Skip to main content

Fred Gipson Papers

 Collection
Identifier: SWWC-062

Scope and Contents

These papers represent drafts of several of Gipson’s short stories, screenplays, and one nonfiction autobiographical piece, arranged by genre and in chronological order, with dates ranging from 1948-1957, and many items having no date. For each item there is typically one annotated typescript and one final draft typescript, along with a custom made folding box for the items related to each title. Of particular note is the 1957 shooting script for the Walt Disney film production of Gipson’s Old Yeller, which also includes a letter from Gipson to Joe Small.

Dates

  • 1945-1957

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Materials from the Wittliff Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user assumes responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish, and abiding by U.S. copyright laws. https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/visit/policies/publication.html

Biographical Notes

Texas novelist and journalist Frederick Benjamin Gipson was born February 7, 1908, in Mason, TX, and is best known for his novel, Old Yeller. He graduated from high school in 1926, worked various jobs until he attended the University of Texas from 1933-37. Although he did not complete his degree, he found work as a reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times from 1938-40. He began working as a freelance writer in 1940, publishing many short stories, especially in the Southwest Review. His first non-fiction book, Fabulous Empire : Colonel Zack Miller’s Story, was published in 1946, and his first fictional work, Hound-Dog Man in 1949.

Gipson went on to publish many more fiction and non-fiction works, winning numerous awards, and garnering special recognition for Old Yeller, which was pronounced a classic almost immediately after its publication in 1956. Although many of his fictional works were written for young audiences, “Fred Gipson’s tales of the Texas hill country have charmed young and old, in print and film, for more than three decades... (He) was a top-notch storyteller, he had a good ear for dialect and a light hand in transcribing it. He handled well, if not very originally, that most familiar them in American fiction: initiation,” (William T. Pilkington, Twentieth Century Western Writers). Old Yeller, Savage Sam, and Hound Dog Man (as Return of the Texan) were all produced as films, working from scripts by Gipson. The author died at his home near Mason, in 1973.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet

1 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

  • The descriptive data created for this finding aid is licensed under the CC0 Creative Commons license and is free for use without restriction.

Abstract

Literary papers of Fred Gipson, including drafts of several of Gipson’s short stories, screenplays, and one nonfiction autobiographical piece.

Physical Location

Materials may be stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use: https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/makearesearchappointment.html.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Bill and Sally Wittliff, 1994.

Title
Guide to the Fred Gipson Papers
Author
Amanda York
Date
2002
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Revision Statements

  • 2021: Revised for ArchivesSpace by Susannah Broyles.

Repository Details

Part of the The Wittliff Collections Repository

Contact:
601 University Drive
San Marcos Texas 78666 USA