Mary Hays Weik Papers
Scope and Contents
The collection contains production material for four titles published between 1938 and 1973. Production materials consist of manuscript materials including research material, typescripts, proofs, and notes. The collection also contains some reviews and a substantial amount of correspondence to and from Weik and her publishers, editors, including Jean Karl, and other individuals that she was in touch with, such as Eleanor Roosevelt. The collection also contains some miscellaneous material including a typescript for a magazine story "The Letter" published in 1922/23[?], some personal papers, and a manuscript for a speech given to the International Reading Association in 1969. There is also a substantial amount of material on the various anti-nuclear and World Federalist groups that Weik was involved with. Some of the papers related to anti-nuclear activism were collected and created after Weik's death by her daughter, Ann Grifalconi. The materials are arranged by title and subject in alphabetical order.
Dates
- 1922 - 2008
Creator
- Weik, Mary Hays, 1898- (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
Mary Hays Weik was born around in 1898 in Greencastle, Indiana. She graduated with an A.B. from DePauw University and later worked as a journalist, a consultant for social agencies and schools, and as a writer. Mary Hays Weik published her first book, “Adventure: A Book of Verse” in 1919. She also wrote books on the atomic pollution of the environment and edited an anti-nuclear newsletter. She published her first book, “The House at Cherry Hill”, for children and young adults in 1938. In 1966, she published “The Jazz Man”, a story about a young African-American boy living in Harlem. The book, illustrated by her daughter the author/illustrator Ann Grifalconi, was a Newbery Honor Book in 1967 and also a Caldecott Medal runner-up for best illustrated book that same year. Mary Hays Weik continued to write for children and young adults and in 1972 published a work of historical fiction, A House on Liberty Street, that drew on the life of an ancestor, a German immigrant who came to the United States in the 1840s. Mary Hays Weik died on December 25, 1979 in New York City.
Biographical Source:
"Mary Hays Weik (1898?-1979)." Something About the Author. Vol. 3 and 23. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1971 and 1981.
Extent
9.3 Cubic Feet (7 record cartons and 1 flat box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection contains manuscript materials including research material, typescripts, proofs, and notes, for four titles. The collection also contains some reviews and a substantial amount of correspondence to and from Mary Hays Weik and her publishers, editors and others, as well as material from anti-nuclear and world federalist activist groups.
Arrangement
Collection guide arranged alphabetically by title or series name.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Mary Hays Weik gave this collection to the University of Minnesota in 1968 with additional material donated by her daughter, the author and illustrator Ann Grifalconi.
- African Americans -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Authors, American -- 20th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Environmental policy -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jazz -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Musicians -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Nuclear power plants -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Plays Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Radioactive pollution -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Radioactive waste disposal in rivers, lakes, etc. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Radioactivity -- Physiological effect Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Juvenile fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Young adult drama Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Source
- Grifalconi, Ann (Donor, Person)
- Title
- Mary Hays Weik Papers, 1922-2008
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kristell Benson
- Date
- July 26, 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- June-October 2019: New material added and collection guide updated by Caitlin Marineau
- July 2022: New material added by Carter Lynn Thurmond.
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Children's Literature Research Collections Collecting Area
