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Elizabeth Jamison Hodges Papers, circa 1960-1999

 Collection
Identifier: 060

Collection Overview

The collection contains typescripts of pantoums; notes, draft typescripts, page proofs, and galleys of three published works by Hodges - Serendipity Tales, A Song for Gilgamesh, and The Three Princes of Serendip. It also includes a number of unpublished manuscripts, a small amount of publisher correspondence, several audio recordings, and a photograph of Hodges.

Dates

  • circa 1960-1999

Creator

Access to Collection

This collection is open to research.

Copyright Restrictions

The Cambridge Public Library Archives and Special Collections does not hold copyright on the materials in the collection. It is the responsibility of the user to understand and observe copyright law and obtain copyright from the original creator.

The copyright law of the United States, Title 17, U.S. Code, governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of the specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction of copyrighted material is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research" (17 U.S.C. § 108). If a user makes a request for or later uses a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable to prosecution for copyright infringement. The Cambridge Public Library Archives and Special Collections reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Biography

Elizabeth Jamison Hodges was born in Atlanta, Ga. in 1908 to William Lemmon Hodges and Elizabeth Jamison Hodges (1884-1980), the oldest of three children. Schooled in the Boston and New York areas, she graduated from Radcliffe College (A.B. 1931) and Simmons College (B.S. 1937). She was a librarian at the Boston Public Library (1937-1941), the Detroit Public Library (1941-1943), and at public libraries in Arlington, Watertown, Leominster, and Belmont, Mass. After World War II, following in her father’s footsteps (who was a major in the army), she was the Command Librarian for the Third Army in Germany, establishing libraries for American occupation troops. In the 1960s she travelled to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) to collect material for two of her children’s books: The Three Princes of Serendip (New York 1964, illustrated by Joan Berg) and Serendipity Tales (New York, 1966, illustrated by June Atkin Corwin). She published two other children’s books: A Song for Gilgamesh (New York, 1971, illustrated by David Omar White), and Free as a Frog (New York, 1971, illustrated by Paul Giovanopoulos). She was also a New York Times Children’s book reviewer. She taught creative writing at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement for 20 years. She died on October 21, 1999 in New London, NH.

Sources: The New York Times,"Review: Three Princes of Serendip", May 24, 1964.

The New York Times, "W.L. Hodges is dead; Electrical Engineer", August 30, 1934.

"The Indian Subcontinent in Literature for Children and Young Adults: An Annotated Bibliography of English-language Books", edited by Meena Khorana, (North Carolina: Greenwood Press, 1991), 291.

Extent

5.8 (does not include galley proofs) Linear feet

4.8 (does not include galley proofs) Cubic Feet

12 boxes (9 Hollinger boxes, 1 legal Hollinger box, and 2 oversize boxes)

2,500 Items

1 Photographic Prints

Language of Materials

English

Organization of Collection

There are approximately 2,500 items organized into the following three series:

Series 1: Published Works

Series 2: Unpublished Manuscripts

Series 3: Audio and Visual Materials

Material is grouped alphabetically within series.

Provenance

This collection was donated by Elizabeth Jamison Hodges through her niece, Nancy Solodar, in January 2000.

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Patsy Baudoin in January 2009, rehoused and partially reprocessed by Christine Di Bella in June 2015, and encoded by Moira Mackay under the supervision of Alyssa Pacy in February 2017.
Title
Elizabeth Jamison Hodges Papers, 1908-1999
Status
Completed
Author
Finding Aid written Patsy Baudoin in January 2009, partially rewritten by Christine Di Bella in June 2015, and Moira Mackay under the supervision of Alyssa Pacy (EAD author February 2017).
Date
January 2009, June 2015, and February 2017.
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Cambridge Room, Cambridge Public Library Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Cambridge Public Library
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Cambridge MA 02138 USA
617-349-7757