|
Collection Title: Prenshaw (Maude Leet) Papers
Collection Number: M262
Dates: 1926-1975
Volume: 1.7 cu. ft.
Provenance: Donated by Dr. Peggy Prenshaw in 1990.
Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized
copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).
Biographical/Historical Sketch:
Maude Willard Leet Prenshaw was born August 2, 1889. Her
maiden name "Leet" is the name under which she wrote poetry throughout her adult
life. Her parents were William Gleason and Laura Adeline Mason Leet. One of
four daughters, she was educated at St. Rose of Lima's Academy and also took
a number of courses at University extension branches. She was married to Eric
Richard Prenshaw and was his assistant in his construction business. At various
times, she lived in Leland, Jackson, and Clinton (all in Mississippi). Leet
was a descendant of William Leet, first Colonial Governor of Connecticut, a
distant cousin of W.A. Percy, and a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Captain
Nathan Mason. She was a member of the Magna Carta Dames and the Daughters of
the American Revolution, and served the latter organization as Regent of the
Belvedere Chapter.
One of Leet's major interests was poetry. She served four years as president
of the Mississippi Poetry Society and was given the title of honorary president
of the organization after her term of office. She published an anthology of
her poems entitled Toward The Stars and was a regular contributor to
numerous poetry journals including Lyric, The Green World, Writer's Notes
and Quotes, and The Mississippi Poetry Journal. She was editor
of The Mississippi Poetry Journal for a number of years and was instrumental
in the founding of the Mississippi Poetry Festival.
In 1963 she was named Poet Laureate of Mississippi by Governor Ross Barnett,
and she wrote a number of poems in honor of leading citizens of the state and
the capital city, including Lt. Governor Paul B. Johnson. Leet was also active
in numerous national poetry societies and the National League of American Pen
Women.
Scope and Content:
The Maude Leet Prenshaw Papers consist primarily of manuscript
and typescript versions of Prenshaw's poems and other writings, copies of The
Mississippi Poetry Journal (1957-1973) and related materials, and works
sent to Prenshaw by other writers. Smaller amounts of her published works, biographical
information, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs are also a
part of the collection. Included is one of her early poems published in 1926,
however, most materials date from the 1950s and 1960s.
Publications:
Copies of the following titles are available in the Cook and McCain Libraries:
Mississippi Poetry Journal (Jackson, Miss.: Mississippi Poetry Society,
1957- ), call number PS613 .M76 (McCain).
Mississippi Poetry Society, Toward the Stars (Jackson, Miss.: 1944),
call number PS558.M7 M5 (McCain).
Mississippi Poetry Society, Toward the Stars (Jackson, Miss.: 1949),
call number PS558.M7 M5 1949 (Cook, McCain).
Box and Folder List:
| Box
1 |
|
| Folder 1 |
Biographical Materials: Biographical Sketches |
| Folder 2 |
Biographical Materials: Certificates, Memberships, and Commissions |
| Folder 3 |
Correspondence |
| Folder 4 |
Photographs |
| Folder 5 |
Mississippi Poetry Society Materials: Mississippi Poetry Journal, 1957-1973 |
| Folder 6 |
Mississippi Poetry Society Materials: Mississippi Poetry Society Final Bulletin
1951-52 Season-Prize-Winning Poems From Contest |
| Folder 7 |
Mississippi Poetry Society Materials: Mississippi Poetry Society Journal
Typescript |
| Folder 8 |
Mississippi Poetry Society Materials: Journal Poems Not For Publication |
| Folder 9 |
Mississippi Poetry Society Materials: Mississippi Poetry Society, 1944 Vacation
Contest Winners |
| Folder 10 |
Mississippi Poetry Society Materials: Poems For 1964 Mississippi Poetry Festival |
| Folder 11 |
Mississippi Poetry Society Materials: Poems For 1969 National Poetry Contest |
| Folder 12 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: "Introduction to Poetry" Notes For Program |
| Folder 13 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Untitled Manuscript |
| Folder 14 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Drafts and Word Lists of Leet Prenshaw |
| Folder 15 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Gay Monarch by Virginia Cowles, Reviewed by
Maude Leet Prenshaw |
| Folder 16 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poetry Competition Entries by Leet Prenshaw |
| Folder 17 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Miscellaneous Notes |
| Folder 18 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: Miscellaneous Poems by Maude Leet
Prenshaw, A-H |
| Folder 19 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: Miscellaneous Poems by Maude Leet
Prenshaw, I-S |
Folder 20
|
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: Miscellaneous Poems by Maude Leet
Prenshaw, T-Z |
| Box 2 |
|
| Folder 1 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "The Angels Who Walk Among Men"
(Pub. In King's Daughter Brochure, 1926) |
| Folder 2 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Autumn Inventory" |
| Folder 3 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Beyond Glory" |
| Folder 4 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: Christmas Poems |
| Folder 5 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Ethel The Elephant" |
| Folder 6 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "The Fashion of the Shaft" (Frost Award
Entry) |
| Folder 7 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Invulnerable" (To Arthur W. St. Clair,
M.D.) |
| Folder 8 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Jericho Road" (To Pearl C. Barnett and
Ross Barnett) |
| Folder 9 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Portrait of a Musician" (To Maurice
Thompson) |
| Folder 10 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Portrait of a Patriot" (To LT. Gov. Paul B.
Johnson) |
| Folder 11 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Portrait of a Physician" (To Robert
Ireland, M.D.) |
| Folder 12 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Portrait of a Statesman" (To Hon. James O
Eastland) |
| Folder 13 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Resurrexit" (A Sonnet Sequence) |
| Folder 14 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Sea Fear" (International Who's Who in
Poetry Winner) |
| Folder 15 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "Seychelles" |
| Folder 16 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: "To a Dreamer" |
| Folder 17 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Poems: A Trilogy of Petrarchan Sonnets |
| Folder 18 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Prose: Prose and One-Act Plays: "Love Goes to
Washington, D.C." |
| Folder 19 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Prose and One-Act Plays: "and I Learned About
Doctors From Him" |
| Folder 20 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Prose and One-Act Plays: "The Bellaman Story" |
| Folder 21 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Prose and One-Act Plays: "Golden Lady" |
| Folder 22 |
Manuscripts and Typescripts: Prose and One-Act Plays: "Portrait of a Lady" |
| Folder 23 |
Published Poems: Copies of Published Poems, 1954-1957 |
| Folder 24 |
Published Poems: Copies of Published Poems, Undated |
| Folder 25 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Thesis of Goldie Jane
Feldman |
| Box
3 |
|
| Folder 1 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Bellamann, Katherine:
Obituary and President Messages |
| Folder 2 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Bellaman, Katherine: Poetry |
| Folder 3 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Bellaman, Katherine:
Published Works |
| Folder 4 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Brown, Mitzi |
| Folder 5 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Conant, Edith R. |
| Folder 6 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Dalton, Henry |
| Folder 7 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Dollarhide, Lewis |
| Folder 8 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Farrar, Winifred Hamrick |
| Folder 9 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Hailey, Olga M. |
| Folder 10 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Hailey, Olga M. |
| Folder 11 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Huddleston, Mittie J. |
| Folder 12 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Unidentified Author |
| Folder 13 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Various Poems by Various
Authors |
| Folder 14 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Weston, Eurie Margaret |
| Folder 15 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Wood, Sylvia |
| Folder 16 |
Works of Other Individuals Sent to Leet Prenshaw: Yoakum, Margaret |
| Folder 17 |
Miscellaneous Materials: Various Clippings, 1952-71 |
Folder 18
|
Miscellaneous Materials: Various Clippings, Undated |
| Box
4 |
|
| Folder 1 |
Miscellaneous Materials: Toward the Stars, Treasures of Parnassus, Lyric
Mississippi Fragments of Faith |
| Folder 2 |
Miscellaneous Materials: Books Inscribed to "Leet" Prenshaw |
| Folder 3 |
Miscellaneous Materials: The Lyric |
| Folder 4 |
Miscellaneous Materials: National League of American Pen Women Publications |
| Folder 5 |
Miscellaneous Materials: Writer's Notes and Quotes |
Folder 6
|
Miscellaneous Materials: The Green World |
|