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Holly McGhee papers
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. 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
Holly McGhee is New York City-based author, agent, editor, and founder of the children's literature agency, Pippin Properties, Inc.
McGhee was born in 1963 to Don and Gabrielle McGhee and grew up outside of Utica, NY. She has two sisters, Laurel McGhee and, fellow author, Alison McGhee.
McGhee graduated from Cornell University in 1985 and subsequently began her career in publishing. Before starting Pippin Properties, Inc., she worked in various roles at the American Bible Society; Harper & Row; Farrar, Straus & Giroux; and Michael di Capua Books, where she served as Associate Publisher and Executive Editor.
In 1988, McGhee established Pippin Properties, Inc., a boutique literary agency, which she founded as an independent literary agent. As of 2024, the all-woman agency grew to include five employees and agents. Pippin represents 188 children's book authors and artists and has brought over 812 works to publishers. It is based in Bryant Park, New York.
McGhee is also the author of several published children's books. Her earliest works were written under the pen name, Hallie Durand, including Matylda, Bright and Tender (2017), Come with Me (2017), Catch that Cookie! (2014), the Dessert trilogy (2011-2012), and the Mitchell series (2013). She wrote and published Listen (2019) and What the World Could Make (2021) as Holly McGhee.
The Holly McGhee papers measure 5.2 linear feet in eight boxes and date from 1947 to 2020, with the bulk of the material dating between 1979 and 2018. The papers largely document McGhee's personal life, family, writings as a children's book author, and early career in publishing. McGhee's career as a book publisher is not well represented.
This collection is of value to researchers hoping to learn about McGhee's early career, her writing, and her family. It also represents publishing and editorial work is also documented through material from various phases of the publishing process of several of the children's books McGhee authored.
This collection is organized in four series, I. Youth and education; II. Family material; III. Author and writings; and IV. Other personal material.
Series I. Youth and education mostly contains McGhee's writings from elementary school through college at Cornell University from 1981 to 1985.
Series II. Family material contains the following subseries, a. Correspondence, b. "McGhee Family Chronicles," and c. Other family material.
The correspondence is mostly between Holly McGhee and members of her immediate and extended family. The letters between McGhee and her grandmother, Christine McGhee are notable as they offer insight into Holly McGhee's life and career between 1980 and 1999. These letters mostly consist of Christine McGhee's responses to Holly McGhee's letters (most of which are not included in the collection) which address Holly McGhee's early career at jobs including internships; the American Bible Society; Harper & Row; and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. There are also letters referencing the first months of McGhee's publishing company, Pippin Properties.
The "McGhee Family Chronicles" consist of narrative-style typed documents that detail the lives of various members of McGhees' family and of newsletter-style family updates written by Holly McGhee or other family members that consist mostly of jokes, humor, and allusions that would likely be best understood by the family.
Series III. Author and writings documents the writing and publishing processes of several of McGhee's published children's books, including Catch that Cookie!, Come with Me, the Dessert trilogy, Matylda, Bright and Tender, and the Mitchell series. This material notably includes research and drafts, contracts, editorial notes and correspondence, editorial dummies, F&Gs (folded and gathered printing drafts), payments, advance reader's copies, and marketing and promotional material.
Series IV. Early work in publishing, includes material from internships and short-term jobs and from her roles at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, HarperCollins (Harper & Row), and Michael di Capua books under HarperCollins.
Series V. Other personal material includes various certificates, non-family correspondence, documents, nametags, and a newspaper article about McGhee.
Sold by Gerald Cloud (Petaluma, CA), 2019, 2022, and 2023.
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
- Finding Aid Author
- Kelin Baldridge Smallwood
- Finding Aid Date
- 2024 April 2
- Access Restrictions
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The bulk of this collection is open for research use, however, Box 2, Folders 1, 6, 16, 24, 50, 55, and 60 are restricted until 2100 due to the presence of banking and personally identifiable information.
The use of the physical DVDs is restricted. The computer files originally stored on the DVD have been processed and are available for research use (see items described as "Digital Content (Reading Room Access Only)" along the right-hand side in the Collection Inventory). These computer files are reading-room access only on a dedicated computer in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.