University of Northern Iowa

Harvey J. Hess, III, Collection, 1946-2012

Collection Overview

Title: Harvey J. Hess, III, Collection, 1946-2012

Record Series: MsC-69

Record Group:

Manuscripts

Creator: Hess III, Harvey

Date: 1946-2012

Extent: 14 boxes (18.04 linear feet); 1 oversize item (3.58 linear feet)

Repository: Special Collections and University Archives, University of Northern Iowa.

Language: Most of the material is in English, although there are some librettos that use the native Hawaiian language.

Information for Users

Accessing the Collection:

No restrictions. Materials are open for research.

Sensitive Materials Statement: Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy or similar laws, and the Iowa Open Records Law (see Iowa Code § 22.7). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of Northern Iowa assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], in the Harvey J. Hess, III, Collection, Manuscript Record Series MsC-69, [folder number or title], Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

General Use, Reproduction, and Copyright Policies

  • Some material is fragile.
  • At the request of Mr. Hess's family, some of the correspondence in box 5 and all of the correspondence in box 6 have restricted access and are not available to researchers until September 2020. 
  • Some content was recorded on obsolete formats, such as VHS and cassette tapes. These have not been digitized or transcribed.

Historical Note

Harvey Jason Hess, III (February 14, 1939 - July 18, 2012)

Harvey Jason Hess, III, was born in Waterloo, Iowa, to Harvey Hess, Jr., and Esther Miller Hess.

Mr. Hess graduated from Orange Township High School (Black Hawk County, Iowa) in 1956.   Immediately after high school, he studied French language and culture for a brief time at the Sorbonne in Paris.  He attended the Iowa State Teachers College, now the University of Northern Iowa, from 1956-1958, beginning as a music major.   He later received his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Religion from McPherson College in Kansas (1961) and studied Japanese culture at the University of Washington in Seattle (1963).  He also studied at Bethany Theological College in Illinois, in 1961-1962 and 1964-1965.   In 1995 he earned his master's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

Mr. Hess was licensed to preach in 1958.  He renewed his license in 1961.  He became an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren in 1962.

A trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in 1967 inspired a series of poems, Ruins Consequential.

In 1972 Mr. Hess moved to Hilo, Hawaii, where he resided until 1984.   In 1974 he wrote the libretto for The Naupaka Floret, a choral symphony based on Hawaiian legend.   The music was composed by Jerré Tanner.   In Hawaii, Jerré Tanner, visual artist John Thomas, and Mr. Hess formed a lifelong artistic collaboration.  In 1975, Mr. Hess and Mr. Tanner were commissioned to create the world’s first Hawaiian comic opera, Ka Lei No Kane (The Garland of God Kane), which was also based on Hawaiian legend.   This opera made its world premiere in Hawaii in 1977 and has since been recorded and performed many times in America and Europe.

Mr. Hess and Mr. Tanner also collaborated on the operas The Coffee Cantata (Hess English singing translation of Bach work), The Kona Coffee Cantata, and The Singing Snails: Na Pupu-Kani-Oe, as well as choral symphonies, song cycles, and many other works.

During his time in Hawaii, Mr. Hess also cultivated his interest in the Japanese poetic forms of haiku, senryu, and tanka.   He won acclaim in this field and published his poetry in several international journals.  In the summer of 1971 he and Mr. Tanner wrote a song cycle of English language tanka called Six Songs from a Winter's Pillow Book for contralto and 13- and 17-string Kotos.  It premiered in 1972.  The music was revised in 1979 and is now a symphonic song cycle.  Mr. Hess was listed in Who’s Who in the West and also The International Journal of Haiku Poets.

He was a correspondent for Ha`ilono Mele, the journal of the Hawaiian Music Foundation (1977-1979), and the music and arts critic for the newspapers Hawaii Tribune-Herald and West Hawaii Today (1978-1983).   Mr. Hess moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1984, where he became the music and arts critic for the Spokane Spokesman-Review (1984-1987), continued to write poetry, and to collaborate with Mr. Tanner on musical projects.  He remained in Washington until 1987, when he returned to Waterloo, Iowa.   His Iowa roots inspired one of his poetic series, Th’Autumnal Sequence, which was originally written in 1970 and published in 2002.

Mr. Hess served as music and arts critic for the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier from 1987 through 2008, and as an instructor at the University of Northern Iowa (1989-2011) and at Hawkeye Community College (1992-2007). He taught English, Creative Writing, and Humanities at both institutions.

Harvey Hess died of natural causes on July 18, 2012, at the age of 73.

Partial Bibliography

  • Lyric Images, (with photographs by Gary M. Mason); private publication, Waterloo, Iowa 1962
  • Orchid Art and the Orchid Isle (with paintings and drawings by John Thomas); Malama Arts Inc., Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 1982
  • Hawaii Lyrics, Finial Press, Champaign, Illinois 1985
  • The Coffee Cantata and The Kona Coffee Cantata librettos, Malama Arts Inc., Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 1986
  • The Singing Snails libretto, Malama Arts Inc., Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 1986
  • Ka Lei No Kane libretto, Malama Arts Inc., Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 1987
  • Skipped Stones--Faces in Time, Eight Pound Tiger Press, Cedar Falls, Iowa 1994
  • Th’Autumnal Sequence--Sonnets of the Fall (a collection of 53 sonnets), Eight Pound Tiger Press, Cedar Falls, Iowa 2002

Scope and Content

The Hess collection includes correspondence, publications, journals, worksheets, and news clippings by and about Mr. Hess.

Mr. Hess donated a small amount of material to the University of Northern Iowa Archives in increments from about 2000 through 2010.  University Archivist Gerald L. Peterson processed this material.  On August 31, 2012, after the death of Mr. Hess, sister Lucy Hess donated to the University Archives a large quantity of material that had been stored in Mr. Hess's apartment.   Library Associate Dave Hoing processed this material and integrated the earlier material into one cohesive collection.   Because of the disordered state of the material when it was acquired, Mr. Hoing needed to impose his own, usable order on the collection.   He also created extensive notes and inventories as aids to researchers. In June 2016, Mr. Hess's other sister, Linda, sent two more boxes of material, which have been processed and added as an addendum to the collection in Box 14.

Mr. Hoing wrote an essay describing his work on this project, which can serve as a valuable guide for researchers interested in Mr. Hess and his work.

The use of some of this collection, primarily a portion of the correspondence, is restricted to Hess family members until September 2020.

Researchers who are interested in Mr. Hess may also wish to look at collections of Jerré Tanner and John Thomas, with whom Mr. Hess collab

Inventory

Notes on journals in the Hess collection, Boxes 1-4 (Box 4 also contains biographical material; see link below). There are also some miscellaneous journal pages in box 14, primarily from the mid-1990s.

Harvey Hess was a prolific writer with a myriad of interests.  In addition to his poetry, essays, music and art reviews, librettos, plays, and short stories, he was also an ardent diarist.  Dating his journals was a difficult task, because more than half of his notebooks contain no date whatsoever.  Complicating this was Mr. Hess’s tendency to write on any scrap of paper that he happened to have on hand.  He often jotted down new material on the unused pages of notebooks that were already twenty or more years old. 

The journals represented in this collection begin in 1960 and continue through July 12, 2012, just six days before Mr. Hess’s death.  For notebooks lacking dates, several methods were used to determine when they might have been written.  Some were dated by context, such as references to certain movies, the release date of which is known, or mention of places where Mr. Hess was known to be living at the time.  For others, the copyright date and/or the logo on the notebooks themselves were used.  Subject matter frequently helped to narrow the time period.  For instance, early references to writing the libretto for his Hawaiian opera Ka Lei No Kane in an otherwise undated notebook placed the entries around 1975.

A less reliable method was Mr. Hess’s handwriting, which tended to become shakier as he aged.   However, his handwriting also became difficult to read when he was ill. Since he seemed to have battled ill health off and on for much of his adult life, handwriting alone could not always be counted on to give a reliable, or even approximate, date.  But it sometimes added secondary evidence to help confirm a time period gleaned by other methods.

The journals testify to Mr. Hess’s diverse interests.   Many notebooks contain only poetry, some of which is represented nowhere else in this collection.  He was an ordained minister and often meditated on theological and philosophical matters.  Literary criticism found its way into his journals, as did personal observations of nature.  His health was a frequent concern.  While mostly serious, on occasion Mr. Hess could display a playful, frivolous, and at times even ribald sense of humor.   He was especially fond of experimenting with language and creating plays on words.

These journals, then, are arranged in chronological order, oldest to newest.   For most of the notebooks it was possible to assign an approximate date, or at least a range of years during which they must have been written.  The few that could not be reliably dated by any method have been placed after the 2012 entries.

Box 1: Journals, 1960-1973

Box 2: Journals, 1974-1989

Box 3: Journals, 1990-2009

Box 4:

Boxes 5 and 6: Correspondence

Mr. Hess was an avid letter writer, who in later years switched to email as his primary method of correspondence.  He received nearly as many letters and email messages as he sent.  Due to the large amount of correspondence, space constraints made it impractical to list the subject matter or contents of each letter or E-mail.  Instead, only the names of Mr. Hess’s correspondents, if known, are listed, along with the dates—again, if known.

Mr. Hess also had in his possession many letters to and from Jerré Tanner, and others, which did not involve him, but these letters were retained because they were among his papers and were therefore presumably were important to Mr. Hess.

NOTE:  A large number of letters have restricted access. These are located in the second half of Box 5 and all of Box 6.  These are not available to researchers. They have not been cataloged, and the names of the correspondents are not listed. 

Non-restricted correspondence is arranged in the following manner:

  • Dated correspondence written by Mr. Hess, chronologically by date, 1956?-2011
  • Undated correspondence written by Mr. Hess, alphabetically by name of recipient
  • Dated correspondence written to Mr. Hess, chronologically by date, 1958-2012
  • Undated correspondence written to Mr. Hess, alphabetically by name of writer
  • Dated correspondence written about Mr. Hess, chronologically by date, 1957-1993(?)
  • Dated correspondence written by, to, or about Jerré Tanner, chronologically by date, 1975-2011
  • Dated correspondence not to, from, or about Mr. Hess, but in his possession, chronologically by date, 1922-1996

If no date is known, but a range can be guessed, the letters are filed at the earliest possible date within that range. 

Inventory of unrestricted correspondence in boxes 5 and 6

Boxes 7-9: Short story, essays, previews, reviews, poetry

Box 7 contains formal prose works written by Mr. Hess, as well as his individual poems with titles.   Although it seems likely that he wrote more than one short story in his life, only “Nunc Dimittis Servum Tuum” was found among his papers.

His essays demonstrate the wide range of his interests and knowledge, as do his previews and reviews of music, theater, and art events.

Three essays among his papers were not written by him, but were retained to demonstrate his many interests.  Between 1978 and 2006 Mr. Hess served as art and drama critic for newspapers in three states:  Hawaii, Washington, and Iowa.  He published well over 350 previews and reviews in his lifetime, and wrote many more for which published versions may exist but could not be found among his papers.

The arrangement of  box 7 is as follows:

  • Short story
  • Essays--complete, with titles, alphabetically by title
  • Essays--complete, untitled, alphabetically by subject
  • Essays--incomplete, with titles, alphabetically by title
  • Essays--incomplete, untitled (Uncataloged)
  • Essays--complete, not written by Mr. Hess but in his possession, alphabetically by title
  • Preview of music, theater, and art events in Hawaii (1, undated)
  • Reviews of music, theater, and art events in Hawaii, 1978-1984: chronologically by date; undated previews and reviews are listed after dated ones, alphabetically by title
  • Previews of music, theater, and art events in Spokane, WA, 1984-1987: chronologically by date; undated previews and reviews are listed after dated ones, alphabetically by title
  • Reviews of music, theater, and art events in Spokane, WA, 1984-1987: chronologically by date; undated previews and reviews are listed after dated ones, alphabetically by title
  • Previews of music, theater, and art events in Iowa, 1991-1996: chronologically by date; undated previews and reviews are listed after dated ones, alphabetically by title
  • Reviews of music, theater, and art events in Iowa, 1988-2006: chronologically by date; undated previews and reviews are listed after dated ones, alphabetically by title
  • Individual poems with titles: alphabetically by title

Box 7: Inventory of short story, essays, reviews, and titled poetry

Box 8: Inventory of untitled poetry, alphabetically by first line; haiku 

Box 9: Poetry series

Boxes 10-12: Operas, cantatas, film, play, song cycle, original songs

Early in his academic career Mr. Hess studied music, among other things.   He was a talented enough flutist to perform with the Waterloo Symphony Orchestra.   While primarily a poet and librettist, Mr. Hess also tried his hand at composing.  He did not consider himself a gifted composer, but he is known to have written some music.

However, many of the music manuscripts in his possession do not identify a composer, so it was not possible to determine which, if any, of them can be attributed to him alone.  It may be that his life-long friend and collaborator, Jerré Tanner, wrote all of the music contained in Mr. Hess’s papers.  These are filed in the folder labeled Jerré Tanner/Harvey Hess music.

Following these songs is music unquestionably composed by Mr. Tanner in which Mr. Hess had no involvement, other than having had the manuscripts in his possession.

The collaboration of Mr. Hess and Mr. Tanner was perhaps at its most successful with the composition of larger works, such as operas, cantatas, and song cycles.  The most famous of these was Ka Lei No Kane (The Garland of the God Kane), which was the first Hawaiian comic opera.  Later efforts such as the two Coffee Cantatas and The Singing Snails were also popular.

Another fine success was Boy with Goldfish, although Mr. Hess was not directly involved in its creation.   Hawaiian performers Leon & Malia wrote the libretto for this opera.  However, because Mr. Hess contributed much in the way of publicity and essays, Boy with Goldfish is listed here.

Ka Lei No Kane, the two Coffee Cantatas, The Singing Snails, and Boy with Goldfish have been performed and recorded internationally, as have many of Mr. Tanner’s solo efforts.

Mr. Hess and Mr. Tanner were also involved in the making of a documentary art film, Kani Liko Lehua, in the mid-1970s.

 

Box 10: Jerré Tanner / Harvey Hess music

NOTE: Folders 1-19 are individual songs

  • Folder 1: Closing Chorus [Part of unknown larger work]
  • Folder 2: For a Lover and His Lasse
  • Folder 3: Hilo March
  • Folder 4: In Settlers’ Cemetery
  • Folder 5: Keepers of the Land
  • Folder 6: Love Song in the Diatonic Scale
  • Folder 7: Mano E (the Shark) [from their Symphony No. 3 Aumakua (Living Ancestors), created on commission from the Summit Choral Society, Akron, Ohio]
  • Folder 8: Moonlight Rides on Dusk Breeze
  • Folder 9: Night [3 copies]
  • Folder 10: On Coyness
  • Folder 11: Untitled
  • Folder 12: Virelay
  • Folder 13: Adagio for Flute [5 copies]
  • Folder 14: Aukele
  • Folder 15: High Seas to High Shoals
  • Folder 16: Kalakaua Diptych, A
  • Folder 17: Koni Au I Ka Wai
  • Folder 18: Ku’u Ipo I Ka He’e Pu’e One [2 copies]
  • Folder 19: Toccata Number II in F Minor, for Piano

Folders 20-30: Boy with Goldfish (opera)

  • Folder 20: Correspondence About
  • Folder 21: May 27, 1976--Mr. Hess to John Thomas, Leon & Malia, and Jerré Tanner
  • Folder 22: Sept 22, 1976--Mr. Hess to unknown recipient, invitation to event involving Boy with Goldfish
  • Folder 23: Essay by Mr. Hess: “Boy with Goldfish: The Allegory of a Psychomachia” (2 copies also in Box 7)
  • Folder 24: Essay (presumably) by Mr. Hess [untitled, incomplete]
  • Folder 25: Picture Memoir [includes libretto]
  • Folder 26: Press release
  • Folder 27: Program for the Hilo College performance
  • Folder 28: Proposal for production
  • Folder 29: Working scenario--handwritten
  • Folder 30: Working scenario--typed [2 copies]

Folders 31-32: Coffee Cantata (cantata)

  • Folder 31: Published piano-vocal score [2nd copy is in Box 12]
  • Folder 32: Handwritten score

Folders 33-37: Ka Hala-o-Puna (opera)

  • Folder 33: Cast, scene synopsis, character sketches
  • Folder 34: Character sketches [handwritten]
  • Folder 35: Character sketches [typed]
  • Folder 36: Funding request for
  • Folder 37: Libretto [incomplete – scene 3 only]

Folders 38-51: Ka lei No Kane (opera)

  • Folder 38: Correspondence About
    • Nov 19, 1975 – Richard Cornwell to Jerré Tanner
    • Mar 23, 1976 – Kalani Meinecke to Mr. Hess [2 copies]
    • Dec 21, 1976 – Mr. Hess to Richard Cornwell
    • Jan 21, 1977 – Richard Cornwell to John Thomas
    • Jan 22, 1977 – Richard Cornwell to Edith Kanaka’ole [2 copies]
    • Jan 24, 1997 – Richard Cornwell to Jerré Tanner
    • Mar 13, 1977 – Mr. Hess to Richard Cornwell
    • Mar 24, 1977 – Mr. Hess to Mr. Ayling [first name unknown]
    • Apr 23, 1977 – Jerré Tanner to Marianne Fleece
    • Apr 23, 1977 – Jerré Tanner to Richard Cornwell
  • Folder 39: Mr. Hess’s Master's Thesis from the University of Northern Iowa [lacking pp 1, 6-10, 54-60, 77-end]
  • Folder 40: Libretto [complete, typed--5 copies of different versions]
  • Folder 41: Libretto [complete, published version--3 copies]
  • Folder 42: Libretto [incomplete, typed--5 copies of different versions]
  • Folder 43: Miscellaneous Information
  • Folder 44: Biographical information about and quotes by Mr. Hess, Jerré Tanner, and John Thomas
  • Folder 45: Contract [2 copies]
  • Folder 46: Fact sheets
  • Folder 47: Grant applications
  • Folder 48: Newspaper articles
  • Folder 49: May 4, 1977, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
  • Folder 50: July 13, 1978, Hudson Herald (IA)
  • Folder 51: Programs
    • Hawaii Chamber Orchestra [2 copies]
    • World premiere at Brigham Young University/Hawaii
    • Publicity Releases
    • Research booklets for Ka Lei No Kane [2 booklets]
    • Registration form for ASCAP
    • Scenario
    • Synopsis [handwritten]
    • Synopsis [typed – 4 copies]

Folder 52: Kani Liko Lehua (documentary film; fact sheet only)

Folders 53-59: Kona Coffee Cantata (cantata)

  • Folder 53: Libretto [7 copies]
  • Folder 54: Notes on the Coffee Cantatas
  • Folder 55: Production book [printed]
  • Folder 56: Production notes [typed--2 copies]
  • Folder 57: Program, Presidential Artist Series, Hawkeye Community College, Waterloo, Iowa
  • Folder 58: Program [typed--2 copies]
  • Folder 59: Scores to individual parts [incomplete--flute, cello, harpsichord, and percussion only]

Folders 60-61: Naupaka Floret (cantata)

  • Folder 60: Libretto [2 copies]
  • Folder 61:Score

Folder 62: Pele (opera) script

Folder 63: Play of Esther (stage play script)

Folders 64-65: Princess Ka'iulani (opera)

  • Folder 64: Notes, cast, scene and act summaries
  • Folder 65: Working scenarios

Folders 66-67: The Singing Snails (opera)

  • Folder 66: Score and libretto
  • Folder 67: Printed material

Folders 68-76: Song Cycle 

  • Folder 68: Moonlight Upon Snow
  • Folder 69: Essay on Loneliness and Love
  • Folder 70: Clouds and Spring Meadows
  • Folder 71: Hummingbirds
  • Folder 72: Evening Breezes Consort with Water Plants
  • Folder 73: Moonlight Rides on Dusk Breeze
  • Folder 74: Night
  • Folder 75: Falls on the Aneroid Trail
  • Folder 76: Autumn 

Box 11: Miscellaneous large scores

Folder 1: Agnus Dei

Folder 2: Akahi Ho’i

Folder 3: Autumn

Folder 4: Christmas Madrigal

Folder 5: Closing Chorus (The Dance)

Folder 6: Clouds and Spring Meadows

Folder 7: Elégie Pour Mon Pére

Folder 8: Evening Breezes Consort with Plants

Folder 9: Falls on the Aneroid Trail, The

Folder 10: For the Horn in B Flat

Folder 11: Futility

Folder 12: Gulf Clouds [2 copies; part of unknown larger work]

Folder 13: Hilo March

Folder 14: Hawaiian Songbook

Folder 15: Hummingbirds

Folder 16: Ilio (the Dog)

Folder 17: Love Song in the Diatonic Scale

Folder 18: Lover and His Lasse, A

Folder 19: Kyrie Eleison

Folder 20: Kyrie I

Folder 21: Lorelei

Folder 22: Magnificat in the Myxolydian Mode [6 copies, 3 of which are incomplete]

Folder 23: Mano E (the Shark) [part of unknown larger work]

Folder 24: Moonlight Rides on Dusk Breeze

Folder 25: Moonlight Upon Snow [2 copies, 1 of which is incomplete]

Folder 26: Night [3 copies]

Folder 27: Nunc Dimittis

Folder 28: On Coyness

Folder 29: Overture (to unknown work) [8 copies, 3 of which are incomplete]

Folder 30: Osanna [2 copies, 1 of which is incomplete]

Folder 31: Rain

Folder 32: Recessional [3 copies]

Folder 33: Rhondo from “The Emperor’s New Clothes”

Folder 34: Sanctus

Folder 35: Sarabande

Folder 36: Solo Cantata 23rd Psalm

Folder 37: Spring Epic

Folder 38: Suite from the Singing Snails

Folder 39: Triptych Part III--Oh, You Who Were Once Mine [4 copies]

Folder 40: Untitled [Uncertain attribution--probably Tanner/Hess]

Folder 41: Virelay

Box 12: Miscellaneous large scores and a piece of original artwork by Mr. Hess

Folder 1: Ruins (Tanner/Hess)

Folder 2: Two Songs for High Voice and Orchestra, Cantata No. III – (Tanner/Hess/Appleman)

Folder 3: Song Cycle (Tanner/Hess)

Folder 4: Untitled Score (Tanner/Hess) [3 folders, missing pages 140-148] 

Folder 5: Untitled artwork by Mr. Hess

Box 13: Books, publications, recordings, and miscellaneous items owned by Mr. Hess

Folders 1-29:

  • Folder 1: Autograph book, Emma L. Goughnour, 1881 (Grandmother of Mr. Hess)
  • Folder 2: Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, 1953 (Inscribed to Mr. Hess on Dec 30, 1962)
  • Folder 3: Don Quixote, New York 1949 (Inscribed by Mr. Hess)
  • Folder 4: McPherson College Yearbook--Quadrangle, 1960 (Belonged to Mr. Hess’s sister Lucy, contains photos of both)
  • Folder 5: The Oil Paintings of John (Paul) Thomas
  • Folder 6: Ars Oceana Incorporation Plan
  • Folder 7: Material about Ruth Suckow (Miscellaneous articles and publications)
  • Folder 8: Script for recorded program--This Land Planted: Seeds of the Prairie, Farm and Education. (Includes Mr. Hess’s comments on his family’s history.)
  • Folder 9: Mr. Hess’s published work:
  • Folder 10: Lyric Images (Book), 1963, with poetry by Mr. Hess and photographs by Gary M. Mason
  • Folder 11: Epos (Periodical), Summer 1967, includes poem, “Obituary”
  • Folder 12: Epos (Periodical), Fall 1967, includes poem, “Under Heaven”
  • Folder 13: South Dakota Review, v. 13 #4, Winter 1975-1976, includes poems “Aloha Hämäkua” and “Volcanic Pentacostal”
  • Folder 14: Cicada, v.2 #3 (Periodical), 1978, includes three haiku
  • Folder 15: Janus & SCTH, v.9 #3 (Periodical) [2 copies], January 1978, includes one haiku
  • Folder 16: Arkenstone, v.2 #3 (Periodical), May/June 1978, includes poem, “Beck the Rainbow”
  • Folder 17: Dragonfly, v.7 #1 (Periodical), January 1979, includes one haiku
  • Folder 18: Ha’Ilono Mele (Periodical), February 1979, includes essay, “Aunty Edith--A Coming Together of Life and Art”
  • Folder 19: Modern Haiku, v. X #3 (Periodical), Autumn 1979, includes one haiku
  • Folder 20: Kani Lehua (Periodical), 1980, includes essay, “In Memory of Aunty Edith”
  • Folder 21: Orchid Art of the Orchid Isle (Book – see Box 9 for poem titles), 1982, includes poetry by Mr. Hess and paintings by Johnn Thomas
  • Folder 22: Hawaii Lyrics (book),1982
  • Folder 23: The Coffee Cantata (Piano-Vocal score), 1985
  • Folder 24: Skipped Stones (Book), 1989
  • Folder 25: Collaboration between Mr. Hess and Philip Fass
  • Folder 26: Draftings, v.6 #1 (Periodical), 1991, includes essay, “The Physiology of Art in Bach and Milton”
  • Folder 27: Cultivator, v.2 #1 (Periodical), 1994, includes essay, “An Invitation to Give Ourselves a Chance”
  • Folder 28: Under the Cottonwood (Book – pre-release draft, 1999
  • Folder 29: Under the Cottonwood (Book – final publication), 2000, a collection of poetry, including some by Mr. Hess

Folders 30-36: Cassettes

  • Folder 30: Aunty Edith Kanaka’ole, Ethnobiology, February 26, 1979
  • Folder 31: Suite from “The Coffee Cantata”--Tanner, 1990
  • Folder 32: The Kona Coffee Cantata--Tanner/Hess [2 copies], 1994
  • Folder 33: Choral Lyric--Tanner/Hess, 1995
  • Folder 34: Aumaka--Living Ancestors--Tanner, 2001
  • Folder 35: Wilkes--Theme and Variations--Tanner, 2002
  • Folder 36: Theme for “Variations on a Naval Theme”-- Tanner, undated

Folder 37: CD, music from Six Continents (musical collection), 1992, includes Tanner’s Fragrant Harbor (Hong Kong)

Folders 38-41: VHS Tapes

  • Folder 38: Living in Iowa, undatedFolder 39: 
  • Folder 39: Champagne toast, undated
  • Folder 40: Readings of Esther, undated
  • Folder 41: Unknown content, undated

Folders 42-43: Personal Items

  • Folder 42: Crucifix
  • Folder 43: Packet of Japanese pine seeds

Box 14: Addendum

Folder 1: Certificate, Honorable Mention from the Haiku Society of America

Folder 2: Contracts

Folder 3: Correspondence

Folder 4: Epiphany (essay/poetry)

Folder 5: Essays

Folder 6: Haiku

Folder 7: John Koch poetry manuscript dedicated to Harvey Hess

Folder 8: Journal, 1996-1997

Folder 9: Journal, undated (but after 1992)

Folder 10: Ka Lei No Kane (opera, with Jerrè Tanner)

Folder 11: Life as an Interrupted Conversation (essay/lecture)

Folder 12: Media (cassettes and CD)

Folder 13: Miscellaneous

Folder 14: Music score, The Cedar Trees (with Jerrè Tanner)

Folder 15: Music score, Concerto Grosso in E Major (by Jerrè Tanner)

Folder 16: Music score, The Messiah, by Friedrich Handel

Folders 17-18: Naupaka Floret (videotapes)

Folder 19: Personal documents

Folder 20: Photographs

Folder 21: Photographs with haiku on the back

Folder 22: Photographic negatives

Folder 23: Play of Esther (with Jerrè Tanner)

Folder 24: Poetry

Folder 25: Publications in Harvey Hess's possession

Folder 26: Reviews

Folder 27: Ruth Suckow material

Folder 28: Untitled original oil painting by John Paul Thomas

Oversize

  • 1 art piece, "Hess, 1984, 1/4"

Processing Information

A small amount of material was arranged and described by University Archivist Gerald L. Peterson, November 2010; that material was re-processed and the remainder of the collection, acquired after Mr. Hess's death, was processed and arranged by Library Associate Dave Hoing, 2014; additional new material acquired and processed by Dave Hoing, August 2016; last updated, October 2017 (dh). Linear feet count updated on August 7, 2017.