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Papers of L. Marguerite Collier 1884-1977 (bulk 1935-1959)

MS 611


Collection Summary

Creator: L. Marguerite Collier
Collection Name Papers of L. Marguerite Collier
Inclusive Dates: 1884-1977
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1935-1959)
Physical Description:6.5 linear feet.
AbstractIncludes song and music books, sheet music, and books, programs, articles, and brochures on folk dances and music, primarily of Mexico; a folk drama; correspondence; outlines and notes for folk dance and posadas productions; choreography for specific dances; and photographs. These materials, dating chiefly from 1935 through 1959, reflect Collier's interest in Mexican folklore, especially folk dance and the tradition of las posadas, and document her work in reviving las posadasand establishing Mexican cultural awareness at Carrillo School. This collection was a 1977 gift to the Southwest Folklore Archives from Mrs. Betty Sagerstrom. This collection was previously titled SWF 005.
Collection NumberMS 611
Language: Materials are in English and Spanish.
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/
E-Mail: LBRY-askspcoll@email.arizona.edu

Biographical Note

L. Marguerite Collier was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1893. She spent her childhood in California, and attended Los Angeles Normal School. She received her degree from the University of Arizona in 1920. She knew that she wanted to be a teacher from a very early age. Because of the strong musical background of her family, music seemed to be a natural choice. After teaching in rural California and then at a mining camp near Clifton, Arizona, she returned to Tucson and began teaching at Menlo Park School. In 1922 she was transferred to Mansfeld School, where she taught first and second grade. She became one of the original faculty members at Carrillo School when it opened in 1930, and taught music and first grade at Carrillo until her retirement in 1958.

Collier began a Mexican Folklore Club at Carrillo School in 1933, to encourage and renew interest in the music, art, and drama of Mexico, and to provide cultural affirmation for her students. In 1936 she revived the tradition of las posadas, a procession that retraces the steps of Mary and Joseph as they go from inn to inn seeking shelter for the birth of Jesus.

In 1975 the L. Marguerite Collier school on Bear Canyon Road was dedicated in her honor. Collier received wide recognition in the Tucson area for her work in promoting Mexican folklore traditions. She died in 1976.


Scope and Content Note

A majority of items in the collection have been indexed and preservation photocopies have been made for many items. A list of all indexed items, and indexes for each series are found at the beginning of the collection. Copies of series and subseries indexes also appear in the first folder for the relevant series.

Researchers must use photocopies when they are available. User copies of fragile materials are stored for best access, either in the folder with the originals for series in which few items are copied, or at the beginning of the series or box for series in which all items have been copied.

Published Materials, 1884-1970, consists of published sheet music and music and folk dance books, including a bound volume of Colección de danzas y bailes regionales mexicanos; scripts of musical dramas and short plays; miscellaneous booklets, theater programs, and brochures; and magazine and newspaper clippings and articles.

Correspondence, 1936-1959, contains letters, cards, and postcards from Collier and her friends and associates in the education and music fields.

Posada Programs and News Notes, 1939-1958, contains mainly "Las Posadas" invitations from Carrillo School, Padua Hills News Notes, and programs from other musical productions.

Mexican Christmas Traditions includes poems, prayers, plays, guides, production outlines and notes, drawings, and music related to Mexican Christmas traditions and Las Posadas.

Dance Directions and Notes contains written directions for a variety of dance steps. Included is a copy of a 1938 thesis by Ruth Virginia O'Hara from the University of Southern California entitled A Study of the Dances of Early California, which presents drawings, diagrams, and instructions for many dances.

Miscellaneous Hand-Copied Music contains additional sheet music transcribed by Collier, and production notes.

Other Unpublished Material contains files on children's games, rhymes, and folklore prepared by Carrillo students; materials from the Mexican Folklore Club at Carrillo School; a bibliography of books and articles concerning Mexican folk music and dancing; and notes, drawings, cardboard paper-doll cut-outs, and address lists.

Photographs and Negatives includes 232 primarily undated black and white photographs of Posada processions and other folkloric presentations, preparations, awards, and events; two oversized enlargements of a Posada procession and a crowd outside a church transferred from the Barker Collection (SWF 004) in 1996; four postcards; and four 4x5 negatives of a procession.

Miscellaneous Books and Journals contains four books on Mexico and the Southwest and six issues of the Anuario de la Sociedad Folklorica de Mexico. Twenty-three additional books have been transferred to the Special Collections book collection.

Transfers: In 1996, one duplicate and 26 uninventoried books on music, Mexican folklore, and folk dance were transferred from the Collier manuscript collection to the book collection at Special Collections. Among them are Mexican Dances (Riveroll's Art Gallery, Mexico, 1947, #282 of a limited art edition of 500), and Latin American Costumes, designed by Yolanda Bartas, text by Dorothy Gladys Spicer (New York: The Hyperion Press, 1941). Three issues of The University of Arizona Bulletin and one issue of The New Mexico Bulletin were transferred to other collections within Special Collections. A small number of books and periodicals already available through Special Collections and one book annotated by Collier, Mexican Folklore: 100 Photographs by Luis Marquez, remain with the Collier collection.

A 1977 letter from Larry Evers to Byrd Granger about the gift of the Collier materials was transferred from Correspondence to the Archive's control files.

The following items were transferred to the University of Arizona Library Special Collections in 1996, Listed alphabetically by author (when known) or title (anthologies, collections):

Brady, Agnes Marie. Christmastide. Dallas: Banks Upshaw and Company, 1937. Spanish.

Canciones escolares: serie I, Letra de Manuel Fernández Juncos. Música de Braulio Dueño Colón. New York: Silver Burdett Y Compañía, 1925. Original copyright 1901. Spanish.

Cologuios de los pastores, edited and translated by Aurora L. White. Santa Fe, 1940. Duplicate copy in SWF 005.

Duggan, Anne Schley, Jeanette Schlottman, and Abbie Rutledge. The Teaching of Folk Dance. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1948.

----. Folk Dances of Scandinavia. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1948.

----. Folk Dances of European Countries. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company,1948.

----. Folk Dances of the British Isles. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1948.

----. Folk Dances of the United States and Mexico. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1948.

Folk Dance Syllabus: Number One, edited by Michael Herman. New York: A Folk Dance House Publication, 1953.

Folk Dances for All, collected and arranged by Michael Herman. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1947.

Ford, Mr. and Mrs. Henry. "GOOD MORNING," After a Sleep of Twenty-five Years Old-fashioned Dancing is Being Revived. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford. Dearborn, Michigan: The Dearborn Publishing Company, 1926.

Goodspeed, Bernice I. Mexican Tales: a compilation of Mexican stories and legends. Illustrated by Carl Pappe. Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Cultura, 1937.

Historical Mexican Legends and Mythology. Los Angeles, California: Aurelia Borquez de Whenthoff, 1915. Spanish.

Johnston, Edith. Regional Dances of Mexico. Dallas: Banks Upshaw and Company, 1935.

Leyendas historicas Mexicanas costumbres, y mitologia. Los Angeles, California: Aurelia Borquez de Whenthoff, 1915. Spanish.

Lincoln, Jennette Emeline Carpenter. The Festival Book: May-Day Pastime and the May-Pole. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1929.

Lloyd, A.L.. DANCES OF ARGENTINA. London: Max Parish, no date.

Marquez, Luis, Osorno Barona, and Armando Brehme, photographers. Mexico. Mexico, D.F.: Fischgrund Editions, no date.

Materials and Activities Relating to Mexico: Grade 5A, Los Angeles City School District. Division of Curriculum and Instruction Elementery Curriculum Section School Publication No. 251, 1934.

Mexican Dances. Text and choreography by Prof. Luis Felipe Obregón; music, piano arrangement by Prof. Carlos Robledo González; illustrations by Raúl Villegas. Mexico: Roberto Riveroll, 1947.

Mooney, Gertrude X. Mexican Folk Dances for American Schools. Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miami Press, 1957.

Muñoz, Maria Luisa and Angeles Pastor. Canta Conmigo. The American Book Company, 1946. In Spanish and English.

Santa Ana, Higinio Vazquez. Fiestas y costumbres mexicanas. Tomo I. Mexico: Botas Editions, 1940.

Schwendener, Norma and Averil Tibbels. Legends and Dances of Old Mexico. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company Incorporated, 1934.

Spanish Tales for Beginners, edited by Elijah Clarence Hills. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1927. Original copyright 1909. Spanish.

Spicer, Dorothy Gladys and Jolanda Bartas. Latin American Costumes. New York: The Hyperion Press, 1941.

Valdiosero, Ramon. Mexican Dances. 12 Color Plates. Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Fischgrund, no date.

Journals:

Cummings, Byron. “Cuicuilco and the archaic culture of Mexico.” University of Arizona Social Science Bulletin no. 4, 4:8 (Nov. 15, 1933).

Lockwood. Frank C. “With Padre Kino on the trail.” University of Arizona Social Science Bulletin no. 5, 5:2 (Feb. 15, 1934).

Clarke, Eleanor P. “Designs on the Prehistoric pottery of Arizona.” University of Arizona Social Sciences Bulletin no. 9, 6:4 (May 15, 1935).

Mitchell, Lynn Boal, trans. “A stage edition of the "Mostellaria" (Haunted House) of Titus Maccius Plautus.” University of New Mexico Bulletin no. 262 ( March 15, 1935).


Arrangement

This collection is organized into nine series
Series I: Published Material, 1884-1970
Subseries 1: Folk Music, 1884-1962
Subseries 2: Folk Dances and Drama, 1928-1965
Subseries 3: Miscellaneous Printed Matter, 1917-1961
Subseries 4: Clippings, 1936-1970
Series II: Correspondence, 1936-1959
Series III: Posada Programs and News Notes, 1939-1958
Series IV: Mexican Christmas Traditions, undated
Series V: Dance Directions and Notes, undated
Series VI: Miscellaneous Hand-Copied Music, undated
Series VII: Other Unpublished Material, undated
Subseries 1: Children's Games, Rhymes, and Folklore, undated
Subseries 2: Mexican Folklore Club, 1943-1959
Subseries 3: Bibliography, undated
Subseries 4: Miscellaneous, undated
Series VIII: Photographs and Negatives, undated
Subseries 1: Las Posadas, Carrillo School, undated
Subseries 2: Folk Dance Presentations (bulk Carrillo), undated
Subseries 3: Awards and Promotion, undated
Subseries 4: Carrillo Photo Exhibit, undated
Subseries 5: Postcards, undated
Subseries 6: Negatives, undated
Series IX: Books and Journals, undated

Restrictions

Restrictions

There are no restrictions on this collection.

Copyright

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.


Access Terms

Personal Name(s)
Collier, L. Marguerite, 1893-1976.

Geographic Name(s)
Arizona--Tucson.
Tucson (Ariz.).

Subject(s)
Christmas -- Mexico.
Christmas -- Southwest, New.
Christmas plays, Spanish -- Arizona -- Tucson.
Christmas plays, Spanish -- Mexico.
Folk dance music -- Mexico.
Folk dancing -- Mexico.
Folk dancing -- United States.
Folk songs, English -- United States.
Folk songs, Spanish -- Mexico.
Folklore -- Mexico.
Folklore -- Southwest, New.
Folklorists -- Arizona -- Tucson -- Archives.
Mexican Americans -- Arizona -- Tucson -- Folklore.
Posadas (Social custom).
Teachers -- Arizona -- Tucson -- Archives.
Women folklorists -- Arizona -- Tucson -- Archives.
Women teachers -- Arizona -- Tucson -- Archives.


Administrative Information

Credit Line

Papers of L. Marguerite Collier, 1884-1977 (MS 611). Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries.

Processing History

Processed by Lisa Janzer, Pat Kittelson, 1993; Ila Abernathy, Jenny Loengard, 1996; Scott B. Denlinger, 1997.


Container List

Published Materials, 1884-1970
Folk Music, 1884-1962, contains published sheet music and music books, including a bound volume entitled Colección de danzas y bailes regionales Mexicanos. Many items are also appropriate for the Christmas Traditions and other series. Folk Dances and Drama, 1928-1965, includes varied materials on dance and choreography, scripts for short Christmas dramas incorporating music and dance, a Mexican folk drama, Miguel y Luzbel, pastores por contrarias opiniones, and a novena. Miscellaneous Printed Matter, 1917-1961, contains booklets, articles, brochures, and programs related to plays, folk theatre productions, and ballets. Clippings, 1936-1970, primarily documents the Carrillo School productions of Las Posadas and other Carrillo School activities.
These materials are grouped by topic into four broad subseries and arranged as they appear on the item indexes, with the exception of "Clippings," which is arranged chronologically. Subseries are Folk Music; Folk Dances and Drama; Miscellaneous Printed Matter; and Clippings. User copies of fragile sheet music appear in the folder with the original; user copies of all clippings appear in the first folder of the subseries.
boxfolder
11 Master List and Item Indexes, undated
Folk Music, 1884-1962
This subseries contains 95 items.
boxfolder
12 Colleción de danzas y bailes regionales mexicanos, undated
13-91 Sheet music and music books, undated
Folk Dances and Drama, 1928-1965
This subseries contains 22 items.
boxfolder
192 Mexican and New Mexican Folk Dances, and subseries item index, undated
193-100 Folk dance books, undated
boxfolder
21-17 Published folk music, undated
218 Miscellaneous printed matter, printed program, undated
219-20 Hand-copied music, undated
221 Hand-colored program, Las Posadas invitation, undated
222 Miscellaneous printed matter, Mexican Art and Life, undated
223 Two 11 x 14 black and white photographs by Alfred A. Cohn (Tucson), transferred in 1996 from SWF 004, undated
boxfolder
31-5 Folk dance books, folk drama materials, miscellaneous, undated
36 Miguel y Luzbel, pastores por contrarias opiniones [user copy], folk drama; copy of playbill mailed with original, undated
37 Miguel y Luzbel, pastores por contrarias opiniones [original]. Original of playbill in which this text was wrapped is stored in a separate oversize folder, undated
38 Novena para celebrar las ornadas[original and user copy], undated
Miscellaneous Printed Matter, 1917-1961
This subseries includes 29 items.
boxfolder
39 Item index, Miscellaneous Printed Matter, undated
310-35 Booklets, theatre programs, brochures, playbills, undated
Clippings, 1936-1970
boxfolder
336 Item index, clippings. Very incomplete; see user copies, undated
337 User copies, 1936, 1942-1953
338 User copies, 1955-1970
339 User copies, undated
340 Originals for indexed clippings only. Restricted access; use user copies, undated
Correspondence, 1936-1959
Contains personal and business letters, cards, and postcards between Marguerite Collier and her associates. This series is arranged chronologically, a folder of user copies precedes originals. There are a total of 49 items.
boxfolder
341 Item index, Correspondence, 1936-1959
342 User copies, 1936-1959
343 Originals, 1936-1954
344 Originals, 1955-1959
Posada Programs and News Notes, 1939-1958
Includes mainly posada invitations and programs from Carrillo School productions and events, and Padua Hills News Notes, 1939-1946. Items are arranged by subject and thereunder chronologically. There are 36 items in this series.
boxfolder
345 Item index, Posada Programs and News Notes, undated
346-52 Posada invitations, 1944-1952
353-56 Carrillo School programs, Tucson Education Association program, 1941-1948
357-58 Padua Hills News Notes (Claremont, California), 1939-1946
Mexican Christmas Traditions, undated
Contains poetry, papers, prayers, outlines, notes, plays, drawings, and music, mostly undated, all related to Mexican Christmas traditions and Las posadas. Within each box, user copies of all items in the box precede the originals, in the same order. There are 73 items in this series, some with multiple items.
boxfolder
359 Item index, Mexican Christmas Traditions, undated
360 User copies, items 1--26, undated
361 User copies, items 27-33, undated
362-82 Originals, items 1-33. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
boxfolder
41 User copies, items 34-37, undated
42 User copies, items 38-53, undated
43 User copies, items 54-59, undated
44 User copies, items 60-73, undated
45-19 Originals, items 24-73. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
Dance Directions and Notes, undated
Includes written instructions and diagrams for folk dances, primarily those of Mexico. Also included are hand-copied scores of dance music, a master's thesis entitled A Study of the Dance of Early California, and several other articles concerning dance, costuming, choreography, music, and direction. There are 173 items in this series, which has no apparent arrangement.
boxfolder
420 Item index, Dance Directions and Notes, undated
421 User copies, items 1-18, undated
422 User copies, item 19, undated
423 User copies, items 20-44, undated
424 User copies, items 45-67, undated
425 User copies, items 68-71, undated
426 User copies, items 72-83, undated
427 User copies, items 84-122, undated
428 User copies, items 123-155, undated
429-38 Originals, items 1-155. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
boxfolder
51 User copies, items 156-173, undated
52-3 Originals, items 156-173. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
Miscellaneous Hand-Copied Music, undated
Contains sheet music, lyrics, and production notes for various folk songs. Some of these items appear also in the Dance Directions and Notes series. There are 27 items in this series, but no apparent arrangement. Folders with user copies precede originals.
boxfolder
54 Miscellaneous Hand-Copied Music, item index, undated
55 User copies, items 1-14, undated
56 User copies, items 15-27, undated
57-12 Originals, items 1-27. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
Other Unpublished Material, undated
Children's Games, Rhymes, and Folklore contains submissions from Carrillo students of chants for rhyming games, diagrams and instructions for children's games, and supernatural stories. The Mexican Folklore Club materials are primarily related to club membership and financial records. The Bibliography subseries consists of handwritten lists of references for books, articles, and materials related to folk music and dance, compiled by Collier. The Miscellaneous subseries includes notes, drawings, cardboard paper dolls in folk dress, and address lists collected by Collier. Divided into four subseries: Children's Games, Rhymes, and Folklore; Mexican Folklore Club, 1943-1959; Bibliography; and Miscellaneous. User copies precede originals for each subseries.
Children's Games, Rhymes, and Folklore, undated
There are 336 items in this subseries.
boxfolder
513 Item index, Children's Games, Rhymes, and Folklore, undated
514 "Jumping rope," user copies, items 1-33, undated
515-16 "Hopscotch," user copies, items 34-165, undated
517 "Casting-out rhymes," user copies, items 166-212, undated
518 "Miracles" and "Jacks," user copies, items 213-276, undated
519 "Jacks" and "Rhymes," user copies, items 277-336, undated
520-32 Children's Games, Rhymes, and Folklore, originals, items 1-336. Restricted access. Use user copies, undated
Mexican Folklore Club, 1943-1959
There are 18 items in this subseries, some with multiple pages.
boxfolder
533 Item index, Mexican Folklore Club, undated
534 User copies, items 1-18, undated
535 Originals, items 1-18. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
Bibliography, undated
There are 49 items in this subseries.
boxfolder
536 Item index, Bibliography, undated
537 User copies, items 1-19, undated
538 User copies, items 20-49, undated
539-44 Originals, items 1-6. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
boxfolder
61-20 Originals, items 7-48. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
Miscellaneous, undated
There are 18 items in this subseries.
boxfolder
621 Item index, Miscellaneous, undated
622 User copies, items 1-18., undated
623 Originals, items 1-18. Restricted access. Use copies, undated
Photographs and Negatives, undated
Contains largely undated black and white photographs in 4 subseries: Carrillo School Las Posadas processions; folk dance presentations (bulk Carrillo); awards, preparations for events, and promotion; Carrillo school photo exhibit. Also included are four postcards of Mexico and four 4x5 negatives photographs in the "Las Posadas" and "Awards" subseries. There are 232 indexed photographs; 2 unindexed enlargements; 4 postcards; 4 4x5 negatives. The series is arranged in six subseries, according to subject or medium. Enlargements of a las posadas procession and unidentified crowd, of uncertain provenance and transferred from the Barker collection (SWF 004) in 1996, are stored with oversized materials in Box 2.
boxfolder
624 Item indexes, Photographs and Negatives, all subseries, undated
Las posadas, Carrillo School, undated
This subseries includes 92 indexed photographs; 2 unindexed enlargements in Oversize box (Box 2).
boxfolder
625 8x10's and mixed sizes, items 1-38, undated
626 8x10's, items 39-79, undated
627 8x10's, items 80-92, undated
Folk Dance Presentations (bulk Carrillo), undated
This subseries includes 94 photographs.
boxfolder
628 8x10's and mixed sizes, items 1-49, undated
629 8x10's and mixed sizes, items 50-94, undated
Awards and Promotion, undated
This subseries includes 18 photographs in one index; 12 in next index.
boxfolder
630 8x10's and mixed sizes, primarily Collier award presentation and Kathleen Carden Perry, items 1-18, undated
631 8x10's and 4x5's, primarily dancers, Arizona cast, and rodeo parade; items 1-12, undated
Carrillo Photo Exhibit, undated
This subseries includes 16 photographs.
boxfolder
632 3.5x5 photographs of an exhibit of many of the photographs from other subseries, undated
Postcards, undated
This subseries includes 16 photographs.
boxfolder
633 Four black and white post cards of Mexican folkloric themes, undated
Negatives, undated
This subseries includes 16 photographs.
boxfolder
634 Four 4x5 black and white negatives of photographs in other subseries, undated
Books and Journals, undated
Five of 31 books belonging to Collier but not previously indexed; six issues of Anuario de la Sociedad Folklorica de Mexico. Editions of most items above were already in the Special Collections book collection. Twenty-six books from the Collier collection not previously in Special Collections have been added to the book collection of the repository. Items are arranged by author, followed by journals, chronologically.
boxfolder
635 Covarrubias, Miguel. Mexico South: The Isthmus of Tehuantepec, third printing. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947
636 Keech, Roy A. Children Sing in New Mexico. Clarendon, Texas: The Clarendon Press, 1941
637 Lea, Aurora Lucero-White. Literary Folklore of the Hispanic Southwest. San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1953
638 Marquez, Luis (photographer). Mexican Folklore, with text by Justino Fernandez. Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Fischgrund, no date. Annotated by Collier. Binding damaged. Stored in a folder at the beginning of this series., undated
639 Pesman, M. Walter. Meet Flora Mexicana. Globe, Arizona: Dale Stuart Kino, 1962
640-45 Anuario de la Sociedad Folklorica de Mexico, V.1 (1942), V.2 (1942), V.3 (1943), V.5 (1945), V.6 (1947), V.6 (1949)