FERIDA WOLFF PAPERS

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

	Creator:	Ferida Wolff
	Title:	Ferida Wolff Papers
	Dates:	[ca. 1979]-2001
	Quantity:	3.70 cubic feet (13 boxes)
	Identification:	DG1194

Biographical Note

Ferida Wolff (née Mevorach) was born on July 7, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, where she enjoyed reading children's books from the public library and writing stories, letters, notes, and diaries. At age twelve, she decided she wanted to become a writer after excelling in a school writing assignment.

Ferida Mevorach married Michael L. Wolff on February 3, 1965. She earned a B.A. degree in 1967 and an M.S. degree in education in 1970, both from Queens College of the City University of New York. Wolff developed her writing by participating in an amateur writers' workshop in Medford, New Jersey, in the late 1970s. In 1980, she began contributing non-fiction pieces to several newspapers and magazines in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as a free-lance writer.

Wolff published her first book, Pink Slippers, Bat Mitzvah Blues, a young adult novel, in 1989. She drew on her daughter Stephanie's experiences as a dancer for the subject matter. Wolff has produced fourteen children's books in all, including three Halloween-themed books and four joke books that she co-authored with her neighbor and published poet, Dolores Kozielski. Listening Outside Listening Inside (1999), a book for adults on the importance of listening to personal messages, grew out of Wolff's long experience with yoga and other meditation techniques. She has taught yoga for almost thirty years and earned a Certificate in Holistic Studies from Rosemont College in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, in 1992.

Ferida Wolff lives with her husband in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and writes full time.

Sources:
Something About the Author, ed. Kevin S. Hile (Detroit: Gale Research, 1995), 79:222-223.
Ferida Wolff's personal website, www.feridawolff.com, accessed 25 January 2002.

Scope and Content Note

The Ferida Wolff Papers contain typescripts, production material, correspondence, photographs, certificates, 5 ¼" computer disks, clippings, publications, advertisements, and reviews created and accumulated by Ferida Wolff between ca. 1979 and 2001. Wolff's papers were created from her composition of fourteen published books, one published poem, numerous free-lance newspaper and magazine articles, and at least thirteen unpublished works still stored on computer disks. The material is organized into three series: literary works, presentations, and personal papers.

The papers in the literary works series are organized into four subseries: books, journalism, poetry, and other literary material. In the books subseries, the papers are arranged alphabetically by title and the material for each book is arranged chronologically in order of creation when known. The typescripts for Wolff's books are clearly arranged, with the exception of those for The Halloween Grab Bag (1993). Its typescripts (earlier titled The Halloween Think-and-Do Book and The Complete Halloween Fun Book) have been numbered in their order of creation—determined primarily by Wolff's notes and the editing of different editors—but the slapdash process of rewriting has left all the typescripts very disorganized and it is not unusual to have pages crossed from one typescript to another.

The literary works series also includes 44-5 ¼" personal computer disks for an Apple II computer running an Apple Writer word processing program (a disk with this software is in folder 13/20). The six disks containing material for published books have been filed with the material for these particular books. The other disks contain material for unpublished works and are filed in the subseries for other literary material. The de Grummond Collection staff attempted to read and print the material on the disks in January 2002, but was unsuccessful when unable to locate a functioning Apple II computer at the University of Southern Mississippi.

The literary works series also features several files and pieces of correspondence across its subseries. The primary correspondents with Wolff were Barrie Van Dyke, her Philadelphia literary agent, and Paulette Kaufman, the editor-in-chief at Tambourine Books.

The presentations series contains material related to Wolff's presentations about writing techniques that she gave to children through personal appearances in schools. The majority of the material is letters received from schoolchildren whom Wolff recently had visited in their New Jersey-area schools. The letters have been arranged chronologically.

The personal papers series is comprised of assorted material unrelated to Wolff's literary production or writing presentations. The letters sent to 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 Wolff's literary career. They also contain some personal essays written in 2001. The letters 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.

Related Material

In the presentations series, a folder of letters, photographs, and a coat made of construction paper received from a class at Elizabeth Haddon School, while listed among material in Box 12, has been placed in Box 13 because of its size.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Ferida Wolff 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 Ferida Wolff between 1999 and 2001.

Processing Information

Processed by Hans Rasmussen, 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

Contact:
The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
The University of Southern Mississippi
118 College Drive, #5148
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
(601) 266-4349
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