MILTON MELTZER PAPERS

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

	Creator:	Milton Meltzer
	Title:	Milton Meltzer Papers
	Dates:	1985-2001
	Dates:	[bulk 1990-2001]
	Quantity:	4.50 cubic feet (18 boxes)
	Identification:	DG1125

Biographical Note

Milton Meltzer was born on May 8, 1915, in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Benjamin and Mary (Richter) Meltzer. He attended the public schools in Worcester, but found he learned more from his independent reading at the public library. He attended Columbia University between 1932 and 1936 where he discovered an interest in writing but left without taking a degree. Meltzer worked as a staff writer for the Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1936-39. He married Hilda Balinsky on June 22, 1941, and served with the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942-46. Meltzer worked in public relations for the pharmaceutical industry with three New York City firms between 1950 and 1968. At age 40, successful at work but desirous to write something more lasting, he wrote A Pictorial History of the Negroes in America (1956) with Langston Hughes. He published thirteen more non-fiction books for adults and children before taking up writing full time in 1968.

Over his forty-five year literary career, Meltzer has written and edited scores of books for children and adults. His works have consisted mainly of histories of traditionally disfranchised groups, biographies of crusaders for unpopular causes, and studies of injustice in modern American public life. He has produced historical studies of women, ethnic minorities, and the working class. For his biographies, Meltzer chose individuals who actively sought to reform their societies in an effort to encourage activism in his young adult readers. Guiding young people to question social injustices and initiate change has been a major aim of his writing. Consequently, Meltzer's works on social problems have addressed issues from war and pacifism to child labor to the realities of American politics. He also wrote a memoir, Starting from Home: A Writer's Beginnings (1988), in which he recounted his childhood influences and experiences in Worcester and explored his elusive East European Jewish immigrant heritage.

Milton Meltzer received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association for his collective body of work in 2001. He lives in New York City.

Sources:
Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, ed. Laurie Collier and Joyce Nakamura (Detroit: Gale Research, 1993), 4:1665-1669.
Something About the Author Autobiography Series, ed. Adele Sarkissian (Detroit: Gale Research, 1986), 1:203-221.
Starting from Home: A Writer's Beginnings by Milton Meltzer (New York: Viking Penguin, 1988).
Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers, ed. Laura Standley Berger (Detroit: St. James Press, 1994), 448-451.

Scope and Content Note

The Milton Meltzer Papers contain manuscripts, typescripts, correspondence, page proofs, sketches and proofs of illustrations and cover art, and printed research material created and accumulated by Milton Meltzer between 1985 and 2001. Meltzer's papers were created from his composition of seventeen published books for young adults. The material is organized into three series: books, biographical sketch, and correspondence.

The papers in the books series contain material for seventeen of Meltzer's later works. With the exception of Ain't Gonna Study War No More (1985), all titles date from after 1992. Most are historical biographies, histories of commodities, and studies of modern social issues. Meltzer usually commenced his compositions by writing manuscripts in ink on yellow lined paper. He produced typescripts with a manual typewriter, although some were made with an electric typewriter or computer. Meltzer revised many of his typescripts by stapling retyped portions of text to the original pages. These staples have been left in place to prevent these additions from accidentally coming out of place. Quantities of research and production material vary widely for each book. The papers in the series are arranged alphabetically by title and the material for each book is arranged chronologically in order of creation when known.

Box 3 contains 3 x 5 cards and slips of paper used to make research notes for Cheap Raw Material (1994). Meltzer organized the cards into four groupings: cards arranged in a rough structure before deciding on the final chapter order; cards for the introduction, chapters 1-13, and conclusion; cards used to prepare the index; and cards for citations of illustrations and the bibliography. Meltzer described the organization of the cards in a May 1994 letter, a copy of which is included in box 3. Cards and slips that originally were clipped together remain joined, although metal paperclips have been replaced with vinyl-coated fasteners. No attempt has been made to alter Meltzer's original arrangement.

Photocopied research articles and pamphlets for Cheap Raw Material (folders 4/2 - 5/14) have been arranged alphabetically by author or creating agency with pieces of uncertain authorship placed at the end. The abbreviations that Meltzer assigned to each source during the research and writing process are given in brackets after the citations in the container listing. The letter in box 3 provides an explanation of his abbreviation scheme.

The first typescripts for Frederick Douglass: In His Own Words (1995) (folders 8/9 & 8/10) are both identical and opposite. Meltzer typed his first typescript on yellow paper and made a photocopy on white paper. For some reason, he interspersed the original and photocopied pages to create two complete typescripts of alternating original and photocopied pages, each a mirror image of the other.

Research material for Witches and Witch-hunts (1999) was found filed with the research material for Weapons & Warfare (1996). It has been removed and filed separately.

An unknown author composed the biographical sketch for a CD-ROM produced by Gale Research in 1997. Finally, the pieces of correspondence with the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection were selected and photocopied from the correspondence file of the de Grummond Collection because they provide information on Meltzer's writing habits. They are arranged chronologically.

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.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Milton Meltzer 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 Milton Meltzer between 1994 and 2001.

Processing Information

Processed by Hans Rasmussen, January 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

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The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
Box 5148
Hattiesburg, MS 39406
(601) 266-4349
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