PATRICIA FILIPOWSKA (1924-1993)
PAPERS, 1930?-1997
(bulk 1971-1992)
5.9 linear feet
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers
(donor no. 214) were donated by Richard
E. Filipowski in 1994 and succeeding years. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers
are open for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been
transferred to the |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In |
|
PROCESSED BY: |
George Mullally, 1995,
1997 and 1998. [FilipowskaPatricia.doc] |
Biography
Patricia (Parker) Filipowska was born September
6, 1924 in Burlington, Iowa, the only child of Helen and Guerdon
("Spike") Parker. After
graduating in 1942 from Burlington High School with honors in art and poetry,
Parker studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and writing and poetry at the
University of Chicago. She subsequently
enrolled at the Institute of Design in Chicago where she studied visual design
and architecture. Many of her drawings
and graphics are in the archives of the Chicago Historical Society.
While at the Institute of Design, Parker met fellow
student Richard ("Filip") Filipowski whom she married in 1946. In 1950 Richard Filipowski was invited by
Walter Gropius to organize and teach the course "Designing Fundamentals"
in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. They moved to Cambridge, and subsequently to
Lexington, Massachusetts, where they raised their three sons, Stefan, Matthew,
and David.
By the mid-1970s, Filipowska had turned her
attention more fully to poetry and in 1981 she enrolled in the Poetry Seminars
conducted by Kinereth Gensler at Radcliffe College. For her pen name she chose neither her maiden
name nor her husband's name but the Slavic feminine form of her husband's name,
Filipowska. Almost all of the poetry
that she wrote over the next twelve years was the result of her involvement in
these seminars. By 1993 she had written
over one hundred and eighty poems and her working drafts reveal the immense
effort she put into their revision. At
her death she left behind a manuscript of one hundred poems entitled, Original Draft Of Anthology Of Poems,
culled from her collection. The poems
themselves were fully realized; some had already been published. But she had not yet made the choice of how
best to put them together to make unified wholes. Her husband engaged Kinereth Gensler, her
seminar professor, to do the required arranging and editing. The result was an anthology of sixty-two
poems selected from her original manuscript and published posthumously in 1993
under the title The Well. The work is in four sections. Two of them deal with her relationship to
Iowa, while the others concern the disparate aspects of her life as a woman and
her personal losses. According to
Gensler, her professor, editor, and friend, "A primary force underlying
Patricia Filipowska's poems is her enduring relationship with Iowa. She was deeply committed to poetry and to her
work as a poet. She observed the world
with cool curiosity and a passionate heart." Patricia Filipowska died of cancer on March
15, 1993.
Scope and
Content Note
The Patricia Filipowska papers date from 1930? to 1995 and measure 5.9 linear feet.
The papers are arranged in seven series: Biographical
materials, Calendars, Correspondence, Writings, Sketches and graphics, Family
papers, and Photographs.
The first series, Biographical
materials (1946-1994), is arranged alphabetically in five subseries. The first, Biography, includes clippings of
book reviews from two Burlington, Iowa, newspapers and letters solicited by
Filip Filipowski from Cay Burk, Ruth Feldman, and Beatrice Takeuchi giving
their reminiscences of Patricia Filipowska.
The second subseries, Letters to Myself, is a posthumously discovered
private diary, dated October 28, 1974 to March 27, 1978, containing
Filipowska’s thoughts about her personal life, her relationship with her
husband, Richard, and their ongoing problems with their son, David. It also reveals the intimacy she continued to
feel for her artist friend in Burlington, Iowa, Robert Burrus. The third subseries, Poetry workshop
materials, contains lists of poems submitted for review in various Radcliffe
Poetry Seminars; class lists; course assignments and notes; and communications
with fellow students. The fourth
subseries, Travel, contains Filipowska's passports and miscellaneous travel
receipts, gift lists, packing lists, and tourist brochures. The fifth subseries is an apparent separate
diary in a commercially produced notebook entitled, A Woman’s Notebook. It contains only two entries, dated January
12, 1980 and July 4, 1981, respectively.
The second series, Calendars
(1980-1992), consists of thirteen appointment calendars that are as much
diaristic in nature as they are records of activities and appointments.
The third series, Correspondence
(1945-1994), includes letters to the editor, letters of rejection, and
extensive letters from the Filipowski's son and daughter-in-law, Matthew and
Yvonne Filipowski of Amsterdam and from Filipowska's parents, Helen and Guerdon
Parker of Burlington, Iowa, as well as from many other friends and associates.
The fourth series, Writings
(1940-1993), is comprised of six subseries.
The first, Early writings, contains essays and poetry from Filipowska's
student days at
The fifth series, Sketches and
graphics (1944-1962) contain drawings done by Filipowska between 1952 and
1962 while living at the couple’s first home in Lexington, Massachusetts. There
are also two sketchbooks, the first dated 1944 to 1946, containing samples of
her work from her student days at the School of Design in Chicago and the
second, dated 1958 to 1959, containing self-portraits and other drawings.
The sixth series, Family papers
(1991-1995), consists of Filip Filipowski's designs called "Pub
drawings" and the memoirs of his own childhood in Canada entitled Terra Cotta Episodes 1927-1932.
The last series, Photographs
(1930?-1994), contains 55 photographs, chiefly of Filipowska, beginning at
about age six in 1930, but also including photographs of her husband Filip,
their three sons, Filipowska's parents, and close friends and associates. Also included are photographs of Robert
Burrus, Filipowska’s artist friend of Burlington, Iowa, together with
photographs of his art reliefs.
The
Well (Lexington, MA: R.E. Filipowski, c1993) is shelved with printed works,
in the Iowa Authors Collection in the Special Collections Department, and in
the general collection in the Main Library.
style='font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Box no. Description
Box 1
Biographical materials
Biography, 1946-1994,
scattered
Letters to Myself (private
diary)
Oct. 28, 1974-Apr.29, 1975
[duplicate shelved in SCVF for photocopy use]
May 1, 1975-Aug. 7, 1975
Aug. 17, 1975-Apr 2. 1976
Apr. 12, 1976-Aug. 9, 1976
Aug. 26, 1976-Dec. 29, 1976
Dec. 29, 1976-Aug. 15, 1977
Poetry workshops, 1976-1989
Travel, 1946-1985, scattered
A Woman’s Notebook, Jan. 12,
1980 and July 4, 1981
Box
2
Calendars
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Box 3
1989
1990
1991
1992
Correspondence
Letters to the editor,
1973-1985, scattered
Letters of rejection,
1977-1992
Family, 1946-1997
Filipowski, David, 1975-1986, scattered
Filipowski, Matthew and Yvonne, 1971-1992
1971-1980
Box 4
1981-1984
1985-1992
Filipowski, Pat
To Richard Filipowski,
1945-1988, scattered
To Helen and Guerdon Parker,
1982-1986
To Beatrice Takeuchi,
1978-1987
Filipowski, Richard (“Filip”)
From Georgeanne Conant, Jan.-Apr. 1997
To Pat Filipowski, 1948-1991, scattered
Filipowski, Stefan, 1961-1988, scattered
Grupe, Ida ("Nana"), 1946
Grupe, Lois, 1973?-1991
Parker, Helen and Guerdon ("Spike")
1946-1972
1973-1974
1975-1976
Box 5
1977-1992, scattered
General, 1971-1994
A--B
Burrus, Alice and Robert
C--D
E--F
Foster, Shirley, 1982-1992
F--G
Gilberg, Doris
1982-1985
1986-1988
G--J
K—N
Box 6
Nunlist, Juli, 1982-1990
O--Sa
Sc--T
Takeuchi, Beatrice,
1978-1990
Tyler, Mary M., 1980-1989
Victor
W--Z
Writings
Early writings
Essays
Burlington (Iowa) High
School, 1940-1942
University of Chicago, 1943
Poetry, 1940-1947
Box 7
Radcliffe Poetry Seminars,
1981-1993
Classified
Register
A. Childhood
A-1. Snapshots of an Only
Child
A-2. Poppy
A-3. Returning Mrs.
Griffel's Casserole
A-4. The Birthday Party
A-5. Hearing the Grandfather
Clock
A-6. In This Heat I Think of
Celestine
A-7. What to Say
A-8. Missing Show and Tell
A-9. If the Word Is String
A-10. What Gertrude Meant
A-11. The Strangers
A-12. The Serious Summer
A-13. Let Go
A-14. Looking at a Fortune
Cookie
A-15. Schooling
A-16. Finding the Place
B. Iowa
B-1. Myth
B-2. At the Airport
B-3. The Day Lilies of
B-4. Warning Signs
B-5. From the Levee
B-6. Japanese Silk Seen From
the Air
Box 8
B-7. Taking Leave
B-8. The Well
B-9. Flying Back Home to
Iowa
C. Family
C-1. One Afternoon
C-2. Sons
C-3. Squirrels
C-4. A Long Romance
C-5. Seeing You Long
Distance
C-6. Great-Aunt Beebee
C-7. The Candle
C-8. The Rhinoceros
C-9. On Her Ninetieth
Birthday
C-10. For Milo, Three, and
Ilya, Six
C-11. Filing Her Nails
C-12. La Gioconda
C-13. In This Place
D. Portraits
D-1. Telephone Call on a
Snowy Night
D-2. The Unmarried Son to an
Old Friend
D-3. The Caller
D-4. Talking Out Loud to an
Old Lady's Son
E. Illness
E-1. Apopointment
E-2. Going Under
E-3. Shipwreck
E-4. Monday Morning Tryst
E-5. The Amazons
Box 9
E-6. The Gallery of Dr.
Canzanelli
E-7. How It Happens
E-8. Two Flights Up, Down
With a Fever
E-9. The Day
E-10. Identity
E-11. Attaining Perfection
F. Loss and Unease
F-1. Near the End of Autumn
F-2. Fourth of July
F-3. Answering Your Letter
F-4. July
F-5. Word of His Death
F-6. That Day in May
F-7. Learning From Memory
F-8. Unease
F-9. Degrees of Patience
F-10. Taking Things
Personally
F-11. Clearings
F-12. Word From an
Unconceived Daughter
F-13. Worry-Beads
F-14. Thinking Back
F-15. Day Six
F-16. What It Was Like
G. Shaped Poems and On Art
G-1. Sunset
G-2. Venetian Glass
G-3. A Poem on the Fresh
Snow
G-4. Circuit Hurt
G-5. Course in Photography
G-6. The Bridge
G-7. Great Mistakes
G-8. Couple's Therapy
Box 10
H. Dreams and Illusions
H-1. The Vanishing Point
H-2. Hurt
H-3. Intermission
H-4. On Route 425 in Late
March
H-5. Back Through the Door
H-6. Ladder
H-7. In Another Life
H-8. Out-Of-Body Travel
H-9. A Source of Light
H-10. The Red Dress in a
Yellow Field
H-11. Dancing With the Cows
H-12. The Sign
H-13. The Lake Again
I. Creatures
I-1. Sharing My Pillow With
a Cat
I-2. O Cat
I-3. Bliss
I-4. Advice to Birds
I-5. Appetites
I-6. Downfall
I-7. Bee
I-8. The Starfish
I-9. Miscued in Mid-Winter
I-10. Agelaius Phoeniceus
I-11. Crow-Poem
Box 11
I-12. Backyard Midway
I-13. Here It Is
I-14. Maia in My Lap
I-15. Poem in September
I-16. What Is Left
J. Words, Sounds, and
Writing
J-1. Snow Scene Without the
Letter S
J-2. Early Spring Words
J-3. According to Guinness
J-4. Small Sounds
J-5. Derivations
J-6. A Stanza
J-7. Rewriting After a Long
Dry Spell
K. Landscapes and Seasons
K-1. View of Christmas
K-2. Earth
K-3. Astronauts
K-4. February Thaw
K-5. An Old Hand
K-8. Puzzle
K-9. Mountainside Bath in
Vermont
K-10. The Round Trip
K-11. Paradox
K-12. On a Flexible Flyer
K-13. Vacation Poem
K-14. The Norway Maple
Saplings
K-15. Complaint
L. Forms and Light Verse
L-1. To E. P.
L-2. On Dismissing an Old
Love
L-3. To the Dark Glasses
L-4. On the Beach
L-5. School Girl, Ticking
Box 12
L-6. The Bizarre Bazaar
L-7. Purple Ladders
L-8. Far-Sighted
L-9. Tea Room
L-10. Closet Blues
L-12. Learning From Memory
L-13. The Day
L-14. A Footnote
L-15. A Make-Shift Spring
L-18. The Royal Response
L-20. Chelonia on a Log
L-21. Counting to Five
Hundred
Unclassified
The Actress
Appointment
Aspects of Democracy
Belated Note to Her Son
Birthday Morning
A Centipede
Connection
A Day After a Light Snowfall
Exercises
Fishing
Free
Hank
Hartshorn
Box 13
Here I Am
If You Can't Stand the Heat
Images
The Lineman Mutters
Old Man's Song
On Sunday Morning
On Writing Poems
The Return
A School Girl Sings
Simplicity
Solstice
Summary
Thaw
Three Moon Poems
Time Machine
Tunes for the Ides of March
Under the Spell of Yard Work
The Unmarried Son in His
Mother's House
Valentine’s Day
Virtual Volume
What Does Bother Me
Words
Working It Out
Notebooks
"Very old" notebook
"Red" notebook
Box 14
"Black" notebook: Original Draft of Anthology of Poems
(100 poems, of which 62 were selected for publication in The Well)
Spiral bound copy of Anthology of Poems
Green folder
Grolier Poetry Prize
submissions, 1978-1987
Published poetry
Manuscript list of published
poetry
The Well, 1993 [removed to printed works collection and cataloged separately]
Miscellaneous gift verses
and limericks
Sketches and graphics
Institute of Design,
Chicago, 1944-1946 [shelved in map case: drawer 5]
Sketchbooks
1952-1962
Self-portrait and drawings,
1958-1959 [shelved in map case: drawer 5]
Family papers
Filipowski, Richard
Pub drawings, 1991-1995
Terra Cotta Episodes 1927-1932, undated
Box 15
Photographs, 1930?-1994
Burrus, Robert
Filipowska, Patricia, and family (4 folders)