Organized into seven series: (1) John Kennedy Toole, (2) A confederacy of dunces, (3) The neon Bible, (4) John D. Toole, Jr. (father), (5) Thelma Ducoing Toole, (6) Garvy/Ducoing family, (7) Walker Percy.

Oversize boxes and folders contain miscellaneous framed photographs or large books. Most items in the oversized boxes are cross-referenced in another box.

Arranged numerically, the collection consists of 22 boxes, 3 volumes, 2 oversize boxes, and a copy of the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, autographed by his mother Thelma Ducoing Toole. It is 18 linear feet.

Abbreviations used throughout the inventory:

JKT: John Kennedy Toole

TDT: Thelma Ducoing Toole

COD: Confederacy of Dunces

NB: Neon Bible

LSUP: Louisiana State University Press

CHMM: Curtis, Hyde, Mooney, McEachin (Attorneys)

Date Acquired: 00/00/1980. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Authors, American -- 20th century., Ducoing family., Gottlieb, Robert, 1931-, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, La.). Press., Percy, Walker, 1916-1990., Toole, John D., Toole, John Kennedy, 1937-1969., Toole, Thelma.

Forms of Material: Clippings (information artifacts), Correspondence., Manuscripts (document genre), Typescripts.

Languages: English, French, Spanish;Castilian

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection primarily consists of the personal and literary papers of John Kennedy Toole, including unbound manuscripts and typescripts, correspondence, pamphlets, drawings, photographs, music, and posters. There is a considerable amount of memorabilia that his mother, Thelma Ducoing Toole, kept concerning her son, including his baby cup and his undergraduate honors thesis. John Kennedy Toole's correspondence with Robert Gottlieb, his first editor as well as letters illustrating the process of getting A Confederacy of Dunces published are in this collection. There are also large numbers of reviews and articles about Toole and his works. The papers and personal belongings of his parents, John D. Toole and Thelma Ducoing Toole, can also be found in the collection.

Biographical Note

John Kennedy Toole, posthumous winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, was born in New Orleans on December 17, 1937. After skipping several grades, he finished high school at the age of sixteen. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors in English at Tulane University in 1958. He received his master's degree in 1959 from Columbia University, and taught at Hunter College. He was drafted in 1962 and stationed with the Army in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he continued to teach English and wrote A Confederacy of Dunces. Upon returning to New Orleans, he unsuccessfully attempted to have his manuscript published; he taught at Dominican College and in 1968 enrolled in graduate school at Tulane University to work on his doctorate. In 1969, he asphyxiated himself in his car in Biloxi, Mississippi. The novel was ultimately published by Louisiana State University Press in 1980 after his mother, Thelma Ducoing Toole, approached novelist Walker Percy with the manuscript. A Confederacy of Dunces won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as the Louisiana Literary Award. A musical production based on the novel premiered at LSU in 1984. Toole was also the author of The Neon Bible, which he wrote at age sixteen.

Subject/Index Terms

Authors, American -- 20th century.
Ducoing family.
Gottlieb, Robert, 1931-
Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, La.). Press.
Percy, Walker, 1916-1990.
Toole, John D.
Toole, John Kennedy, 1937-1969.
Toole, Thelma.

Administrative Information

Repository: Louisiana Research Collection

Accruals: Additional materials added between 1984 and 1998.

Alternate Extent Statement: 18 linear feet

Access Restrictions: Collection is open to the public. Portions of the collection may not be duplicated.

Use Restrictions: Physical rights are retained by the Louisiana Research Collection. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws. The estate of Walker Percy retains all literary rights to his work, including the correspondence from him in this collection. The Manuscripts Department will not provide researchers with photocopies of documents created by Walker Percy. Permission to use the restricted portions of this collection must be obtained from the estate of Walker Percy.

Acquisition Source: Donated by John Kennedy Toole's mother, Thelma Ducoing Toole, her estate, and heirs between 1980 and 1990.

Acquisition Method: Gift.

Preferred Citation: John Kennedy Toole Papers, Manuscripts Collection 740, Louisiana Research Collection, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans LA 70118.

Processing Information: Collection processed between 1980 and 1990.

Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid collection record input to Archon by student worker Connor Deegan in 2009. Finding aid revised by Susie Scifres Kuilan in 2005. Finding aid information entered in Archon by LAC Group in 2011. Revised by LAC Group 6/24/11.

Other Note: OCLC Number: 236103515

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1: JKT correspondence, military paperwork, personal items, and photographs, 1955-1967],
[Box 2: JKT correspondence, military paperwork, personal items, and photographs, 1955-1959],
[Box 3: JKT correspondence, military paperwork, personal items, and photographs, 1938-1968],
[Box 4: JKT correspondence, military paperwork, personal items, and photographs, 1944-1999],
[Box 5: JKT correspondence, military paperwork, personal items, and photographs, 1937-1981],
[Box 6: Unpublished manuscripts, COD manuscripts [Restricted]],
[Box 7: Unpublished manuscripts, COD manuscripts [Restricted]],
[Box 8: Unpublished manuscripts, COD manuscripts [Restricted]],
[Box 9: Collateral printed materials for COD, 1978-1982],
[Box 10: Collateral printed materials for COD, 1978-1990],
[Box 11: NB materials, JDT personal items, and TDT correspondence through 1981 February],
[Box 12: TDT correspondence and personal items, 1981 March-1984 February],
[Box 13: TDT correspondence and personal items, 1984 March-1987 March; 1920-1984.],
[Box 14: TDT correspondence and personal items, 1929-1983],
[Box 15: JKT notebooks],
[Box 16: JKT notebooks],
[Box 17: TDT and family photographs],
[Box 18: TDT personal items],
[Box 19: TDT personal items],
[Box 20: TDT personal items],
[Box 21: Garvey/Ducoing family and Walker Percy items],
[Box 22: Margaret (Dolly Ducoing) Garvey postcard collection and child's items],
[Box 23: Additional typescripts],
[Volume 1: JKT personal materials: Achievement scrapbook],
[Volume 2: Scrapbook with photographs],
[Volume 3: COD signed by Thelma to John Geiser, 1981 June 14],
[Oversize box 1: Oversized collection],
[Oversize box 2: Oversized collection],
[Oversize box 3: Photo album],
[Oversize folder 1],
[All]

Box 2: JKT correspondence, military paperwork, personal items, and photographs, 1955-1959

Box 2 contains school materials such as old exams, papers, and other material from his academic career at Tulane.

Folder 1: School materials: Tulane University honor roll and scholarship letters

1955 July 14. Letter from William Peery, Dean. Congratulates JKT for achieving honor roll for second semester 1954-1955.

1956 March 22. Letter from William Peery, Dean. Congratulates JKT for achieving honor roll in "recently completed" semester.

1956 June 14. Letter from Forrest U. Lake, General Assistant to the President. Awards the Special Scholarship for 1956-1957.

Carnival, literary magazine for Tulane - article titled "Reading and Writing" and a cartoon done by JKT; inside the magazine is a handwritten note signed: "Kenny to Nandy and Uncle Arthur".

1957 June 14. Letter from William Peery. Renews scholarship for 1957-1958.

1958 April 26. Program for Tulane Honors Program. Awards scholastic honors through Phi Beta Kappa.

Letter from William Peery. 1958 July 16. Congratulates JKT for achieving honor roll even though he has already graduated.

1958 July 24. Times-Picayune. Lists Tulane honor roll which includes JKT.

Folder 2: School materials: English papers at Tulane

Paper: 'The Development of the Babbitt-American."

Untitled paper: Puritanism and Hawthorne

1956 February 20. English quiz.

1957 May 11. Term paper. "Two Conflicting Traditions Make the Conflict in Othello's Charcter Plausible."

Untitled test. .

1956 April 11. Incomplete [probably first draft] of "Indecency in Chaucer."

Paper: "Indecency in Chaucer."

Content quizz: Ethan Frome. March 25.

Paper: "A Comparison of Shelley's 'Alastor' and Byron's 'Manfred.'"

Paper: "Similarity of Tone in Shelley's 'Hymn to Intellectual Beauty' and Keats' 'Ode on a Grecian Urn.'"

Paper: "A Literary Convention As Used in Hemingway's 'A Farewell to Arms.'"

Paper: "War in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage."

Paper: "Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord' Gerard Manley Hopkins."

1956 March 19. Quiz.

1955 October 17.Quiz.

1955 March 4. Paper: "'The Fly': An Interpretation."

Quiz on Shakespeare.

1958 January 13. Term paper: "Coleridge on Dramatic Illusion."

Folder 3: School materials: Essay - Journalism 301

1957 April 1. Paper: "Where Main Street Meets the River by Hodding Carter."

Folder 4: School materials: Chemistry exams

1955 April 5. Exam.

[Undated] Exam.

Folder 5: School materials: Spanish papers

1955 October 27. Exam.

1956 February 16. Blue book exam.

1956 March 22. Exam.

1956 April 26. Blue book exam.

July 27. Exam.

Folder 6: School materials: Biology papers

No date. Quiz: Scientific Method

1956 February 16. Quiz.

1956 March 1. Quiz.

1956 March 9. Quiz.

Folder 7: School materials: Philosophy exams

No date. Blue book exam.

1955 March 12. Blue book exam.

1955 December 1. Exam.

1956 January 9. Quiz. (typed and handwritten)

1957 March 18. Blue book exam.

1958 April. Blue book exam (2 booklets).

Folder 8: School materials: French papers

October 10. Quiz.

1955 October 14. Quiz.

1955 October 21. Quiz.

1956 April 18. Quiz.

No date. Quiz.

Folder 9: School materials: English exams

1955 May 18. Blue book exam.

May 18. Final examination (Poetry).

Folder 10: School materials: History papers

1955 October 19. Quiz.

1956 February 22. Blue book.

1956 March 9. Blue book.

1956 March 28. Blue book.

1956 April 25. Blue book.

1957 April 16. Blue book.

Folder 11: School materials: Typescripts of exams

Many exams from folders 2-10 were consolidated and typed by unknown typist.

Set 1:

1955 March 4. Exam for Mr. Foote: "'The Fly': An Interpretation." - English.

1956 May 11. Exam for Mr. Ward: "'Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord' Gerard Manley Hopkins.'" - English.

1955 October 27. Exam for Dr. Fogle: "War in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." - English.

1956 December 20. Exam for Dr. Fogle: "A Comparison of Shelley's 'Alastor' and Byron's 'Manfred.'' - English.

No date. Unknown: "Similiarity of Tone in Shelley's 'Hymn to Intellectual Beauty' and Keats' 'Ode on a Grecian Urn.'" - English.

1957 February 25. Exam for Dr. Adams: "A Literary Convention As used in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms." - English.

1957 April 17. Exam for Dr. Adams: "The Development of the Babbitt-American." - English.

Puritanism [labeled as untitled in Folder 25].

1955 May 18. Exam for Mr. Foote. English.

1956 February 22. Exam for Dr. Karnes. History.

1956 March 9. Exam for Dr. Karnes. History.

1956 March 28 Exam for Dr. Raines. History.

1956 April 25. Exam for Dr. Karnes. History.

1957 April 16. Exam for Dr. Waldron. History.

1958 April. Exam. Unknown.

No date. Exam. English 624.

No date. Exam. Unknown.

Set 2:

1955 March 12. Philosophy, Dr. Ballard.

1957 March 8. Dr. Lumianshky.

Folder 12: School materials: Honors thesis first draft

Untitled with revisions from instructor - 42 typed pages.

Folder 13: School materials: Honors thesis second draft

1959 March 9. Titled: "Lyly's Treatment of Women" with revisions and notes from instructor. 42 typed pages.

Folder 14: School materials: Honors thesis final draft and typescript

1959 March 28. Titled: "Lyly's Treatment of Women: the Beginnings of 'Higher' Comedy in England" with revisions and notes by instructor and includes abstract and introduction.

Typescript titled: "The Scholarly Papers and Letters by John Kennedy Toole" compiled by Thelma Ducoing Toole; the honors thesis is now titled "John Lyly." [The abstract and introduction of honors thesis are not included and the typescript of the honors thesis has been revised somewhat from the final draft.]

Folder 15: School materials: Honors thesis bound carbon copy

1958 May 15. Titled: "The Women in Lyly's Plays: An Honors Essay."

Folder 16: School materials: Tulane grades, 1955-1956

Class cards, including course numbers, from Spanish (311 and 312), Physical Training (221 and 222), Biology, History (207 and 208), Business Communications (113 and 117), Philosophy, Honors English, English (202).

Folder 17: School materials: Tulane grades, 1956-1957

Class cards, including course numbers, from Theater (353 and 354), Spanish, English (651, 623, 612, and 678), Political Science, General Studies 9341 and 342).

Postmarked 1957 January 31. Postcard. Informs JKT of Spanish 305 grade A.

Folder 18: School materials: Tulane grades, 1957-1958

Class cards, including course numbers, from Journalism (303, 406, 410, and 612), English (644 and 673), German (101 and 102).

Postmarked 1957 January 31. Postcard. Informs JKT of English 673 grade A.

Folder 19: School materials: Phi Beta Kappa

Handbook for new members.

Handbook of the Tulane Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (PBK), Alpha of Louisiana.

1958 March 12. Card from Fannie Rayne Russ. Informs JKT that he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Postmarked 1958 March 20. Card from Carmen Delgado. Congratulates JKT on his election to Phi Beta Kappa and encloses money, according to note.

Two newspaper clippings: New Orleans States. 1958 March 24. Relates JKTs election to PBK in reference to being a graduate of Fortier High School; and New Orleans Item. 1958 March 14. "29 Honored at Tulane."

1958 March 12. Letter from William Peery. Congratulates JKT on election to Phi Beta Kappa.

1958 April 3. Letter to PBK initiates from Fannie Rayne Russ, Secretary. Invites new initiates to initiation ceremonies.

1958 March 14. Times-Picayune. New Orleans States. Photographs of new initiates into Phi Beta Kappa.

1958 April 16. Letter from Rufus C. Harris, President of Tulane. Congratulates JKT on election to PBK.

No date. Letter to Fellow Member (PBK) from Hiram Haydn, editor of The American Scholar. Invites JKT to subscribe to magazine by Phi Beta Kappa.

Membership certificate from Phi Beta Kappa.

Congratulatory card from Fortier High School faculty on election to Phi Beta Kappa.

1958 April 13. Program for annual public meeting and new member initiation.

Tulane University Special Collections