    Finding aid for the Lawrence Lipton papers
    Status
    Completed
    Author
    Louis Knecht and Bo Doub
    Date
    2010; 2017-2018
    Description rules
    Describing Archives: A Content Standard
    Language of description
    English
    Script of description
    Latin

    Revision Statements

    • 2017-2018: Finding aid revised and updated by Louis Knecht and Bo Doub to reflect further processing.
    • 2020 July: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub: created new container records (listed under "Unprocessed material") using container lists from a collections move managed by Backstage Library Works.
    • 2022 April: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub to include 10 posters added to the collection from accrual no. 2022-023.
    • 2023 February: Finding Aid updated by Marissa Chavez and Sarah Jardini for History Associates Incorporated: added found box to inventory

    Repository Details

    Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository

    Contact:
    Doheny Memorial Library 206
    3550 Trousdale Parkway
    Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States