Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth Papers

Collection

Identifier: SpC MS 0102

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Contains notebooks and diaries of Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth, a noted poet and author of children's books. Also includes two manuscripts of her husband, Henry Beston.

Dates

Creation: 1930-1968

Creator

Coatsworth, Elizabeth, 1893-1986 (Person)

Access Restrictions

Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval.

Use Restrictions

Information on literary rights available in the library.

Biographical Note

Born in Buffalo, New York in 1893, Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth graduated from Vassar College in 1915 and from Columbia University with an M.A. in 1916. She became a poet and author of prose works for children and adults. She was known for her children’s books, winning a Newberry Medal in 1931 for “The Cat Who Went to Heaven,” a Children’s Spring Book Festival Honor Award twice, and honorary degrees from both University of Maine and New England College. In 1975 she received the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota, recognizing her “singular attainments in the creation of children’s literature.”

Coatsworth married author and naturalist Henry Beston in 1929 with whom she had two children. She enjoyed a long career, publishing over 90 books from 1910 to her autobiography in 1976. She passed away in 1986 in Nobleboro, Maine at the age of ninety-three.

Extent

1 linear foot (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Contains notebooks and diaries of Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth, a noted poet and author of children's books.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Elizabeth Coatsworth, November 1959, and 1972.

Related Materials

Kerlan Children's Literature Research Collection Special Collections, 499 O. Meredith Library University of Minnesota, 309 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55455-0414.