John Grier Varner was born March 30, 1905, in Mount Pleasant, Texas. He grew up in Denton, and received his B.A. from Austin College in 1926. After teaching in Mississippi and Tennessee for four years, Varner entered the University of Virginia as a graduate student. He received an M.A. and finished his Ph.D. coursework before accepting a position as Assistant Professor of English and Director of Musical Activities at Washington and Lee University in 1938. Two years later, he completed his dissertation, a biography of the poet and spiritualist Sarah Helen Whitman, and received his Ph.D.
Varner's earliest scholarly interest was Edgar Allan Poe. His first contribution to the literary community was
World War II cut short Varner's research of 19th-century literature. In 1943, he joined the State Department and was sent to Latin America because of his proficiency in Spanish. Based in Venezuela, Varner and his wife Jeannette travelled and lectured all over the area for the next 3 years. In 1947, the U.S. embassy offered him a position as cultural attach, and he also joined the staff of the University of Texas as Visiting Associated Professor of English and Director of English for Foreign Students.
Returning to Austin a few years later, Varner and his wife began to publish books about Latin America. The first of these was
Three years later, Varner and his wife travelled to Spain to begin work on a biography of de la Vega. Varner continued to work on this massive project for the next 14 years, completing and publishing
Twelve boxes of correspondence, printed material, creative works, and scrapbook material, 1798-1978 (bulk 1931-39), document the literary research and life of John Grier Varner (1905-1978). The material is arranged in two series -- the first, entitled General (five folders, 1936-78) includes materials relating to Varner's activities and interests, and the second, entitled Research and Works (eleven boxes and eleven folders, 1798-1972, bulk 1931-39) represents Varner's research of Sarah Helen Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, and other nineteenth-century literary figures. Varner's original arrangement has been maintained where possible, especially in the second series.
The vast majority of the materials in the Varner Papers are transcriptions and photostats of manuscript material created by nineteenth-century literary figures, and used by Varner in his research. These copies include the works and correspondence of Sarah Helen Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, George Washington Eveleth, and John H. Ingram, among others. Especially well documented is Varner's research of Sarah Helen Whitman (1803-78), the Providence poet and spiritualist who was briefly engaged to Edgar Allan Poe. Also found in the collection are Varner's research notes, as well as correspondence, published and unpublished creative works, and printed materials he accumulated about the subjects he studied.
Varner's life and activities are less well documented. There are only five folders of records, and they consist mainly of printed materials accumulated by Varner. Significantly absent from the collection is Varner's later research on Latin American topics, as well as any personal papers.
A strength of the Varner Papers derives from the opportunity it offers users to learn about the research process, especially in the early twentieth-century. For example, Varner's correspondence about Sarah Helen Whitman illustrates how a researcher tracks down information and follows up on sources. Another potential area of research is that of nineteenth-century literary figures, and especially Sarah Helen Whitman, since Varner gathered his transcriptions and photostats from many different repositories and private collections.
Gift, 1979 (G227)
Open for research
Jennifer B. Patterson, 1992
The materials in this series reflect Varner's life and teaching career, and it is divided into two subseries. The first of these, entitled Varner Personal, includes a small amount of printed material, correspondence, and other documentary evidence that relates to Varner's interests and activities. It appears that Varner gathered these materials out of personal interest only. They offer little insight into his personal life and include play programs, Christmas cards, exhibition catalogs, and newspaper clippings. By far the most significant document found in this subseries is a biographical piece written after Varner's death. Also found in this series, under the subseries Teaching, are a few student papers that Varner kept for their content.
Series II makes up of the bulk of the collection. This series has been further divided into five subseries, each of which reflects an area of Varner's research in American literature.
The first of the subseries contains correspondence and research notes that relate to Varner's areas of study as a whole.
This subseries is the largest in the series, and fills over eight of the twelve boxes in the collection. The papers in this subseries have been further arranged into three groups to impose further order. The first group is titled Correspondence, 1932-58, and these records document the many sources and leads that Varner followed while working on his dissertation. While much of the correspondence originated in research libraries, some of it derived from his attempts to obtain copies of letters and works held in private collections. Important correspondents in this subseries are Josiah K. Lilly, Dorothy Spofford, and John Cook Wyllie. The correspondence follows Varner's original alphabetical arrangement.
The second group, titled Research, makes up the bulk of the series. In this group are the transcriptions and photostats, research notes, and gathered material that Varner used in his study of Sarah Helen Whitman. These records have been further grouped by topic, since Varner's study generated research notes that only indirectly related to Whitman's life. The first of these topics has been titled Research on Individuals/Persons. Most of the records relate to Sarah Helen Whitman's life and work. Four boxes of papers, arranged by Varner both chronologically and by subject, bring together Whitman's correspondence and creative works from 1816 until her death. However, Varner generated correspondence, notes and other research materials while studying associates of Whitman, like George Washington Eveleth, John H. Ingram, John Winslow Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, and Whitman's ancestry, all of which are included in this subseries.
Another area of interest to Varner was the places in which Whitman lived and travelled. Accordingly, a second topic has been titled Research by Place. Varner used the records grouped in this heading to document Whitman's life in Providence, Rhode Island, as well as how and where she would have travelled in the nineteenth-century. Of particular interest in this group are the printed materials that document the history of Providence.
The final area of research is that of Spiritualism, which Whitman practiced throughout her life. These records include Varner's research into the important figures and beliefs of Whitman's day, as well as correspondence and research notes about the state of spiritualism in the 1930s.
The third and final group in this subseries is titled Works. Found here are Varner's bound dissertation
Two boxes make up this subseries, which represents Varner's study of Poe. These records have been divided into two groups as well, and their arrangement differs from the above subseries. The first grouping in this subseries is titled Works, and Varner's published writings are found here. Of particular interest is the material relating to the first book Varner published,
Found in this subseries is the correspondence, research material, and drafts that Varner generated when he was asked to write short biographies of important nineteenth-century women for this reference source, which was published in 1971. Varner contributed three biographies to this book, and his research of Maria Gowan Brooks, Frances Sargent Osgood, and Sarah Helen Whitman is documented here.
This final subseries includes areas of research that briefly interested Varner, but were never developed further. Subjects of study in this subseries are Delia Salter Bacon, Jane McCrea, and Irving Russell. Bacon and McCrea are related indirectly to Varner's study of Poe and his book