Guide to the Margaret Hodges Papers, 1911-2006 SC.1990.03

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Margaret Hodges Papers
Creator
Hodges, Margaret
Collection Number
SC.1990.03
Extent
22 Linear Feet (46 manuscript boxes and 1 oversize)
Date
1911-2006
Abstract
The Margaret Hodges Papers document her career as storyteller, librarian, author, teacher, and advocate for childhood studies. The collection includes drafts, correspondence, teaching materials, storytelling scripts, photographs, and media.
Language
English .
Author
Katharine Pigliacelli in 2016.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Preferred Citation

Margaret Hodges Papers, 1911-2006, SC.1990.03, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Acquisition Information

Multiple donations made by Hodges over the course of many years while teaching at the University of Pittsburgh Library School.

Scope and Content Notes

The collection consists of 45 manuscript boxes and one oversize box and includes correspondence, interviews, research for and drafts of books, teaching materials, photographs, media, and other materials that document Margaret Hodges' work as an author and scholar of children's literature.

Biography/History

Sarah Margaret Hodges was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1911. Her mother, Anna Marie Moore, died six months after Margaret was born. An older cousin cared for the household which included Margaret, her brother, father and grandfather. Both her father and the Second Presbyterian Church Sunday School were instrumental in introducing to her the art of storytelling.

During her sophomore year at Tudor Hall, a prep school for girls, Hodges was introduced to Fletcher Hodges, who she would marry in 1932. She attended Vassar College where she studied English and theatre and graduated with honors in 1932. In 1937, Margaret and Fletcher moved to Pittsburgh and he became curator at the Stephen Foster Memorial.

After raising three children, Hodges volunteered at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. During this time she also wrote scripts for a radio program called "The Children's Bookshelf" and in 1953, she was asked to take a paid position as a storyteller for a radio program called "Let's Tell a Story." In 1964, the program became "Tell Me a Story", a nationally broadcast television program on Pittsburgh's WQED-TV.

During this time, Hodges applied for a scholarship that would enable her to earn a Master's degree in Library Science at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University. Two years later, in 1958, her first book, One Little Drum, was published by Follett Publishing Company.

Hodges continued to work at the Carnegie Library until 1964, when she left to join the Head Start program as Story Specialist for Pittsburgh Public Schools. At the same time, Dr. Harold Lancour, the Dean of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Library and Information Science, asked Hodges to teach a course in storytelling which lead to her eventually teaching all courses in children's services. In 1978, she retired as professor emeritus from the University of Pittsburgh.

One of Hodge's greatest contribtions was the development of Elizabeth Nesbitt Children's Book Collection. While attending the Carnegie Institute, Hodges studied under storyteller and teacher, Elizabeth Nesbitt, an experence that influenced Hodges for the rest of her life. She was able to pay tribute to her influential teacher when in 1976 she began developing the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room at the University of Pittsburgh library school. The Nesbitt Children's Book Collection, now housed at the University of Pittsburgh Archives and Special Collections, features a range of materials including chapbooks, toy books, boardbooks, and juvenile periodicals. She continued to curate and support this collection until her death in December of 2005.

During her career, Hodges also wrote and illustrated more than 60 books, including Caldecott winner St. George and the Dragon.

Custodial History

This collection was donated to and housed at the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room at the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Science Library until its closure in 2012, when the materials were transferred to Special Collections.

Processing Information

This collection was originally processed by the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room at the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Science Library. When the Information Sciences Library and Elizabeth Nesbitt Room closed in 2012, the materials were transferred to Special Collections.

Throughout 2015 and 2016, two student employees, Lauren Galloway and Katharine Pigliacelli, rehoused the collection in acid free folders and created a finding aid under the supervision of archivist, Jennifer Needham. Edits were made to folder titles to better reflect the contents and in some cases, additional series and subseries were created. The original container listing created by the Nesbitt Room is held in the case file is available upon request.

Related Material

Margaret Hodges also made manuscript donations to the following repositories: University of Oregon; University of Minnesota, Kerlan Collection; and the University of Southern Mississippi, DeGrummond Collection.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Arrangement

The papers are organized according to the following series:

Series I: Personal Papers

Series II: Radio and TV Storytelling

Series III: University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences (GSLIS)

Series IV: Correspondence

Series V: Articles

Series VI: Children's Books

Series VII: Other Writing

Series VIII: Media

Series IX: Oversize

Previous Citation

Maragaret Hodges Collection, 1911-2006, SC.1990.03, University of Pittsburgh Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • University of Pittsburgh. School of Library and Information Science

    Personal Names

    • Hodges, Margaret

    Other Subjects

    • Women authors, American -- 20th century
    • Illustrators -- United States -- Juvenile literature
    • Children's stories, American
    • Children's books -- United States -- History -- 20th century
    • Authors, American -- 20th century

Container List