William Morton Payne Papers, ca. 1850-1920

Gift of Herbert and Mary Hastings Bradley, 1951.

The William Morton Payne Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

The William Morton Payne Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

William Morton Payne Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Lisa Janssen, Kelly Kress, and Shannon Yule, 2007.

This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Literary critic, periodical editor, translator, and educator.

William Morton Payne was born in 1858 in Newburyport, Massachusetts to Emma M. and Henry Morton Payne. He attended public schools in Newburyport and Chicago, but did not go on to college and was self-educated after high school. He became assistant librarian of the Chicago Public Library in 1874, but left this position to teach in the Chicago public schools. He continued to work in the public schools throughout his other career incarnations, and also as a lecturer of English at the the University of Wisconsin, the University of Kansas, and the University of Chicago. He was literary editor for the Chicago Morning News from 1884 to 1892 while also contributing writing to the Dial. He became associate editor of the Dial in 1892 and retained this position until 1914 when he sold his stock in the publication. As literary critic, he specialized in modern literature and poetry. He was a respected scholar of Scandinavian literature and translated the work of Norwegian poet Björnstjerne Björnson. Despite his lack of formal university education, he edited volumes such as American Literary Criticism and English in the American University. His lead writing for the Dial was collected in three volumes, Little Leaders, Editorial Echoes, and Various Views. He published one volume of poems in his lifetime, Richard Wagner, A Cycle of Sonnets.

Payne was also actively involved in several Chicago social clubs, including the Cliff Dwellers and the Chicago French Club, and was secretary-treasurer for the Twentieth Century Club for 26 years. He never married and passed away after a long illness on July 12, 1919.

Correspondence, works, scrapbooks, and other personal materials of William Morton Payne.

This collection contains notable correspondence including letters kept by Payne from colleagues and readers of the Dial, correspondence with lifelong friend Paul Shorey, and letters from speakers appearing at the Twentieth Century Club. The works series contains published and unpublished essays, criticism, articles, editorials written for the Chicago Journal, some psychology writings, and a chemistry textbook. Additionally, the collection contains 30 scrapbooks filled with clippings of Payne’s work published in the Dial, and administrative materials from the Twentieth Century Club including minutes and account books. This collection also holds a wealth of personal documents including photographs, family papers, travel diaries and other travel memorabilia, high school and teaching memorabilia, and materials related to the various social clubs Payne belonged to.

Papers are organized in the following series:

Title Box Series 1: Correspondence Boxes 1-5 Series 2: Works Boxes 6-8 Series 3: The Dial Scrapbooks Boxes 9-16 Series 4: Personal Boxes 17-24 Series 5: Photographs Box 25

• Names
  • Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne, 1832-1910
  • Browne, Waldo R. , (Waldo Ralph), 1876-1954
  • Chatfield-Taylor, H. C., (Hobart Chatfield), 1865-1945
  • Comfort, Will Levington, 1878-1932
  • Matthews, Brander, 1852-1929
  • Payne, William Morton, 1858-1919
  • Shorey, Paul, 1857-1934
  • Twentieth Century Club (Evanston, Ill.).
• Subject
  • Chicago
  • Journalism
  • Literature
  • Literature, Modern -- 19th century
  • Literature, Modern -- 20th century
  • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago