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The  Howellsian 
Volume 4, Number 1 (June, 1999)

At the annual conference of the American Literature Association, held in Baltimore, May 27-30, 1999, the William Dean Howells Society sponsored one session, chaired by Sally Daugherty, completing her term as first president of the Society.  Originally to have featured papers by three eminent Howellsians, it ultimately included two scholars, Thomas Wortham from UCLA having unavoidably withdrawn from the panel at a late date.  In the session, "New Chapters in Howells Biography," John W. Crowley from Syracuse University read "The Making of the Dean of American Letters" and Howells's descendant Polly Howells presented "Mildred Howells: The Dilemma of the Father's Daughter."  The Society will definitely sponsor one session, and possibly a second, on Howells at the next ALA conference in San Diego [Note: The ALA conference will now meet in Long Beach, California]  in late May, 2000.  Please send abstracts or papers of no more than ten double-spaced typed pages to the new program chair, Sanford E. Marovitz (Department of English, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242), or to Jesse S. Crisler (3127 JKHB, English Department, Brigham Young Unviersity, Provo, UT 84602) by December 15, 1999, for consideration for presentation in this session.

In Baltimore the Society also held its second biennial business meeting on May 29, 1999, at which members unanimously elected new officers: Sanford E. Marovitz as vice-president and program chair and Donna Campbell as secretary-treasurer and website manager; Jesse S. Crisler will serve as president, as called for in the Society's bylaws.  Another major item of business was Donna Campbell's update of the website.  Still able to be accessed at index.html, the site can also be reached at a more manageable address: http://www.gonzaga.edu/howells.  Additions to the site include scanned versions (including pictures), donated by Eric Eldred of Eldritch Press, of several Howells texts: The Shadow of a Dream, The Rise of Silas Lapham, An Imperative Duty, etc.; links to Howells's pieces for the "Editor's Study" at Cornell University's Making of America site; a chronology of Howells's life and writings based on works by Edwin Cady and John W. Crowley; links to materials on Howells's contemporaries; access to Howells-L, a discussion group which Donna also maintains; a section with longer commentary by Terry Oggel and Peg Wherry; an annotated list of current Howells-related articles in journals; a special Howells issue of El Escribano: The St. Augustine Journal of History,containing, among other items, Howells's incomplete and previously unpublished novel, The Home-Towners; and Don L. Cook's review of this issue.  As well, this site contains back issues of The Howellsian, a directory of members, online and mail-in membership forms, and Society news.

The W. D. Howells Memorial Committee tentatively plans to hold a two-day conference, "New Psychology, New Politics: William Dean Howells and His Contemporaries, " at Kittery Point, Maine, 6-7 October 2000.  Those chairing sessions include Michael Anesko, Elsa Nettels, Polly Howells, John Crowley, and David Nordloh.  Members may get in touch with Roger Stoddard (Curator of Rare Books, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138) for information.
 

[Note: Minor additions of new information or changes have been added in brackets.]