Robert J. Ward Papers
Scope and Contents
Dr. Ward's papers are divided into four main categories: General Papers, Essays and Fiction, Poetry, and Student Papers. Within each category the papers are in alphabetical order.
Dates
- 1963-1999
Creator
- Ward, Robert J. (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Most materials are open for research. The contents of Boxes 6 and 7 are CLOSED to researchers due to the confidentiality of personnel, student, medical, and other legally protected records.
General Use, Reproduction, and Copyright Policies
Many items housed in the Rod Library Special Collections & University Archives, including unpublished images and manuscripts, may be protected by copyright, publication rights, trademarks, or model release rights which the library does not own and for which the library cannot grant permission or licensing. Materials currently under copyright are usually still available for research and limited reproduction under Fair Use laws. However, it is the sole responsibility of the patron to determine whether or not their use of a given material falls within Fair Use guidelines and to obtain permission for said use from the rightful copyright owner.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy or similar laws, and the Iowa Open Records Law (see Iowa Code ยง 22.7). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of Northern Iowa assumes no responsibility.
Biographical / Historical
Robert J. Ward was born July 17, 1926, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Although he dropped out of high school and later joined the Navy, he acquired his G.E.D. in 1946. He went on to receive his B.A. from Akron University in 1951, his master's degree in 1952 from Ohio State University, and his doctorate from the University of Missouri in 1967. He taught at the University of Missouri and Northern Illinois University before coming to UNI in 1963 as an assistant professor in Language, Speech, and Literature. Ward was selected as a senior Fulbright lecturer at the University of Timisoara, Romania, in both 1981 and 1985. His other honors and awards included a Ford Foundation Study grant on India in 1967-68, a summer fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities at Stanford University in 1980, and a lecture tour on Midwestern Literature in 1988 at the Universities of Extremadura and Salamanca, Spain, and the University of London. Ward served as acting department head of the Department of English Language and Literature from 1987 through 1990.
Professor Ward was a leading scholar on James Hearst and his works. This expertise was evident in Ward's writings and poems along with the many programs he presented on James Hearst. Judo was another subject in which Ward had a keen interest. In addition to his English classes, he was a judo instructor in the Physical Education Department and served as the head instructor of the UNI Judo Club for a number of years. Ward himself carried a black belt in judo.
Some of Ward's poetry was a result of the time he spent in Romania with his wife Catherine, who was of Romanian descent. He first went to Romania in 1981 under the Fulbright program, but his time was cut short when he was diagnosed with lung cancer and returned to the states for treatment at the Mayo Clinic. He then returned to Romania, again under the Fulbright program, in 1985.
Robert J. Ward died April 8, 1999. For more information on Ward's teachings and writings, see his obituary.
Extent
2.71 Linear Feet (7 boxes)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated to SC&UA in June 2000 after other faculty had used them in a project editing the poetry of James Hearst.
Processing Information
Papers processed by Gerald L. Peterson and Gail Briddle; finding aid prepared by Gail Briddle, June-July, 2000. Updated by Library Associate Dave Hoing, January 2018 and April 2018. Linear feet updated September 13, 2017.
- Title
- Robert J. Ward Papers
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script