The University of Southern Mississippi -- de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
de Grummond Collection Home
Contributor List & Finding Aid Index| Special Collections


Manuscript Collection

Collection Title: Lillian Morrison Papers

Collection Number: DG0713

Inclusive Dates: 1965-1993

Volume: 2.65 cu. ft. (7 boxes)

Provenance : Donated by Lillian Morrison from 1976-1993.

Copyright: 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.

Biographical Sketch:

Lillian Morrison was born on October 27, 1917 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her parents were immigrants from Russia and moved the family six times during her childhood. She and her younger brother were very close and played stick ball or box ball, skipped rope or roller skated in the city streets. It was during this time that she started reciting rhymes and chants. Her father liked to read and quote Shakespeare and her mother told folk stories, both of which motivated her to read.

Unlike many other poets, Ms. Morrison did not write poetry as a child or a teenager. She graduated from Douglass College in 1938 with a degree in mathematics and a library science degree in 1942 from Columbia University. It was not until after graduation, when she worked at the New York Public Library, that she became interested in reading and writing poetry. Her inspiration for writing came from the same excitement she got playing with her brother as a child.

While working at a library branch in Harlem, she heard verses children had written in their autograph books. Her first book, Yours Till Niagara Falls (1950), is based on the verses she had seen and heard. In the revised edition, published in 1990, she added new verses and chose a new illustrator, Sylvie Kantrovitz Wickstrom . One of her other books, Best Wishes, Amen (1974), is also a collection of "autograph verses."

In addition to writing poetry, Ms. Morrison has also worked as a coordinator of young adult services, a young adults' librarian, as well as an instructor and lecturer at Rutgers and Columbia Universities. She was also the general editor for two Crowell series publications, Poems of the World and Crowell Poets . She has also contributed poems to Prairie Schooner , Sports Illustrated , and Atlantic . In 1987, she was awarded the ALA Grolier Award for her "contributions in stimulating the interest of young readers."

Source:

Contemporary Authors , vol. 22NR, p. 331.
Sixth Book of Junior Authors & Illustrators , pp. 199-200.

Scope and Content:

The collection contains correspondence, typescripts, galleys, and proofs for ten titles. The titles are arranged alphabetically. Within each title, the materials are arranged according to the probable order in which they were created. The correspondence was separated by title with the exception of letters written to the de Grummond Collection.

Two of the books written by Ms. Morrison, Yours Till Niagara Falls and Best Wishes, Amen are compilations of childhood verses, such as "Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue" that were written by children she came in contact with while working at a library in Harlem. The books were published in a format that is similar to an autograph book's size and shape. The collection contains materials for Yours Till Niagara Falls when it was republished in 1990 with new autograph additions and updated illustrations by Sylvie Kantrovitz Wickstrom. There are typescripts for both books. There are also galleys and blues for Best Wishes, Amen and proofs for Yours Till Niagara Falls .

Ms. Morrison is noted for her ability to incorporate movement and motion into poetry. As a child, she enjoyed playing games with her brother and her poetry gives her "the same feelings of excitement that I had as a child running fast." Four of the books in the collection , Rhythm Road, Sprints and Distances , The Break Dance Kids , and The Sidewalk Racer , are sports and motion poetry. There are typescripts for Rhythm Road, Sprints and Distances , and The Sidewalk Racer and proofs for all of the titles. Sprints and Distances and The Sidewalk Racer were both chosen as ALA Notable books.

Whistling the Morning In, also a book of poems, is written in both free-verse and rhyme. It is the largest part of the collection with numerous proofs, color laminated proofs, typeset proofs, press sheets, typescripts, and other pre-production materials. There are three sets of color laminated proofs at various stages of production. The illustration and layout for the dust jacket by Joel Cook is also in the collection.

Series and Subseries:

A. Correspondence (1976-1993)

B. Books (1965-1992)

  • BEST WISHES, AMEN (1974)

  • THE BREAK DANCE KIDS (1985)

  • MIRANDA'S MUSIC (1968)

  • OVERHEARD IN A BUBBLE CHAMBER (1981)

  • RHYTHM ROAD (1988)

  • THE SIDEWALK RACER (1977)

  • SPRINTS AND DISTANCES (1965)

  • WHISTLING THE MORNING IN (1992)

  • WHO WOULD MARRY A MINERAL? (1978)

  • YOURS TILL NIAGARA FALLS (1950, 1990)

 

Box Inventory

Box/Folder

A. Correspondence (1976-1993)

1/1

Correspondence with the de Grummond Collection, 1976-1993,10 items.

B. Books (1965-1992)

Best Wishes, Amen; A New Collection of Autograph Verses by Lillian Morrison, illustrated by Loretta Lustig (New York: Crowell, 1974).

1/2-1/6 Typescript, edited with typesetter's marks,
1/2

pp. 1-52.

1/3 pp. 53-122.
1/4

pp. 123-200.

1/5 pp. 202-269.
1/6 pp. 294-324.
1/7 Galley, "marked set," pp. 1-187.
1/8 Blues, 7 items.

 

The Break Dance Kids: Poems of Sport, Motion, and Locomotion by Lillian Morrison (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1985).

1/9

Proofs, photocopied, pp. 1-61.

 

Miranda's Music by Jean Boudin and Lillian Morrison, illustrated by Helen Webber (New York: Crowell, 1968).

2/1

Typescript, edited with typesetter's marks, pp. 1-57.

2/2-2/3

Galleys,

2/2

"master set," 7 March 1968; pp. 1-15.

2/3 29 May 1968; pp. 1-32.

 

Overheard in a Bubble Chamber and Other Sciencepoems by Lillian Morrison, paintings by Eyre de Lanux (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1985).

2/4

Typescript, edited with typesetters marks, pp. 1-63.

 

Typescript of glossary, 4 pp.

2/5

Dummy, 1 item.

2/6-2/7 Proofs, minor corrections,
2/6 12 November 1980; 20 pp.
2/7 1 December 1980; 17 pp.

 

Rhythm Road: Poems To Move To by Lillian Morrison (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1988).

2/8-2/11

Typescript, edited with typesetter's marks,

2/8

pp. 1-40.

2/9

pp. 41-96.

2/10 pp. 97-120.
 

Acknowledgments, 10 pp.

2/11 "Old preface," front matter, acknowledgments, and indexes, 25 pp.
3/1-3/4 Proofs,
3/1 "Duplicate set," 2 September 1987; pp. 1-64.
3/2 18 December 1987; pp. 1-64.
3/3 13 January 1988; front matter, pp. i-xii; pp. 1-148.
3/4 "Duplicate set," front matter, pp. i-xii; pp. 1-148.
3/5-4/2 Layout with paste-up,
3/5 Front matter, pp. i-xii; pp. 1-50.
4/1 pp. 51-100.
4/2 pp. 101-148.
4/3 Layout proofs, "repros," front matter, pp. iii-xii; pp. 1-147.
4/4 Blues, 5 items.
4/5 Blues corrections, 2 March 1988; 11 pp.

 

The Sidewalk Racer, and Other Poems of Sports and Motion by Lillian Morrison (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1977).

5/1

Typescript, edited with typesetter's marks; front matter, 9 pp.; pp. 1-37.

5/2 Proof, "reader's first," pp. 1-10.

 

Sprints and Distances; Sports in Poetry and Poetry in Sports by Lillian Morrison (New York: Crowell, 1965).

5/3

Partial typescript, pp. i-viii, 1-26, and 226-235.

5/4-5/7

Typescripts, photocopied and edited with typesetter's marks,

5/4

pp. 2-57.

5/5 pp. 58-110.
5/6

pp. 111-165.

5/7 pp. 166-226 (?).
5/8-5/9 Galley, edited, 2 February 1965,
5/8 pp. 1-29.
5/9 pp. 30-58.
5/10-6/1 Proof, 26 August 1965,
5/10 Front matter, pp. i-ix.
6/1 pp. 1-110.

 

Whistling the Morning In: New Poems by Lillian Morrison, illustrated by Joel Cook [Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Wordsong (Boyds Mills Press), 1992].

6/2

Correspondence with publisher and illustrator, 1991,18 items.

6/3

Inter-office memos, 18 items.

6/4

Typescripts, edited and revised, 2 versions.

6/5-6/6 Typesetting proofs, edited,
6/5

3 versions.

6/6 3 versions.
6/7 Typesetting proofs for front matter, 35 pp.
6/8 Typescript of jacket reviews and blurbs, 2 items.
 

Proofs of jacket reviews, 5 items.

6/9

Library of Congress and copyright information, 4 pp.

6/10 Proof, photocopied, text and some illustrations, 21 pp.
6/11 Proof, color photocopy, with text and some illustrations, 20 pp.
7/1 Illustration of original dust jacket, 1 item.
 

Layout for dust jacket, 1 item.

7/2 Layouts, pasted text and illustrations, 21 items.
7/3 Color proofs, illustrations only, 27 items.
7/4 Typeset proofs of title, 5 items.
7/5 Color proofs of dust jacket, 7 items.
7/6-7/8 Color proofs, laminated,
7/6 Illustrations only, 18 items.
7/7 Text and illustrations, marked with corrections, 21 items.
7/8 Text and illustrations, corrected, 21 items.
7/9 Color proofs, matted and laminated, pp. 10-11 and 20-21, 2 items.
7/10 Press sheets, 2 items.
7/11 Production dummies, without text or illustrations, 2 items.
 

Folded and gathered dummy, 1 item.

 

Who Would Marry a Mineral? Riddles, Runes, and Love Tunes by Lillian Morrison (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1978).

8/1

Typescript, edited with typesetter's marks, pp. 1-53.

8/2 Typescript, edited with typesetter's marks, pp. 1-53.

 

Yours Till Niagara Falls compiled by Lillian Morrison, illustrated by Sylvie Kantrovitz Wickstrom (New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1990, newly illustrated edition). (First edition published by Crowell in 1950 with illustrations by Marj Baurnschmidt).

8/3

Typescript for jacket blurbs, edited with typesetter's marks, 7 items.

8/4

Proofs of jacket blurbs, February 1990, 8 pp.

8/5

Photocopy of 1950 version, interleaved with new poems and front matter (edited for typesetter), 191 pp.

8/6-8/7 Proofs, 2 May 1990,
8/6 Edited, 22 pp.
8/7 Corrected, 22 pp.

 


Processed: February 1998

This finding aid is a product of a grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 


Created by: Dee Jones
Prepared and maintained by
University of Southern Mississippi Libraries de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
http://www.lib.usm.edu/degrummond
118 College Drive #5148   Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001

Please send comments or questions to http://www.lib.usm.edu/services/forms/askalib.html
Revised: April 20, 2016