Collection ID: LMC 2929
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Eastman, Max, 1883-1969, Eastman, Yvette Szekely, 1912-2014, and Eastman, Eliena Krylenko, 1895-1956
Abstract:
The Eastman mss. IV, 1890-2009, consist of the photographs, correspondence, personal papers, writings, and artwork of Max Eastman, 1883-1969; Yvette Szekely Eastman, 1912-2014; and Eliena Krylenko Eastman, 1895-1956.
Extent:
64 Boxes
Language:
Materials are in English , Russian , and French .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Eastman mss. IV, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Completing his work for a Ph.D. degree at Columbia and encouraged by John Dewey, he taught logic for three years at the University. In 1909 Eastman organized the Men's League for Woman's Suffrage. His marriage to Ida Rauh, actress and poet, occurred in 1911 and produced comment when it was learned Miss Rauh would retain her maiden name. Their son Daniel was born in 1912. A year later Eastman's first books, Enjoyment of Poetry and Child of the Amazons, were published. During this time he became editor of The Masses with its new idea in format and inclination toward then-radical causes and worked with it until its close in October, 1917. The next year with his sister Crystal Eastman as co-owner he started a new periodical with similar interests called The Liberator.

Leaving The Liberator in the hands of others in 1922 Eastman attended the International Conference at Genoa, Italy, where he met the secretary to Maxim Litvinoff, Eliena Krylenko, 1895-1956, artist and dancer. Continuing on to Russia the two met again and were married in 1924. Their correspondence may be found in the Eastman, E., mss. (The divorce from Miss Rauh had been effected in 1922). During a sojourn of five years in Europe Eastman became acquainted with Leon Trotsky, served as his literary agent in the United States, and translated some of his works. The correspondence for this relationship may be found in the Trotskii mss. Pursuing his interests in writing and lecturing on Russia, socialism, literature, humor, and poetry, Eastman became engaged as a roving editor for The Reader's Digest Association for a number of years.

Following Eliena Krylenko Eastman's death in 1956, Eastman married Yvette Szekely, a former social worker, in 1958. Szekely Eastman (whose name also appears as Sekey and Sekely) moved from Budapest to New York with her stepmother Margaret, a self-made ladies' undergarment designer and journalist, and her sister Sue at a young age. Through her stepmother's journalistic connections, Szekely Eastman met and was romantically involved with author Theodore Dreiser, through whose social circles she also met Max Eastman. An avid photographer, Szekely Eastman enjoyed traveling and regularly visited her mother Marthe in Geneva, Switzerland. Further biographical information about Yvette Szekely Eastman can be found in her memoir, Dearest Wilding.

Scope and Content:

The bulk of the Max Eastman series is comprised of photographs, some of which feature Eliena Krylenko Eastman and Yvette Szekely Eastman, as well as personal materials belonging or pertaining to his mother Annis Ford Eastman and father Samuel Eastman, which include sermon notes and printed copies of sermons. Also included is a mix of personal and professional correspondence as well as a sizeable collection of leases, financial documents, and contracts pertaining to Eastman's writings.

Yvette Szekely Eastman's vast correspondence costitutes the bulk of her series and spans nearly her lifetime, from letters to and from her mother (and stepmother) in the 1930s to correspondence with publishing houses regarding the copyright to Max's writings in the 1980s. Also included is a sizeable collection of photos that feature Yvette and the Eastmans' house in Martha's Vineyard, as well as drafts, research materials, and design proofs for her autobiographical Dearest Wilding. The financial and legal series deals mainly with her division and sale of land lots on the Vineyard property.

The most prolific collection in the Eliena Krylenko Eastman series is that of her artwork and dance materials, which include several original sketchbooks, watercolors, and documentation on exhibitions and galleries in which she was featured. Also included is a sizeable collection of photographs featuring Eliena and her relatives, as well as the typescripts for her unpublished autobiography and several short stories. A series of personal correspondence completes this portion of the collection.

Acquisition information:
Gift: 2017
Arrangement:

The collection is divided into three parts to reflect the three primary individuals whose materials are included: Max Eastman, Yvette Szekely Eastman, and Eliena Krylenko Eastman. Within these series, the following subseries are included: Photographs, Personal, Correspondence, Writings, Writings by Others, Financial and Legal, Artwork and Dance, and Miscellaneous. Photographs and the correspondence of Max Eastman and Yvette Szekely Eastman are arranged chronologically when possible, while all other series and subseries are arranged alphabetically when possible.

NOTE: this collection was originally referred to as "Eastman mss. II Addition I," or EMIIA1. All references to EMIIA1 in the citations of Max Eastman: A Life, Christoph Irmscher's biography of Max Eastman, now refer to Eastman mss. IV.

Physical location:
ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility)

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Eastman mss. IV, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu