Fairfield Porter papers, 1888-2001, bulk 1924-1975

This series includes essays, diaries, poetry, notes, and other writings. Writings about Fairfield Porter include essay-length memoirs by several of his contemporaries and criticism of his writings and art written by Rackstraw Downs and others. Travel Diaries written by Porter's mother, Ruth Porter, document three family trips to Europe between 1922 and 1931. A typescript created by Anne Porter from letters she wrote to her mother between 1931 and 1960 contains passages from those letters that mention Fairfield Porter. The original letters were destroyed by Anne Porter.

Poetry manuscripts are arranged by author, with unsigned poems at the end of the series. Included are poems in typescript and corrected typescript by some of Porter's well-known friends including John Ashbery, Robert Dash, Edwin Denby, Howard Griffin, Kenneth Koch, Carl Morse, Frank O'Hara, Larry Rivers, James Schuyler, and David Shapiro. Additional poetry manuscripts can be found in Correspondence. Published poetry is filed with Printed Materials.

Miscellaneous essays are filed alphabetically by author with unsigned essays filed at the end of the series. These include writings of family members, including Fairfield Porter's mother, Ruth Porter, and maternal grandmother, Lucy Fairchild Furness. Also found are articles by cosmologist Arthur Young with notes by Fairfield Porter, and a review of James Schuyler's Crystal Lithium, among other writings.

Throughout this series, photocopies are filed separately and have not been scanned.