Title: Mary Jo Read Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1923-1988

Creator:

• Read, Mary Jo (1911-1998)

Call Number: AGSL Manuscript Collection 39

Quantity: 6.38 cubic ft. (16 boxes)
Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, American Geographical Society Library

Archival Location:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, American Geographical Society Library (Map)

Abstract:

This collection includes photographs, papers, and travel notebooks and scrapbooks of Dr. Mary Jo Read, a Professor of Geography and Lecturer who traveled to all seven continents.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-agsl-agslmss0039

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Dr. Mary Jo Read was born in Pella, IA on February 2, 1911. Read received her BA from Iowa State Teacher’s College (now the University of Northern Iowa) in 1931 and her Master’s Degree in Geography from the University of Chicago in 1932. In 1942, Read became the first woman to earn a PhD in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Over the course of her career in higher education, Read held faculty positions at various institutions: Milwaukee State Teachers College (now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) from 1940-1965, where she served as chair from 1958-1963; University of Washington (briefly) during WWII; and Eastern Illinois University from 1965 until her retirement in 1975. Besides teaching, Read was also an accomplished lecturer and photographer. She was a specialist in Latin American cultural geography, but traveled to all seven continents, including Antarctica. Read moved back to Milwaukee after retirement, and died in 1998.

Scope and content notes for each series are included in the contents list.

The records are arranged into the following series:

1. Notebooks, Scrapbooks, and Diaries, 1923-1988
2. Lectures and Publications, 1935-1983
3. Correspondence, 1920s-1970s
4. Miscellaneous, 1935-1984
5. Photographs and Negatives, 1935-1982
6. Slides and Viewmaster, 1958-1960
7. A/V Materials, undated
8. Publications by Others, 1957-1979

The files are organized alphabetically by personal name or by subject.

Citation Guide for Primary Sources

24,715 slides were separated out and added to the American Geographical Society Library Photographic Collection. Images of Read's 1935 trip to China, Japan, the Philippines are included in the AGSL Digital Photo Archive of Asia and the Middle East:

• Asia and Middle East

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Custodial History

Dr. Read donated these materials to the Geography Department, who transferred them to the AGSL in 1991.

Acquisition Information

These materials were donated to the AGSL by UWM's Geography Department in 1991, after Dr. Read donated them to the department. The transfer to the AGSL was overseen by Dr. Alma Haglund.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Susan Peschel, AGSL Visual Resources Librarian. It was described and added to the EAD by Anna Rohl, AGSL reference intern, in April 2024.

	Series: 1. Notebooks, Scrapbooks, and Diaries, 1923-1988 Scope and Content Note: This series includes various notebooks and scrapbooks filled by Read during her travels. Several are from family trips around the US she took in her youth with her family, while others are from trips all around the world taken later in life during her career and retirement.
Box   1	Addresses, undated
Box   1	Antarctica, 1984-1985
Box   1	Antarctica, 1984-1985
Box   3	Canada, 1936
Box   3	Canada, 1936
Box   3	Canada, 1938
Box   1	Charleston-Hong Kong, 1970
Box   1	Charlottesville Pictures, 1947
Box   1	China 1 (Itinerary, Hotels, Song, Shopping, Pictures), 1980
Box   1	China 2 (Notes, Road from back to front), 1980
Box   1	East Africa, 1982
Box   1	Easter Island, 1971
Box   1	Egypt, South Africa, 1978
Box   15	European Trip, 1959
Box   3	Expense Book, 1987
Box   15	UWM Farewell Party Scrapbook, 1965
Box   1	Four Continent Cruise, 1986
Box   1	Four Continent Cruise Halley’s Comet, 1986
Box   1	Four Continent Cruise Halley’s Comet (second copy), 1986
Box   3	Gaspe’, 1938
Box   3	Gaspe’, 1938
Box   2	Germany, 1980
Box   1	Germany, 1980
Box   1	Leningrad – Kiev, 1965?
Box   1	notebook pages , undated
Box   3	Mammoth Cave, 1929
Box   1	Memorandum Book, 1938
Box   3	Minnesota, 1922
Box   1	Miscellaneous, 1950?
Box   1	Miscellaneous, 1943
Box   1	Miscellaneous, 1970
Box   1	Miscellaneous, undated
Box   1	Miscellaneous, 1979
Box   3	Miscellaneous notebook, undated
Box   3	Miscellaneous scrapbook, undated
Box   1	New England, 1948
Box   1	North and South America, I-IV, 1948
Box   1	Notes II, Tbilisi through Moscow, undated
Box   14	Orient trip, diary books 1 and 2, 1935
Box   14	Orient trip, diary books 3 and 4, 1935
Box   1	Photos, 1961
Box   1	Pictures, Book I, Home through Moscow, 1959
Box   1	Poland-Beograd, Notes III, 1959
Box   1	Poland-Paris, Pictures II, 1959
Box   1	Punta Arenas, Guayaquil, Galapagos, 1971
Box   1	Rio Gallegos, 1971
Box   1	Rolls, 1966
Box   1	Rolls (Machu Picchu, etc.), 1954
Box   1	Rolls, Books I-III, 1964
Box   1	Saltillo, 1957
Box   1	Santiago, 1971
Box   16	Scrapbook of Parents’ Travels, 1940
Box   1	Society Islands Numbered Slides, 1988?
Box   1	South America, 1951
Box   1	South America, 1954
Box   1	South America Pictures, 1951
Box   1	South America, Books I-IV, 1967
Box   1	South America, I-III, 1951
Box   1	South America, I-III, 1954
Box   3	South and East United States, Cuba, 1934
Box   3	South and East United States, Cuba, 1934
Box   3	Travel Diary, I+II, 1923
Box   1	Tunisia, Sicily, Naples + Rome, 1983
Box   3	Washington, D.C., 1943
Box   1	Wisconsin-Minnesota, 1972
Box   3	Yellowstone, 1927
Box   1	Yucatan – Mexico, I+II, 1946
	Series: 2. Lectures and Publications, 1935-1983 Scope and Content Note: This series is mostly lecture notes of Reads, particularly those given while on tours. It also includes some manuscripts of works Read attempted to have published.	⇧
Box   2	1,000 BC to 1983 in Tunisia and Sicily, 1983
Box   2	A Geographer Looks at the Soviet Union, 1959
Box   2	A Geographer Looks at the Soviet Union, 1960
Box   2	A reconnaissance survey in Eastern Asia, 1935
Box   2	Africa South of the Sahara, 1983
Box   2	Altitudinal Traverse in Bolivia, 1980
Box   2	Animals and People of East Africa, 1982
Box   2	Antarctic Summer, long, undated
Box   2	Antarctic Summer, original, undated
Box   2	Australia, 1987
Box   2	Behind the Iron Curtain, 1959
Box   2	British Guiana, undated
Box   2	Changing China, 1981
Box   2	Changing South America, AAUP Lecture, 1970
Box   2	Chasing After Halley’s Comet Part 1, undated
Box   2	Chasing After Halley’s Comet Part 2, undated
Box   2	Chasing after Halley’s Comet, undated
Box   2	Developments in the Llamas and Griana Highlands of Venezuela, 1980
Box   2	Easter Island, 1970-1971
Box   2	Egypt, College Club Travelogue, 1979
Box   2	Farming in China, 1980
Box   2	Geographic Background of the Middle East, 1978
Box   2	Geographic Regions of Mexico, 1966
Box   2	Geography Field Trip: Hong Kong and People’s Republic of China, 1980
Box   2	Geography of the Holy Land, 1985
Box   2	Geography of the Middle East, 1980
Box   2	Highland of Peru, undated
Box   2	Intro, undated
Box   2	Israel, Christian House, 1974
Box   2	Italy Tour: Sicily, undated
Box   2	Italy tour: Tunisia, undated
Box   2	Land of the Incas, undated
Box   2	Land of the Mayas, undated
Box   2	Main Market (partial – begins at page 6), 1966
Box   15	Manuscript, “A Population Study of the Driftless Hill Land During the Pioneer Period”, 1941, 1951
Box   2	Oberammergau Passion Play, 1980
Box   2	Pampa, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, 1980
Box   2	Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, 1978
Box   2	People of East Africa, 1982
Box   2	Project Antarctica Society Expeditions, Expedition Log, 1984-5
Box   2	Safari in East Africa, 1982
Box   2	Society Islands of French Polynesia, undated
Box   2	South America (for Bob Eidt), 1980
Box   2	Southern Brazil, undated
Box   2	The Galapagos Islands, 1971
Box   2	The Sacred River Ganges, 1967
Box   2	Tunisia 814 BC to 1983 AD, undated
Box   2	Unitarian Forum, 1985
Box   2	Water Supply, Sewage Disposal and Health in Merida, Yucatan, 1963
Box   2	Why is the Dead Sea Dead?, 1983
	Series: 3. Correspondence, 1920s-1970s Scope and Content Note: A collection of Read's postcards and letters to her mother about her travels, and correspondence about her education and employment, including her transcripts.	⇧
Box   2	Correspondence to accompany 1935 photos of trip to Orient (Describe war situation in China in 1938-9), 1935
Box   2	Correspondence with universities, transcripts (Folder: Mary Jo Read Misc), 1920s-1960s
Box   2	Postcards/Letters Home, 1960s-1970s, undated
	Series: 4. Miscellaneous, 1935-1984 Scope and Content Note: Includes notes about what each photo on a roll of film is of from various locations and trips, an accession number file, and trip itineraries of trips.	⇧
Box   5	Accession Number File (various places and courses), undated
Box   2	Employment Records and Miscellaneous (2 folders), 1936-1976
Box   2	Itinerary to the Orient, 1935
Box   2	List of photos taken (Kodak), 1964-1983, undated
Box   2	List of photos taken in Sicily, undated
Box   2	List of photos taken in the Galapagos Islands, undated
Box   2	List of photos taken in Tunisia, undated
Box   2	List of photos taken in USSR, 1959
Box   2	List pf Photos taken in Italy, undated
Box   1	Lists of Photos taken (notebook paper clipped together), undated
Box   13	Miscellaneous items from Orient Trip, 1935
Box   14	Orient trip, photo notes, 1935
Box   2	Project Antarctica Expedition, 1984
	Series: 5. Photographs and Negatives, 1935-1982 Scope and Content Note: Most of this series are undated photographs taken by Read in Egypt and Jordan. Also included are photos and negatives from Read's "Trip to the Orient" in 1935, and a photo taken at her retirement.	⇧
Box   7	Egypt: Abu Simbel, Nubia, Temples, undated
Box   7	Egypt: Aswan, Philae Temple, undated
Box   7	Egypt: Aswan, Unidentified location, undated
Box   7	Egypt: Edfu, Edfu Temple, undated
Box   7	Egypt: Kom-ombo Temple, undated
Box   7	Egypt: Luxor, Thebes, with Medinet Hahu, Oeir-el-Bahari, Ramasseum Temples; Colossi of Memnon + Valley of Kings, undated
Box   8	Egypt: Miscellaneous, unidentified location, undated
Box   9	Egypt: Miscellaneous, unidentified location, undated
Box   7	Egypt: Qena, Dendera Temple, undated
Box   7	Egypt: Scenes, undated
Box   10	Jordan: Amman, undated
Box   11	Jordan: Baablbek (Roman ruins), undated
Box   11	Jordan: Byblos ruins, undated
Box   10	Jordan: Desert Palace and Ruins, undated
Box   10	Jordan: Petra, undated
Box   2	Miscellaneous, undated
Box   1	Negative of Mary Jo on Camel in Egypt, undated
Box   14	Orient trip, negatives, 1935
Box   12	Orient trip, photographs, 1935
Box   1	Petting a Koala (2 copies), 1987
Box   2	Photos in sleeve, 1966-1982(?)
Box   2	Retirement Picture, Eastern Illinois University, 1976
	Series: 6. Slides and Viewmaster, 1958-1960 Scope and Content Note: Several boxes of slides, presumably taken by Read. Also included is a sleeve of personal slides of Read's home, family, and some tombstones.	⇧
Box   2	Slides of Home, family, class reunion, gravestones, 1966-1973, undated
Box   4	Slides (TDC Selectray), 1959-1960
Box   4	Slides (Loose), 1958-1960
Box   4	View-Master,
	Series: 7. A/V Materials, undated Scope and Content Note: A box of tapes and film, both professional and personal.	⇧
Box   6	8mm family movies, undated
Box   6	Antarctica Trip (penguins), undated
Box   6	Lecture tapes, undated
Box   6	Miscellaneous, 1940, 1945, undated
	Series: 8. Publications by Others, 1957-1979 Scope and Content Note: Three books Read may have referenced.	⇧
Box   3	China Travel, Xi’an, 1978
Box   3	The Bulletin of the 30th Anniversary and Kai-Fong Day, Sham Shui Po Kai-Fong Welfare Advancement Association, 1979
Box   3	Things Maps Don’t Tell Us, Armin K. Lobeck, 1957