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Miscellaneous Correspondence

 File — Box: 14, Folder: 12

Scope and Content

From the Collection: The J.B. Jackson papers contain typed and handwritten drafts and manuscripts of books, lectures, essays and articles. Extensive subject files on topics related to his writings provide insight into his influences and methods of research. Topics reflect Jackson's work and personal interest in landscape studies, human geography, vernacular architecture, settlement patterns, and public spaces, focusing on Europe and the United States.

The manuscript collection is divided into six overlapping series: I. Lectures, Notes, and Manuscripts, II. Correspondence III. Subject files, IV. Illustrations, V. Library and Bibliography, and VI. Oversize. Materials found together at the time of Jackson's death were kept together in the collection. Thus, some subject files are housed with writings or notes, as Jackson may have used them. While this may not be the most efficient way to organize a collection for researchers, it does reflect Jackson's eclectic approach to research and analysis.

The first series contains Jackson's writings, including lectures and notes for lectures, book manuscripts, essays, magazine articles, essay notes, and writing fragments. This series also contains a journal from Jackson's travels around the United States in 1957. The Correspondence series contains mostly professional correspondence from the last decade of Jackson's career. The Subject Files series includes photocopied book excerpts, magazine articles, and student and colleague essays, as well as news clippings and correspondence. Subjects include housing, roads, automobiles, land use and city planning. An unorganized collection of illustrations clipped from books and magazines, was sorted into broad subject categories by UNM staff, and comprises the illustration series. The Library and Bibliography series contains copies of selected pages from books in Jackson's library and his bibliography cards. The Oversize series contains mostly illustrations and maps.

Helen Horowitz, Jackson's literary executor, inventoried his papers in 1996. Numbers referencing her inventory, which is found in Box 1, appear in the upper right hand corner of the files where applicable. A few items listed by Horowitz were not received at UNM. Materials are primarily in English, with some writing and subject files in German and French.

Landscape magazine, along with many of the books that came to UNM from Jackson's personal library, have been catalogued into the UNM University Libraries collections. These materials have an electronic bookplate in the library's online catalog that reads: John Brinckerhoff Jackson Memorial Collection.

In June 2003 additional material was added to the collection. The addition contains J.B. Jackson's class lecture notes from Harvard and U.C. Berkeley, several drafts of J.B. Jackson's manuscript, "A History of American Landscapes: The First Thousand Years," which seem to have been partially informed by his lecture notes from Harvard and U.C. Berkeley, and selected writings which include a speech given by Jackson at U.C. Berkeley's commencement ceremony (1986), and an essay entitled, "Fences" for the National Museum of Building (1995). These additional materials were "saved" from J. B. Jackson tossing them in a bonfire, and donated to the Center for Southwest Research subsequent to his death.

Personal Items and Mementos were added in January 2011. This series contains numerous personal items, trinkets and mementos kept by J.B. Jackson over his lifetime. Many were displayed on his mantel and are well-known among Jackson's friends and specifically referred to as the "mantel" items. Most attest to his love for kitsch and popular culture and some relate directly to his landscape related research, such as a set of china souvenir plates with images of trailers, mobile homes and campers. Indeed, many of the items are tourist souvenirs collected by Jackson on his trips through Europe and the United States. Other items include handmade arts and crafts, possibly received as gifts.

Dates

  • 1808-1996

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Extent

From the Collection: 13 boxes (12.5 cu. ft.), plus 1 oversized folder

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451