Hamlin Garland Papers: Collection Highlights from USC Libraries Special Collections

Hamlin Garland and USC

After moving to Los Angeles in 1931, Garland started to build a strong relationship with the University of Southern California. Garland was a frequent visitor to campus, lecturing before classes in American Literature, receiving an honorary doctorate from the University in 1935, and joining the Phi Beta Kappa society as an honorary member in 1936. The above photograph (image 1) shows Hamlin Garland, circa 1938, standing with Garland Greever and other USC faculty members in front of Doheny Library. The collections also includes a 1936 photograph of Garland with Rufus Bernhard von KleinSmid, the fifth president of USC.

Following Garland’s death in 1940, his personal library and papers came to the USC Libraries, forming the cornerstone of the Libraries’ recently-established American Literature Collection.

In 1933, Hamlin Garland celebrated his seventy-third birthday at the University Club of Los Angeles (the club on 6th Street that closed in 1992), with much of USC’s faculty and administration in attendance. The Hamlin Garland papers include the menu from this celebration, along with “The Book of Hamlin Garland,” a scrapbook compiled for the occasion made up of written tributes to Garland from his many friends.

Items pictured above:

(Image 1) Photograph of Hamlin Garland with Garland Greever and other USC faculty members in front of Doheny Library, circa 1938.
View this item in the Hamlin Garland papers finding aid.

(Images 2 & 3) Invitation and menu for Hamlin Garland's seventy-third birthday celebration, 1933.
View this item in the Hamlin Garland papers finding aid and the Digital Library.

(Images 4, 5, & 6) Photographs, birthday greetings, and tributes from “The Book of Hamlin Garland” – a scrapbook created for Garland's seventy-third birthday celebration, 1933.
Explore "The Book of Hamlin Garland" in the Hamlin Garland papers finding aid and the Digital Library.

More from the exhibit:

Photograph of Hamlin Garland with Rufus Bernhard von KleinSmid, 1936.
View this item in the Hamlin Garland papers finding aid.

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