- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"13 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"12 boxes; 57 volumes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"MssCol 1575", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"1575", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1875-1937", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1875/1937"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1875
- date_inclusive_end
-
1937
- keydate
-
1875
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Robert Underwood Johnson papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. <span class=\"subarea\">Manuscripts and Archives Division</span></span> <div class=\"address\"><span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Robert Underwood Johnson papers document Johnson's personal and professional life from 1875 until his death in 1937. Johnson, born in 1853, served on the staff of <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span> until 1913, eventually rising to the position of editor in chief. He also served as the American Ambassador to Italy from 1920-1921, and was active in the causes of nature conservation and copyright law. The papers contain personal correspondence and writings, and also document the activities of the American Copyright League, of which Johnson was secretary, between the years 1880-1929."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Robert Underwood Johnson Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Johnson, Robert Underwood, 1853-1937", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Robert Underwood Johnson, born in 1853, was an editor of <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span> from 1879 until 1913. He also served as the American Ambassador to Italy from 1920-1921, and was a founding member of the American Copyright League. He was a published poet, and active in a number of humanitarian and artistic pursuits, including the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Committee for the Preservation of Yosemite National Park, the Italian War Relief Fund of America, and the American Poets Ambulances in Italy.</p> <p>Robert Underwood Johnson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1853. In 1871 He graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, at the age of eighteen. Shortly thereafter, he took a position as a clerk for Scribner Educational Books, and within two years he was promoted to the editorial staff of <span class=\"title\">Scribner's Monthly</span>, from which <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span> evolved.</p> <p>Under the editorial auspices of Richard Watson Gilder, <span class=\"title\">The Century</span> became one of the most widely read general periodicals in the United States, reaching its peak of popularity in 1884 with the publication of its series <span class=\"title\">Battles and Leaders of the Civil War</span>. Johnson became managing editor in 1879, and succeeded Josiah Gilbert Holland as associate editor upon Holland's death in 1881. When Gilder died in 1909, Johnson assumed his position as chief editor, although by this time the era of American literary periodicals was in decline. As editor, Johnson had hoped to launch a new and less expensive magazine to compete in the evolving market, but the board of directors did not back him in this pursuit. Johnson resigned in 1913; <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span> merged with <span class=\"title\">The Forum</span> magazine in 1930.</p> <p>As a published writer himself, Johnson was passionately devoted to the development and strengthening of copyright laws in the United States and abroad. The American Copyright League was organized in 1883 in response to the rampant piracy suffered by American authors whose works were regularly reproduced outside the United States without authorization. It evolved from Richard Watson Gilder's Authors Club and became the main vehicle of authors and publishers to lobby Congress for the passage of the International Copyright Act.</p> <p>Johnson was made secretary of the League in 1888, and he remained a tireless activist for copyright law until his death. He was decorated by the governments of France and Italy for his efforts in this arena, and was awarded an honorary degree from Yale. The work of the League paid off; The International Copyright Act was passed into law in 1891. Among the League's prominent members were R. R. Bowker, Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Theodore Roosevelt, and Thorvald Solberg, the country's first Register of Copyrights.</p> <p>Johnson was also an early proponent of conservation policy, and together with noted conservationist John Muir, he used his political clout to mobilize the movement which resulted in the creation of Yosemite National Park. He became chairman of the National Committee for the Preservation of Yosemite National Park in 1913, and in this capacity appealed directly to President Roosevelt to create a conference of governors to conserve state forests. This conference eventually became the White House conference on conservation.</p> <p>Johnson was foremost a man of letters, as evidenced not only in his career with <span class=\"title\">The Century</span> and the publication of numerous volumes of poetry, but by his membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (of which he was named permanent secretary); and in the founding of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association with Lord Rennell Rodd and H. Nelson Gay, which raised funds to acquire and preserve the final home of John Keats in Rome.</p> <p>In 1920, Johnson was appointed American Ambassador to Italy by President Woodrow Wilson. His connection to Italian politics had been an ongoing theme; as president of the Italian War Relief Fund of America, he raised $225,000 for humanitarian aid for that country; and he organized and oversaw the committee of the American Poets Ambulances in Italy, which presented 112 ambulances to the Italian army in 1917.</p> <p>Upon his return to the United States in 1921, Johnson remained active in many of his former organizations, and his autobiography, <span class=\"title\">RememberedYesterday</span>s, was published in 1923.</p> <p>Johnson married Katharine McMahon in 1876. The couple had two children, Owen McMahon Johnson, a successful author in his own right, and Agnes McMahon Johnson (Mrs. French H. Holden). He died in 1937.</p>"}
- scopecontent
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{"value"=>"<p>The Robert Underwood Johnson papers, 1875 - 1937, contain personal papers and correspondence, correspondence relating to Johnson's work with <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span>, and material relating to his activities with the American Copyright League. The bulk of the material dates from the 1880s thru 1921, from Johnson's tenure as associate editor of <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span> through his appointment as American Ambassador to Italy.</p> <p>American Copyright League material is mainly comprised of correspondence to and from the League's executive board and council members between 1880 and 1929, but predominantly from 1888, the year in which Johnson became secretary to the League, and 1891, the year in which the Copyright Act was passed. Other papers relating to the League include incomplete minutes and a selection of handbills, and this collection should not be considered a definitive record of the League's activities.</p> <p><span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span> letterpress copybooks contain outgoing letters from Johnson in his various professional capacities, as well as letters from other members of the editorial staff, particularly Richard Watson Gilder and Clarence Clough Buel. The correspondence is divided into three subseries: \"War,\" which covers the production of <span class=\"title\">Battles and Leaders of the Civil War</span>; \"Editorial,\" which relates to general administrative and editorial matters; and \"Historical Series,\" which pertains to the production on the magazine's series on historical events in the decades after the Civil War.</p> <p>Personal correspondence includes letters both written and received by Johnson, and encompasses many aspects of his public, private, and professional life, from mundane matters such as taxes and insurance issues, to letters regarding his work for the American Academy of Arts and Letters, activism for copyright law and nature conservation, and his poetry. There is an extensive quantity of letters from his colleagues at <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span>, most notably Josiah Gilbert Holland, Richard Watson Gilder, and artist Timothy Cole. These letters illustrate his propensity for forming enduring friendships among his peers and colleagues, his relationships with Harrison S. Morris, Maurice Frances Egan, and Richard Watson Gilder being chief among them. Other notable correspondents include T. Commerford Martin and William M. Sloane. Although Johnson's friendship with Nikola Tesla has been well documented, there are no letters in the collection to or from Tesla. After 1917, the focus of letters both sent and received shifts toward politics and global issues, concurrent with Johnson's diplomatic appointment, and a significant portion of his correspondents are statesmen and military figures with whom he became acquainted during this period.</p> <p>Although a well-known writer and poet in his time, the collection contains very little material related to his writings beyond an annotated draft of his memoirs, <span class=\"title\">Remembered Yesterdays</span>, which were published in 1923.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Robert Underwood Johnson papers are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1575#c177103'>Series I. American Copyright League</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1880-1929, undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>6 boxes 2.5 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Comprised predominantly of correspondence generated by the executive board and council members of the American Copyright League between 1880-1929. Correspondence relates to the League's efforts to lobby Congress for the passage of the International Copyright Act. In addition to the correspondence, this series contains three folders of miscellaneous papers, which include reports from various entities on copyright-related issues, drafts of proposed legislation, speeches and published statements by League members and supporters. Also present in this series are minutes, and leaflets and pamphlets produced and circulated by the League publicizing their efforts.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1575#c177177'>Series II. The Century Magazine letterbooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1884-1894, 1903-1913</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>35 volumes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series is comprised of letterpress copybooks containing outgoing letters from Robert Underwood Johnson, as well as letters written by other members of <span class=\"title\">The Century</span>'s editorial staff, including Richard Watson Gilder and Clarence Clough Buel.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1575#c177215'>Series III. Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1875 - 1937, undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 boxes 7 volumes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The personal papers series is comprised of four subseries: A. Correspondence, B. Writings, C. Photographs and ephemera, and D. Scrapbooks.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Robert Underwood Johnson Papers are organized in the following series:</p> <ul> <li>Series I. American Copyright League, 1880-1929, undated</li> <li>Series II. The Century Magazine letterbooks, 1884-1894, 1903-1913</li> <li>Series III. Personal Papers, 1875 - 1937, undated</li></ul>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gifts of Mary A. Benjamin (1952-1953), Agnes Johnson Holden (1965, 1967), Ticki Winsor and Cathy Deely (2001) and additonal purchases.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"archref\">Richard Watson Gilder papers, 1855-1916. . Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.</span> <span class=\"archref\">Richard Rogers Bowker papers, 1856-1958. . Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.</span> <span class=\"archref\">Century Company records, 1870-1924. . Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.</span> <span class=\"archref\">H. Nelson Gay Papers, 1907-1923. Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.</span> <span class=\"archref\">J.G. Holland papers, 1843-1881. Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.</span>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Kit Messick.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
13 linear feet (12 boxes; 57 volumes)
- date_start
-
1875
- date_end
-
1937