Meeting May Massee The literary legacy of May Massee Ashley Todd-Diaz, MSIS, MA, CA Assistant Professor Curator of Special Collections and Archives Emporia State University.
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Meeting May Massee The literary legacy of May Massee Ashley Todd-Diaz, MSIS, MA, CA Assistant Professor Curator of Special Collections and Archives Emporia State University The May Massee Collection Who was May Massee? Teacher, librarian, publisher May Massee, 1883-1966 • Taught for one year as a teenager and then attended library school • Became children’s librarian at Buffalo Public Library in New York • • Booklist editor for ALA • Became children’s book editor at Doubleday Page in 1922 • Ran Junior Books division at Viking Press, Inc. from 1932-1960 • Continued as a consulting editor for Viking Press until 1966 Represented Carl Sandburg as his freelance literary agent May Massee’s accomplishments • Between 1923 and 1933, May established two of the first three children’s book divisions at major publishing houses: Doubleday Page and Viking Press • Bridged the gap between librarianship, children’s book publishing, and selling children’s books • Established connections with many talented authors and illustrators who went on to win Viking Press a higher proportion of awards and honors than any other publishing house in the history of children’s book publishing Artists whose works are part of the May Massee Collection Adams, Adrienne, 1906-2002 Gannett, Ruth, 1896-1979 Robinson, Ethel Fay ,1878-1960 Angelo, Valenti Michael, 1897-1982 Gay, Zhenya, 1906-1978 Robinson, Thomas P., 1878-1954 Artzybasheff, Boris, 1899-1965 Hader, Berta, 1891-1976 Rojankovsky, Feodor, 1891-1970 Bell, Corydon, 1894-1920 Hader, Elmer, 1889-1973 Schreiber, Georges, 1904-1977 Bemelmans, Ludwig, 1898-1962 Hall, Natalie Watson Seredy, Kate, 1899-1975 Billings, Henry, 1901-1987 Hill, Donna Marie, 1921Sewell, Helen, 1896-1957 Buff, Conrad, 1886-1975 Lawson, Robert, 1892-1957 Simont, Marc, 1915Charlot, Jean, 1898-1979 Lee, Manning de Villeneuve, 1894- Swayne, Samuel F., 1907-2001 D’Aulaire, Edgar, 1898-1986 1980 Swayne, Zoa, 1905-2000 D’Aulaire, Ingri, 1904-1980 MacKinstry, Elizabeth, 1879-1956 Torrey, Marjorie, 1899-1964 Daugherty, James, 1889-1974 McCloskey, Robert, 1914-2003 Troyer, Johannes, 1902Dawson, Richard Monath, Elizabeth, 1907-1986 Van Eersel, Otto, Dawson, Rosemary Mora, F. Luis, 1874-1940 Van Stockum, Hilda, 1908-2006 De Angeli, Marguerite, 1889-1987 Morse, Dorothy Bayley, 1906-1979 Villarejo, Mary, Dennis, Morgan, 189[1 or 2]-1960 Müller, Hans Alexander, 1888-1962 Waite, Esther, 1899Dennis, Wesley, 1903-1966 Pabst, Louise Lemp, 1909-1977 Ward, Lynd, 1905-1985 DuBois, William Pène, 1916-1993 Paull, Grace, 1898-1990 Wells, Rhea, 1891-1931 Earle, Eyvind, 1916-2000 Petersham, Maud, 1890-1971 Wiese, Kurt, 1887-1974 Ets, Marie Hall, [1895-1988 or Petersham, Miska, 1888-1960 Williams, Berkeley, Jr. 1893-1984] Politi, Leo, 1908-1996 Falls, Charles Buckles, 1874-19[57 Ravielle, Anthony, 1916-1997 or 60] Rietveld, Jane Klatt, 1913Freeman, Don, 1908-1978 Robinson, Lincoln Fay, 1909-2000 Best Sellers first published by May Massee • Robert McCloskey’s books Make Way for Ducklings, One Morning in Maine, Time of Wonder, and Blueberries for Sal • • • • • Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline books Don Freeman’s books Corduroy and Mop Top Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony Munro Leaf ’s The Story of Ferdinand The May Massee Collection web page • Find information about the collection, and listen to an audio interview with May Massee at: http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/archives/collections/m ay-massee-collection.html Original artwork and artifacts Selected examples from the collection Poppyseed Cakes (1923) by Mary E. Clark, illustrations by Maud and Miska Petersham A Tree for Peter (1941) written and illustrated by Kate Seredy In Norway (1948) by Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen, illustrations by Eyvind Earle The Quiz Kids’ Book (1947) illustrations by Richard Dawson Himself and Burlap on TV (1954) written and illustrated by Morgan Dennis What’s Your Name (1955) written and illustrated by Zhenya Gay The Uninvited Donkey (1957) by Anne Hitchcock White, illustrations by Don Freeman May Massee’s office, designed by architect Eric Gugler The Taurus medallion by Gugler Engage with the collection Explore, research, learn Visit the May Massee Gallery Research within the May Massee Collection Schedule an educational program • Make Way for Ducklings program • Local 3rd grade classes • Built off of the Common Core • Activities focusing on: • • • • • • • Critical thinking Discussion of characters and storyline Relationship between text and illustrations Creative process Art appreciation Foreign languages Geography Contact us! The collection is available for research or viewing. Gallery hours correspond with business hours, listed below. Contact information: Ashley Todd-Diaz Assistant Professor, Curator of Special Collections and Archives Emporia State University Campus Box 5041 1 Kellogg Circle Emporia, Kansas 66801 (620) 341-5034 [email protected] Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 8:00-5:00 or by appointment