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West Virginia and Regional History Center
1549 University Ave.P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
Business Number: 304-293-3536
wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com
URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu
Staff of the West Virginia & Regional History Center
Administrative Information
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Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Conditions Governing Access
No special access restriction applies.
Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Margaret Prescott Montague, Author, Papers, A&M 1110, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Processing Information
In September 2018, A&M 1152 and 1169 were formally merged into this collection. The former custodian of this collection had
donated A&M 1152 and 1169 the year following the donation of A&M 1110, likely with the intention of adding them to the first
collection. Previous processors had already interfiled 1152 and 1169 into this collection and described the three collections
as one. When reprocessing this collection, we tried to maintain the original intellectual arrangement as best we could. The
note from the original paper finding aid is as follows:
The Montague papers were presented to the West Virginia Collection by the author's brother, the Reverend Cary Montague of
Richmond, Virginia. Miss Ellen Lee Ball had custody of the papers from 1955 to 1958 and spent much time and effort in arranging
and annotating the collection. Further processing and cataloging has been done by the staff of the West Virginia Collection.
Biographical / Historical
Margaret Prescott Montague was born on November 28, 1878 at "Oakhurst," the Montague homestead near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Of New England parentages, she inherited the cultural milieu of the Back Bay as well as that of the West Virginia highlands. Her early education was undertaken by her parents; in her middle teens she was attending Miss Gussie Daniel's school in Richmond, Virginia. It was Miss Gussie, according to Miss Montague, who "discovered my small ability."
Under the influence of the local colorists, Miss Montague turned to the mountain folk of West Virginia for her early novels: The Poet, Miss Kate , and I (1905), The Sowing of Alderson Cree (1907), and In Calvert's Valley (1908). Linda (1912), showed a trend away from the earlier folk literature, oscillating as the novel did between the Back Bay and the back woods.
From 1909 on Miss Montague was subject to "severe physical afflictions" that left her partially blind and deaf for the rest of her career. Always an intensely religious person, she now sought to find self-realization and truth in Christian mysticism and a philosophy of ennoblement through suffering. These themes marked much of her work after 1915. Closed Doors (1915) was a study of handicapped children at the West Virginia School of the Deaf and Blind. In "The Lucky Lady" (1933) Miss Montague asserted that man was still master of his fate and also his handicaps. She recorded her mystical experiences in such articles as "Twenty Minutes of Reality" (1916) and "Leaves from a Secret Journal'' (1926) written under the nome de plume of Jane Steger.
From 1915 she turned more and more to the shorter forms of prose, the short story and essay. She wrote a series of wartime stories, and won the first O. Henry Memorial Prize in 1919 for "England to America" which has become an American classic. Her passionate interest in politics, absent in most of her writings, was the moving force of "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge" (1920), a plea for ratification of the League Covenant. The story was made into a film and became an issue in the presidential election of 1920.
In Deep Channel (1923), her last full length novel, Miss Montague returned to the locale of her earlier novels, yet the book was a more skillful and sophisticated work, closely tied to the new literature of the 1920s and, in the words of Professor Stuart P. Sherman, "animated by the passion for self-realization." In a lighter vein were the legendary exploits of Tony Beaver, the Paul Bunyan of West Virginia, which Miss Montague published as a collection of short stories in Up Eel River (1928).
While the author continued writing short stories, essays, poetry, and completed a long unpublished novel in the 1930s, her didactic writings had been part of a world less harsh and irrational than that the United States of the depression decade. Her works now belong to a passing era. Nevertheless, she was active with her pen almost until the time of her death in Richmond, Virginia on September 26, 1955.
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, manuscripts, notes and notebooks, diaries, press clippings, photographs, and printed material of a West Virginia essayist, short-story writer, poet and novelist, who won the first O. Henry Memorial Prize in 1919 for her short story, "England to America." The papers include correspondence from editors, publishers, agents and critics; readers' correspondence; family letters; manuscripts of short stories and other works; outlines, plots, and drafts; and diaries and notebooks primarily concerned with religious meditation, Christian mysticism, and Miss Montague's concept of human ennoblement through suffering. Correspondents include Bernard Baruch, Russell Doubleday, Howard M. Gore, M.A. DeWolfe Howe, Vachel Lindsay, Christopher Morley, Philip Van Doren Stern, Joseph P. Tumulty, and Woodrow Wilson.
Related Material
582, 1110, 1348, 2218
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Authors -- Letters and papers
- Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965
- Diaries and journals.
- Doubleday, Russell, 1872-1949
- Gore, Howard M.
- Howe, M. A. De Wolfe (Mark Antony De Wolfe), 1864-1960
- Lindsay, Vachel, 1879-1931
- Montague, Margaret Prescott, 1878-1955
- Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957
- Poets and poetry.
- Religion. SEE ALSO Churches.
- Stern, Philip Van Doren, 1900-1984
- Tumulty, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick), 1879-1954
- Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
- Women's history -- 1850-1899
- Women's history -- 1900-1929
- Women's history -- 1929-1950
- Women's history -- 1951-present
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965
- Doubleday, Russell, 1872-1949
- Gore, Howard M.
- Howe, M. A. De Wolfe (Mark Antony De Wolfe), 1864-1960
- Lindsay, Vachel, 1879-1931
- Montague, Margaret Prescott, 1878-1955
- Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957
- Stern, Philip Van Doren, 1900-1984
- Tumulty, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick), 1879-1954
- Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Container List
Includes correspondence from editors, publishers, agents, and critics; readers; general correspondence; and correspondence from Montague herself.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 1
Publishers' Correspondence, A1911–1942Scope and Contents
Correspondents include Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, American Foundation for the Blind, The American Red Cross, Mary Asquith, Atlantic Monthly.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 2
Publishers' Correspondence, Atlantic Monthly, Ellery Sedgwick1909–1938
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 3
Publishers' Correspondence, B-E (1 of 2)1905–1946Scope and Contents
Correspondents include Baker and Taylor Company; Katharine N. Birdsall; Brentano's; Charles Wakefield Cadman; Frederich H. Chase; Christian Observer; Robert Collier, Inc.; Crowell Publishing Company; Daniels Studios; A. Mervyn Davies; Doubleday, Doran and Company; Doubleday, Page and Company; E.P. Dutton and Company; The Exposition Press.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 4
Publishers' Correspondence, B-E (2 of 2)1905–1946Scope and Contents
Correspondents include Baker and Taylor Company; Katharine N. Birdsall; Brentano's; Charles Wakefield Cadman; Frederich H. Chase; Christian Observer; Robert Collier, Inc.; Crowell Publishing Company; Daniels Studios; A. Mervyn Davies; Doubleday, Doran and Company; Doubleday, Page and Company; E.P. Dutton and Company; The Exposition Press.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 5
Publishers' Correspondence, F-M1904–1944Scope and Contents
Correspondents include The Form; Goldwin Pictures Corporation; Harper and Brothers; Harper's Bazaar; Harper's Magazine; Houghton Mifflin Company; Jefferson Jones; The Ladies Home Journal. Christopher Morley; Liberty; Library of Congress; Little, Brown Company; C.R. Maculey Photoplays, Inc.; The MacMillian Company; Frank A. Munsey Company.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 6
Publishers' Correspondence, N-Z1916–1941Scope and Contents
Correspondents include National Broadcasting Company; The North American Review; The Outlook Company. Lawrence F. Abbott; Felix Orman; Paget Literary Agency; Pocket Books, Inc.; Board of Christian Education, Presbyterian Church, USA; Reader's Digest; Charles I. Reid; Paul R. Reynolds; Saturday Review of Literature. Henry S. Canby; Robert Haven Schauffler; Henry Staton; The Steck Company; Service for Authors, Inc.; The Trend; Toronto Star Weekly; The Volta Review; Walt Disney Productions, Lts.; The Yale Review. Henry S. Canby; The West Virginia Review.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 7
Publishers' Correspondence, "England to America"1919–1944Scope and Contents
Correspondents include Oscar Cargill, Edgar White Burrell, Russell Doubleday, Meredith Page, Ellery Sedgwick, Philip Van Doren Stern.
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 8
Readers' Correspondence, "England to America"1919–1937
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 9
Readers' Correspondence, "Leaves from a Secret Journal"1925–1941
- Mixed Materials Box: 1 Folder: 10
Readers' Correspondence, "The Lucky Lady"1933–1936
- Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 1
Readers' Correspondence, "Twenty Minutes of Reality"1916–1940
- Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 2
Readers' Correspondence, "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge"1920Scope and Contents
Also includes publishers correspondence.
- Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 3
Readers' Correspondence, Regarding Various Short Stories and Articles (1 of 2)1907–1941
- Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 4
Readers' Correspondence, Regarding Various Short Stories and Articles (2 of 2)1907–1941
- Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 5
General Correspondence from Well-Known Persons (folder 1 of 2)1911–1942Scope and Contents
Correspondents include
Dr. E. A. Alderman
Mary Antin
Irving Bacheller
Bernard M. Baruch
Gamaliel Bradford
Milledge L. Bonham
Glenn Clark
Frederick Perry Fish
M.A. DeWolfe Howe
Basil King
Mary Johnson
Rufus M. Jones
Howard M. Gore
Gardiner Martin Lane
Vachel Lindsay
Edward W. Osborne
Margaret Dreier Robins
Laura E. Richards
Stuart Pratt Sherman
Joseph P. Tumulty
James Southall Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Simon Wolf
Dr. Elwood Worcester
Owen D. Young
Sir. Francis Younghusband - Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 6
General Correspondence from Well-Known Persons (folder 2 of 2)1911–1942Scope and Contents
Correspondents include
Dr. E. A. Alderman
Mary Antin
Irving Bacheller
Bernard M. Baruch
Gamaliel Bradford
Milledge L. Bonham
Glenn Clark
Frederick Perry Fish
M.A. DeWolfe Howe
Basil King
Mary Johnson
Rufus M. Jones
Howard M. Gore
Gardiner Martin Lane
Vachel Lindsay
Edward W. Osborne
Margaret Dreier Robins
Laura E. Richards
Stuart Pratt Sherman
Joseph P. Tumulty
James Southall Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Simon Wolf
Dr. Elwood Worcester
Owen D. Young
Sir. Francis Younghusband - Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 7
Correspondence from Dr. and Mrs. Richard C. Cabotca. 1914-1943
- Mixed Materials Box: 2 Folder: 8
Correspondence of Mrs. K. G McGee1936–1940
- Mixed Materials Box: 15 Folder: 1
Miscellaneous Correspondence1893–1958
- Mixed Materials Box: 15 Folder: 2
Correspondence from Montague's European Trip1907Scope and Contents
Many of the letters are written to family. This folder was originally part of A&M 1152.
- Mixed Materials Box: 15 Folder: 3
Correspondence from Montague's European Trip1907Scope and Contents
Many of the letters are written to family. This folder was originally part of A&M 1152.
- Mixed Materials Box: 15 Folder: 4
Letters from Montague to her Family1907–1919Scope and Contents
Some of these letters were written while on her European tour.
Includes drafts (typescripts and manuscripts), published works, and various notes. Works include short stories, articles, essays, plays, poetry, and a novel. Also includes a few folders of publications by other people that Montague may have used for inspiration.
- Mixed Materials Box: 3
Drafts, Short Storiesca. 1895-1946Scope and Contents
Mostly typescripts of short stories, some with annotations. Stories include:
"Altars of Earth"
"At the Fall of the Year"
"The Baby Angel"
"The Battlefield"
"The Benefit of the Doubt"
"Big Music"
"Blue Silk and Gingham Apron" (1st page)
"The Cloak of Dreams"
"Cock Crow"
"Concerning the Mystery"
"The Dark Tower"
"Fine Growing Weather" and "Nice Growin Weather"
"The First Breakfast "
"In the Grip of John Hamilton"
"A Good Bargain"
"Grand Rough Old Martin Luther"
"The Great Sleep Tanks"
"The Kiss at Large"
"The Last Tenth"
"The Lucky Lady"
"North Plays South"
"Portrait of a Saint"
"Pretty Gal"
"The Squirt Gun"
"The Storm in the Mountains"
"The Third Rail"
"To the Unknown People"
"The Troubles of Tipsy Turpentine"
"Victory of Dorothy Ellis"
"Visitors from the Air"
"The Ways of Providence"
"What Trouble Is"
"The Word"
"A Yard of Nonsense" - Mixed Materials Box: 4
Drafts, Articles and Other Proseca. 1895-1946Scope and Contents
Mostly typescript drafts of articles and other prose writings, some with annotations. Includes:
Acquiring a Social Conscience
At the Long Last
Baby and the Steam Shovel
Blue Birds for the Blind
Christians and Criminals
The Closing of the Doors
The Danger in Gardens
Deliverance
A Dinner of Herbs
Do They Bite You
Dog's Eye View
The Doll-Baby Dresses
A Farewell and a Message
A Fugitive Seeks Sanctuary
The Game
The Girl and the Mountains
God and a Few Souls
The Great Awakener
The Ground of Thy Beseeching
The Hidden Flame
Home to Him's Muvver
The Hungry House
John Bull at His Window
Lee's Old Gray Nag
Let the People Praise Thee, O God
Lion-In-The-Conversation
The Night After Christmas
An Offering of Worship
An Open Letter to All the School Children in the United States
Papa in Soap
Pictures of Englishman
Pioneers of Silence
In Praise of Machines
Prayer for the World
The Rally For Death
Shingles from an Old Roof
Sister Water
Squints
Some Lesser Loves
Tangier
Thoughts
Time for Immemorial to Seek the Rest Cure
Time Dispatch (Richmond), Letter to the Editor
To the Women of America
A Tribute of Praise
Waifie
When Gold May Lose its Glamour
When Nature Takes the Lid Off
The Women's Moment - Mixed Materials Box: 5 Folder: 1-3
Drafts, Plays1921–1943Scope and Contents
Typescript drafts of "The Spell," "For the Fighting Men," and "Gold"
- Drafts, Poetryca. 1895-1945Scope and Contents
Includes a variety of notes and drafts of poetry.
- Mixed Materials Box: 5 Folder: 4-8
Draft poems and collections of poetryca. 1905-1943Scope and Contents
Mostly typescripts, some with annotations. One folder contains material that may have originally been part of A&M 1152.
- Mixed Materials Box: 6 Folder: 1-2
Poems from "A Toast to Life," "From a Secret Journal," and other manuscript poemsca. 1895-1945
- Mixed Materials Box: 6 Folder: 3-5
Poetry notes and draftsca. 1895-1945
- Mixed Materials Box: 6 Folder: 6
Poetry note pads and draftsca. 1895-1945
- Mixed Materials Box: 6 Folder: 7
"Verse"1937
- Mixed Materials Box: 5 Folder: 4-8
- Mixed Materials Box: 7
Drafts, Novel1936–1941Scope and Contents
Two typescripts of unpublished novel, The Answer, (also called Life and Hands ?) with publishers critiques and rejection notices.
- Notes on Works1893–1946Scope and Contents
Includes outlines, plots, and drafts of short stories and essays, novels, plays, and miscellaneous works.
- Mixed Materials Box: 8 Mixed Materials Box: 16
Short Stories and Essays1893–1946Scope and Contents
Includes outlines, plots, and drafts of short stories and essays, including:
The Answer Is…
Beauty of the Earth
Belief in Billy
Brains, Brawn, and Something More
Catching Stride with One's Self
The Christmas Gift
Closed Doors
Danger in Gardens
The Dogwood Road
The Door Keeper
Drifts of Opinion on the Colour Question
Ecstasy
Education for Life
The Engagement
Fiction and New York
Fire
For Age on Age
For France
The Forgiveness of Sins
The Gate of Life and other Ann Eversole stories
The Gift
The Gift of Herself
A Good Bedside Manner
Great Adventure
Hidden Portals
The Hound of Heaven
I Must Confess
The Impending Fate
The Inexorable Master
The Intoxication of Danger
The King's Letter
The Lady Agriculturist
Leaves From a Secrete Journal
Let's Save the World
The Little Comrade
Looking at Life
The Lost Love
Loving His Brother
The Millions Inherit Kitty
A Million Little Colorless Women
The Negro Sense of Humor
O Muse!
O Theophilus
On Brick Walls
On the Lack of Fairness in the American Nation
On Flowers
On Saying Sara
On Voyages of Discovery
Once I Was A Water Lilly
Out Burst
The Old Man of the Sea
The Other Truth
The Pulse of the World
Salvation for the Magazines
The Seeing Eye
Studies on Loneliness
Temper or Temperature
This is the Day
The Three Swords
Thus Spake Zarathustra
To Miss Mary Jefferies
To Recommend Edward Imagination
The Most Unforgettable Person I Ever Knew [Twenty Minutes of Reality?]
Understanding Algernon
The Unexpectedness of God
Up Eel River
The Victoria
A Travel Story
Wings of the Morning
White Hollyhock - Mixed Materials Box: 9 Folder: 1
Novels1925, undatedScope and Contents
Includes outlines and plots for the following novels:
A Call for Volunteers
The Alabaster Box
The Builder
The Curse
Money - Mixed Materials Box: 9 Folder: 2
PlaysundatedScope and Contents
Includes outlines, notes, and drafts for the following plays:
Elizabeth
Home
The Spell - Mixed Materials Box: 9 Folder: 3-7
MiscellaneousundatedScope and Contents
Includes notes, plots, etc. on unidentified works as well as notes on writing.
- Mixed Materials Box: 8 Mixed Materials Box: 16
- Mixed Materials Box: 10 Mixed Materials Box: 11 Mixed Materials Box: 17
Diaries and Notebooks1906–1948Scope and Contents
Includes diaries and notebooks, which include religious meditations and observations, drafts of works and notes about her work, correspondence, and more:
Box 10.
Diary, 1906, 1927
Diary, 1907 (account of a trip to Europe)
Diary, 1917, 1925-1927 (record of personal income, charities, household accounts, writing and manuscripts submitted for publication)
Diary, Etc., 1927, 1928, 1929, 1942 (also portions of a play, Awake)
Diary, 1929-1933
Diary, Meditation, 1929
Guidance record, 1929
Diary, 1935-1938, 1944
Diary, 1936-1940
Box 11:
Diary, A Tapestry of Thought, 1908-1912, 1915-1925 (portions published as "Leaves from a Secrete Journal")
Diary, A Book of Pleasant Things, 1947-1948 (essays and reminiscences)
Diary, 1910-1915 (manuscripts sent to publishers), 1927 (religious meditations)
Notebook, 1908 (notes and plots)
Notebook, undated (notes, plots, and accounts)
Notebook, undated (Biblical and religious quotations)
Notebook undated (notes on the blind)
Note pads, 2 vols (notes, poetry and letters)
Notes for lectures, 1927
Box 17:
Diary with notes on flowers
"Diary" of verse and miscellaneous notes
Booklet, "A Happy New Year" (originally from A&M 1169)
Notebook, undated
Notebook, undated
Miscellaneous Notes - Mixed Materials Box: 12
Material on Suffering, Etc.undatedScope and Contents
Includes essays, notes, and outlines on handicaps, death, fear, nerves, the philosophy of suffering, and Montague's attitude toward suffering.
- Printed Works1905–1942Scope and Contents
Includes published articles, poetry, short stories, etc., materials advertising Montague's works, and inspirational publications.
- Mixed Materials Box: 13 Folder: 1-6
Printed Works and Advertisementsca. 1905-1942Scope and Contents
Includes published articles, poetry, short stories, etc. appearing in newspapers, journals, magazines, etc., as well as material advertising "The Lucky Lady," "Up Eel River," "Deep Channel," and the film version of "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge." Also includes the short version of "Twenty Minutes of Reality" along with a complete but unbound copy of the book version. (A second, incomplete unbound copy of "Twenty Minutes of Reality" will be housed with the Rare Book Librarian for use as a teaching tool.)
- Mixed Materials Box: 13 Folder: 7-11
Inspirational Publications1917–1939Scope and Contents
Includes pamphlets, booklets, etc. mostly on religious and psychological subjects.
-
Oversize Clippings1925–1940Scope and Contents
Includes oversize clippings from magazines and newspapers that contain published works. Also includes sheet music for "The Christmas Street"
- Mixed Materials Box: 13 Folder: 1-6
Press clippings (mostly from newspapers) and biographical information. Includes two clipping scrapbooks, for "The Poet, Miss Kate, and I" and "In Calvert's Valley." Also includes folders of clippings for "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge," "Closed Doors," "Deep Channel," "England to America," "Home to Him's Muvver," "Linda," "Twenty Minutes of Reality," and "Up Eel River" as well as miscellaneous clippings.