Walter Hooper’s Famous Chapel Hill Collection

Manuscripts Department Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4236

WALTER MCGEHEE HOOPER PAPERS
Inventory

Abstract: Correspondence of Walter McGehee Hooper (1931- ) and colleagues, friends, acquaintances, and admirers of C. S. Lewis. Included are a few letters from Lewis and his brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis, to Hooper. Some of the correspondence contains anecdotal material about Lewis, but most letters relate to Hooper’s role as a trustee of the Lewis estate, biographer of C. S. Lewis, and editor of posthumous editions of Lewis’s work. Included are letters from Roger Lancelyn Green (d. 1987) about the biography he and Hooper wrote about Lewis and about other matters relating to Lewis and his work. Also included are letters to Hooper about Hooper’s own career and his assignments as chaplain Jesus and Wadham colleges. Appended to a few letters are copies of fragments of manuscripts that were sent to Hooper for review. Also included are a typed copy of an epitaph for Helen Joy Davidman Lewis, Lewis’s wife, that was dictated and corrected by Lewis, and Hooper’s notes on the contents of Lewis’s Oxford residence.

Online Catalog Terms:

Anglicans–England–Oxford (Oxfordshire)–Clergy.
Green, Roger Lancelyn.
Hooper, Walter.
Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963.

Size: About 6,200 items (13.5 linear feet).

Provenance: Received from Walter McGehee Hooper, 1980 and 1981; from the Bodleian Library as a gift exchange, 1980; and purchase, 1980. Received from James Como and Walter McGehee Hooper in 1993.

Access: MICROFILM IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR LENDING OR ON-SITE USE.

Files in Box 1 (correspondence relating to C. S. Lewis between Hooper and those identified by Hooper as having died) are available for use. Photocopying of these materials is prohibited except with the written permission of Walter McGehee Hooper. James Como materials (box 2, folders 22-25b) are closed until 2013. Other materials are closed pending processing.

Processing Note: This inventory describes correspondence and other material reflecting Hooper’s association with C. S. Lewis.

Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

INTRODUCTION

Biographical Note

Walter Hooper was born in Reidsville, N.C., in 1931 and attended the University of North Carolina, graduating in 1954. He served in the U.S. Army for two years and reentered the university as a graduate student in education in 1957. He received a master’s degree in education in 1958, and, for a time, taught school in Chapel Hill and at Christ School, Asheville, N.C.

Hooper was an instructor of English at the University of Kentucky in 1963, when he went to England and met C. S. Lewis. They became friends in the summer of 1963. After Lewis died on 22 November 1963, Hooper devoted himself to perpetuating the memory of C. S. Lewis and his work.

Hooper, who was ordained into the Anglican priesthood while residing in England, served as chaplain of two Oxford Colleges, Jesus and Wadham, and as an assistant rector of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Oxford. Hooper became a member of the Roman Catholic Church in 1988, and he is now a Roman Catholic layman.

Collection Overview

Correspondence of Walter Hooper and colleagues, friends, acquaintances, and admirers of C. S. Lewis. Included are a few letters from Lewis and his brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis, to Hooper. Some of the correspondence contains anecdotal material about Lewis, but most letters relate to Hooper’s role as a trustee of the Lewis estate, biographer with Roger Lancelyn Green of C. S. Lewis, and editor of posthumous editions of Lewis’s work. There is considerable correspondence about the biography as well as about other literary works about Lewis and his writings. Many of the correspondents are literary figures themselves and others are affiliated with the colleges of Oxford University.

Also included are letters to Hooper about Hooper’s own career and his assignments as chaplain to Jesus and Wadham colleges. Appended to a few letters are copies of fragments of manuscripts that were sent to Hooper for review.

There are also a few related items that are not letters. These include a typed copy of an epitaph for Helen Joy Davidman Lewis, Lewis’s wife, that was dictated and corrected by Lewis, and Hooper’s notes on the contents of Lewis’s Oxford residence.

C. S. LEWIS MATERIALS

Correspondence Relating to C. S. Lewis ca. 1940-1980. About 1200 items.

Correspondence of Walter Hooper and colleagues, friends, acquaintances, and admirers of C. S. Lewis. Included are a few letters from Lewis to Hooper.

In addition, there are some letters from C. S. Lewis’s brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis, to Hooper about matters pertaining to the Lewis estate and to the Lewis home in Headington Quarry, Oxford. Correspondence from others relates to Lewis’s work and to Hooper’s role as one of the trustees of the Lewis estate and editor of the posthumous editions of Lewis’s writings. There is considerable correspondence with Sister Penelope, a long-time friend of Lewis, as well as from the Inklings, colleagues of Lewis who met weekly in Oxford to discuss their writings. There is also correspondence with other individuals engaged in writing about Lewis, especially James T. Como, who edited a collection essays entitled C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table. Other correspondence includes letters from Roger Lancelyn Green about the biography he and Hooper wrote about Lewis and about other matters relating to Lewis and his work. A few of the letters in this series have fragments of manuscripts appended to them that were sent to Hooper for review. There are also a few clippings, most of which relate to C. S. Lewis, also appended to letters. There is a great deal of correspondence about the annual C. S. Lewis party in Oxford, which Hooper sponsored, and a few letters to Hooper concerning his career as priest and Anglican English scholar. In addition, there are a few holographic letters written by Hooper to James Lobdell and several typed copies of letters Hooper wrote in his role as administrator of the Lewis estate.

As per the request of Walter Hooper, files in Box 1 (those relating to persons identified by Hooper as having died) are open for research, and files in Box 2 are closed until 2012 or notification of the death of the correspondent. Original file folder numbers, assigned when the files were in a single alphabetical run, have been retained.

Box 1 (files available for research)

Folder 2 Aldwinckle, Stella (d. 1991), 1963
6 Benet, Laura, 1964
7 Bennett, Gwyneth (Mrs. J. A. W.), 1972-1973
8 Bennett, J. A. W. (d. 1981), 1965-1972, undated
9 Blake, Leonard, 1964-1975
13 Bodle, Rhona M., 1972
14 Bowra, Maurice (d. 1971), 1965-1969, undated
15 Brook, G. L., 1965
16 Burnet, Jock, 1963
17 Cecil, David (d. 1986), 1967-1978
18 Chavasse, Claude, 1965-1975
20 Coghill, Neville (d. 1980), 1964-1979
28 Demant, V. A. (d. 1983), 1969-1971
30 Dodds, E. R. (d. 1979), 1978
33 Dundas-Grant, Jim, 1964-1975
34 Dyson, Hugo (d. 1975), 1968-1974
35 Dyson, Margaret, 1978
36 Edwards, J. R., 1978
38 Farrer, Austin (d. 1968), 1963-1968, undated
39 Farrer, Katherine (d. 1972), 1963-1971, undated
40 Forrest, Gundred (d. 1975), 1974
42 Fox, Adam (d. 1977), 1970-1975
44 Gibb, Jocelyn (d. 1979), 1963
46 Goodwin-Hudson, A. W., 1965, 1976
47-53 Green, Roger Lancelyn (d. 1987), 1963-1979
54 Greeves, Lisbeth, 1978-1980
58 Harwood, Arthur Cecil (d. 1975), 1965-1975.
60 Havard, Robert E. (Humphrey) (d. 1985), 1949, 1963-1978
64 Hooten, Martin, 1968-1969
67 Keir, David Lindsay (d. 1973), 1970-1972
69 Ladborough, Ricahrd (d. 1972), 1963-1971
76 Lawson, F. H. (d. 1983), 1978
77 Lewis, C. S., 1940, 1954-1963
78-79 Lewis, Warren Hamilton (d. 1973), 1964-1972
81 McCallum, R. B. (d. 1973), 1964-1971
82 Mascall, E. L., 1968-1969
83 Mathew, Gervase (d. 1976), 1968-1969
85 Miller, Molly (d. 1976), 1963, undated
87 Montgomery, Bruce, 1972
90 Parker, Ruth, 1974-1979
91 Parker, T. M., 1972-1974
92 Paxford, Fred (d. 1979), 1964
93-96 Penelope, Sister, CSMV (d. 1977), 1964-1977, undated
97 Phillips, J. B., 1968-1972
100 Pitter, Ruth (d. 1992), 1964-1975
101 Pottle, Frederick A., 1978
102 Radcliffe, Margaret, 1968
103 Radcliffe-Maud, John, 1968-1973
107 Shelbourne, Mary Willis, 1967-1969
110 Starkie, Enid, 1967-1968
111 Starr, Nathan Comfort, 1965-1974
115 Temple, George (d. 1992), 1973-1975
117-118 Walsh, Chad, 1962-1980
119 Wheeler-Bennet, John, 1965
120 Willink, Henry, 1963

Box 2 (closed files)

Folder 1 Aldiss, Brian, 1965-1974
3 Bagley, Peter, 1971, 1974, undated
4 Barfield and Barfield, 1965
5 Baynes, Pauline, 1969-1979, undated
10-11 Blake, Maureen Moore (Lady Dunbar of Hempriggs), 1963-1978, undated
12 Blake, Richard (Dunbar of Hempriggs), 1966-1969, undated
19 Clarke, Arthur C., 1964
21 Cohen, Morton, undated
22-25b Como, James T., 1969-1979, undated (closed until 2013)
26 Crawford, John, 1978
27 Dell, Edward T., Jr., 1963
29 Dexter, N. Colin, 1977
31 Dunbar, Katharine Duff, 1965
32 Dunbar, Nan (Jones), 1966-1980, undated
37 Ewart, Ivan, 1963-1968, undated
41 Fowler, Alastair, 1960
43 Gaskill, Jane, 1963
45 Gilmore, Charles, 1974-1975
55 Hardie, Christian, 1967, 1974
56-57 Hardie, Colin, 1964-1977, undated
59 Harwood, Lawrence H., 1973-1974
61 Heath-Stubbs, John, 1964
62 Hibbert, A., undated
63 Hooper, Walter, 1969-1980
65 Hudson, John, 1963
66 Janet, Sister, CSMV, 1965
68 Kinter, W. L., 1964
70 Latham, Jean, 1968
71-75 Lawlor, John, 1965-1974, undated
80 Lings, Martin, 1977
84 Matron, 1964
86 Mitchison, Naomi, 1964
88 Neyland, Mary, 1967-1975, undated
89 Oakeshott, Priscilla, 1965
98 Phillips, Vera M., 1972
99 Pitt, Valerie, 1969-1974
104 Raine, Kathleen, 1968-1975
105 Reynolds, Barbara, 1979-1980
106 Sayer, George, 1964-1980
108-109 Skinner, Martyn, 1969-1978, undated
112 Stevens, John E., 1965-1972
113 Stewart, J. I. M., 1969-1975
114 Swann, Donald, 1968-1977
116 Wain, John, 1968-1975

Other Material Relating to C. S. Lewis

2 items. Typed copy of a poem written as an epitaph for C. S. Lewis’s wife, Helen Joy Davidman Lewis, which was dictated and corrected by Lewis. There are also a few pages of notes about the contents of Lewis’s home in Oxford.

Box 1 (open to research)

Folder 121

Other Materials

About 4,800 items.

M-4236/1 Microfilm (not available for lending or on-site use)

Boxes 3-10 Unprocessed materials and closed additions (closed)