Manuscript Collection CL-12,   2.5 linear feet (6 boxes)

Biographical sketch:
Elizabeth Yates was born in Buffalo, NY; she attended schools there and in Mamorenek, NY. A well-known author of children’s books, she also wrote books for adults. She began to write at the age of twelve and moved to New York City to become a professional writer at the age of twenty. Yates then married and lived in Europe for ten years, writing travel stories for newspapers and magazines. She later based many of her books on her experiences overseas. After returning to the United States before the beginning of World War II, she settled with her husband in Peterborough, NH, where she continued to write, lecture and serve on the boards of several charitable organizations. Yates received a number of awards including the Newbery Medal for Amos Fortune, Free Man, and received honorary degrees from several colleges including one from Franklin Pierce College in 1981.

Scope and Content Note:
The collection documents the writing of a children’s author for three books: Wind of Spring, Nearby and Beloved Bondage. The collection includes first drafts, manuscripts, galley proofs and page proofs for these three novels. There is also a small amount of personal memorabilia including a photo of her home at what is now Shieling Forest, deeded with 45 acres of land to the State of New Hampshire by Yates (McGreal) in 1980 (series 4, folder 1), a childhood poem and portrait of the author (series 4, folder 2), and a news clipping from the 1944 Keene State College Kronicle on her visit to the college (series 4, folder 4).

Elizabeth Yates (1905-2001)
1944-1948