Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents

Arrangement of the Collection

Search Terms

Marie Emilie Gilchrist Papers, 1906-1990

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Laura Finkel.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003

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.

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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.

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Search Terms

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Arrangement of the Collection

The papers are organized and labeled according to Gilchrist's own filing system.

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