Wonderful news for literary researchers and enthusiasts: the Ward Swift Just Papers have grown substantially in size and completeness! The new collection now more fully represents Just’s remarkable and multidimensional career in both news and creative writing, thanks to a recent substantial donation from the Just Family.

The correspondence series of Just’s papers, alone, has increased tenfold. Some highlights include the young writer’s letters home to his family from Cranbrook School and Trinity College, as well as letters with many friends, fellow writers, and literary editors.

We also now have letters, reporter’s notes, images and clippings from the year and a half (December 1965-1967) when Ward Just, age 30-32, covered the American War in Vietnam for The Washington Post. Before his death in 2019, Just told Cranbrook Archives that the addition of these papers would be of special interest to scholars of the Vietnam War. They also give a much fuller story of these formative years in Just’s life and career.