The Dorys Crow Grover collection of Papers
Relating to Vardis Fisher
MSS 120
in Boise State University, Albertsons Library, Special Collections Dept.
Biographical sketch of Dorys Crow Grover
Dorys Crow Grover began her studies of Vardis Fisher as a graduate student at Washington State University in the 1960s. Her Ph.D. dissertation, completed in 1969, was entitled A Study of the Poetry of Vardis Fisher. In 1972 Dr. Grover received an appointment as professor of English at East Texas State University, where she taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in American literature for more than twenty years. Throughout her career she maintained her interest in Vardis Fisher, writing articles and delivering papers about him at professional conferences. She is the author of two books about Fisher, A Solitary Voice: Vardis Fisher; A Collection of Essays (1973) and Vardis Fisher: The Novelist as Poet (1973), a study based upon her Ph.D. dissertation. Her article, "Vardis Fisher: The Antelope People Sonnets" (1974) collected together for the first time all of Fisher’s sonnets about the people of the Antelope Hills in eastern Idaho. Professor Grover has also written about Emily Dickinson, James Branch Cabell, and John Graves.
Dorys Crow Grover was born in Pendleton, Oregon, on September 23, 1921. She received a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University in 1951. Before entering graduate school she was editor of her hometown newspaper, The Pendleton Record. Professor Grover retired from East Texas State University in 1993. She divides her time between Texas and her ranch near Pendleton.
Scope and Contents Note
The Dorys Crow Grover collection consists of approximately one cubic foot of papers dating mainly from 1965 to 1991. Most of the material relates to Professor Grover’s studies of Vardis Fisher and his writings. The collection is divided into seven series:
1. Biographical material about Dorys Crow Grover
2. Correspondence of Dorys Crow Grover
3. Writings by Dorys Crow Grover
4. Conference material
5. Notes and clippings
6. Criticism and reviews of Fisher and his works (by others), and
7. Miscellaneous.
The Correspondence includes 23 postcards and letters from Fisher to Grover, 1965-1967, discussing his poetry and the influences on his work. Professor Grover submitted drafts of her dissertation for Fisher to read; his comments and corrections are among the letters. Professor Grover also corresponded with other Fisher scholars and with literary journals and publishers.
The Writings of Dorys Crow Grover include variant drafts of several of her articles, some of which were republished in A Solitary Voice. The Writings also contain a tape-recorded lecture on the "Historical Novels of Vardis Fisher," distributed by the educational media firm Everett/Edwards, Inc.
Professor Grover collected critical essays and reviews of Fisher’s works by others. Some of those are unpublished papers delivered by Fisher scholars at professional conferences. They, along with published articles and reviews by others, are found in the series Criticism and Reviews of Fisher and His Works. Copyright to these writings remain with their authors.
The collection also contains Conference material (organizational papers, programs, and the like), Notes and Clippings collected by Grover, and slides and photos.
Professor Grover presented her papers to Boise State University in 1993, with additions in 1994. She also donated a number of books that have been incorporated into the holdings of the Special Collections Department. They are listed in Catalyst, the Library’s automated catalog. The Dorys Crow Grover collection (MSS 120) is available for research by appointment in the Special Collections Department of the Boise State University Library.
--Alan Virta
Inclusive dates: 1937, 1965-1991
Collection size: ca. 1 cubic foot (in 2 boxes)
Collection number: MSS 120
Processed by: Alan Virta, 1995
Inventory of the Grover Collection (MSS 120)
Biographical material
Box 1, Folder 1 Biographical material on Dorys Crow Grover
Correspondence
Box 1, Folder 2 Boise State University: 1969-1974
Box 1, Folder 3 The Cabellian (Julius Rothman and
others): 1972-1973
Box 1, Folder 4 Caxton Printers (Margaret Pead):
1965-1969
Box 1, Folder 5 Everett/Edwards, Inc.: 1974-1982
Box 1, Folder 6 Catalogs
Box 1, Folder 7 Fisher, Opal: 1965-1975
Box 1, Folder 8 Fisher, Vardis: 1965-1967
Box 1, Folder 9 Flora, Joseph M.: 1966-1978
Box 1, Folder 10 Kellogg, George: 1966-1969
Box 1, Folder 11 Kies, Paul P.
Box 1, Folder 12 Milton, John: 1974-1991
Box 1, Folder 13 The Revisionist Press: 1971-1977
Box 1, Folder 14 Western American Literature (J.
Golden Taylor): 1969-1970
Box 1, Folder 15 Miscellaneous
Writings of Dorys Crow Grover
Box 1, Folder 16 Dissertation: Miscellaneous items
Box 1, Folder 17 Miscellaneous items
Box 1, Folder 18 Folklore in Vardis Fisher’s Pemmican
Box 1, Folder 19 Folklore in Vardis Fisher’s Pemmican
Box 1, Folder 20 Folklore in Vardis Fisher’s Pemmican
Box 1, Folder 21 Folklore in Vardis Fisher’s Pemmican:
Correspondence: 1969-1973
Box 1, Folder 22 Historical Novels of Vardis Fisher
Box 1, Folder 23 Influences Upon the Writings of Vardis
Fisher
Box 1, Folder 24 Poems by Dorys Crow Grover
Box 1, Folder 25 The Poetry of Vardis Fisher
Box 1, Folder 26 Vardis Fisher, A Reminiscence
Box 1, Folder 27 Vardis Fisher, A Reminiscence: Drafts
Box 1, Folder 28 Vardis Fisher and the Critics of Children
of God
Box 1, Folder 29 Vardis Fisher and the Mormons:
Miscellaneous items
Box 1, Folder 30 Vardis Fisher: Style (Notes)
Box 1, Folder 31 Vardis Fisher, That Man in Idaho Who
Writes Books
Box 1, Folder 32 Vardis Fisher, That Man in Idaho Who
Writes Books
Box 1, Folder 33 Vardis Fisher, The Antelope People
Sonnets
Box 1, Folder 34 Vardis Fisher, The Antelope People
Sonnets: Correspondence: 1972-1974
Box 1, Folder 35 Vardis Fisher, The Novelist as Poet:
Front matter
Box 1, Folder 36 Vardis Fisher’s Theory of Art and
Artists
Box 1, Folder 37 Vardis Fisher in Retrospect
Conference material
Box 1, Folder 38 Symposium on the Historical Novel,
Washington State University: 1966
Box 1, Folder 39 American Studies workshops (Idaho):
1967
Box 1, Folder 40 Western Literature Association: 1969
Box 1, Folder 41 Western Literature Association: 1970
Notes and Clippings
Box 2, Folder 1 Biographical, Vardis Fisher
Box 2, Folder 2 Communism, Vardis Fisher on
Box 2, Folder 3 Fisher as Writer-in-Residence, College
of Idaho: 1968
Box 2, Folder 4 Fisher-Schwartz correspondence (The
Bookmark, Sept 1974)
Box 2, Folder 5 House at Hagerman, Idaho
Box 2, Folder 6 Influences on Fisher’s poetry
Box 2, Folder 7 Newspaper columns by Vardis Fisher:
1965-1966
Box 2, Folder 8 Novels of Vardis Fisher: Testament of
Man
Box 2, Folder 9 Novels of Vardis Fisher: Tetralogy
Box 2, Folder 10 Miscellaneous, Vardis Fisher
Box 2, Folder 11 Cabell, James Branch
Box 2, Folder 12 Donner Party
Criticism and Reviews of Fisher and his Works
N.B. Copyright to the articles, reviews, and papers below remain with their authors
Box 2, Folder 13 Day, George. City of Illusion: Medieval
Morality and Modern History (1984)
Box 2, Folder 14 Day, George. Dark Bridwell:
Vardis Fisher’s Frontier Lear
Box 2, Folder 15 Flora, Joseph M. Vardis Fisher and
James Branch Cabell (The Cabellian, 1969)
Box 2, Folder 16 Flora, Joseph M. Vardis Fisher and John
Gardner (1989)
Box 2, Folder 17 Flora, Joseph M. Vardis Fisher
and Wallace Stegner: Teacher and Student
(Western American Literature,
1970)
Box 2, Folder 18 Kellogg, George. First Man of Idaho
Letters
Box 2, Folder 19 Kellogg, George. Vardis Fisher, by
Joseph M. Flora (Book review)
(Western Humanities Review, 1969)
Box 2, Folder 20 Manfred, Frederick. Newspaper column
(1965)
Box 2, Folder 21 McAllister, Mick. Children of God:
Vardis Fisher’s Objective Epic (1983)
Box 2, Folder 22 McAllister, Mick. The Survival of the
Blood: Vardis Fisher’s The Mothers (1984)
Box 2, Folder 23 McAllister, Mick. Vardis Fisher’s
Mormon Heritage (1983)
Box 2, Folder 24 McAllister, Mick. Vardis Fisher’s The
Mothers and the Strength of Women in the Pioneer West
(1983)
Box 2, Folder 25 McAllister, Mick. You Can’t Go Home: Jeremiah
Johnson and the Wilderness
Box 2, Folder 26 McMurtry, Larry. [Review of Mountain
Man] 1965
Box 2, Folder 27 Meldrum, Barbara. Vardis Fisher’s
Antelope People: Pursuing an Elusive Dream
Box 2, Folder 28 Morton, Beatrice K. An Early Stage of
Fisher’s Journey To the East: Passions Spin the Plot
Box 2, Folder 29 Morton, Beatrice K. Fisher’s In
Tragic Life: The American Novel?
Box 2, Folder 30 Morton, Beatrice K. Forgive Us Our
Virtues: Fisher’s Enigmatic Novel (1984)
Box 2, Folder 31 Sonnichsen, C.L. Vardis Fisher and the
WLA [Western Literature Association]
(South Dakota Review, 1990)
Box 2, Folder 32 Stouck, David. The Art of the Mountain
Man Novel
Box 2, Folder 33 Taber, Ronald W. Vardis Fisher: New
Directions in the Western Novel
(Western American Literature, 1967)
Box 2, Folder 34 Taber, Ronald W. Vardis Fisher
Box 2, Folder 35 Thomas, Alfred K. The Epic of
Evolution, Its Etiology And Art: A Study of Vardis Fisher’s
Testament
of Man (Notes)
Box 2, Folder 36 Willmuth, Ray. Marriages Made in Heaven: A View of Polygamy in
Vardis Fisher’s Children of God
Box 2, Folder 37 Gold Rushes and Mining Camps of
the Early American West
Box 2, Folder 38 Idaho: A Guide in Word and
Picture
Box 2, Folder 39 Mountain Man
Box 2, Folder 40 Novels
MiscellaneousM
Box 2, Folder 41 Miscellaneous
Box 2, Folder 42 Photos
Box 2, Folder 43 Negatives
Box 2, Folder 44 Slides
Addition to the Dorys C. Grover collection
MSS 120
This addition, donated by Professor Grover in 1996, relates mainly to Ernest Hemingway
Box 3, Folder 1 Correspondence relating to Ernest
Hemingway: 1969-1991
Box 3, Folder 2 "Ernest Hemingway’s Last
Home" [Ketchum, Idaho], by Dorys Grover (essay): 1969
Box 3, Folder 3 Miscellaneous writings on Hemingway by
Dorys C. Grover: 1969
Box 3, Folder 4 Course material and examinations about
Hemingway
Box 3, Folder 5 Clippings about Hemingway and Cuba:
1965-1967 and n.d.
Box 3, Folder 6 Clippings about Hemingway family
members: 1969-1984
Box 3, Folder 7 Clippings about Ketchum, Idaho
Box 3, Folder 8 Articles about the Hemingway papers,
John F. Kennedy Library
Box 3, Folder 9 Photos by Dorys C. Grover of Ketchum
sites: 1969
Box 3, Folder 10 Miscellaneous other correspondence: 1983-1995