Title: Margaret C. Anderson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1930-1973

Creator:

• Anderson, Margaret C.

Call Number: UWM Manuscript Collection 12

Quantity:

• .6 cubic ft. (2 boxes)
• 3 safety film negatives

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives Department

Archival Location:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Collection consists of letters from Anderson to her sister, Mrs. Philip Palmer, that mention Little Review magazine, her health, and her travels throughout France and Europe. Also includes photographs (1930-1973) of Anderson and her friends, and an 1930 article by Sherwood Anderson on Margaret Anderson's book My Thirty Years' War. The collection includes 163 letters, 28 postcards, 30 photographs, 3 safety film negatives, 6 manuscripts consisting of 57 pages, 2 letters from friends after her death, and a cablegram telling of Margaret Anderson's death.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0012

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Margaret Carolyn Anderson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 24, 1886, the eldest of three daughters of Arthur Aubrey and Jessie (Shortridge) Anderson. She graduated from high school in Anderson, Indiana in 1903, and then entered a two-year junior preparatory class at Western College in Miami, Ohio. She left Western in 1906, at the end of her freshman year, to pursue a career as a pianist. In the fall of 1908 she left home for Chicago, accompanied by her sister Lois.

Anderson began writing book reviews for a religious weekly, The Continent , shortly after her arrival in Chicago. Later she joined the staff of Francis F. Browne's magazine, The Dial. By 1913 she was a book critic for the Chicago Evening Post. Having become bored with her work at the Post, she decided to edit her own magazine, the Little Review.

The magazine was launched as a monthly in March 1914. Anderson's main goal was to publish creative criticism. The first issue featured praise of Nietzsche, feminism, and psychoanalysis, along with new works by the Chicago poets Arthur Davidson Ficke and Eunice Tietjens. For the next two years Anderson published works by Imagist poets and also featured the political writings of such anarchists as Emma Goldman.

In 1916 Jane Heap (1887-1964) joined the staff of the Little Review. Heap was a painter who had graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After her arrival the magazine began using modern typographical designs and publishing reproductions of contemporary artists' works.

In 1917 Anderson and Heap moved the Little Review to New York. During the next few years the magazine increased its commitment to literary experiment, featuring the works of T.S. Eliot, Dorothy Richardson and James Joyce. Ezra Pound acted as the magazine's foreign editor from 1917 to 1919. In that capacity he encouraged many British and European writers to submit their works to Anderson and Heap for publication in theLittle Review. By 1921, as funds grew increasingly sparse, the magazine began publishing quarterly. Issues, appeared sporadically until 1926, when publication was suspended. In 1929, one final issue was published, in Paris.

In 1922 Anderson moved to Paris. The following year she turned over the editorship of theLittle Review to Jane Heap. Also in 1923 Anderson moved to Le Cannet (on the French Riviera) to live with the French singer Georgette Leblanc. She published the first volume of her autobiography seven years later. She wrote and studied piano in Le Cannet until Leblanc's death in 1941.

At Jane Heap's urging, Anderson studied under the philosopher/spiritual master George I. Gurdjieff, attending his lectures at Fontainebleau-Avon in 1924. Anderson wrote a book about the experience, The Unknowable Gurdjieff, and dedicated it to Jane Heap.

In 1942 Anderson returned to the United States, where she met Dorothy Caruso, widow of the singer Enrico Caruso. They lived together until Caruso's death in 1955. During that time Anderson published the second volume of her autobiography. Anderson returned to Le Cannet after Caruso's death. There she published the last volume of her autobiography, dedicating it to her friend and critic, the novelist Solita Solano. Anderson lived out the remainder of her years in Le Cannet, writing and listening to music, until a serious bout with emphysema forced her to enter the Clinique Beausoleil in Cannes. She died there of heart failure in 1973. She was buried beside Georgette Leblanc in the Notre Dame des Agnes Cemetery.

The collection includes 163 letters and 28 postcards addressed mainly to Margaret Anderson's sister describing day to day occurrences. Also included are 30 photographs (1915-1967) of Anderson, including a photograph of Margaret as a young girl. Later photographs show Margaret and her friends, including Jane Heap. A nineteen-page scrapbook includes additional photographs of old family friends, her sister, and various places of residence. Also found in the scrapbook are photographs of George I. Gurdjieff, Georgette Leblanc, and Solita Solano. A 1930 book review by Sherwood Anderson of Margaret Anderson's My Thirty Years' War is included, as well as six manuscripts. These manuscripts include a twenty-seven page story about Margaret's friendships, two short stories, the first draft of an idea for a book, and two prefaces for a new edition and reprint. Also included is a short story by Solita Solano. Within the collection is a cablegram telling of Margaret Anderson's death, and two letters from friends after her death.

The files are organized alphabetically by subject, then chronologically.

Citation Guide for Primary Sources

• John Frederick Hoffman Papers. UWM Manuscript Collection 141.

• Little Review Records. UWM Manuscript Collection 1.

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).

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Phillip (Jean Anderson) Palmer to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Library in 1977 (no accession number).

Processing Information

Original processor is unknown. Reprocessed by Anne Parsons in May 1998.

In November 2011, Bob Jaeger removed 3 safety film negatives and placed them with other safety film negatives.

Box   1 Folder   1	Book Review, My Thirty Years' War by Margaret Anderson, 1930
Box   1 Folder   26-27	Clippings, 1951-1973, undated
Box   1 Folder   2-24	Correspondence, 1951-1973, undated
35 mm Safety Film Box   2	Negatives, undated Physical Description: 35 mm safety film negatives
4 x 5 Safety Film Box   1	Negatives, undated Physical Description: 4" x 5" safety film negatives
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Photographs, 1915-1967, undated
Box   1 Folder   25	Postcards, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	Scrapbook, undated