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Bruce and Beatrice Blackmar Gould Correspondence
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. 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
Beatrice Blackmar Gould was an editor of the Ladies' Home Journal in collaboration with her spouse Bruce Gould from 1935 to 1967. During the 1920s and 1930s, Gould was a contributing editor for the New York World and a short story writer. She also collaboratively published plays, articles, short stories, and an autobiography with her husband.
Gould, Bruce.Bruce Gould was an editor of the Ladies' Home Journal in collaboration with his spouse Beatrice Blackmar Gould from 1935 to 1967. During the 1920s and 1930s, Gould was a reporter and literary and aviation editor for the New York Evening Post, drama critic for the Wall Street News, and associate editor (1934-1935) of the Saturday Evening Post. He authored two books on aviation, Sky Larking (1929) and The Flying Dutchman (1931), as well as collaboratively published plays, articles, short stories, and an autobiography with his wife.
The collection consists primarily of correspondence of Bruce Gould and Beatrice Blackmar Gould relating to their co-editorship (1935-1967) of the Ladies' Home Journal, published by the Curtis Publishing Company. There is some early correspondence (1920s-1930s) concerning Bruce Gould's work for the Saturday Evening Post, and the Goulds' co-authorship of various short stories and plays, including Man's Estate. However, most of the correspondence is with writers and associates concerning articles and stories for the Ladies' Homes Journal and various trips taken by the Goulds to India, Russia, Japan, and Europe, often on behalf of the Ladies' Homes Journal.
During the Goulds' editorship of the Ladies' Home Journal, they boosted the once languishing magazine to the one having the highest paid circulation of the day. In addition to promoting the family and women's concerns, coining the phrase "Never Underestimate the Power of a Woman," they also dealt with many other social and political issues, while at the same time publishing top literary authors.
Correspondents include Daphne Du Maurier, William Benton, Dorothy Thompson, Rebecca West, Lady Nancy Astor, Karen Blixen, Dorothy Black, and Ethel Barrymore. There are letters by a number of actresses, including Helen Hayes, Gloria Swanson, Loretta Young, Vivien Leigh, Mary Pickford, and Debbie Reynolds, as well as first ladies, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Pat Nixon, Mamie Eisenhower, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Also present is a large file of correspondence relating to the writing and publication of The Little Princess (1950), about Queen Elizabeth II, by Marion Crawford.
In addition, there are small groups of speeches (1946-1961) by Beatrice Blackmar Gould and speeches by others, as well as some miscellaneous clippings and printed matter.
Materials are arranged into the following four series: Series 1. Correspondence; Series 2. Speeches by Beatrice Blackmar Gould; Series 3. Speeches by Others; and Series 4. Printed Matter.
Deposited in 1971, and later purchased from Mrs. Sesaly Krafft in 1989 (AM 90-90).
This collection was processed in 1995. A series-level finding aid was written in 1995.
A folder inventory was added by Fiona Bell '18 and the finding aid description was updated by Kelly Bolding in January 2017.
No materials were separated during 2017 processing.
People
- Elizabeth II Queen of Great Britain 1926-
- Gould, Beatrice Blackmar
- Gould, Bruce.
- Margaret, Princess, Countess of Snowdon, 1930-2002
- Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994.
Organization
Subject
- Actresses as authors -- United States -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Editors -- New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- First ladies -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Journalism -- Editing -- New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Periodicals -- Publishing -- New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Women periodical editors -- New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Women's periodicals, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Fiona Bell '18; Kelly Bolding
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Collection Inventory
This series is arranged into three subseries: Personal, Travel, and Ladies Home Journal.
Consists of correspondence of Bruce and Beatrice Blackmar Gould, including personal correspondence, correspondence regarding travel, and correspondence regarding their work at the Ladies Home Journal. The latter is the most substantial and includes incoming and outgoing correspondence with business associates, contributors, actresses, first ladies, and others.
Physical Description13 boxes
Arranged alphabetically.
Consists of correspondence primarily concerning the publishing or producing (on stage) of the writings of Bruce and Beatrice Blackmar Gould prior to their co-editorship of the Ladies Home Journal. Includes correspondence with the American Play Company, Horace Liveright, Leland Hayward, the Richard J. Madden Play Company, and the Saturday Evening Post. There are also Theatre Guild box office statements for Man's Estate, and a few letters by Elizabeth Ames, Edward Bok, Lowell Brentano, Guthrie McClintic, and others.
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Dated January 14. No year.
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Arranged chronologically.
Consists of itineraries, letters of introduction, and related correspondence concerning various trips taken by the Goulds primarily as representatives of the Ladies Home Journal, including travel to Europe, the Pacific, and the Mediterranean during World War II, India (1952), Russia (1956), and several later trips to Europe and Great Britain. Dates listed as a part of file titles refer to the dates of the trip rather than the dates of file contents, which are recorded separately.
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Consists of correspondence, mostly letters received but also some copies of outgoing letters, spanning nearly three decades of the Goulds' co-editorship of the Ladies Home Journal primarily concerning articles, stories, or commissioned books to be published in the magazine. Includes correspondence of Marion Crawford about her The Little Princess, Betty Hoffman about her Born to Be Queen, and correspondence of Nancy Astor and Ethel Barrymore on their proposed biographies. Also represented are a number of stage and screen stars such as Irene Dunne, Helen Hayes, Loretta Young, and Mary Pickford, as well as many authors and business associates including Daphne Du Maurier, Dorothy Thompson, Rebecca West, Dorothy Black, Dermot Morrah, and Cass Canfield, and first ladies, including Pat Nixon, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Mamie Eisenhower.
Arranged alphabetically.
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Corresponedence re. her autobiography
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re. The Little Princesses
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re. The Little Princesses
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misc. re: The Little Princesses
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et. al. re: Born to Be Queen "Dutch Princess"
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re: Pegler vs. LHJ
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Arranged chronologically.
Consists of thirteen speeches by Beatrice Blackmar Gould relating to her career in journalism, which she gave to organizations including the National Association of Broadcasters, the American Women's Association, and the National Association of Magazine Publishers.
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Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Consists of thirteen speeches by Herbert Read, Charles Kessler, Margaret Hickey, Agnes E. Meyer, George Gallup, and others, which Beatrice Blackmar Gould kept as reference material. There is also a transcript of the proceedings of a Ladies Home Journal-sponsored panel discussion on anti-American sentiments abroad held in New York on May 12, 1954.
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Transcript of proceedings.
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Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Consists of various printed matter, including clippings of reviews, proofs, pamphlets, invitations, advertisements, and miscellaneous memorabilia, related to the Goulds and the publications and events with which they were involved.
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Consists of a transcript of a Ladies Home Journal panel discussion on Anti-American sentiments abroad (1954), clippings of reviews by and about the Goulds, and miscellaneous memorabilia.
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