Harry Ransom Center

We are pleased to announce the recipients of our 2026–27 research fellowships. This year’s cohort consists of 47 postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and independent researchers who will travel to Austin from seven countries and 15 US states to immerse themselves in the our collections.

Their research interests reflect the geographic and disciplinary breadth of our holdings, including the circulation of photographs in colonial India, changing visual representations of the wilderness in North and South America, the early history of true crime television programming, and scholarly editions of Percy Shelley’s correspondence and poems by Lord Byron and the Brontë sisters.

Now entering its 37th year, our fellowship program has supported more than 1,500 research projects that required extensive onsite use of our collections and subsequently resulted in the publication of academic monographs, dissertations, journal articles, novels, and other creative works. Fellowships lasting between one week and two months are available to doctoral students, current and former academic faculty at any career level, and independent researchers such as journalists and artists

Ransom Center fellows are members of a vibrant social and intellectual community. In addition to attending author talks, film screenings, and other public programs, they also have opportunities to discuss their research with our staff and UT faculty. We look forward to welcoming these humanities scholars to Austin and supporting their archival investigations!

Learn more about the fellows: https://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/2026/05/20/harry-ransom-center-announces-2026-2027-fellows/

Rest in Peace, Sonny Rollins.

A letter from the saxophone legend appears in the papers of James Purdy at the Ransom Center. The correspondence between Rollins and Purdy highlights a fascinating connection between Purdy the author, Rollins the musician, and the surrealist painter Gertrude Abercrombie.

In Purdy's letter to Rollins, dated May 20, 1972, he mentions sending the musician a copy of his latest book I Am Elijah Thrush. Purdy writes that Abercrombie suggested he first send Rollins a copy of his 1959 novel Malcolm. Abercrombie appears as a fictionalized character in Malcolm as well as Purdy's 1967 novel Eustace Chisholm & the Works and as herself in the author's final novel Gertrude of Stony Island Avenue (1996). She knew Rollins and other jazz musicians like Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sarah Vaughan from her time hosting salons in her Chicago home.

You can read the correspondence between Rollins and Purdy as well as a number of letters from Abercrombie in the James Purdy Papers at the Ransom Center: https://research.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingaid.cfm?eadid=01059&showrequest=0

1. [Detail of greeting in letter from James Purdy to Sonny Rollins], May 20, 1972. James Purdy Papers, Box 47, Folder 2.
2. [Detail of Sonny Rollins's signature on letter to James Purdy], circa 1972. James Purdy Papers, Box 47, Folder 2.

We are thrilled to announce that the finding aid for the Ethel Waters Papers is now online and the collection is open for research!

Search the finding aid and call items to our Reading Room: https://research.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadid=01563

The Ethel Waters Papers are an extraordinary collection of personal and professional materials from the groundbreaking American singer and actress. This historically significant archive spans Waters's career and personal life, offering scholars and the public rare insight into one of the most influential African American performers of the 20th century. The collection includes 66boxes of letters, photographs, recordings, and rare manuscripts.

Ethel Waters left an indelible mark on American entertainment. Known for her work in film, radio, and the theatre, Waters became the first African American to star in her own television special, The Ethel Waters Show (1939). For her role in the 1949 film Pinky, she became the second African American actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. Her recordings of songs like “Sweet Georgia Brown” (1925) and “Stormy Weather” (1933) broke records, and her iconic performances in films like Cabin in the Sky (1943) and The Member of the Wedding (1952) continue to inspire generations.

Archivist Kelsey Handler worked diligently on this complex collection alongside many other staff members at the Ransom Center and we thank them for all their hard work. The collection acquisition was supported by the Hoblitzelle Foundation and the cataloguing was supported by the Delmas Foundation and Ellen and David Berman.

Photograph by Murray Korman, [Ethel Waters], ca. 1925. Ethel Waters Papers, Harry Ransom Center, Container 31.8.

Happy Mother's Day from all of us at the Ransom Center. 💜

Here are some photos of writers and their mothers from across our collections. These are tough, but can you guess who they are? 🤔 Answers down below in the credits.

Learn more about our literature collections: https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/literature/

1. Unidentified photographer, [Detail of photograph of Tim O'Brien's mother Ava Eleanor Schult O'Brien hugging Tim], circa 1957. Tim O'Brien Papers, 53.6.
2. Unidentified photographer, [Detail of Carson McCullers and her mother Bébé], circa 1945. Carson McCullers Literary File Photography Collection, 1.24.
3. Unidentified photographer, [Detail of Ernest Hemingway on the lap of his mother, Grace Hall Hemingway], 1900. Ernest Hemingway Literary File Photography Collection, P-9.
4. Unidentified photographer, [Detail of photograph of Dylan Thomas and his mother Florence Hannah seated against rock cliff], 1936. Dylan Thomas Literary File Photography Collection, P-35.
5. Gilbert & Bacon, [Detail of Radclyffe Hall as a toddler, Jane Jones (Hall's great-grandmother), Sarah Diehl (Hall's grandmother), and Marie Diehl Radclyffe-Hall (Hall's mother)], circa 1883. Radclyffe Hall Literary File Photography Collection, P-14.

Congratulations to the Longhorns of the Class of 2026! 🐂

We're so proud of all your accomplishments and can't wait to see what you do next. We are honored to be a part of your academic experience at . Don't be strangers!

Learn more about our art collections: http://hrc.utexas.edu/collections/art

Frank Reaugh, [Detail of The Maverick], 1914. Frank Reaugh Art Collection, 74.69.145.