The papers of Fannie Hurst, ca. 1910s-1965, encompass manuscripts of her works (short stories, novels, film scenarios, plays, articles, columns, speeches, and talks), both incoming and outgoing correspondence, as well as miscellaneous materials. The Works series contains manuscripts of almost all of Hurst's books, including her most famous works such as HUMORESQUE, BACK STREET, LUMMOX, IMITATION OF LIFE, and ANATOMY OF ME: A WONDERER IN SEARCH OF HERSELF, usually in multiple typescript drafts with handwritten revisions. Frequently works were also recast from their original genre for a film scenario or dramatic adaptation. Numerous short stories, articles, speeches, and talks demonstrate Hurst's interest in writing short fiction, non-fiction, and commentary. The collection also contains a small number of unpublished manuscripts and fragments. The Letters series primarily consists of typed carbon copy letters maintained in her files for business purposes from 1928-1946. The Recipient series, consisting of letters to Hurst, contains correspondence, often with carbon copy responses from Hurst, dating from the 1910s to 1965. Both personal and business correspondence document Hurst's daily activities and non-literary interests such as civil rights, Jewish, and anti-Fascist issues. A sample of her varied correspondents includes: the American Birth Control League, the ACLU, the American Jewish Congress, Elizabeth Arden, Authors League of America, Lillian Becker, Albert Berg, B'nai B'rith, Books & Authors War Bond Rally, Theda Bara Brabin, Madeleine Borg, Pearl S. Buck, Jonathan Cape, Jacques Chambrun, the City Wide Citizens' Committee on Harlem, Alma Clayburgh, Louis Cohen, Cosmopolitan, Hume Cronyn, Curtis Brown, the Democratic National Party, Theodore Dreiser, Marie Dressler, Edna Ferber, Daniel Frohman, Zona Gale, Hadassah, Harpers, the Constance Hope Foundation, Zora Neale Hurston, Blanche Knopf, Fiorella H. La Guardia, Sinclair Lewis, NBC, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the New York Times, Charles and Kathleen Norris, Ruth Bryan Owen, Paramount Pictures, P.E.N., RKO, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Edward Russell, the Salvation Army, and Carl Van Vechten. The Miscellaneous series consists primarily of fan mail, dating from the 1920s to the 1960s. Also included are biographical data, financial and legal papers, lists, and various personal records. Other Hurst materials are housed in the HRHRC Vertical Files (over 200 folders of clippings and other ephemeral materials) and in the Scrapbook Collection (39 scrapbooks, which document Hurst's career, ca. 1910-1950s). The HRHRC Photography Collection houses approximately 300 photographs of Hurst, most from the 1950s and 1960s, but there are a few of Hurst in her younger years, as well as photographs of her family and friends. Several other author collections at the HRHRC house correspondence to and from Fannie Hurst.
