Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library P.O. Box 400110 University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110 URL: https://small.library.virginia.edu/
Ellen Welch
Repository
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Identification
MSS 16775
Title
John T. Ackerson (George Jarrboe) papers 1822-1961
John (Jack) Thaddeus Ackerson (1898-1975), was an author antiwar poems.He was a sailor in World War I and II from Hackensack,
New Jersey. He entered the war in 1917 as a member of the United States Naval Reserve Force (Seaman Class 4). He was stationed
on the USS Christabel, which served on patrol duty off the western coast of France. He was involved in two conflicts with
German u-boats. During World War II he became a purser in the merchant marine.
After the war, he published antiwar poetry under the pseudonym George Jarrboe, and authored "The Unknown Soldier Speaks,"
and "Anchor with a Laurel Wreath." His poetry was published in The New Masses and Unrest: The Rebel Poet's Anthology for 1929 He was involved in radical literary circles.
From the cover of "The Unknown Soldier Speaks," Jarrboe is described as a "manual laborer, travelling salesman, office manager,
investigator, and law clerk." Jarrboe dedicated the work collectively to William, Hushka, Eric Carlson, and William Gunn".
Jarrboe wrote, "It took the murder of these three comrades to make me realize the inadequacy of this booklet. Bourgeois born
and bred, I have been swinging left, and shall proceed further."
This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, reviews, photographs, a lock of hair, and a scrapbook relating to the
life and career of John Thaddeus "Jack" Ackerson, (1898-1975), who published radical antiwar poetry under the name George
Jarrboe after his naval service during World War I and II. Ackerson wrote the chapbook "The Unknown Soldier Speaks" and many
other pieces of writing under this pseudonym.
The bulk of the collection consists of 500 letters. Most of the correspondence is between Ackerson, his girlfriend and then-wife
Katharine Bowen, and his immediate family; 137 are letters written by Ackerson himself. Other correspondents include Frank
di Gioia, Agnes Inglis, Robert O. Erisman, James Neill Northe, Masaki Ikeda, F.V. Lamsin, Fernand Jouan, Howard Fast, Mary
Minter Miles, Edith Barnard Delano and Harriet T. Hassell among others. Also included are a scrapbook and several letters
about Ackerson's poetry and the release and reception of his chapbook, "The Unknown Soldier Speaks", twenty-four manuscripts,
seven typescripts, and approximately twenty-five family documents. A 1929 copy of "Unrest" and a 1945 copy of "Anchor with
a laurel wreath" were removed and are cataloged separately.
Includes letters from poet Josephine Johnson and James Rorty. There is also a letter from novelist and short story author,
Edith Barnard Delano (1874-1946) to Katharine Bowen Ackerson (wife of John T. Ackerson-"George Jarrboe") and a letter from
silent film star Mary Minter Miles
Mixed Materials [X032669281] box: 3 folder: 16
Letters from authors, poets, and celebrities
1914-1958English.
Scope and Contents
Includes letters from poet Josephine Johnson (1910-1990) and writer and poet James Rorty (1890-1973). There is also a letter
from novelist and short story author, Edith Barnard Delano (1874-1946) to Katharine Bowen Ackerson (wife of John T. Ackerson-"George
Jarrboe"), a letter from silent film star Mary Minter Miles (1902-1984), a card from Cardinal James Gibbons (1834-1921), and
a letter from author Howard Fast (1914-2003).