Silbert, Layle. Papers, 1910-2003

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Literature and Poetry

Visual Arts

Series XI: Subseries 10 contains academic records, restricted for 80 years; medical records, restricted for 80 years; and financial records, restricted for 50 years.

The remainder of the collection is open for research.

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Silbert, Layle. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Layle Silbert, photographer and writer, was born January 23, 1913 in Chicago. Her father, Morris Silbert, was a journalist, copywriter and editor in Chicago's Yiddish press. Her mother, a teacher and homemaker, encouraged Layle Silbert to pursue writing. Layle Silbert began composing poetry and literary essays in childhood, and remained devoted to the literary arts throughout her life.

After graduating from John Marshall High School, Silbert attended University of Chicago, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1933, and a master's degree in 1938 from the School of Social Service Administration. Silbert's first career was in the field of social service, where she began as a case worker and moved on to positions as a researcher and statistician. From the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, Silbert was employed by Chicago-area social agencies including the Chicago Welfare Administration, the Travelers Aid Society of Chicago, the United States Employment Service, and Council of Social Agencies of Chicago. In the course of her career in social work and civil service, she met and married Abraham Aidenoff, a statistician for the United Nations.

In the 1940s, Silbert studied creative writing at Northwestern University and other institutions, beginning a career transition to writing and editorial work. In 1946 she was employed as an editorial and administrative assistant for the American Council on Race Relations. During the late 1940s, Silbert traveled internationally with her husband, who was working for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Silbert worked as a teacher and freelance writer in China. During a stay in Pakistan, Silbert taught herself photography as a hobby.

When living in the United States, Silbert continued to photograph friends and acquaintances, but concentrated on her work as a freelance writer and editor based in New York City. In the late 1960s, Silbert was involved in several radical feminist organizations as an activist and writer. She simultaneously gravitated to New York literary circles. She attended poetry workshops taught by William Packard, whose writing and teaching would become an important influence on her work as both a writer and photographer. Packard's New York Quarterly, founded in 1969, was the first important outlet for Silbert's photography. Silbert also served on the journal's staff, and would go on to work on the staff of other journals, including Home Planet News and Woman Poet.

Silbert reached the peak of her career as both a writer and photographer during the 1970s, and continued to be highly productive until late in her life. She was noted foremost for her portraits of authors, which have been widely published in books and national media. Exhibitions of her photographs have been held at many academic and public libraries, including the University of Chicago's Regenstein Library. Her photographs were also used in United States Information Service programs in Ecuador and Mexico.

Silbert's poetry and prose were published in Denver Quarterly, Literary Review, Midatlantic Review, Salmagundi, South Dakota Review, Cottonwood Review, Jewish Frontier, New York Quarterly, Poetry Now, San Marcos Review, and Sing Heavenly Muse. Collections of her poems and short stories were published as Making a Baby in Union Park Chicago (1983); Imaginary People and Other Strangers (1985); New York New York (1996); Burkah and Other Stories (2003); and The Free Thinkers: Two Novellas (2004). She was a fellow at the McDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Layle Silbert died on February 5, 2003.

The collection documents Layle Silbert's career as a photographer and writer, as well as her earlier work in editing, civil service and social work. Also included are materials related to Silbert's travels, activist interests, and personal life. The Layle Silbert Papers are organized into 11 series.

Series I: Biographical, spans the 1920s-2000s, and contains material detailing Layle Silbert's education, employment history and professional accomplishments. It also documents Silbert's reflections on her life and work. Files in this series are arranged alphabetically by format, and include biographical statements, curricula vitae and employment documents, interview materials, and photographs of Silbert. Many of the interview files include multiple iterations of interview texts, as well as correspondence between Silbert and the interviewer.

Series II: Correspondence, is arranged alphabetically. It includes incoming and outgoing correspondence with clients, subjects and other professional contacts, as well as personal friends and family members. Correspondence spans 1991-2002, but is concentrated in the 1970s-1980s. This series contains correspondence with many important twentieth-century poets and other literary figures.

Series III: Photography, contains Silbert's photographs, as well as text documents of her career as a photographer. While Silbert was best known for her portraits of writers, this series also includes travel photographs, and photographs of literary events. Most of the photographs are undated; however, they generally span the early 1960s-late 1990s, concentrated in the 1970s-early 1980s, when Silbert was most active as a freelance photographer. Also included are exhibition records, notes, and publications and publicity material featuring Silbert's work.

Series IV: Poetry, contains material documenting Silbert's study and writing of poetry, as well as her involvement in poetry communities. This series contains manuscripts, publications, workshop and course materials, and organizational records of the New York Poets Cooperative. Material in this series spans the early 1960s-2002.

Series V: Short Stories and Essays, contains manuscripts of Silbert’s short stories and essays, spanning the years circa 1949-2000. Some manuscripts are accompanied by research material such as clippings and indexes. Also included are notes and assignments from courses and workshops on writing short prose. Manuscripts are organized alphabetically by title or topic, with untitled or unidentified material at the end of the sequence. Oversize material has been transferred to the final boxes in the series, and is also arranged alphabetically.

Series VI: Novels, Novellas and Prose Anthologies, contains manuscripts and drafts of Silbert’s longer prose writing and short prose anthologies, dating from around the 1960s-1990s. There is correspondence regarding publication, reviews, and publicity of the novels. Also included are some articles and research notes by Silbert. Unidentified anthology stories include manuscripts and drafts of stories that either were not included in an anthology, or had no identifying title. Much of the material in this series is undated.

Series VII: Reference, Research and Technical Writing, contains material documenting Layle Silbert's work as a research assistant and writer of reference works and technical reports. Work for Compton's Encyclopedia, the National Science Foundation, author Myron E. Sharpe, and teacher William Frauenglass. Material in this series includes correspondence, manuscripts, notes and clippings. Files span the years 1949-1964, and are arranged chronologically.

Series VIII: Civil Service and Social Work, contains material related to Layle Silbert's work for social welfare agencies, the United Nations, and the PEN Prison Writing Program. Files are arranged chronologically, and span the years 1942-1994.

Series IX: China, contains material documenting Layle Silbert's residence in China around 1947. Material spans the years 1938-1991, but is heavily concentrated in 1947. This series contains diaries, manuscripts, organizational material, publications, travel material, and photographs.

Series X: Activism, contains material related to Layle Silbert's involvement with political and social activism. The content of this series falls into two broad subject areas: Feminism, consisting of material from 1969-1970, and urban renewal, containing material from 1961-1962. Files are arranged alphabetically, and include publications, statements, correspondence, publicity material and photographs.

Series XI: Personal, contains material related to Silbert's childhood, education, relationships, family background, and personal interests and reflections. This series spans the years 1910-2003, and includes diaries and personal writing, educational material, travel material, manuscripts and publications by Silbert's friends and colleagues, calendars, appointment books, card files, family memorabilia, photographs and artifacts.

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

• Names
  • Silbert, Layle
  • Aidenoff, Abraham
• Subject
  • Feminism
  • Jewish authors
  • Jewish women
  • Portrait photography
  • Travel photography
  • Women photographers
  • Women writers