PCL MS 132 James Sweid Nesteby Collection

MLA Citation

Nesteby, James Sweid. “PCL MS 132 James Sweid Nesteby Collection.” Finding Aids. BGSU University Libraries, 14 May 2021, lib.bgsu.edu/finding_aids/items/show/2692. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.

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TitlePCL MS 132 James Sweid Nesteby Collection
CreatorNesteby, James Sweid
Introduction

The James Sweid Nesteby Collection consists of approximately 4 linear feet of manuscript materials. The collection was donated to the Browne Popular Culture Library by Dr. Nesteby beginning in 1986, with the remainder donated by his family after his death in 1993. This collection may be accessed by contacting the BPCL reference email.  The collection has no restrictions placed on its use for scholarly purposes. Researchers are responsible for securing copyright permission when using all unpublished manuscripts and published works found in this collection.

Biographical SketchDr. James Sweid Nesteby (1947-1993) was an American educator and scholar of popular culture. He received his Ph.D. in English from Bowling Green State University in 1978 with an interdisciplinary minor in American Popular Culture Studies. His dissertation was titled "The Tarzan Series of Edgar Rice Burroughs: Lost Races and Racism in American Popular Culture". Nesteby taught at Bowling Green State University as well as in Germany and Yemen before becoming a Fulbright Scholar from 1981-1983, lecturing in American Literature at the University of Aleppo in Syria. He did a second Fulbright stint at the University of Damascus in Syria from 1987-1989. He spent the last several years of his life teaching at Chengchi National University in Taipei.

Nesteby was a student leader at the short lived Mackinac College from 1966-1969. Years later, in a letter to one of his former Mackinac professors, Nesteby makes mention of being held at Fort Knox while a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War.

While a Fulbright professor in Aleppo, Syria, Nesteby collaborated on a tourist guide with fellow traveler Dr. Daniel C. Snell, which is also part of our collection.
Scope and ContentThis collection reflects a portion of Dr. Nesteby's academic work and life as a scholar. Researchers will be able to learn about his early academic career through his writings, his time as a Fulbright Scholar in Yemen and Syria, and his work researching the works of authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and Mark Twain. His research index cards may provide a deeper understanding of his scholarly approach, the sources he consulted, and his creativity as a writer and poet.

Several letters written by Dr. Nesteby provide some glimpses into his personal life, as a student leader at Mackinac College and conscientious objector during gthe Vietnam War, but the bulk of the collection focuses on his activities as a scholar.
Inventory

Box 1
Folder Description Date
1 Personal- Biographical material, etc. undated
2 Essay- The KKK 1965
3 Play- Eavesdropping 1966
4 The Illegitimate War 1970
5 Play- When Dominoes Fall 1968
6 Play- Native Son (adaptation of Richard Wright's book) 1971
7 Manuscript-Popular Images of Afro-Americans in Film, 1896-1954 1975
8 Ph.D. Thesis- Lost Races & Racism in American Popular Culture (1 of 2) 1978
9 Ph.D. Thesis- Lost Races & Racism in American Popular Culture (2 of 2) 1978

 

Box 2
Folder Description Date
1 Notes and drafts related to Huckleberry Finn undated
2 Manuscript- Once Upon a Raft- James Nesteby, Ed. (1 of 2) undated
3 Manuscript- Once Upon a Raft- James Nesteby, Ed. (2 of 2) undated
4 Microfilm- The Tarzan Twins by Edgar Rice Burroughs undated

 

Box 3
Folder Description Date
1 Newspaper clippings- comics 1981 - 1985
2 Your Guide to Composition 1982
3 Manuscript- Formula Writing for College (1 of 2) 1986
4 Manuscript- Formula Writing for College (2 of 2) 1986
5 Publications- article reprints 1978, 1991, 1992
6 Notes from talk "The Art of Lying" 1991
7 Laureate- Literary Magazine 1991 - 1992
8 Notes for presentation on Salman Rushdie 1992
9 Manuscript- Captains Ahab and Hussein 1992
10 Aritcle: "Evolution Gone Amuck" undated
11 Notes- vampirism and cannibalism undated
12 Research- lanugage and education multiple
13 Research- religion undated
14 Research- Hong Kong and China undated

 

Box 4
Folder Description Date
Oversized Items
1 Clippings and notes on trip to Yemen 1980
2 Newspaper clippings- miscellaneous multiple
3 Maps of United States in English and Arabic languages undated
4 Personal- notes undated
5 Notes on films and Tarzan undated
6 Manuscript- Exploring Aleppo- written with Daniel C. Snell 1983

 

Boxes 5-16
Folder Description Date
Research Index Cards
These 12 boxes contain Dr. Nesteby's research notes, bibliographies for different publications, fragments of poetry, and observations, all written on index cards. The contents and order of the boxes have been preserved, to the best of our ability, as they were received.