Series IV. General Correspondence

Letters and cards, with such enclosures as printed material including clippings, creative works, and photographs. Three sub-series: 1. Correspondence, 1892, 1948-1998; 2. Older Correspondence Files, 1953-1975; 3. Unfiled Correspondence, 1967-1985, 1998-1999.

This series contains primarily Paredes's correspondence with colleagues, students, friends, relatives, business associates, and admirers. Correspondence with colleagues concerns scholarly projects, professional organizations, the University of Texas and other academic institutions, and personal matters. He read manuscripts for academic journals, consulted on grant-funded projects and on educational resource projects, such as books and films, and participated in the planning of academic conferences. The files contain correspondence with University of Texas colleagues such as Roger Abrahams, Richard Bauman, Rolando Hinojosa Smith and José Limón, and other scholars including Arthur Campa, Manuel R. Dannemann, Julián Cáceres Freyre, Alan Dundes, Archie Green, Wayland Hand, Stanley Robe, Julian Samora, and Merle Simmons. Paredes was involved with professional organizations dedicated both to folklore scholarship and to Latin American studies and issues. Among the organizations he created correspondence files for are Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española, American Folklore Society, California Folklore Society, National Association for Chicano Studies, National Chicano Council on Higher Education, Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education, and Texas Folklore Society.

Paredes filed some professional correspondence elsewhere, or removed folders from this series. Editor and publisher correspondence is in Series II, Subseries 1, B. "Reviews, Correspondence on Publications." Paredes's subject files, Series III, include name correspondence files in Subseries 1, University of Texas files; Subseries 4, Journal of American Folklore and American Folklore Society Files; Subseries 5, Texas Folklife Resources Files; and Subseries 6, Professional Activities Files. The files in Series I, Subseries 1, B. Corrrespondence Separated by Américo Paredes, include correspondence with colleagues.

Student correspondence regards coursework and theses, as well as other personal and professional matters. Several students remained close to Paredes, some, like Limón, became colleagues. The correspondence files also document Paredes?s relationships with younger scholars who had not worked with Paredes as students, but who sought him out for consultation or because he was a subject of their work. Younger students and scholars represented in Paredes?s correspondence files include Arturo Chamorro, Leticia Garza-Falcón., William Gradante, James McNutt, Manuel Peña, and Ramón Saldívar. Paredes filed some student correspondence in Series III, Subseries 1, University of Texas files.

Though much of Paredes?s personal correspondence is found in Series I, Subseries 1, Paredes filed some correspondence with friends and relatives in this series. Longtime personal correspondents include his cousin, Ted Manzano. Other personal correspondence is with old Brownsville friends such as Daniel Bray, Henry K. Garcia, and Sabas Klahn. Some correspondents appear both in this series and in Series I.

Paredes arranged and organized the files. He filed correspondence alphabetically by correspondent and in reverse chronological order. During processing, some unfiled and loose correspondence was added to his files. Paredes removed manuscripts and printed material from received correspondence. During processing, some loose items that Paredes had removed but did not file in a new location, such as manuscripts, were returned to the sender?s name file.

The series is organized in three subseries, created by Paredes. Note that individual correspondents may appear in more than one subseries.

Access to some material in the series is restricted. See Series X description.