Sol Yurick Manuscripts for Publication
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Abstract
The Sol Yurick Manuscripts for Publication (dated 1944-2006) consists of typed manuscripts and drafts written by novelist Sol Yurick (1925-2013). Yurick was a Brooklyn based writer who was best known for novels portraying poverty and violence in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. The collection contains drafts and manuscripts of Yurick's published works, as well as manuscripts that were intended for but never reached publication. Other materials in the collection include correspondence, contracts, and royalty statements related to the publication of his novels and stories. It also contains a small amount of personal items such as diaries, personal correspondence, and materials related to Yurick's teaching.
Historical/Biographical Note
Sol Yurick (1925-2013) was an American author based in New York City, who was best known for novels portraying poverty and urban life in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Manhattan on January 18, 1925, Yurick grew up in the Bronx where he attended the Bronx High School of Science. After high school he enlisted in the United States Army where he trained as a surgical technician during World War II. Following his military service he enrolled in New York University and graduated with a BA in English in 1951. He later received an MA in English from Brooklyn College. Yurick worked for several years as an investigator for the New York City Department of Welfare. His first book, The Warriors, drew from his experience with the Department of Welfare and portrayed gang violence as a product of poverty rather than social dysfunction. Loosely based on the classical Greek story Anabasis, Yurick sought to provide a more accurate portrayal of gang violence that contrasted the glamorized images in pop culture such as West Side Story. The Warriors was later turned into a motion picture in 1979, which garnered a strong cult following.
Yurick's next two novels Fertig (1966) and The Bag (1968) likewise reflected Yurick's views on urban poverty and municipal bureaucracy. Fertig, which tells the story of a father who seeks revenge on hospital administrators and doctors whose neglect contributed to the death of his son, serves as a critique of health care bureaucracy. His novel The Bag focused on race and class relations in 1960s on the streets of New York City. Fertig, was also adapted into a film, which was retitled Confession (1999), and featured Alec Baldwin and Ben Kingsley. Yurick's other works include a collection of short stories titled Someone Just Like You (1972); an anthology titled Voices of Brooklyn (1973); and several novels including, An Island Death (1976), Richard A (1981), and Behold Metatron: The Recording Angel (1985). He also wrote several essays and short stories for the academic journal Social Text, and in the 1960s contributed to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) tract "Who Runs Columbia".
Yurck lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife Adrienne. He died in January of 2013.
Arrangement
The order in which these materials were sent to the Tamiment Library has been maintained. Materials in this collection have not been arranged by an archivist.
Scope and Contents
This collection principally consists of typed manuscripts of novelist Sol Yurick's published and unpublished works. Yurick's writings include numerous drafts of his novels, essays, short stories, and plays. These manuscripts cover much of Yurick's career from his early writings in the mid-1940s to the early 2000s. The collection contains several versions of his drafts, which show the various stages of Yurick's writing process, and contain the author's edits and revisions. Many of the manuscripts in this collection eventually resulted in published versions, but the collection also contains manuscripts of unpublished works.
The collection also contains a small number of materials related to Yurick's publications including correspondence with publishers, materials related to royalties, contracts, reviews, and documents related to film adaptations of Yurick's work. These materials include a small amount of personal items including correspondence with family and friends, journals, and papers related to Yurick's political activism.
Titles of Yurick's drafts have been maintained as best as possible. Many of these titles appear in abbreviated or alternate forms, which Yurick used throughout his editing process. Additionally, there are many cases in which the pages within Yurick's drafts appear out of order. Throughout the editing process, Yurick often included additional pages to his drafts or renumbered certain sections. Consequently, there are a number of instances where pages will appear to be repetitive, missing, or out of order. While this is partially reflective of Yurick's editing methodology, there are also a number of instances where loose drafts and fragments became out of order prior to being archived, the original order of which is difficult to discern.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Sol Yurick, the creator of this collection, were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in 2014 by Adrienne Yurick. These materials are governed by a Creative Commons CC0 license, which permits publication and reproduction of materials accompanied by full attribution. See, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Sol Yurick Manuscripts for Publication; TAM 268; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials were donated by Sol Yurick in 1985; additional materials were donated by Adrienne Yurick in 2014. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1950.090 and 2014.008.
About this Guide
Processing Information
This collection was received in two separate donations. Upon receiving the second accession in 2014, materials were moved into archival housing, a preliminary file list was created, and a collection-level finding aid was created to describe materials from both of these accessions. No physical processing or arrangement was done at this time.
At the time of accessioning, disk images were made of born-digital records in the collection. These materials have not been described.
In 2017, materials in under-filled boxes were condensed and box numbers were updated to reflect changes in the extent of the collection.
