Miriam Patchen Letters

Collection — Box: VMF 11, Folder: 14

Identifier: MS-VMF-vmf131

Staff Only

1965 August 8. Autograph letter signed from Patchen to William Matheson offering her husband's manuscript material for permanent housing in Olin Library. 2 pages

1965 August 16. Typscript letter [carbon] from William Matheson to Patchen expressing his regret at not being able to purchase the Patchen manuscript material. 1 page

Dates

Creation: 1965

Creator

Patchen, Miriam, 1914-2000 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open

Conditions Governing Use

Users of the collection must read and agree to abide by the rules and procedures set forth in the Materials Use Policies.

Providing access to materials does not constitute permission to publish or otherwise authorize use. All publication not covered by fair use or other exceptions is restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder, which may or may not be Washington University.

If you wish to publish or license Special Collections materials, please contact Special Collections to inquire about copyright status at (314) 935-5495 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu. (Publish means quotation in whole or in part in seminar or term papers, theses or dissertations, journal articles, monographs, books, digital forms, photographs, images, dramatic presentations, transcriptions, or any other form prepared for a limited or general public.)

Extent

2.00 items

1 folders

Additional Description

Biographical Information

Miriam Patchen (September 28, 1914 – March 6, 2000) was the wife and muse of poet and novelist Kenneth Patchen, who dedicated each of his more than 40 books to his wife. He also wrote and published a large number of love poems for Miriam including well-known pieces like "23rd Street Runs Into Heaven."

Born Miriam Oikemus in Waverley, Belmont, Massachusetts, Miriam met Patchen in Boston in 1933 at a friend's Christmas party. At the time, Miriam was an undergraduate at Massachusetts State College in Amherst. The two kept in touch and Patchen started sending her the first of many love poems. After their marriage, they spent much of their marriage living in New York City in Greenwich Village. Then they relocated to the West Coast, living in San Francisco and later, towards the end of Patchen's life, they settled into a cottage house in Palo Alto where Patchen died.