Arts and Literature

Collections in this category include original manuscripts and related materials from both published and unpublished authors; papers of women who worked with theaters and arts foundations; and several collections from visual artists. Writers include novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, and journalists. Also present are several collections which document women's roles as publishers, editors, arts administrators and folklorists.

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Anonymous

Novel, 18th century. 1 item and 1 vol. England. Copy of a novel (280 pp.) by a woman, possibly from Hampshire.

Acker, Kathy

Papers, ca. 1970s-1994. 650 items. San Francisco, CA Restricted. Correspondence, manuscript drafts, artwork and miscellaneous recordings of avant garde author and performance artist.

American Writers

Papers, 1814-1969. 167 items and 1 vol. Miscellaneous letters of American authors, editors, and other literary figures primarily relating to literary topics. Women writers include: Susan B. Anthony, Mary Louise Booth, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Caroline Gilman, Mary Johnston, Anna Leonowens, Mary McCarthy, Margaret Mitchell Marsh, Katherine Drayton Simons, Carolyn Wells, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and others.

Balch, Eugenia Hargous

Papers, 1885-1949. 400 items. Artist. Clippings, notebooks, photographs, paper ephemera, and correspondence with family and friends, mostly women, concerning the role of women in Victorian society and Balch's early career as an artist.

Bingham, Sallie

Papers, 1951-1991. 12,375 items. Louisville, Ky. Restricted. Correspondence, drafts of writings, notebooks, diaries, videotapes, printed matter, scrapbooks, reviews, essays, and other writings documenting Bingham's childhood, school days and early development as a playwright and short story writer. Also included are some records and files from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Inc., which Bingham established to support women artists and writers.

Boyd, Blanche McCrary

Papers, 1957-1984. 662 items. Charleston, S.C. Restricted. Correspondence, 1963-1984; notes, drafts, and proofs of her books, Nerves, Mourning the Death of Magic, and The Redneck Way of Knowledge; and reports on the 1980 Democratic National Convention and numerous taped interviews regarding the 1979 Greensboro shootings. Also included are short stories, essays, reviews of Boyd's work and photographs.

Bridgers, Ann Preston

Papers, 1887-1967. 3100 items. Raleigh, N.C. Actress, playwright, patron of the arts. Correspondence, writings, legal and financial papers, clippings, and photographs, including copies of her published and unpublished novels and plays. Documents the Broadway production of her play Coquette; her relationship with the Raleigh Little Theater, which she was instrumental in founding through the Federal Theater Project of the WPA; and personal and family matters.

Carolina Wren Press

Records, 1964-1992. 225,000 items. Durham, N.C. Restricted. Correspondence, financial records, manuscript drafts, press releases and publications, 1976-1991, related to the business of the non-profit literary press as well as other projects for which the press served as mother institution/financial agent; also, a small press library, consisting of several hundred volumes of literary monographs and serials published by various small presses chiefly in the 1970s; and papers, 1951-1992, of press founder Judy Hogan, including diaries, correspondence, manuscripts, financial records, and other papers of projects pre-dating the creation of Carolina Wren Press.

Carr, Virginia Spencer

Papers, 1867-1977. 4,000 items. Columbus, Ga. Author, educator. Correspondence, notes, clippings and other materials gathered by Carr during her research for and the writing of her biography of Carson McCullers, The Lonely Hunter (1975). Includes correspondence with McCullers family as well as her literary, musical and theatrical colleagues and friends; research files on McCullers life; and draft files containing manuscripts, galleys, and proofs of the published biography and Carr's dissertation on McCullers.

Clairmont, Claire [Clara Mary Jane]

Diaries, 1814-1826. 7 vols. Europe. Restricted. Photostatic copies of a diary and reminiscences describing France, Switzerland, Italy, and the Rhine Valley as Clairmont saw them when accompanying Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Godwin on their elopement. Chronicles daily activities, literary readings, social calls, philosophical musings, life as a governess, reminiscences of her youth. Numerous references to grief at being separated from her daughter, Allegra.

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Dawson, Francis Warrington

Papers, 1859-1963. 9,066 items, 53 vols. Charleston, S.C. and Versailles, France. Author. Large collection of family papers includes correspondence, writings, notebooks, diaries, scrapbooks, and photographs of Sarah Ida Fowler Morgan Dawson which document her professional life as a writer, as well as her family life and travels.

Dupuy, Eliza Ann

Papers, 1867-1880. 52 items. Flemingsburg, Ky. Author. Literary correspondence of Dupuy with the editor of the New York Ledger concerning the publication of her stories.

Griffin, Isabella K

Papers, 1944-1947. 33 items and 1 vol. Washington, D. C. Newspaper correspondent. Diary, newsclippings, and ephemera documenting Griffin's professional and social schedules. Entries cover social and political concerns of the time period and include anecdotes of prominent Washingtonians.

Hanks, Nancy

Papers, 1894-1987. 58,000 items. Washington, D. C. Restricted. Correspondence, speeches, budgets, working papers on special projects, memoranda, daily mail log, papers relating to meetings, legislation, trips, and publicity, and other papers, chiefly relating to Hanks' tenure as chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Council on the Arts (1969-1977), but including papers relating to her involvement with the American Film Institute (1965-1979), Commission on Critical Choices for Americans (1960-1976), and Duke University Board of Trustees (1969-1977); together with personal papers including correspondence, biographical sketches, and obituaries, genealogical material, awards and citations, clippings, photos, and other papers.

Hayne, Paul Hamilton

Papers, 1815-1944. 4,615 items, 58 vols. Charleston, S.C. and Columbia, Ga. Correspondence, papers, notes, clippings, and works of Haynes, Southern poet and editor of Russell's Magazine. Correspondence with publishers and writers included women such as Charlotte Bates, Mary Louise Booth, Kate Clark, Julia Dorr, Frances Fisher, Annie Ketchum, Margaret Osgood, Adelaide Rouse, Elizabeth Stoddard, Frances Willard, Constance Woolson, and numerous others.

Holman, Harriet Rebecca

Papers, 1936-1983. 8,280 items, 16 vols, 6 tapes. Anderson, S.C. Author, educator, librarian. Correspondence from editors and colleagues concerning teaching and writing about American Literature particularly Southern writers. Also included are articles, clippings, reprints, photographs, books from students and colleagues, and a manuscript copy of "Cherokee Stories...," folktales told by Cherokee storyteller Mary Ulmer Chiltoskey and edited by Holman.

Humphreys, Josephine

Papers, 1984-1991. 8,250 items. Sullivans Island, SC. Restricted. Drafts of three novels by Humphreys: Rich In Love (1987), Dreams of Sleep (1983), and Fireman's Fair (1991); correspondence with friends, publishers, and editors; and copies of reviews of Humphreys' work and copies of reviews, articles, and essays written by Humphreys. Also includes miscellaneous files, subject files, clippings, and other files, some of which relate to Hurricane Hugo.

Hundley, Ellen

Poems, 1852. 1 vol. Henrico, Co. Va. Original poetry composed by Hundley for her children. Also includes some diary entries.

Ketchin, Susan

Papers, ca. 1982-1991. 3,000 items. Durham, NC. Restricted. Correspondence, manuscripts of writings and writings of others, reviews, publications, printed matter, teaching materials, and other papers relating principally to her work with St. Andrews Review, Southern Exposure, her various free lance work, the Algonquin Press, and the Duke Young Writers Camp.

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McCullers, Carson Smith

Papers, 1941-1978. 293 items and 8 vols. Columbus, Ga. and Nyack, N.Y. Author. Manuscript drafts of short stories and novels, photographs, and correspondence with contemporaries such as Edith Sitwell, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and cousin Jordan Massee document McCullers' publication efforts, play productions, and personal relationships.

MacLean, Clara Victoria Dargan

Papers, 1849-1920. 718 items and 21 vols. Columbia, S.C. Fiction writer, poet, teacher. Collection includes correspondence, diaries, an autograph album, book of rhymes and sketches, scrapbooks, and an annotated manuscript of Fenelon. Materials contain much information on Southern literature and the effect of the Civil War on literary efforts and remuneration, as well as personal and family matters.

Mason, Bobbie Ann

Papers, 1967-1983. 168 items. Mertztown, Pa. Restricted. Author. Drafts and proofs of early works including her dissertation at the University of Connecticut, as well as reviews, programs from literary award ceremonies, and her acceptance speech for the 1983 Hemingway Award.

Meredith, Isabella Grant

Papers, 1864-1930. 300 items. New York, N.Y. Includes Meredith's diary, letters, genealogical information, and a typewritten copy of one of Meredith's play. Many entries in Meredith's diary (1878) mention the Sirosis Club, apparently a progressive club in New York City for women which organized lectures on a variety of topics and issues of the day.

Rankin-Parker Family

Papers ca. 1880. 3 Items. Ripley, Ohio. The collection contains the autobiography of the Reverend John Rankin and the biography of John Parker, an ex-slave who Rankin worked with for the Underground Railroad. Included is the story of Eliza's escape across the Ohio river, which was later supposedly used by Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Patton, Frances MacRae Gray

Papers, 1942-1970. 273 items and 1 vol. Durham, N.C. Author. Typescript and screenplay of novel, Good Morning, Miss Dove, and reviews of her other published books.

Payne, Peggy

Papers, ca. 1969-1990. 1500 items. Raleigh, N.C. Author. Chiefly drafts of various writings, including Pure in Heart, Revelation, The Hide of the Lion, Electric Yellow, and others; correspondence, clippings, printed material (including copies of magazines containing other writings by Payne); and other papers.

Porter, Katherine Anne

Papers, 1965-1966. 3 items. Washington, D.C. Letters by Porter to Gerald Ashford, a book reviewer for the San Antonio Express, discussing her childhood in Texas.

Pound, Louise

Papers, 1892-1959. 24 items. Lincoln, Neb. Restricted. English professor, athlete, author, scholar. Letters from Dorothy Canfield Fisher, H. L. Mencken, and Willa Cather concerning current events and contemporary writers, as well as their own writing. Includes a manuscript poem by Cather.

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Shambaugh, Joan Dibble

Papers, 1971-1980. 1500 items. Middlesex Co., Ma. Restricted. Poet. Drafts of poems, correspondence, information on creative writing classes taught by Shambaugh, and journals with stream-of-consciousness reflections on author's life and experiences.

Shelley, Percy Bysshe and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley

Papers, 1814-1857. 4 vols. England. Restricted. Typed copies of journals and letters of the Shelleys (originals located in the British Library). Journals were kept jointly and start with their elopement travels throughout Europe. Entries document daily activities; books read; financial affairs; births and deaths of their two children; descriptions of landscapes; Mary Shelley's publication of Frankenstein and its public reception; birth of Claire Clairmont's daughter Allegra, and custody controversies with Byron; social and literary activities of the Shelleys and their close friends; Mary's loneliness after her husband's death.

Simmons, Dawn Pepita (Langley-Hall)

Papers, 1902-1992. 6,746 items, 36 vols., 1 tape. Charleston, SC. Restricted. Correspondence, newsclippings, scrapbooks, and photographs of extended family and friends in theatrical and literary circles, including Dame Margaret Rutherford and Isabel Whitney. Includes manuscripts of non-fiction works, novels, short stories, and biographies of various public figures written by Gordon Langley Hall and Dawn Simmons. Several works such as Simmons' autobiography Man Into Woman, pertain to her sexual transformation from Hall into Simmons.

Simms, Jessie

Papers, 1899-1901. 4 items. Consists chiefly of a handwritten diary kept by Simms while she was touring as a pianist with the Andrews Opera Company throughout the U.S. Contains the complete itinerary of two of the opera company's tours and names of hotels and towns in which the company members slept from 1900-1901. Diary entries describe places and various members of the opera company. The volume also contains about 100 additional pages of mounted ephemera including magazine photographs, theater programs, maps, news articles, and autographs.

Southworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte

Papers, 1849-1901. 342 items. Georgetown, D.C. Novelist. Literary correspondence with Robert Bonner, editor of the New York Ledger, concerning the publication of E.D.E.N. Southworth's stories and other business matters; Southworth's hatred of Confederates; personal and family matters. Also includes letters to friends and relatives concerning personal and literary matters. Microfilm available.

Stuart, Jessie

Manuscript, ca. 1850. 3 vols. Gr. Britain Manuscript novel, compiled by a group of amateurs, and never published. Csigalni, or Life As It Is; An Historical Romance and Curiosity of Literature demonstrates the authors to be widely read in fiction, parodying aspects of contemporary novels. The plot involves European fashion, an Egyptian princess and a Native American who suffocates a poet.

Terhune, Mary Virginia Hawes

Papers, 1843-1920. 67 items. Amelia Co., Va. Author. Letters from Terhune to school friends describing schoolgirl affairs and her attempts to write. Later letters to friends contain reminiscences of her early life.

Tetel, Julie

Typescripts, 1985-1987. 5 items. Linguistics scholar, novelist. Typescripts of romance novels by Tetel including For the Love of Lord Roland, Lord Laxton's Will, The Viking's Bride, Geneva Summit, and The Temporary Bride.

Tucker, Mary Sames

Papers, 1936-1967. 62 items. Lexington, Va. Papers relating to the career of Carson Smith McCullers, who, as a girl, took piano lessons from Tucker. Letters from McCullers concern her personal life, marital problems, and personal health. Collection also contains letters from McCullers' mother, Marguerite Smith; physician and close friend, Mary E. Mercer; and Margaret Sullivan, who wrote her dissertation on McCullers.

Tyler, Anne

Papers, 1958-1988. 1646 items. Baltimore, Md. Restricted. Author. Holograph drafts and typed manuscripts of 14 novels and over 70 short stories; correspondence with her editor Judith Jones; and articles and clippings related to Tyler and her writing.

Wall, Alma Strikeleather

Papers, 1905-1944. 129 items and 7 vols. Asheville, N.C. Radio performer. Diaries, scrapbooks, clippings, and photographs documenting family tragedy and Wall's subsequent career as a radio performer renowned for singing spirituals and telling folktales in a Negro dialect.

Wardle, Sir Thomas

Papers, 1874-1953. 248 items, 2 vols. Leek, Staffordshire, England. Papers of silk industry promoter including letters (1891-1898) from author Elizabeth Lynn Linton which concern her health, separation from her husband, living arrangements, social visits, her publications, and public reaction to her article "The New Boss."

Warfield, Catherine Ann Ware

Papers, 1867-1868. 1 vol. Jefferson Co., Ky. Author, poet. Volume entitled "Southern Songs" containing poems by Warfield telling the story of the Civil War in verse and illustrating her Southern sympathies. Some of the poems have been published.

Warner, Frank and Anne

Paper, 1857-1985. ca. 5,000 items, 1 vol. Old Brookville, N.Y. Folklorists. Correspondence, audio tapes, video tapes, printed materials, photographs, negatives, and films relating to the Warners' collection, publication, and performance of American folk music from 1938-1984. Materials document Anne Warner's professional career as a noted folklorist. Recordings include the songs of several women folksingers. Correspondence and interviews with folksingers and their families document the lives of women such as Lena Bourne Fish, Rena Hicks, Buna Vista Hicks, and Bessie Proffitt.

Wheatley, Phillis

Papers, 1770. 1 Item. Boston, Mass. Letter of poet Phillis Wheatley, while she was still a slave owned by the Wheatley family of Boston, written for Nathaniel Wheatley, concerning a lawsuit.