Eleanor Cameron papers
Scope and Contents
The collection contains materials for 21 books, published between 1950 and 1993, as well as unpublished works, including Summer Lightning, later used as the basis for To the Green Mountains. The collection includes holographs (manuscripts), typescripts, proofs, notes, reviews, some illustrative material, articles, a photocopy of an award notice, and correspondence and typescripts of speeches. The latter are found with the material for The Green and Burning Treeas is the bulk of the correspondence, which includes some from other writers.
Dates
- 1930-2003, undated
Creator
- Cameron, Eleanor, 1912-1996 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use in the Elmer L. Andersen Library reading room.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). 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. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.
Biographical / Historical
Eleanor (Butler) Cameron was born March 23, 1912 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. For many years, she worked as a library clerk and later as a librarian. In the 1950s, Cameron began to write fiction for adults and children. She published her first book, The Unheard Music, an adult novel in 1950; her first work for children, a science fiction adventure called The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, was published in 1954. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Cameron continued to write fiction for children and young adults, including more science fiction and fantasy. In her later books, Cameron began to focus more on the psychological and emotional struggles of pre-adolescents, particularly girls. In her semi-autobiographical Julia novels, Cameron focuses on the difficulties of growing up. Some of her other novels continued this trend and also added elements of mystery, fantasy, and the ghost story. Eleanor Cameron has also served as a member of the editorial boards of several magazines for children and about children's literature, including Cricketand Children's Literature in Education. She published The Green and Burning Tree, a critical study of children's literature in 1969. Cameron continued to write throughout the 1980s, and in 1985 received the Kerlan Award, sponsored by the Children's Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota.
Extent
18 Cubic Feet (15 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection consists of papers that trace the genesis, process, and revision of Eleanor Cameron's books for children and young adults as well as some of her books for adults. The collection includes holographs (manuscripts), typescripts, notes, galley proofs, reviews and correspondence, as well as typescripts of several of her speeches on the subject of children's literature, and several illustrations..
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into the following series:
- Writings and Publications
- Correspondence and Miscellaneous Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Eleanor Cameron, received in several installments beginning in 1975 and continuing throughout the 1980s.
- American poetry Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Authors, American -- 20th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- California -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Children's literature -- History and criticism Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Children's literature, American Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Children's stories, American Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Detective and mystery stories Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fairy tales Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Families -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Fantasy fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Manuscripts for publication Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Science fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Sea monsters -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Space and time -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Space flight -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Unicorns -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Eleanor Cameron Papers, 1930-2003, undated
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Christina Cowan, December 1994; revised, Charles Thomas, September 1999
- Date
- 1994, 1999
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- December 2013: Collection reprocessed by Laura Howard; EAD updated by Kate Dietrick
- April 2023: Description updated by Caitlin Marineau.
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Children's Literature Research Collections Collecting Area
