{"value"=>"<p>This series contains material relating to the admissions process, including letters of recommendation and correspondence regarding the evaluation of prospective guests; individual guest files; general administrative files; and the personal papers of Elizabeth Ames.</p> <p>Guest files include correspondence relating to the admissions process, including letters of inquiry and requests for applications, as well as correspondence relating to the coordination of guests' arrival and accommodations. Personal correspondence is occasionally included in particular guests' files. Guest files do not contain manuscripts or typescripts of work composed at Yaddo; nor do these files relate or provide significant insight into creative activities engaged in at Yaddo. A guest file does not imply residence. Many individuals with guest files were never in residence: certain prospective guests refused offers of admissions; others with guest files were asked to provide recommendations or information on an applicant. Notable names that appear in the guest files but were never in residence include W.H. Auden, Thomas H. Benton, Willa Cather, H.L. Mencken, Arthur Miller, Marianne Moore, Carl Sandburg, Thomas Wolfe, and Richard Wright.</p> <p>The Administrative files include materials relating to staff hiring, food supplies, general expenditures, construction, and development. This series also includes files relating to the annual Festival of Contemporary American Music that document the administration of each festival and include correspondence relating to the evaluation and selection of prospective performers, musical compositions to be performed, and guests.</p> <p>Because of her centrality to the administration of Yaddo and close involvement with the admissions process, Elizabeth Ames's personal papers are included in this series. These papers contain correspondence, financial records, date books, and files relating to Ames's death and memorial service. A sound recording of a memorial service dedicated to Elizabeth Ames at Yaddo on May, 14, 1977 includes a commemorative reading by Curtis Harnack (Ames' successor as Executive Director), a poetic tribute read by Theodore Roethke, and a eulogy read by John Cheever. Materials relating to the \"Lowell affair,\" including a typescript of the proceedings, are included among Ames personal materials.</p>"}