Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1110

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 linear feet (3 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Edgar Meck Dilley writings, 1876-1923, Ms. Coll. 1110, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1876-1923 (inclusive) and 1911-1923 (bulk)

Creator:

Dilley, Edgar M. (Edgar Meck)

Form:

Writings (documents), Songs -- Texts, librettos (documents for music), Opera, Typescripts, Plays (performing arts compositions), Manuscripts (documents), and Novels

Abstract:

Writer, song-writer, and reporter Edgar Meck Dilley attended the University of Pennsylvania from 1893 to 1895 and is known for having written the school's alma mater, "Hail, Pennsylvania." This collection consists mainly of drafts of his writings, including novels and stories, plays and operas, lyrics, poems, and musical scores, as well as a few accompanying miscellaneous items.

Born in Philadelphia in 1874, Edgar Meck Dilley attended William Penn Charter School before entering the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, withdrawing at his father's insistence in 1895. While at Penn, Dilley studied architecture and was an active member of the Glee Club. As a sophomore, he composed the lyrics to the University's alma mater "Hail, Pennsylvania" and encouraged William J. Goeckel and Harry E. Westervelt to write "The Red and Blue," the alma mater more commonly sung today. Song-writing was Dilley's chief claim to fame, as he was also the author of the Pennsylvania State Song and of "Ave, Penn Charter", one of the alma maters of Penn Charter School.

From 1900 until 1923, Dilley worked as a reporter and writer in various locations. His newspaper stints included work for the McClure Times in Philadelphia, the New York Sunday Herald, the Chicago American, and the St. Louis Post Dispatch. His assignments included the Roosevelt-Longworth wedding for the Philadelphia Press as well as a history of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. His first book, The Red Fox's Son was published in 1911.

In 1923 Dilley moved to Clermont, Florida, to become a citrus farmer and to enjoy the opportunities for sailing; from 1942 until his death in 1960, he lived in St. Petersburg. Dilley resumed writing fiction in 1930 with work on his second novel, My American.

[the above is taken in its entirety from the Edgar Meck Dilley papers (UPT 50 D578), housed at the University of Pennsylvania's University Archives & Records Center]

This collection consists of drafts of the works of Edgar Meck Dilley along with a few miscelleneous items found with the drafts, and are arranged alphabetically by title or subject. Many of these copies are marked "sent" with a date of 1922 or 1923, despite the fact that some of the typescripts date the original drafts to 1911 or 1912. It seems likely that the bulk of these drafts were collected as a set (and annoted and corrected) around 1922 or 1923. The drafts are mainly in typescript form, with a few manuscript versions in some cases. Some of the drafts include synopses in addition to or instead of a draft of the work itself. They include all manner of genres: novels and stories, plays and operas, lyrics, poems, and musical scores. The accompanying miscellaneous items are: a copy of Old Penn (a University of Pennsylvania publication) from 1911 containing a review of Dilley's novel The Red Fox's Son, a letter by Dilley to a former professor from 1915, plans for a piece of machinery designed by Dilley, and a copy of a special centenary newspaper from 1876, Ye Greate Centennial.