Collection search - Milton Acorn fonds [textual record (some microform), graphic material]
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Milton Acorn fonds [textual record (some microform), graphic material]
Hierarchical level:FondsContext of this record:Fonds includes:20 lower level description(s)View lower level description(s) -
Finding aid Textual records (Electronic) The finding aid provides a file list of the papers. MSS1695 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000315.pdf -
Record information Milton Acorn fonds [textual record (some microform), graphic material]
Date:1931-1986.Reference:R5305-0-4-E, MG31-D175Type of material:Textual material, Photographs, ArtFound in:Archives / Collections and FondsItem ID number:102769Date(s):1931-1986.Place of creation:No place, unknown, or undeterminedExtent:15.345 m of textual records.
3 microfilm reels negative and positive.
13 photographs b&w and col.
2 drawings.Language of material:EnglishScope and content:Fonds consists of papers relating to the life and career of Milton Acorn including the following: correspondence, including literary, political, personal and family letters; biographical and personal material; financial records; subject files; poetry manuscripts, including both collected and uncollected poems; manuscripts of fiction, including short stories and science fiction and fantasy; drafts of plays; manuscripts of non-fiction, including essays and articles, letters to the editor, reviews and addresses to political groups; notes and sketches; and manuscript notebooks. There are 19 manuscript notebooks on microfilm kept by Milton Acorn and containing drafts of poems and other writings and letter drafts, microfilm reels M-8267 to M-8269.
Additional papers were acquired in 1987. These papers include general and family correspondence 1954-1986, biographical and personal material 1972-1986, subject files 1931-1985, manuscripts of published and unpublished poems 1950-1986, and also plays, essays and notebooks 1944-1986. Additional papers were acquired 1988. They include correspondence 1962-1974, various poems and essays 1950-1971. Other documents acquired in 1992 include general correspondence 1968, subject and political manuscripts. Additional papers were acquired in 1993. They contain general and family correspondence 1955-1970, biographical and personal information 1968-1970, subject files 1969, various manuscripts of poems, plays and essays 1949-1970. The last acquisition in 1994 consist of general correspondence and family correspondence 1953-1964. There are also subject files and various manuscripts of poems 1954-1970.
Fonds also consists of photographic material which depicts: a portrait of Fred Cogswell, Milton Acorn's publisher; group portrait of literary personalities Robert Weaver, Robin Farr, Frank Scott and an unidentified person; Milton Acorn in a bar, 1979; Milton Acorn with an unidentified child; Milton Acorn's mother and sister, Mary Hooper; contact proof sheet of 28 images of Milton Acorn and other people; Louise Harvey; Goldberg family and friends; Claud; Mrs. Ryerson with Tom and Sito; an unidentified woman; photograph of a print entitled Brain Interiors by Joe Rosenblatt.
Also included are two sketches of the poet Milton Acorn.Provenance:Additional name(s):Biography/Administrative history:Acorn, Milton, 1923-1986 : Milton Acorn, poet, was born in Charlottetown, P.E.I., in 1923. He attended primary and secondary schools in P.E.I. He was wounded while serving with the Canadian army during the Second World War and spent a year recuperating in Britain. After returning to Canada he worked as a labourer in Charlottetown and Moncton, trained as a carpenter and moved to Montreal in the late 1950s, where he joined the Communist Party. He privately printed a small collection of poems, "In Love and Anger", in 1956 and shortly afterwards met poet Al Purdy with whom he founded the little magazine "Moment". He spent the winter of 1960 helping Purdy build his home at Ameliasburg, Ontario, and Purdy later selected the poems for Acorn's two major collections,"I've Tasted My Blood" (1969) and "Dig Up My Heart" (1983).
Milton Acorn moved to Toronto in the early 1960s and Ryerson published his first collection, "The Brain's the Target", in 1961. He married poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1962; they separated in 1963. His second collection, "Jawbreakers", was published in 1963 and Acorn moved to Vancouver, where he co-founded the underground paper "Georgia Straight" and briefly joined a Trotskyite group. Throughout the 1960s he gave poetry readings at coffee houses across Canada and was involved in many political activities.
In the late 1960s Acorn returned to Toronto, where he received the Canadian Poets Award at a ceremony at Grossman's tavern 1970. Three collections followed: "More Poems for People" (1972), "The Island Means Minago" (1975) - winner of the Governor-General's Award, and "Jackpine Sonnets" (1977). Acorn returned to Charlottetown in 1981 and published "Captain Macdougal and the Naked Goddess" in 1982. McClelland and Stewart's selected poems, "Dig Up My Heart", appeared in 1983. Milton Acorn spent his last years in Prince Edward Island and died there in 1986.Additional information:General note:Most of the papers were received in 1985 from Milton Acorn. One file of typescripts of the proposed collection "Sonnets of Martin Dorion" was received in 1986 from Deneau Press through Tim Dunn (see vol. 11). One unpublished manuscript, "I Want to Tell You Love" by Acorn and bill bissett, was received in 1988 from William Hoffer Books, Vancouver, B.C. The microfilmed manuscript notebooks were copied in 1988 from originals in the possession of Acorn's sister, Mary Hooper of Winsloe, P.E.I. Other documents were received in 1987 and 1994 from Mary Hooper, in 1988 and 1993 from Robert Russell of Toronto, and in 1992 from John Mappin Bookseller in Montreal.Location of originals note:The originals of the notebooks are in the possession of Mary Hooper, Winsloe, P.E.I.Subject heading:- Poets, Canadian, [1943-1984] The Road To Charlottetown, n.d
- Publishers and publishing - Canada, [1949-1984] Fiddlehead, [1951-1980]
- Acorn family - Correspondence, [1949-1984] Canadian Forum, [1951-1980]
- Milton Acorn - Family, [1949-1984] "I Want to Tell You Love", [1951-1980]
- Helen Acorn - Correspondence, [1949-1984] I've Tasted My Blood, [1950-1983]
- Invitations, [1947-1974] In Addition, [1950-1983]
- Milton Acorn - Interviews, [1962-1984] Joe Rosenblatt, [1945-[1984]]
- Milton Acorn - Biography, [19-] Francis Sparshott, [1945-[1984]]
- Milton Acorn - Finance, Personal, [1952-1984] Moment
- Poetry, [1945-[1984]] National Film Board of Canada, [1952-1984]
- Abortion, [1945-[1984]] Margaret Atwood, [1949-1984]
- Alcoholism, [1945-[1984]] Pat Lowther, [1949-1984]
- Religion, [1945-[1984]] Dennis Lee, [1949-1984]
- Carpentry, [1945-[1984]] Cedric Smith, [1949-1984]
- Drugs, [1945-[1984]] Eli Mandel, [1949-1984]
- Ornithology, [1945-[1984]] John Robert Columbo, [1949-1984]
- Prince Edwar Island - History, [19-] Bill Bissett, [1949-1984]
- Milton Acorn - Manuscripts, [1950-1983] R. G. Everson, [1949-1984]
- Milton Acorn - Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc., 1950-1984 Raymond Salutin, [1949-1984]
- Milton Acorn - Oratory, 1951-1984 Gwendolyn McEwen, [1949-1984]
- Al Purdy, [1949-1984]
- The Bare-Eyed Birdwatcher, [1950-1983]
- Canada
Source:PrivateFormer archival reference no.:MG31-D175 -
Ordering and viewing options Conditions of access:Access restriction documentTextual records[Consultation Restrictions vary]Finding aid box [FA 1695] 130[Consultation Closed]Textual records: microform[Consultation Open]Microfilm reel M-8267--M-8269[Consultation Open]Graphic (photo)[Consultation Open]Box [ACORN, MILTON 1987-175] 4035[Consultation Open]Graphic (art)[Consultation Open]Box [1988-014][Consultation Open]A286-02 Item no. assigned by LAC 2[Consultation Open]Terms of use:Photographs: No restrictions on use or reproductions. Various copyrights on items less than 50 years old; copyright expired items greater than 50 years old.
Drawings: Use is restricted for research purposes only. Copyright unknown. Credit: National Archives of Canada.You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.
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