MILDRED LAWRENCE PAPERS

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


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Creator: Mildred Lawrence
Title: Mildred Lawrence Papers
Dates: 1948 - [ca. 1978]
Dates: [bulk 1948 - 1971]
Quantity: 3.0 cubic feet (9 boxes)
Identification: DG0596

Abstract: Mildred Lawrence (1907-1979) wrote as many as twenty-five novels for adolescent and teenaged girls. Her books always addressed contemporary issues, using fiction to help young girls handle the problems they often faced. The Mildred Lawrence Papers contain typescripts, galleys, proofs, and fan mail related to eighteen books written between 1948 and 1971.

Biographical Note

Mildred Elwood Lawrence was born in Charleston, Illinois in 1907 to DeWitt and Gertrude Elwood. In 1926 she received an associate degree from Flint (Michigan) Junior College, and two years later obtained a bachelor's degree from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. She completed her university training with a master's degree at Yale University in 1931, and stayed active in the American Association of University Women the rest of her life.

Lawrence returned to Flint, Michigan where she took a job at the Flint Journal as society editor; feature writer; and book, music, and art editor. In 1936 she married C. A. Lawrence, who also worked on the Journal staff. After living for a brief time in Pennsylvania, the couple and their daughter, Leora Mary, settled in Orlando, Florida in the 1940s.

Lawrence began writing books for eight-to-twelve-year-old girls when her daughter reached that age range. In subsequent years her books began addressing contemporary teenage issues. Lawrence believed that as girls reached adolescent and teen years, their problems and pressures grew apace. She used her stories to offer life lessons to the younger generation but tried hard not to seem "preachy." Lawrence initially enjoyed great success, publishing books yearly between 1948 and 1971. By the early 1970s, however, times and teenagers had changed sufficiently to give her difficulty in finding a publisher and audience for her works.

Sources:
Something About the Author, v. 3, pp. 101-102
Sources within the Mildred Lawrence Papers.


Scope and Content Note

The Mildred Lawrence Papers contain typescripts, galleys, proofs, and correspondence created and accumulated by Mildred Lawrence between 1948 and 1978. The material is organized into two series: books and correspondence.

The material in the books series includes typescripts, galleys, and proofs for eighteen books written between 1948 and 1971. Walk A Rocky Road (1971), the last of Lawrence's novels, was her only book also to be issued in paperback, under the title A Place to Remember (1972). The papers in the book series are arranged alphabetically by title and the material for each book is arranged chronologically in order of creation where known.

The series of correspondence contains fan mail sent to Mildred Lawrence between 1954 and 1971. It also includes letters sent from Lawrence to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection between 1966 and 1978. These letters were selected and photocopied from the correspondence file of the de Grummond Collection because they offer insight into Mildred Lawrence's life or work. The material is arranged chronologically.


Series and Subseries

A. Books (1948 - 1971)

Along Comes Spring (1958)

Crissy at the Wheel (1952)

Dreamboats for Trudy (1954)

Drums in My Heart (1964)

Gateway to the Sun (1970)

Girl on Witches' Hill (1963)

Indigo Magic (1956)

Inside the Gate (1968)

Island Secret (1955)

No Slipper for Cinderella (1965)

One Hundred White Horses (1953)

Once at the Weary Why (1969)

Peachtree Island (1948)

The Questing Heart (1959)

Reach for the Dream (1967)

Starry Answer (1962)

The Treasure and the Song (1966)

Walk A Rocky Road (1971)

B. Correspondence (1954 - [ca. 1978])


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

Original illustration for One Hundred White Horses transferred to the Oscar Liebman Papers (DG1242).


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Mildred Lawrence 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 Mildred Lawrence between 1968 and 1974.

Processing Information

Processed by C. Alder, February 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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Books

Along Comes Spring by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, 1958)
1/1Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: front matter and chapters 1 - 4
1/2Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 5 - 8
1/3Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 9 - 13
Crissy at the Wheel by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1952)
1/4Typescript, minor editing and marked for publication: chapters 1 - 3
1/5Typescript, minor editing and marked for publication: chapters 4 - 6
1/6Typescript, minor editing and marked for publication: chapters 7 - 9
Dreamboats for Trudy by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954)
1/7Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: front matter and chapters 1 - 3
2/1Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 4 - 7
2/2Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 8 - 11
Drums in My Heart by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1964)
2/3Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 1 - 3
2/4Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 4 - 7
2/5Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 8 - 12
2/6Advance uncorrected proofs in a spiral bound booklet
Gateway to the Sun by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1970)
3/1First typescript, edited: chapters 1 - 4
3/2First typescript, edited: chapters 5 - 9
3/3First typescript, edited: chapters 10 - 14
3/4Second typescript, minor editing: front matter (marked for publication) and chapters 1 - 4
3/5Second typescript, minor editing: chapters 5 - 9
3/6Second typescript, minor editing: chapter 10 - 14
Girl on Witches' Hill by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963)
4/1Typescript, edited: front matter (marked for publication) and chapters 1 - 4, including layout of title page on tracing paper
4/2Typescript, edited: chapters 5 - 8
4/3Typescript, edited: chapters 9 - 12
Indigo Magic by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1956)
4/4Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: front matter and chapters 1 - 4
4/5Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 5 - 8
4/6Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 9 - 12
4/7Sheet 13 of galley
Inside the Gate by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968)
4/8Miscellaneous pages from first typescript, edited, with attached note, (11 pp.)
4/9Second typescript, edited and marked for publication: front matter and chapters 1 - 4
5/1Second typescript, edited and marked for publication: chapters 5 - 8
5/2Second typescript, edited and marked for publication: chapters 9 - 13
Island Secret by Mildred Lawrence, illustrations by Paul Galdone (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1955)
5/3Typescript, minor editing: chapters 1 - 4
5/4Typescript, minor editing: chapters 5 - 7
5/5Typescript, minor editing: chapters 8 - 11
5/6Galley, (pp. 20 - 22)
No Slipper for Cinderella by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965)
5/7Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 1 - 4
5/8Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 5 - 8
6/1Typescript, minor editing, marked for publication: chapters 9 - 12
One Hundred White Horses by Mildred Lawrence, illustrations by Oscar Liebman (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1953)
6/2Typescript, edited and marked for publication: chapters 1 - 4
6/3Typescript, edited and marked for publication: chapters 5 - 8
6/4Typescript, edited and marked for publication: chapters 9 - 11
Once at the Weary Why by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1969)
6/5Typescript, edited: front matter (marked for publication) and chapters 1 - 4, including layout of title page on tracing paper
6/6Typescript, edited: chapters 5 - 8
6/7Typescript, edited: chapters 9 - 13
Peachtree Island by Mildred Lawrence, illustrations by Mary Stevens (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1948)
7/1Typescript, marked for publication: front matter and chapters 1 - 5
7/2Typescript, marked for publication: chapters 6 - 10
7/3Typescript, marked for publication: chapters 11 - 14
The Questing Heart by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1959)
7/4Typescript, edited: chapters 1 - 4
7/5Typescript, edited: chapters 5 - 9
7/6Typescript, edited: chapters 10 - 14
Reach for the Dream by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1967)
7/7Typescript, edited and marked for publication: front matter and chapters 1 - 4, including a layout of title page on tracing paper and tracing paper guide sheet
8/1Typescript, edited and marked for publication: chapters 5 - 8
8/2Typescript, edited and marked for publication: chapters 9 - 13
Starry Answer by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962)
8/3Typescript, edited: front matter (marked for publication) and chapters 1 - 4
8/4Typescript, edited: chapters 5 - 8
8/5Typescript, edited: chapters 9 - 12
The Treasure and the Song by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966)
8/6Miscellaneous pages from first typescript, edited, (7 pp.)
9/1Typescript, edited: front matter (marked for publication) and chapters 1 - 4, including layout of title page on tracing paper
9/2Typescript, edited: chapters 5 - 9
9/3Typescript, edited: chapters 10 - 13
Walk A Rocky Road by Mildred Lawrence (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1971)
9/4Typescript, edited: chapters 1 - 4
9/5Typescript, edited: chapters 5 - 9
9/6Typescript, edited: chapters 10 - 14



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Correspondence

9/7Fan letters received, 1954 - 1971, (9 items)
9/8Selected letters sent from Mildred Lawrence to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, 1966 - [ca. 1978], (10 items)

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