Maine Women Writers Collection

Description of Collection:

Founded in 1959 by Grace Dow and Dorothy Healy to honor, preserve, and make available the writings of Maine women who have achieved literary recognition, the Collection now has over 8,000 volumes on more than 500 Maine women. The Collection also includes correspondence, photographs, personal papers, manuscripts, typescripts, artifacts, and audio recordings that provide insight into the lives and writing of both well-known and obscure authors. The Collection maintains an active acquisitions program in contemporary and historic manuscript material as well as in rare books.

Holdings are especially strong in nineteenth and twentieth-century resources. Published material ranges from rare books, pamphlets, and broadsides to newspapers and literary and popular journals. Among the Collection's unpublished materials are travel journals, diaries, correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, artwork, material culture, memorabilia, artists' books, and children's literature. The MWWC also holds records of women's organizations such as Maine Media Women, The Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union (Maine Chapter), the National League of Pen Women (Augusta Branch), and the Massachusetts branch of the National Women's Party (a suffrage organization). The Collection's prominent subject areas include women's literary and social history, the suffrage and women's movements, women's health and medicine, women's sexuality, family culture, nature and the environment, spiritualism, New England studies, and Maine history.

Circulation/Access Policy:
Material does not circulate. The Collection is open to the public for research by appointment during collection hours (9-5, Monday-Friday).
Number of Collection Items:
Less than 25
Format:
Books, Manuscripts, Pamphlets, LPs, CDs, Cassettes, VHS, DVDs, 3-D Objects, Art Works, Photographs
Catalog Web Address (if available):
lilac.une.edu
Search Tips:
Manuscripts are described in our finding aid (http://www.une.edu/mwwc/research/findingaid.cfm). Volumes are searchable in the library catalog with a limit by location (use "Portland Campus Maine Women Writers Collection).