WHITNEY STEWART PAPERS

de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
The University of Southern Mississippi


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Creator: Whitney Stewart
Title: Whitney Stewart Papers
Dates: 1988-2001
Quantity: 1.25 cubic feet (4 boxes)
Identification: DG0331

Abstract: The Whitney Stewart Papers contain typescripts, production material, correspondence, photographs, and research material created and accumulated by Whitney Stewart between 1988 and 2001. Stewart's papers were created from her composition of seven books and two articles. She has written children's biographies of several public figures from Central and East Asian history and two juvenile travel novels.

Biographical Note

Whitney Stewart was born on February 3, 1959, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard and Carlin Whitney (Scherer) Stewart. From childhood, she exhibited an ambition to write children's fiction. Stewart designed an independent course of study in language and semiotics at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, earning a B.A. degree with honors in 1983. She wrote her thesis on biographies for children. Desirous to travel, Stewart worked as a travel agent in New Orleans for three years before traveling to Tibet and the Himalayas with her mother in 1986. Here she became inspired to write children's biography and, as a convert to Buddhism, was eager to study the life of the fourteenth Dalai Lama in particular. The following year, Stewart went to Dharamsala, India, the site of his exile, to live with a Tibetan refugee family and carry out research for her first book. She conducted the first of four interviews that she has had with the Dalai Lama at that time. To the Lion Throne: The Story of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama was published in 1990.

Stewart has written several other biographies of public figures from Central and East Asian history. She commenced Lerner Publications' Newsmakers series with a biography of Mount Everest mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary and a second life story of the Dalai Lama for older children. Stewart next produced biographies of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, former Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping, and Chinese Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi. She has traveled throughout Asia to personally meet with her subjects whenever possible, ranging from extensive trekking with Edmund Hillary in the Himalayas to a brief meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. Stewart also has written two travel novels for young adults set in New Orleans and San Francisco.

Whitney Stewart married Hans C. Andersson on September 17, 1988. She lives with her husband and son, Christoph, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sources:
Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series (Detroit: Gale Research, 2000), 89:397-399.
Something About the Author, ed. Alan Hedblad (Detroit: Gale Research, 1997), 92:213-215.
Whitney Stewart's personal website, www.whitneystewart.com, accessed 4 March 2002.


Scope and Content Note

The Whitney Stewart Papers contain typescripts, galleys, page proofs, folded and gathered sheets, correspondence, photographs, and research material created and accumulated by Whitney Stewart between 1988 and 2001. Stewart's papers were created from her composition of seven books and two articles. The material is organized into three series: biographical material, literary works, and correspondence.

The biographical material series contains a photocopy of "Whitney Stewart, Biographer" by Patricia Austin in Teaching and Learning Literature (September / October 1996): 41-48.

The papers in the literary works series are organized into two subseries: books and articles. In both subseries, the papers are arranged alphabetically by title and the material for each composition is arranged chronologically in order of creation when known. The books subseries contains material for Stewart's first five biographies of public figures from Central and East Asian history, as well as her two juvenile travel novels. The papers include a generous amount of correspondence, typescripts, and production material for five of the seven books. Blues across the Bay (2001) and To the Lion Throne (1990) sport only page proofs and some research material, respectively.

The correspondence for six of the seven books and both articles had been kept in a single file folder, roughly arranged by book or article. The letters for each title have been separated and arranged with the rest of the material for the title in question. The correspondence for The 14th Dalai Lama: Spiritual Leader of Tibet (1996) may contain references to Sir Edmund Hillary: To Everest and Beyond (1996) and vice versa, because both books were written at about the same time and for the same publishing house.

The articles subseries consists of material for Stewart's two articles on Tibetan culture and religion published in Highlights for Children magazine. The whole of the material for each article is contained in a single folder. Typescripts and galleys have not been separated from correspondence because they originally were fastened to cover letters. This arrangement has been retained to preserve information regarding the time and circumstances of each stage in the editing process.

The correspondence series contains correspondence with Lerner Publications staff concerning proposals for books that Stewart did not publish. It also includes a photocopy of handwritten notes documenting the progress of unknown submissions written on a file folder that previously held all of Stewart's correspondence.


Series and Subseries

A. Biographical Material (1996)
B. Literary Works (1988-2001)

1. Books

2. Articles

C. Correspondence (1998)


Restrictions

Restrictions on Use

Noncirculating; available for research.

Copyright Restrictions

The collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). Reproductions can be made only if they are to be used for "private study, scholarship, or research." It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials, other than that noted above.


Related Material

Oversize material is kept in box 4.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Whitney Stewart Papers, de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, University of Southern Mississippi Libraries.

Provenance

These papers were donated to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection of the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries by Whitney Stewart between 1994 and 2001.

Processing Information

Processed by Hans Rasmussen, March 2002. Encoded into EAD Version 1.0 by Danielle L. Bishop. This finding aid is the product of a grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.


Container Listing

Box/Folder

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Biographical Material

1/1Photocopy of "Whitney Stewart, Biographer" by Patricia Austin, Teaching and Learning Literature (September / October 1996): (41-48.)



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Literary Works

Books
The 14th Dalai Lama: Spiritual Leader of Tibet by Whitney Stewart, Newsmakers Series (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1996)
1/2 Correspondence with Susan Rose, Tenzin Geyche Tethong, and others, September 1988-April 1996, (25 items)
1/3 Research notes, (8 items)
1/4 Galley, lightly edited: introduction, chapters 1-9, 16 February 1995, 63 pp.; cover copy, edited, 1 p.; cover letter from Susan Rose, 22 March 1995
4/1 Photocopy of edited first page proofs with illustrations, further edited: front matter, introduction, chapters 1-9, [May 1995], 59 sheets, with cover letter from Susan Rose, 4 May 1995
1/5 Facsimile of edited typescript of source list and bibliography, 26 May 1995, (5 pp.)
4/2 Photocopy of second page proofs with illustrations, marked for publication, with further editing: front matter, introduction, chapters 1-9, sources, bibliography, index, back matter, cover, 19 May-21 June 1995, (65 sheets)
1/6 Uncut folded and gathered sheets: front matter, introduction, chapters 1-9, sources, bibliography, index, back matter, 8 signatures, with cover
1/7 Review from The Times-Picayune, 25 February 1996, (2 pp.)
Aung San Suu Kyi: Fearless Voice of Burma by Whitney Stewart (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1997)
1/8 Correspondence with Lerner Publications staff and others, April 1995-August 1997, (17 items)
1/9 MacArthur Foundation grant application material, [early 1995], (7 pp.)
1/10 Project proposal, [1995], (10 pp.)
4/3 Photocopy of edited page proofs with illustrations, further edited: chapters 1-9, May-September 1996, (58 sheets)
1/11 Folded and gathered sheets bound with staples: front matter, chapters 1-9, sources, bibliography, index, back matter, (8 signatures)
Blues across the Bay by Whitney Stewart, The Going To Series (New York: Four Corners, 2001)
1/12 Page proofs, lightly edited, with several photocopied pages of other edited proofs: front matter, chapters 1-15, travel guide, back matter, (78 sheets)
Deng Xiaoping: Leader in a Changing China by Whitney Stewart (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2001)
1/13 Correspondence with Lerner Publications staff and others, June 1997-January 2001, (12 items)
1/14 Research notes, 3-4 January 2000, (4 pp.)
1/15 Typescript of introduction, lightly edited, 25 January 2000, (3 pp.)
1/16 Correspondence concerning sources, bibliography, and back matter, 18-19 April 2000, (4 items)
1/17 Photocopies of edited page proofs for pp. 1-3, 8-9, 13, 15, 23-24, 27, 29, 31-33, 37-38, 44, 49-55, 57, 64-65, 68, 74, 78, 82, 94-96, 98-99, 102, 112, 115-117, 124, 128, 15 May 2000, (34 pp.)
2/1 Dust jacket copy with correspondence, 6 June 2000, (2 items)
2/2 Correspondence concerning editing of page proofs, 7-14 June 2000, (2 items)
Jammin' on the Avenue by Whitney Stewart, The Going To Series (New York: Four Corners, 2001)
2/3 Book proposal with letter sent, 2 November 1999, (5 pp.)
2/4 Correspondence with editors and others, November 1999-February 2001, (17 items)
2/5 Composition notes, (1 p.)
2/6 Page proofs, edited: front matter, chapters 1-18, travel guide, back matter, 12 February 2001, (77 sheets)
2/7 Photocopy of cover sketch
2/8 Advance reading copy: front matter, chapters 1-18, travel guide, back matter
2/9 Flyer for author signing at Maple Street Children's Book Shop in New Orleans on 21 April 2001
Sir Edmund Hillary: To Everest and Beyond by Whitney Stewart, with photographs by Anne B. Keiser, Newsmakers Series (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1996)
2/10 Correspondence with publishers and editors, June 1989-March 1996, (49 items)
2/11 Photographs of Edmund Hillary and Anne Keiser in the Himalayas, [April / May 1990?], (9 prints)
2/12 Composition notes and photocopied maps, (5 items)
2/13 First complete typescript, edited: chapters 2-10, back matter, June 1992, (70 pp.)
2/14 Typescripts of modified drafts of front matter, chapter 1, and chapter 4, all edited, April 1995, (21 pp.)
3/1 Second complete typescript, edited: front matter, chapters 1-10, (89 pp.)
3/2 Typescript pages of citations, bibliography, and cover copy, edited, (8 pp.)
3/3 Galley, edited: front matter, chapters 1-10, sources, bibliography, back matter, 17 July 1995, (67 pp.)
4/4 Page proofs with illustrations, edited: front matter, chapters 1-10, sources, bibliography, back matter, cover, 20 July 1995, (65 sheets)
3/4 Uncut folded and gathered sheets: front matter, chapters 1-10, sources, bibliography, index, back matter, 8 signatures, with cover
To the Lion Throne: The Story of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama by Whitney Stewart (Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 1990)
3/5 Research material: clippings, letters received, publications, 1988-1993, (7 items)
3/6 Photographs, including one photograph from p. 52, (9 prints)
3/7 Advertisements, 1990, (2 items)
Articles
"Butter Tea and Momos" by Whitney Stewart, Highlights for Children (July-August 1992): 36-37.
3/8 Correspondence with editors, including typescript, two galleys, and photocopy of published article attached to letters received, August 1990-December 1992, (16 items)
"Carry Kindness" by Whitney Stewart, Highlights for Children (January 1994): 10-11.
3/9 Correspondence with editors, including typescript, galley, layout, and photocopy of published article attached to letters received, September 1991-January 1994, (7 items)



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Correspondence

3/10Correspondence with Lerner Publications staff concerning proposals for books, March-October 1998, (6 items)
3/11Photocopy of handwritten notes on the progress of unknown submissions written on a file folder that previously held correspondence, (2 pp.)

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