Papers, 1864-1975 (bulk 1904-1972). This
collection is comprised of the papers of Mary Louise Mabie. The bulk of the
material relates to her lengthy literary career. The collection includes
personal and professional correspondence, published and unpublished
manuscripts, short stories, novels, poetry, a play, articles, and diaries. Also
included are research material, legal papers, photographs, and scrapbooks. The
collection also contains material relating to other members of her family.
Collection Number:
MS 418
Repository:
University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections
University of Arizona
PO Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
Phone: 520-621-6423
Fax: 520-621-9733
URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/
Biographical Note
Mary Louise Mabie was born in 1904 at the home of her maternal
grandparents, James H. and Mary Kennedy, in St. Nicholas Place, NYC. Her
father, Webster Boutelle Mabie, was a New York real estate broker and her
mother, Louise Kennedy Mabie, was a prolific short story writer whose work
regularly appeared in magazines such as The Saturday
Evening Post and Ladies' Home Journal. Her
parents divorced in 1909 and Mary Louise Mabie was raised primarily by her
mother and grandparents. She enjoyed a privileged upbringing: holidays spent in
fashionable resorts, a secondary education at a private girls' school in New
Jersey, and a European tour in 1922. As a teen she began writing stories and,
under the pseudonym Hall Pegg, poems, many of which were published in
newspapers and magazines. The Kennedy-Mabie household moved to California in
1926 where mother and daughter continued their literary efforts. In 1928, Mary
Louise Mabie's first novel, The Long Knives
Walked, appeared in serial form (published in one volume in 1932); she
would eventually produce a raft of short stories and four other novels:
The Saints, the Devil, and the King (1930),
The Pale Survivors (1934), The Root of the Lotus (1938), and Prepare Them for Caesar (1949). In 1948 she and her
mother moved to Flagstaff, AZ and resided together until Louise Kennedy Mabie
was confined to a sanitarium in the early 1950s. Around this time, Mary Louise
Mabie began working as a reporter for The Arizona
Republic, The Daily Sun, and Flagstaff's
radio station KCLS. She was also briefly married to John "Slim" Ellis in the
late 1950s; the union ended in divorce in 1960. After her mother's death in
1957, Mary Louise Mabie achieved little literary success although she worked
assiduously on projects concerning George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and
the Earl of Sandwich throughout the 1960s. She was declared mentally
incompetent in 1971 and died the following year at the state hospital in
Phoenix.
Scope and Content Note
Papers, 1864-1975 (bulk 1904-1972). This collection consists of the
papers of the author Mary Louise Mabie. The bulk of the papers contain personal
and professional correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts, short
stories, novels, poetry, a play, articles, and diaries. Also included are
research material, legal papers, photographs, and scrapbooks. The collection
also contains material relating to other members of her family, primarily
biographical material, writings, correspondence, photographs, and
scrapbooks.
Arrangement
This Collection is organized into 6 series (and 10 subseries)
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish
from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record,
the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The
user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the
University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all
claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of
copyright.
This series contains biographical materials associated with Mary
Louise Mabie. It includes a baby book, certificates, drawings, news clippings,
and material associated with her estate as well as materials relating to her
parents and maternal grandfather.
box
folder
1
1
Kennedy, James H - General.
, 1864-1940
1
2
Mabie Family - Portrait.
, undated
1
3
Mabie, Louise Kennedy - General.
, 1900-1957
1
4
Mabie, Mary Louise - The Baby's
Biography.
, 1904-1910
1
5
Mabie, Mary Louise - Certificates and Identification.
, 1904-1972
1
6
Mabie, Mary Louise - Drawings.
, undated
1
7
Mabie, Mary Louise - Estate.
, undated, 1971-1972
1
8
Mabie, Mary Louise - General.
, undated, 1922-1933
1
9
Mabie, Mary Louise - News Clippings.
, 1921-1972
1
10
Mabie, Mary Louise - Personal Remembrances.
, 1972-1975
Business (1913-1969) contains correspondence between Mary
Louise Mabie and various publishers, agents, and editors. Also included is the
business correspondence of Louise Kennedy Mabie.
Personal (1912-1970) contains correspondence between Mary Louise Mabie and
family, friends, and the Christian Children's Fund. It also includes the
personal correspondence of various family members.
This series contains the published and unpublished writings of
Mary Louise Mabie. The Writings Series is divided into eight subseries:
Subseries 1: Short Stories, 1918-1941
contains mostly undated drafts of stories by Mary Louise Mabie (including
several written under the nom de plume "Webster Boutelle") as well as those by
Louise Kennedy Mabie and James H. Kennedy.
Subseries 2: Novels, undated contains
drafts of published and unpublished novels by Mary Louise Mabie.
Subseries 3: Plays, undated contains a
draft of a play written by Mary Louise Mabie.
Subseries 4: Poetry, 1918-1972 contains
writing journals and poems produced by Mary Louise Mabie under her own name as
well as under the pseudonym Hall Pegg.
Subseries 5: Articles, 1955-1961
contains articles and news clippings written by Mary Louise Mabie.
Subseries 6: Research Files, undated
contains research materials largely composed of Mary Louise Mabie's reading
notes as well as information on northern Arizona.
This series contains albums, photographs, daguerreotypes, and
several negatives and slides. Subjects include various members of the Mabie
family, pets, landscapes, and unidentified others.
box
folder
5
1-2
Flagstaff.
, undated
5
3
Graffman, Gary.
, 1954
5
4
The "John Sherwin."
, undated
5
5-6
Kennedy Family.
, undated
5
7
Kennedy Family.
, 1866-1926
5
8
Kennedy Family - Daguerreotypes.
, undated, 1890
5
9
Mabie Family - Album.
, undated
5
10
Mabie Family - Album.
, 1904-1913
5
11
Mabie Family - Album.
, 1927-1928
5
12-13
Mabie Family - General.
, undated
5
14
Mabie, Louise Kennedy - General.
, undated, 1895-1897
5
15-16
Mabie, Louise Kennedy - General.
, undated
5
17-18
Mabie, Mary Louise - Childhood.
, undated
5
19
Mabie, Mary Louise - Childhood.
, 1905-1908
5
20
Mabie, Mary Louise - Adolescence.
, undated
5
21-22
Mabie, Mary Louise - General.
, undated
5
23
Mabie, Mary Louise - School Photographs.
, 1910s
5
24
Mexican Wedding (Life
Article).
, 1957
5
25
Military Encampment.
, undated
5
26
Military Re-enactment.
, undated
5
27
Negatives and Slides.
, undated
5
28
Pets.
, undated
5
29
Residences - General.
, undated
5
30
Residences - The Little House (Flagstaff, AZ).
, undated