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Creator
Weaver, Helen, 1931-
Call number
Berg Coll MSS 34292
Physical description
5.0 linear feet (12 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Helen Weaver papers, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library
Repository
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Helen Weaver (1931-2021) was a literary translator, author, and astrologer. The Helen Weaver papers include research files, correspondence, and manuscripts related to the publication of her book The Awakener: A Memoir of Kerouac and the Fifties. The book describes Weaver's brief romantic relationship with Jack Kerouac, and friendships with Allen Ginsberg and Lenny Bruce.

Biographical/historical information

Helen Weaver was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1931. After her father accepted an executive position in New York City, her family moved to Scarsdale, New York. Weaver felt restricted by the conservative culture of the New York suburbs, eventually leaving for Oberlin College in Ohio.

After earning a degree in English Literature in 1952, Weaver married one of her classmates. However, three years later, she filed for divorce and moved into an apartment in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. Weaver shared the apartment with Helen Elliott, who had recently studied at Barnard College, and befriended Columbia University students Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs. Elliott introduced Weaver to the group, and Weaver and Kerouac began a romantic relationship. The couple bonded over their knowledge of English literature, and Kerouac moved into Weaver and Elliott's apartment.

Weaver and Kerouac's relationship was tumultuous and sometimes violent. During one physical fight with Kerouac, Weaver pulled out a clump of his hair. Weaver, who worked in publishing, was the only resident in her apartment with a full-time job, and she later described her exhaustion with the Beats' late-night parties. In late 1956, Kerouac traveled to Florida to visit his mother, and the pair exchanged letters while Weaver was still in New York City. However, after Kerouac returned, Weaver ended the relationship and kicked Kerouac out of the apartment.

Despite their breakup, Kerouac and Weaver remained in touch, exchanging occasional letters and phone calls. Their relationship inspired Ruth Heaper's character in Kerouac's 1965 novel Desolation Angels. A photograph of Weaver and Kerouac in a restaurant on Thanksgiving in the early 1960s was used to illustrate the cover of Weaver's memoir, The Awakener.

Weaver also had a brief relationship with comedian Lenny Bruce. After Bruce's 1964 arrest and subsequent obscenity charge, Weaver and Helen Elliott circulated a petition in support of Bruce, freedom of speech, and the First and Fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution. This petition was signed by many prominent artists and intellectuals, including James Baldwin, Bob Dylan, Susan Sontag, Elizabeth Taylor, and Gore Vidal.

Weaver left New York City for Woodstock, New York in 1972. She continued her work in the literary field, primarily working on translating texts from French into English. Her 1976 translation of Antonin Artaud: Selected Writing was a finalist for the National Book Award for translation. Weaver was also an experienced astrologer who edited and contributed to the Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology, published in 1980. In 2001, Weaver published her first memoir, The Daisy Sutra: Conversations with My Dog, about spirituality and her bond with her dog, Daisy.

Long after their romantic involvement ended, Weaver observed the gradual shift in the cultural perspective of Kerouac's work and influence. From the 1960s through the 2000s, Weaver collected clippings and research materials about the Beats and Lenny Bruce. In 2009 Weaver published The Awakener: A Memoir of Kerouac and the Fifties. The book details Weaver's relationships with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Lenny Bruce, as well as her experiences in New York City in her twenties.

Weaver died in 2021 at her home in Woodstock, New York.

Scope and arrangement

The Helen Weaver papers are dated from 1922 through 2015. The collection is arranged into files related to Weaver's work on The Awakener, and separate subject files she kept on Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Lenny Bruce.

The Awakener material consists of Research, Publishing, and Manuscript files from 1956 through 2011. The files relate to Weaver's writing process, from initial background research, through the publishing process, and the evolving iterations and drafts of the manuscript. The Research and Publishing Files are all arranged alphabetically by topic, while the Manuscript Files are arranged chronologically.

Research Files for The Awakener contain correspondence, interviews, clippings, copies of entries in Weaver's diaries, photographs, academic writing about Jack Kerouac, and transcripts of conference presentations about the Beats. Some of the correspondence held here are copies of original letters from the 1950s and 1960s, including Weaver and Kerouac's correspondence, as well as copies of Kerouac's letters to friends and his literary representatives. Starting in the 1970s through the 2010s, Weaver would reach out to scholars, other poets, and friends to reflect on their opinions and memories of the 1950s and 1960s. The Research files also hold copies of interview transcripts initially conducted by Gerald Nicosia while he was researching his 1983 biography of Kerouac, Memory Babe. Weaver's collection of conference presentation transcripts about Kerouac and the Beat Generation are also present.

The Awakener Publishing files include material Weaver created while attempting to find the right publisher, working with editors, and finally releasing The Awakener. These files include photographs, quotes, and other printed sections of the book, including the afterward and introductions. Correspondence with publishers, manuscripts submissions, permissions, and contracts are also held here. Also present are materials created after publication, including interviews with Weaver about The Awakener, fan letters, publicity, book reviews, and material related to her website. The files date from the 1990s through the 2010s, but there are also photocopies of pictures and letters from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Manuscripts of The Awakener include several drafts of the book from the 1990s through the published final version in 2009. Materials include early drafts, deleted chapters, and several galley proofs. Many of these different versions experiment with the chronology of the memoir, in addition to alternative titles used for the book. Early drafts and deleted material are identified with the working title, chapter, or a descriptive note on the changed content. Galley proofs show many different rounds of editing from 2006 until 2009, with handwritten margin notes from friends and editors.

The collection holds a separate group of subject files for Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Lenny Bruce. All of these files are arranged by format and contain correspondence, writing, artwork, photographs, astrological charts, clippings, and audio and video recordings. Files are arranged chronologically within each format, except the recordings, which are arranged alphabetically by title.

Most of the Jack Kerouac Files are an extensive collection of clippings from 1938 through 2011. These files also hold artwork and photographs by and of Kerouac, detailed astrological charts Weaver created for him, and copies of Weaver's journal entries from the 1950s. These journals detail her time with Kerouac and also include Weaver's poetry. The Kerouac files do not contain any correspondence; all correspondence with and about Kerouac is located in The Awakener Research files. There are audio and video recordings of Kerouac singing, reading poetry, and being interviewed; interviews with Weaver talking about Kerouac; and conferences related to the Beats and 1950s American poetry.

The Allen Ginsberg Files contain letters Ginsburg wrote to Weaver between 1967 and 2007; Weaver's short essays, poems, notes, and journal entries about Ginsburg; some copies of Ginsberg's poetry; and a 1985 photograph captioned by Ginsberg that depicts Weaver with Miriam Berg. The astrological charts held here include charts Weaver made for Ginsberg, some of which are accompanied by notes comparing his chart to Kerouac's. Also present are audio recordings of Ginsberg reciting his poetry between 1977 and 1984.

The Lenny Bruce Files include correspondence about his 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial. The letters have the original petition sent by Weaver and Helen Elliott to various public figures and intellectuals, and the eventual list of the undersigned supporters of Bruce and freedom of speech. Also present is an astrological Chart Weaver created for Bruce, notes on his trial, reproductions of photographs depicting Bruce, clippings addressing his arrest, and a video recording of the documentary, Swear to Tell the Truth.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from Helen Weaver in 2012, with additional materials donated in 2021.

Processing information

Processed by Emily P. Dunne in 2022.

Using the collection

Location

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 320

Access restrictions

Some material related to Joyce Johnson has been marked as restricted until Johnson's death.

Inquiries regarding audio and moving image materials in the collection may be directed to the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature (berg@nypl.org). Audio and moving image materials may be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.