A Guide to the Archibald A. Hill Papers, 1924-1989

Biographical Note

Archibald Anderson Hill (1902-1992) was a renowned scholar and professor of English and Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. Born in New York City on July 5, 1902, Dr. Hill grew up in San Diego and graduated from Pomona College, California in 1923 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He received a Master of Arts in English from Stanford University in 1926 and a Ph.D. in English from Yale University in 1927. Dr. Hill taught at the University of Michigan (1926-1930), the University of Virginia (1930-1952) and Georgetown University (1952-1955) before joining the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in 1955, where he remained until his retirement in 1972. In 1928, he married Muriel Louise Eyard. Dr. Hill died in Austin on March 29, 1992.

Dr. Hill's research was in structural linguistics, emphasizing language teaching, dialects, the history of the English language, English manuscript studies, and the use of linguistics in the study of literature. He was instrumental in developing the Department of Linguistics at the University of Texas. He donated an extensive collection of books and periodicals about linguistics to the university, and the Department of Linguistics established the Archibald A. Hill Library to house his numerous contributions. Additionally, Dr. Hill served as Secretary and Treasurer for the Linguistic Society of America (1950-1968), and in 1969 was elected President.

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Scope and Contents

Correspondence, works and publications, notes, sound recordings and photographs document the life and career of Dr. Archibald Anderson Hill. The records relate chiefly to Dr. Hill’s career as a linguist, both during his tenure at the University of Texas and after his retirement. The majority of the records are correspondence about linguistics, 1968-1986, including criticism of colleagues’ works and a set of letters to his wife describing his 1968 lectures in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Dr. Hill’s published and unpublished works also comprise a significant amount of the collection, including collaborative work with Martin Joos. Dr. Hill’s professional activities with the Linguistic Society of America and his visit to Bogota, Colombia are also documented in the collection. A portion of the records consist of Dr. Hill’s own subject files, such as “Middle English Dialects,” “Phonemics for Class Use,” and “Archaeology and Germanic Expansion,” and notes about teaching linguistics. Sound recordings of the 1958 Texas Conference on Problems of Linguistics Analysis in English include an early Noam Chomsky presentation and subsequent discussion. This collection also contains photographs, records of Dr. Hill’s naval career, personal correspondence, and honors and awards.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Unrestricted access.

Use of audio material by appointment only; please contact sound archivist.

Use Restrictions

A portion of these papers is stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval. Contact repository for retrieval.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Archibald A. Hill Papers, 1924-1989, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

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Detailed Description of the Papers

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