Marie Emilie Gilchrist Papers, 1906-1990
General International Standard for Archival Description
Smith College Archives Northampton, MA
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Brook Hopkins. 2003-06-03
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
recordgrp
Marie Emilie Gilchrist Papers
Creation of Marie Emilie Gilchrist Papers
Time of Creation of Marie Emilie Gilchrist Papers
Gilchrist, Marie Emilie, 1893-
Biographical History for: Marie Emilie Gilchrist Papers
Biographical Note Marie Emilie Gilchrist, born January 4, 1893, took an interest in poetry at an early age. She began publishing her work while a student at the Hathaway-Brown School for girls in Cleveland, Ohio. While at Smith, she was active in a number of literary clubs and activities, and published in the Smith College Monthly. Following graduation in 1916, Gilchrist returned to her native Ohio to work at the Cleveland Public Library. She stayed there from 1916-1918, then completed brief stints at an insurance office and the Red Cross. In 1920 she went back to Smith as an English Fellow, receiving her M.A. in 1921. She stayed in Northampton for one year, working at the Hampshire Bookshop, then returned to Cleveland. In 1926 she resumed work at the Cleveland Public Library, where she remained until 1930. While there she started poetry groups for both children and adults, and held positions in the Stephenson Room for children's literature as well as the adult fiction section. Throughout, Gilchrist wrote poetry and had several pieces published. In 1926 Macmillan released a collection of her poems entitled Wide Pastures. In the summers of 1928 and 1930 she attended the Macdowell Colony for artists in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where she worked on her second book, Writing Poetry, an introduction to poetry for children. Gilchrist also had an interest in the history of the Great Lakes. She produced three children's books related to maritime history in the area, and in 1966 wrote an article for Michigan History on William Ives, a Michigan surveyor (and her uncle). In 1942, Gilchrist became an associate editor for the Reader's Digest. She retired from the magazine in 1951 but continued to do some editorial work on an hourly basis. It seems likely that Gilchrist wrote poetry until her death in November 1989, but the latest dated poem in this collection is from 1973. Her submission records indicate that she ceased to publish regularly after 1950.
Scope and Contents The Marie Emilie Gilchrist Papers consist of 0.5 linear feet of poetry and submission records. The submission records are somewhat irregular. They do not track every poem Gilchrist wrote, nor is there information about every poem she published. The poetry dates from 1906 to 1973 (thinning after 1960), and her biographical material dates from 1934-1990.
lcnaf
Smith College--Students.
lcsh
Biography 1934-1990
"Early Records" 1924-1928
Leather Notebook 1906-1916
Leather Notebook 1916-1924
Leather Notebook ca. 1920s
"Early [?] Pieces Not Included in Leather Notebook" ca. 1915-1925
"[Short?] Poetry Following Leather Notebooks" ca. 1920-1930
"Undated: Probably 1930-1935..." ca. 1930-1935
"Juvenile" 1935-1936, n.d.
"Fragments and Relics" n.d.
"Situations" n.d.
Michigan History Writings 1966, n.d.