Frederick Benjamin Gipson, journalist and author of western and children's literature, was born February 7, 1908, near Mason, Texas. As the son of cotton farmers, Gipson worked as a field laborer while attending Mason High School. After graduating in 1926, Gipson worked as a goat driver, mule skinner, and day laborer before enrolling as a journalism major at the University of Texas in 1933. That same year Gipson won a writing contest for which J. Frank Dobie, the Texas folklore writer, was a judge. Gipson's winning story,
Gipson's career as a newspaper reporter and columnist from 1937 to 1940 included work for the Corpus Christi
Although he was successful as a writer of nonfiction, it was as a novelist that Gipson became best known. In 1945 Gipson met literary agent Maurice Crain, which led to a long-term association between the two Texans. Gipson's first best sellers,
Gipson was the recipient of several literary awards including the William Allen White Children's Book Award, 1959 and the First Sequoyah Award, Oklahoma, 1959. In 1965 Gipson became president of the Texas Institute of Letters and was named a “Fellow” in 1970. Gipson died at his ranch in Mason County on August 17, 1973, and was, by special proclamation of the governor, buried in the State Cemetery in Austin, Texas. Two of his novels for young readers,
The Fred Gipson Papers, 1920-1973 (34 boxes), include manuscripts, drafts, correspondence, contracts, financial and legal documents, and photographs that document his life as one of the most prolific writers of the American Southwest. The collection is arranged in five series: Works, 1942-1965 (11 boxes), Clippings and Printed Materials, 1935-1983 (3 boxes), Correspondence, 1920-1973 (17 boxes), Personal Papers, 1922-1972 (1.5 boxes), and Financial and Legal Documents, 1944-1973 (1.5 boxes).
The creative works consist of manuscripts (often including multiple annotated and corrected drafts) of short stories, novels, screenplays, speeches, and newspaper articles. While short story drafts and printed versions dominate the works series, also present are numerous story ideas or outlines, called “briefs” by Gipson. Gipson's most famous novel
Correspondence with friends, literary agents, and publishers, and fan mail comprise one half of the collection. This correspondence reflects Gipson's literary achievements and the influence his books had on young readers, whose letters dominate the fan mail subseries. The correspondence series also illuminates the problems and struggles Gipson endured in his personal life and writing career. Significant correspondents include: Walter Brennan, Bernard Brister, Maurice Crain, Margaret Cousins, J. F. Dobie, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., John Henry Faulke, Lyndon B. Johnson, Tommy Kirk, Zack Miller, Fess Parker, Cactus Pryor, General Jesus Jaime Quiñones, J.A. Small, H. N. Swanson, Evan Thomas, Walter Prescott Webb, Annie Laurie Williams, and Chill Wills.
Additional series include printed material by and about Gipson and his works, personal papers, financial and legal documents. In the Personal Papers series are items such as address cards, school diplomas, birth certificates, maps, travel guides, and personal and publicity photographs. Other materials relating to Gipson's publishing and film writing career and general finances are found in the Financial and Legal Documents series.
The Gipson papers represent aspects of his work and life from his early childhood to his death in 1973. Beyond the study of Gipson and his writings during part of the most prolific times of his life, this collection also provides insight into the process of writing and publishing popular western and children's literature in the last half of the twentieth century.
The Works series consists of drafts (original and carbon copy), and proofs of short stories, screenplays, novels, newspaper and magazine articles, memoirs and speeches, as well as research notes. The manuscripts of short stories, which dominate the Works series, include numerous corrected and annotated versions and often include additional publication and financial information. These works have been arranged alphabetically by title. While Gipson's most famous novel
Manuscripts of screenplays or scripts (including outlines), besides the drafts of
The Clippings and Printed Materials series contains three scrapbooks, 1935-1938, of Gipson's newspaper columns and articles that have been maintained as Gipson kept them. Also found here are miscellaneous loose clippings of reviews, critical articles written about Gipson's work, publicity materials, and copies of national, local, and international newspapers and magazines (such as
The Correspondence series consists of two subseries, General Correspondence, 1920-1973, and Fan Mail and Publicity, 1946-1973. The general correspondence (13 boxes) has been maintained in alphabetical order and uses Gipson's original folder titles, and is interspersed with a few subject files. While not numerous, some of Gipson's outgoing letters are interfiled with the correspondence. The majority of the correspondents include friends, literary contacts and agents, and family members. Significant correspondents include Walter Brennan, Bernard Brister, Maurice Crain, Margaret Cousins, J. Frank Dobie, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.; John Henry Faulk, Lyndon B. Johnson, Zack Miller, Fess Parker, Cactus Pryor, General Jesus Jaime Quiñones, H. N. Swanson, Fess Parker, Joe Austell Small, H.N. Swanson, Evan Thomas, Walter Prescott Webb, Annie Laurie Williams, and Chill Wills. Much of the correspondence with the literary agents, such as Maurice Crain and H.N. Swanson provides insight into the process of writing and publishing Gipson's works. The letters of Gipson's first wife, Tommie Eloise Wynn, are of a more intimate nature.
The second subseries, Fan Mail and Publicity, 1946-1973 (3.5 boxes) includes fan mail, correspondents' photographs (mostly from young readers), as well as photocopies of Gipson's responses interfiled with letters from publishers, and copies of publicity materials including his biography and photograph. Although the majority of this subseries is chronologically arranged, a final series of folders is alphabetically arranged by location (home state) of correspondent.
This series includes copies of Gipson's birth certificate, diploma, personal notebooks, school papers, address cards, brochures, maps, travel documents, and several documents related to his son, Thomas. Other materials include photographs, ca. 1957, of the publicity stunts for the premiere of Disney's version of
Other materials relating to Gipson's publishing and film writing career and general finances are found in the Financial and Legal Documents series, 1944-1973. This series contains business documents such as movie and book contracts, royalty statements, and correspondence that document the financial, legal and business aspects of his writing career. Some of Gipson's business papers, however, may be found in the General Correspondence subseries, such as correspondence with Harper & Brothers, Maurice Crain, Disney Productions, H.N. Swanson, Evan Thomas, and Annie Laurie Williams. This series also contains general business documents dealing with insurance, land, Gipson's ranch, taxes, and social security. These materials help document Gipson's enthusiasm for ranching and agriculture, especially the growing of native Texas grasses and raising livestock.
Gift 1965, Purchase, 1973
Open for research
Carla Ellard, Linda Peterson, Lisa Rush, and Tim Thompson, 1994; Revised, 1995 by David Hatfield Sparks