Scope and Content Note
The papers of James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) span the years 1883-1915 and include correspondence, poems, and a drawing. Riley was born in Greenfield, Indiana, and is known as the "Hoosier poet." He was on the staff of the Indianapolis Journal, 1877-1885, and his contributions to that newspaper established his fame as a poet.
The papers include letters from Riley to William C. Edgar, C. E. Farrell, Samuel E. Kiser, Clara E. Laughlin, James Newton Matthews, Cyrus F. McNutt, DeWitt Miller, James B. Pond, John Clark Ridpath, George Smith, Louis Untermeyer, Eugene Fitch Ware, and others. The papers also include a drawing by Riley of his friend, Bill Nye.
Manuscript poems in the collection include "To Robert Burns Wilson," "The Poems Here at Home," "Say Farewell and Let Me Go!," "At 'The Literary,'" "A Pen-Pictur' of a Certin Frivvelus Old Man," and an untitled verse written for a Mr. Washington. Typescript poems include "The Name of Old Glory," "The Lisper," "The Young Old Man," and "At 'The Literary.'"