Beorc Eh Thorn Scrapbooks LU-070
Information about the Collection
Beorc Eh Thorn was a local honorary English society formed at [then] State Teachers College in 1935. The society was organized, according to their constitution, for the purpose of “promot[ing] among the membership the enjoyment and appreciation of literature, the cultivation of creative writing, the use of proper English, and the recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of English study.” Beorc Eh Thorn also conducted monthly programs, based on an annual theme, that brought well-known authors, playwrights, poets, and scholars to the campus to speak to the student body. It was through the work of Beorc Eh Thorn, and early faculty sponsor Dr. James Grainger, that writers such as Ellen Glasgow, Vladimir Nabokov, Robert Frost, and Carl Sandburg were brought to Farmville to speak.
In 1967, Beorc Eh Thorn became a chapter of Lambda Iota Tau, an international honors society for literature.
Provenance
It is unknown when this collection was transferred to the Greenwood Library Archives.
Scope and Content
This collection, which dates from 1936 to 1949, consists of two scrapbooks. These scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, ephemera, photographs, and correspondence with, and regarding, writers the society brought to speak in Farmville.
Size
This collection consists of 1.1 linear feet contained in (1) archival flat box.
Notes
There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes.
In those cases where items were attached to scrapbook pages with metal fasteners, those fasteners were removed, the items placed in acid free folders that describe the items and includes notes regarding which page and in which scrapbook they originated.
Digitized versions of both scrapbooks in this collection can be found on the Longwood University Digital Commons:
Contents of the Collection
Beorc Eh Thorn Scrapbook, 1936-1949 (scan)
Beorc Eh Thorn yearbook, 1942-1943, originally attached to page 10, scrapbook #1
Beorc Eh Thorn yearbooks, 1941-1942, 1942-1943, & 1943-1944, originally attached to page 12, scrapbook #1
Beorc Eh Thorn yearbooks, 1942-1943, 1948-1949, 1945-1946, originally attached to page 13, scrapbook, #1
Laurence Lee, biography & introduction, originally attached to page 20, scrapbook #1
Beorc Eh Thorn Scrapbook, 1939-1948 (scan)
Society Constitution, originally attached to page 6, scrapbook #2
Correspondence re: Robert Frost speaking at State Teachers College, originally inserted page 7, scrapbook #2
Kathleen Morrison (Frost’s secretary/manager) to Dr. James Grainger, 10/14/1943
Kathleen Morrison (Western Union Telegram) to Dr. James Grainger, 3/11/1944
E.C. Latham (Dartmouth College) to Reference Dept., State Teachers College Library, 1/28/1965
Charles Butler to E.C. Latham, 2/8/1965
Correspondence, 1940, originally attached to page 13, scrapbook #2
Eugen Boissevain (Edna St. Vincent Millay’s husband) to Evelyn Quillin, 11/23/1940
S. Stephenson Smith (Western Union Telegram) to Evelyn Quillin, 11/28/1940
Correspondence re: Carl Sandburg, 1941, originally attached to page 23, scrapbook #2
Madeleine Tuohy (Western Union Telegram) to Dr. James Grainger, 2/2/1941
Mimi S. Brown (Western Union Telegram) to Dr. James Grainger, 2/27/1941
Dr. James Grainger to Mimi S. Brown, 3/1/1941
Notes re: Carl Sandburg contract, originally attached to page 23, scrapbook #2
Correspondence, Charles Morgan to Dr. James Grainger, undated, originally attached to page 24, scrapbook #2
Correspondence re: Charles Morgan, 1941, originally attached to page 29, scrapbook #2
Edgar Fisher to Dr. Joseph L. Jarman, 4/22/1941
Edgar Fisher to Dr. James Grainger, 5/9/1941
Edgar Fisher to Dr. James Grainger, 11/5/1941
Edgar Fisher to Dr. James Grainger, 11/10/1941
Edgar Fisher to Dr. James Grainger, 11/26/1941
Beorc Eh Thorn yearbook, 1944-1945, originally attached to page 37, scrapbook #2
Testimonials regarding Richard Halliburton lectures, originally attached to page 40, scrapbook #2
Beorc Eh Thorn yearbook, 1947-1948, originally attached to page 61, scrapbook #2
