History of the Papers
The Papers were purchased in 1987 from Ivask's estate by Amherst College. One of the executors, Ivask's friend and collaborator William Tjalsma [Chalsma], was instrumental in the purchase and packing of the Papers after Ivask's death.
A portion of the Papers, Correspondence Series I, was sorted by Joe Kass and Andrea Smith between October 1987 to May 1988. The rest of the material was organized, sorted and catalogued by Peter Luborsky during the summers of 1990, 1991 and 1992.
A portion of Ivask's correspondence had been previously donated to the Yale University Archives. Photocopies of some of these letters were sent back to Ivask by the Curator of Slavic Archives, Alexis Rannit, and these are located in Series 6, Box 34. Removed from the collection were books from Ivask's collection, which were transferred to the library. Also removed were numerous art post-cards, which were given to appropriate departments at the College.