In Sylvia Plath's senior year at Bradford Senior High, 1949-1950, she was co-editor with Frank Irish of The Bradford.
As with the previous posts covering Plath's first and second years at high school (posted on 1 July and 7 July, respectively), below is a list of those newspapers which were published during Plath's final year at high school. Here I describe the known contributions Plath made to The Bradford from the fall of 1949 to spring of 1950, as well as the instances where she was mentioned. The list of contributors for each issue appeared on page 2. If Plath's name appeared, I have listed the department and/or role. There are instances where Plath's name was not listed, which we can take to mean she contributed no content or was accidentally left off (though that seems doubtful). The departments typically were Features, News, Business, Sports, Typing, and Art. Each newspaper, excepting April 1949, was a four pages in broadsheet format.
Each newspaper features at least one editorial article, usually two. It is possible Plath authored one or both for each of the six issues while acting as co-editor. In addition, she likely wrote and/or re-wrote much of the copy for the articles too. The full extent of her contributions cannot be estimated.
27 October 1949
Poems "Question" and "White Phlox" on pages 2 and 4, both without byline. While Stephen Tabor writes in C14 of his excellent Annotated Bibliography of Sylvia Plath: "During the academic year 1949-1950 Plath was co-editor of The Bradford, her high school newspaper. She contributed no signed poems or prose, but could have written much of the copy" (104), he did not record "White Phlox" as a contribution ("Question" appears as entry C13). True, they are not signed, but they are contributions. "White Phlox" was printed in August 1952 by the Christian Science Monitor but lacks the final quatrain which appeared in the Bradford publication. As above with "City Streets", Plath included this poem, with the final four lines as appeared in The Bradford, in a letter to Hans-Joachim Neupert. The Lilly Library holds typescripts of both poems.
Mentioned on page 2 as Bradford co-editor; and probably in "Bradford Babble": "How many letters so far, Syl?"
21 December 1950
Mentioned on the following pages:
Page 1: "Scene on Stage: We Gather Today", for reading devotions on 18 November 1949.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
10 February 1950
Mentioned on page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
24 March 1950
Plath's poem "Complaint" without byline, on page 3; as well as a photograph of Plath at a school dance (junior prom) paper on page 1. A copy of this photo is in Plath's high school scrapbook, page 25.
Mentioned on the following pages:
Page 1: Photograph of students dancing, SP among them, taken 18 March 1950.
Page 1: "The Senior Class Presents…"; article about the school play The Admirable Crichton in which SP played the role of Lady Agatha.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
Page 3: "The Bradford Salutes…", SP named for becoming a member of the National Honor Society.
29 April 1950
Plath's poems "Family Reunion" and "The Farewell" both on page 2 and without byline."Family Reunion" is in Plath's Collected Poems though with some variation in punctuation; and she included "The Farewell" in a letter to Hans-Joachim Neupert. The Lilly Library holds a typescript of "The Farewell" and two typescripts of "Family Reunion" that also has different punctuation.
Mentioned on the following pages:
Page 1: "The Admirable Crichton -- Outstanding Success!", SP mentioned for her role as Lady Agatha.
Page 1: "Scene on Stage: March 31 --- Carnations: red and white", SP named for becoming a member of the National Honor Society.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
6 June 1950
Mentioned on the following pages:
Pages 1, 4: "1950 Class Prophecy", SP appeared on page 4: "Sylvia Plath is explaining her theory of relativity to Pat O'Neil who is listening, as always, with the patience of Job." Page 1: Aurelia Plath listed as Patron of The Bradford, assisting financially to help get the issue out.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
Pages 2-3: "Class Will - 1950", SP appeared on page 3: "Sylvia Plath leaves her acting ability to all those junior girls who clutter up the nurse's office."
The first pages of each of the issues:
These papers give a good sense of student life, academics, and sports during Plath's time at high school and as such may be a rich resource for those interested in late 1940s and early 1950s suburban (affluent) education and student writing. Plath carried her interest in journalism with her to Smith College where she participated in Press Board. She also wrote journalistic articles while a student at Newnham College, Cambridge, and later in 1959 while living in Boston, finding some success with the Christian Science Monitor. Once in England, Plath wrote several reviews of children's books and nonfiction that were published in the New Statesman, and also branched into radio reviews on the BBC. And it all started while a student in the Wellesley, Massachusetts, public school system.
To sum, this research yielded several bibliographically unrecorded publications of Plath in the genres of poetry, prose, and artwork.
All links accessed 20 July 2016.
As with the previous posts covering Plath's first and second years at high school (posted on 1 July and 7 July, respectively), below is a list of those newspapers which were published during Plath's final year at high school. Here I describe the known contributions Plath made to The Bradford from the fall of 1949 to spring of 1950, as well as the instances where she was mentioned. The list of contributors for each issue appeared on page 2. If Plath's name appeared, I have listed the department and/or role. There are instances where Plath's name was not listed, which we can take to mean she contributed no content or was accidentally left off (though that seems doubtful). The departments typically were Features, News, Business, Sports, Typing, and Art. Each newspaper, excepting April 1949, was a four pages in broadsheet format.
Each newspaper features at least one editorial article, usually two. It is possible Plath authored one or both for each of the six issues while acting as co-editor. In addition, she likely wrote and/or re-wrote much of the copy for the articles too. The full extent of her contributions cannot be estimated.
27 October 1949
Poems "Question" and "White Phlox" on pages 2 and 4, both without byline. While Stephen Tabor writes in C14 of his excellent Annotated Bibliography of Sylvia Plath: "During the academic year 1949-1950 Plath was co-editor of The Bradford, her high school newspaper. She contributed no signed poems or prose, but could have written much of the copy" (104), he did not record "White Phlox" as a contribution ("Question" appears as entry C13). True, they are not signed, but they are contributions. "White Phlox" was printed in August 1952 by the Christian Science Monitor but lacks the final quatrain which appeared in the Bradford publication. As above with "City Streets", Plath included this poem, with the final four lines as appeared in The Bradford, in a letter to Hans-Joachim Neupert. The Lilly Library holds typescripts of both poems.
Mentioned on page 2 as Bradford co-editor; and probably in "Bradford Babble": "How many letters so far, Syl?"
21 December 1950
Mentioned on the following pages:
Page 1: "Scene on Stage: We Gather Today", for reading devotions on 18 November 1949.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
10 February 1950
Mentioned on page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
24 March 1950
Plath's poem "Complaint" without byline, on page 3; as well as a photograph of Plath at a school dance (junior prom) paper on page 1. A copy of this photo is in Plath's high school scrapbook, page 25.
Mentioned on the following pages:
Page 1: Photograph of students dancing, SP among them, taken 18 March 1950.
Page 1: "The Senior Class Presents…"; article about the school play The Admirable Crichton in which SP played the role of Lady Agatha.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
Page 3: "The Bradford Salutes…", SP named for becoming a member of the National Honor Society.
29 April 1950
Plath's poems "Family Reunion" and "The Farewell" both on page 2 and without byline."Family Reunion" is in Plath's Collected Poems though with some variation in punctuation; and she included "The Farewell" in a letter to Hans-Joachim Neupert. The Lilly Library holds a typescript of "The Farewell" and two typescripts of "Family Reunion" that also has different punctuation.
Mentioned on the following pages:
Page 1: "The Admirable Crichton -- Outstanding Success!", SP mentioned for her role as Lady Agatha.
Page 1: "Scene on Stage: March 31 --- Carnations: red and white", SP named for becoming a member of the National Honor Society.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
6 June 1950
Mentioned on the following pages:
Pages 1, 4: "1950 Class Prophecy", SP appeared on page 4: "Sylvia Plath is explaining her theory of relativity to Pat O'Neil who is listening, as always, with the patience of Job." Page 1: Aurelia Plath listed as Patron of The Bradford, assisting financially to help get the issue out.
Page 2 as Bradford co-editor.
Pages 2-3: "Class Will - 1950", SP appeared on page 3: "Sylvia Plath leaves her acting ability to all those junior girls who clutter up the nurse's office."
The first pages of each of the issues:
 |
| 27 October 1949 |
 |
| 21 December 1949 |
 |
| 10 February 1950 |
 |
| 24 March 1950 |
 |
| 29 April 1950 |
 |
| 6 June 1950 |
To sum, this research yielded several bibliographically unrecorded publications of Plath in the genres of poetry, prose, and artwork.
All links accessed 20 July 2016.
Interesting to see Plath's really early work and to see how hard she worked. To once again knowc that Ariel didn't come out of nowhere... But sheer hard work and refining her art...
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