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For
the second time since 1991, the de Grummond Children's
Literature Collection has received a substantial grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dee
Jones, Project Director, submitted the proposal for
the grant in July 1996 and was informed of the award
in April 1997. The $206,352 will allow for the sorting,
arrangement, description, and cataloging of the original
manuscripts, illustrations, and published books of 150
women authors and illustrators who have had a significant
impact on the changing nature of children's literature.
The arrangement and description of original materials,
as well as the cataloging of historical and rare books
is a time consuming and exacting undertaking. Funds
received through this grant will provide salaries for
three staff members for a period of 18 months, beginning
on September 2.
Grant
staff include Chris Peters, Billie Hackney, and Laura
Stroud. Chris Peters, Manuscript Processor, recently
received a M.S. in Information, specializing in
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Chris
Peters and Billie Hackney, Staff
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Archives and Records Management from the University
of Michigan. Billie Hackney, Cataloger, recently received
a Masters in Library and Information Science from the
University of Texas at Austin. Laura Stroud, Manuscript
Processor Assistant received a B.S. in Elementary Education
from Ball State University and is currently a graduate
student in the University of Southern Mississippi's
School of Library and Information Science. In addition,
current McCain Library personnel Dee Jones, Mary Hamilton,
and Bobs Tusa will be spending a portion of their time
on grant activities.
The
most historic collection to be processed is that of
Victorian British illustrator Kate Greenaway. The de
Grummond Collection holds more than 300 original illustrations
created by this distinguished artist, as well as 150
books bearing her illustrations. The largest collection
is the papers of Adele and Cateau de Leeuw, authors
whose children's fiction was first published in the
1920s and was still being reprinted in the
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Manuscript Processor Assistant, Laura Stroud with Dee
Jones
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1980s.
Their papers and other memorabilia fill 115 boxes, nearly
35 cubic feet. The papers of other prominent award-winning
authors and illustrators that will be processed include Marie
Hall Ets, Emily Arnold McCully, Tasha Tudor, and Eleanor Estes.
Mississippi women include Joan Balfour Payne, Emilie and Marie
Stapp, and de Grummond Collection founder, Lena Y. de Grummond.
A complete list of all women whose collections are a part
of this grant can be found on our web page. There are innumerable
positive effects of having detailed descriptive registers,
cataloged books, and accessible documents for a research collection,
as was realized after our first NEH funded grant was completed
in 1993. With improved methods of information dissemination
and technology now available, we foresee even greater benefits
to the research community of children's literature as a result
of this grant.
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