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Lucille Wallower papers

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Held at: Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection [Contact Us]1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Lucille Wallower (married name Van Horn) was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania on July 27, 1910, and spent most of her life in the Harrisburg area. She attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Art (now University of the Arts) and the Traphagen School of Fashion. In addition to her work as a children’s book author and illustrator, she spent six years as a fashion illustrator and was a children’s librarian in the Harrisburg region for more than thirty years.

Wallower began working as an illustrator in 1937 for the children’s book publisher Albert Whitman & Company. She illustrated five books for Whitman before writing her first self-illustrated book, A Conch Shell for Molly (1940), which was a Junior Literary Guild selection. With a focus on the Pennsylvania Canal, A Conch Shell for Molly was the first of many of Wallower’s books about Pennsylvania history.

Wallower described her early books as “fiction with a historical background” but later transitioned into writing educational texts on Pennsylvania history. Working for the educational publishing house Penns Valley, Wallower wrote Pennsylvania Primer (1954) and All About Pennsylvania (1960) as well as more narrow “geographies” on the Pennsylvania Dutch and black history. She continued writing until 1991, publishing more than forty books, many of which were self-illustrated. Wallower died in Cambridge, New York on August 30, 1999.

Bibliography:

Pennsylvania Center for the Book. “Wallower, Lucille.” Literary and Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State University. Last modified fall 2001. http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Wallower__Lucille.html

Something About the Author, vol. 11.

The papers of Pennsylvania children's author Lucille Wallower contain typewritten drafts and illustrations for many different works, including All About Pennsylvania, Chooky, Colonial Histories: Pennsylvania, A Conch Shell for Molly, The Hippity Hopper: or, Why There Are No Indians in Pennsylvania, Indians of Pennsylvania, The Lost Prince: Louis XVII of France, Mara of Old Babylon, The Morning Star, My Book about Abraham Lincoln, The New Pennsylvania Primer, Old Satan: A Pennsylvania Folk Tale, Pennsylvania ABC, Pennsylvania: A Bicentennial Workshop, The Pennsylvania Dutch, They Came to Pennsylvania, Your Pennsylvania, and Your State, Pennsylvania. Wallower frequently collaborated with local teachers to produce text books for elementary level classes, and many of the works represented in this collection were created specifically for use in the classroom. These works may provide insight into teaching methods in public elementary schools during this time period. They may also be relevant to local historians interested in depictions of Pennsylvania in children’s literature. In addition to the book illustrations there are a few pieces of final art for illustrations she did for magazines and a number of published magazines featuring her artwork and writing. Along with the material produced by Lucille Wallower, this collection contains magazine clippings illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli. De Angeli and Wallower knew one another, and de Angeli's style influenced Wallower's work. Material of particular note from this collection are an almost complete set of final illustrations for The Hippity Hopper (1957) and original artwork for Old Satan. There are also 30 chromolithographs for Wallower's first self-illustrated book, A Conch Shell for Molly (1940).

This collection is arranged alphabetically in Twenty series: 1. All About Pennsylvania; 2. Chooky; 3. Clippings of Marguerite de Angeli illustrations; 4. Colonial Histories: Pennsylvania; 5. A Conch Shell for Molly; 6. The Hippity Hopper: or, Why There Are No Indians in Pennsylvania; 7. Indians of Pennsylvania; 8. The Lost Prince: Louis XVII of France; 9. Magazine Illustrations; 10. Mara of Old Babyon; 11. The Morning Star; 12. My Book about Abraham Lincoln; 13. The New Pennsylvania Primer; 14. Old Satan: A Pennsylvania Folk Tale; 15. Pennsylvania ABC; 16. Pennsylvania: A Bicentennial Workshop; 17. The Pennsylvania Dutch; 18. They Came to Pennsylvania; 19. Your Pennsylvania; and 20. Your State, Pennsylvania. Within each series the materials are arranged in probable order of creation.

Gift of Lucille Wallower, 1974-1982.

Publisher
Free Library of Philadelphia: Children's Literature Research Collection
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Garrett Boos
Finding Aid Date
April 2012
Sponsor
The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.
Access Restrictions

This collection is open to researchers by appointment. Please contact the Curator for information on access.

Use Restrictions

The right of access to material does not imply the right of publication. Permission for reprinting, reproduction, or extensive quotation from the rare books, manuscripts, prints, or drawings must be obtained through written application, stating the use to be made of the material. The reader bears the responsibility for any possible infringement of copyright laws in the publication of such material. A reproduction fee will be charged if the material is to be reproduced in a commercial publication.

Collection Inventory

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1961.
Box 1 Folder 1
Corrected galley proof, circa 1961.
Box 6

Preliminary art for page 41, colored pencil and graphite on board, 1 sheet, circa 1942.
Box 1 Folder 2

American Girl and Lutheran Boys and Girls, 1932-1933.
Box 4 Folder 1
The Portal, 1934-1938.
Box 4 Folder 2
Queen's Gardens, 1938-1939.
Box 4 Folder 3

Draft, revised typescript, circa 1969.
Box 1 Folder 3

Notes on canals, 1939 April 4.
Box 1 Folder 4
First draft, revised typescript, circa 1940.
Box 1 Folder 5
Second draft, corrected typescript, circa 1940.
Box 1 Folder 6
Final art, chromolithographs, 30 sheets, circa 1940.
Box 4 Folder 4-10
Published book, sample binding with variant cover, 1940.
Box 1 Folder 7
Scope and Contents note

CLRC archival copy: Signed on title page by Lucille Wallower. Trial binding, stamped red on green. Includes note from Lucille Wallower identifying binding. Housed with archival collection.

Pamphlets advertising book, circa 1940.
Box 1 Folder 8

General note

Working titles for The Hippity Hopper included Because of a Grasshopper and The Hippity-Hopper.

Research material, circa 1957.
Box 1 Folder 9
First draft, revised typescript, circa 1957.
Box 1 Folder 10
Second draft, corrected typescript, circa 1957.
Box 1 Folder 11
Final art and color separations, graphite, pen and ink, and watercolor on board and acetate, 37 sheets, circa 1957.
Box 5 Object 1
Scope and Contents note

This is almost a complete set of illustrations, lacking only pages 7, 22, 23, and 25. The illustration for page 6 is housed with the Children's Literature Research Collection original framed artwork.

Draft, revised typescript, 1955.
Box 1 Folder 12
Correspondence with editor, 1955 December.
Box 1 Folder 13
Pamphlet advertising book to elementary school teachers, 1956.
Box 1 Folder 14

Correspondence with representatives from French Azilum, Inc. concerning historical research for The Lost Prince, 1956-1963.
Box 4 Folder 15-16
Multiple drafts, corrected typescript with editor's notes, circa 1963.
Box 1 Folder 17-18
Final art and color separations, graphite, pen and ink on board and acetate, 11 sheets, circa 1963.
Box 5
Bibliography and layouts with identifying correspondence, circa 1963.
Box 4 Folder 11
Galley proof, circa 1963.
Box 6
Illustration proofs, 28 sheets, circa 1963.
Box 1 Folder 19
General Physical Description note

Illustrations were originally pinned to the galley proof and were removed for conservation purposes.

Galley proof with illustrations, circa 1963.
Box 6

Scope and Contents note

This series primarily comprises published magazine issues that feature Lucille Wallower's writing and illustrations. There are also a few pieces of final art with the corresponding published issue.

The Classmate, 1935 July 6.
Box 4 Folder 12
The Front Rank, 1933 July 23.
Box 4 Folder 13
Junior Weekly, 1937-1938.
Box 4 Folder 14
Clippings from Juniors and final art for cover of December 1935 issue, pen and ink and crayon on board, 1945-1951.
Box 4 Folder 15
Lutheran Boys and Girls, 1932-1938.
Box 4 Folder 16
Lutheran Young Folks, 1935 April 13.
Box 4 Folder 17
Picture Story Paper and final art for cover of December 1935 issue, pen and ink and crayon on board, 1935-1936.
Box 4 Folder 18
Pilot, 1942 March 28.
Box 4 Folder 19
Queens' Gardens for Girls, 1943 October 23.
Box 4 Folder 20
Clipping of "The Song: A Story of Rumania," from unidentified magazine, undated.
Box 4 Folder 21
Stories, 1941 August-December.
Box 4 Folder 22
Trails for Juniors, 1942-1943.
Box 4 Folder 23

Final art, graphite and pen and ink on board, acetate, and tracing paper, 8 sheets, 1955.
Box 5
Scope and Contents note

Final art for book jacket, title page, and pages 5, 10, 17, 23, 89, and 101.

Unused illustrations with color separations for chapters 1 and 2, graphite and pen and ink on board, acetate, and tracing paper, 4 sheets, 1955.
Box 5

"As Winds Howled in Valley," newspaper clipping on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, undated.
Box 4 Folder 24
Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1957.
Box 2 Folder 1
Final art and color separations, graphite and pen and ink on board and acetate, 15 sheets, circa 1957.
Box 5
Galley proof, circa 1957.
Box 6

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1967.
Box 2 Folder 2
Galley proof, circa 1967.
Box 6

Earlier draft, revised typescript, circa 1970.
Box 2 Folder 3
Intermediate draft, photocopy, circa 1970.
Box 2 Folder 4
Setting copy, photocopy, circa 1970.
Box 2 Folder 5

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1956.
Box 2 Folder 6
Final art and color separations, gouache, graphite and pen and ink on board and acetate, 20 sheets, circa 1956.
Box 5

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1964.
Box 2 Folder 7-8

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1975.
Box 2 Folder 9-10

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1971.
Box 3 Folder 1

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1960.
Box 3 Folder 2

Draft, revised typescript, circa 1953.
Box 3 Folder 3
Final art for pages 21, 43, 93, and 167, pen and ink on board, 4 sheets, circa 1953.
Box 4 Folder 25 Object 2
General note

The illustration for page 93 is housed with the Children's Literature Research Collection original framed artwork.

Arrangement note

The arrangement in this subseries reflects original order.

First draft of additional chapter "Anthony Wayne: A Great General," corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 4
Second draft of additional chapter "Anthony Wayne: A Great General," corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 5
First draft of additional chapter "Pittsburgh: The Gateway to the West," corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 6
Second draft of additional chapter "Pittsburgh: The Gateway to the West," corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 7
First draft of additional chapter "Stories from the 'Chimney Corner,'" corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 8
Second draft of additional chapter "Stories from the 'Chimney Corner,'" corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 9
Draft of additional chapter "Your State Government," corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 10
Draft of additional chapter "Let's Have a County Fair," corrected typescript, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 11
Correspondence regarding publication of second edition, circa 1958.
Box 3 Folder 12

Draft, corrected typescript, circa 1959.
Box 3 Folder 13

Print, Suggest