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Mary Hays Weik Papers

 Collection
Identifier: CLRC-1618

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

  • Creation: 1922 - 2008

Creator

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.

Related Materials

Materials related to Weik's daughter may be found in the Ann Grifalconi papers.

An additional collection of Mary Hays Weik's papers can be found at the University of Michigan.

Source

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 Thurmond.

Collecting Area Details

Contact The Children's Literature Research Collections Collecting Area

Contact:
Suite 113, Elmer L. Andersen Library