Contents
Series 1. Correspondence
Ser.2 Literary Manuscripts
Ser.3 Miscellaneous
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Finding aid for the Nora Waln Literary Papers
Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff
2007
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Creator
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Nora Waln |
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Title
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Nora Waln Literary Papers |
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Dates:
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1939-1964 |
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Abstract:
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Nora Waln was a 20th century Quaker author and journalist who wrote about Nazi
Germany and China. This collection includes editorial correspondence and many incomplete manuscripts, at least some of which were
returned to her family by the publisher after her death. |
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Extent:
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3 boxes ; 1 linear ft. |
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Identification:
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RG 5/265 |
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Location:
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For current information on the location of materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog. |
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Location:
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Nora Waln was a 20th century Quaker author and journalist who wrote about Nazi
Germany and China.
Born in Grampion, Pennsylvania, in 1895, she was the daughter of Thomas Lincoln and
Lillian Quest Waln. She entered Swarthmore College with the Class of 1919 but left
during her second year when war broke out. In 1920 she sailed for China to live with
the Lins, a family with Waln connections in Hopei Province. She met her future
husband, English foreign service officer George Edward Osland-Hill in the Far East. They were married in 1922 in the Cathedral of the Church of England in
Shanghai. Nora and Ted had one child, Marie. Eventually she had to leave China, and
in June of 1934 went to Germany with her husband who had retired and wanted to study
music.
Nora Waln’s best known books include House of Exile and
Reaching for the Stars. The former was drawn from
her life in Germany, and latter the account of her stay in a Chinese household. She
contributed articles to the Saturday Evening Post, the Atlantic Monthly, and other
magazines. She was also the European administrator of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fund for
War Mothers and Children. Nora travelled widely, maintained residences in England
and Philadelphia, and spent the final years of her life at Rincon de la Victoria,
near Malaga in southern Spain.
Return to the Table of Contents
The collection includes many incomplete manuscripts, at least some of which were
returned to her family by the publisher after her death. A portion of this material
was never published, and some represents earlier drafts of published works. Series 1
includes correspondence with Edward A. Weeks Jr., her publisher at the Atlantic
Monthly, in the late 1930s and the early 1940s. The papers have been maintained in the
folder groups with which they were associated, resulting in mixed content, with
newspaper clipping, manuscripts, and other materials together as received.
Organized into series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Literary Manuscripts; 3.
Miscellaneous.
Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents
Series 1. Correspondence
Box
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| 1 |
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Editorial Correspondence
1939-1964 1 folder
Nora’s correspondence primarily with Edward (Ted) Weeks, Editor at the
Atlantic Monthly in Boston, 1939-1964. Includes a letter about writing a
monthly letter for the Atlantic Monthly from the Western Pacific and a
letter about the success of The House of
Exile, which was about a young Quaker with a Chinese family, a
letter on his anticipation for Children of Light, and a letter asking
for a possible book to Nora in Japan.
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Miscellaneous Correspondence
1940-1941 1 folder
Correspondence in England during the War. Includes letters from Hector
MacQuarrie, 1940, about editing her book, and a letter to Meg, 1941;
also includes copied poems and a photograph.
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Bob Waln to Geoffrey Greer
1961 1 folder
Letter from Robert L.Waln to Geoffrey Greer acknowledging receipt of
photographs. Also includes European photos of author and unannotated
postcards from Scotland, Spain, and London
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Ser.2 Literary Manuscripts
Box
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| 1 |
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Book typescript and related materials
1957-1964 1 folder
1958 Spanish newspaper, several articles on the Germans, WWII, the great
blitz, and bird watching, Chapters 1, 2, and 3 from book,
letter to and from Ami Stewart in 1957
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Several Book Typescripts and related material
1957 1 folder
Parts of Invisible Leopold’s Series, In England
Now, and multiple copies of Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Songs in the Night, along with a letter to
Ami Stewart in 1957
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Book manuscript and related materials
1961-1964 1 folder
Unfinished chapters from book chapter outlines for Andalucia and
Horses in Spain, newspaper articles on the Cold War and Communism, and
letter to Ted about Spanish Horses book rights
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Excerpts From Return to the House of Exile
n.d. 1 folder
Chapters 1-5, 9 of unfinished sequel to House of Exile
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Box
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Assorted Chapter Typescripts and Articles
n.d. 1 folder
Chapter 3 of Children of the Light,
Parts1-3, 5 of Letters from the Western
Pacific, Seth and Mary, The World is Round, and Convey to
China
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Book Typescript
n.d. 1 folder
Edited and finished versions of Book Two from book with story
line about China.
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Chapter 1 of Andalucia
n.d. 1 folder
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Chapter 2 from Dust of the Earth
n.d. 1 folder
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Chapter 2 from Heretics
n.d. 1 folder
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Chapter 9 and 11 from Sylvia
n.d. 1 folder
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Box
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Chapter Typescript
n.d. 1 folder
Chapter 4 from book about China
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Chapter Typescript and related material
n.d. 1 folder
Chapter 4 from book (same as folder 6), along with article on
Japanese art
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Chapter Typescript and related materials
n.d. 1 folder
Article on Soviet prisons and Chapter 3 from book about a
missionary Quaker
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Chapter Typescripts and related materials
n.d. 1 folder
First Day with Rufus Jones by Nora, articles
on Japan and Korea, Chapter One: The House with
the Rose Red Walls about Korea, Chapter
9: Peonies were in Bloom, and Chapter
4: On a Rice Farm.
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Chapters from Return to the House of Exile and letter
n.d. 1 folder
Chapters 1-3, 9 from Return to the House of Exile, and letter to Ted
Lambert about Reaching for the Stars.
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Collected manuscript ideas and materials
n.d. 1 folder
Poems in Spanish, pieces of paper with poem ideas, phrases, and quotes on
China, ideas for books Horses in Spain and Rural Rides, and
brainstorming for other books
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Incomplete typescripts
n.d. 1 folder
Manuscripts from Atlantic Monthly returned after Nora’s death: None Ask Pity from Berlin, Surrender the
Heart about China, This is Home, Sliding
Door’s chapter listings, chapters 1-4 from Book 1 chapter 3 from Book 2
from Return to the House of Exile, Chapter 1 and 2 from Beyond Our
Dreams about Spain, Chapter 1 and 2 from This is Home, letter from
Atlantic with incomplete manuscript list, and letters from Ted about royalties and missing Nora
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Ser.3 Miscellaneous
Box
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Unsorted Papers
n.d. 1 folder
Receipts about Robert Waln’s estate, article about Nora, A Quaker Among Nazis, and a review on Nora’s
book The Approaching Storm: One Woman’s Story of Germany 1934-38, photos
from Nora’s year in Germany, None Ask Pity draft, For the Progress,
and several letters from Berlin, and pictures of Nora’s husband.
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Clippings
1961-63 1 folder
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