Steinbeck Archive Project

This project will benefit the Carl Albert Center Congressional Archives at the University of Oklahoma. We will be contributing searchable, plain text versions of letters written to Democratic Congressman (OK) Lyle Boren. These plain text versions will make discovery easier for researchers and the public. The letters concern Congressman Boren's speech before the House of Representatives condemning John Steinbeck's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath and its representation of "Okies."

The Plan

1. Grab a letter
2. Open our shared Drive folder here
3. Create a new file in the above folder
4. Name the file (without quotes): "CAC_CC_007_2_6_49_0###" and replace the last three numbers (#) with the page numbers of the document you are transcribing, e.g. Pages 14–15 are "CAC_CC_007_2_6_49_0014–15"

Transcription

Transcribe exactly as written, including apparent misspellings

My sentiments exactly and good for you! The bas taste left in my mouth from reading

Transcribe exactly as written, including apparent misspellings
	My sentiments exactly and good for you! The bas taste left in my mouth from reading

• Transcribe exactly as written, including apparent misspellings
  • 

    Note the misspelled word—this should be transcribed precisely:
    My sentiments exactly and good for you! The bas taste left in my mouth from reading
• Transcribe complete document as a single column, regardless of original layout
• Spaces and line-breaks should be replicated, but numerous blank lines should be transcribed as a single blank line
• If anything is illegible, ask a friend. If neither can read it, replace the word with [[?]], including the square brackets
• If there is marginalia on the document, the following should be placed in the text: ^ [[Insert text of marginalia here]] including square brackets and caret

Footnotes for "The Reception of The Grapes of Wrath in Oklahoma":

• The Oklahoman archives

Can you find others? It is important to realize that the entire run of the Oklahoma City Times is available—on microfilm at The Oklahoma Historical Society. An important consideration in archival work is weighing cost and availability. How do you think this will affect future writings about this event?