Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Papers of Margaret and John Travers Moore, 1914-1994, Accession # 11161, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Moore papers were bequeathed to the University of Virginia Library by John Travers Moore, Hendersonville, North Carolina, through his executor E.K. Morley, on December 5, 1994.

Biographical/Historical Information

Information about the life and publications of Margaret and John Travers Moore can be found throughout the collection but particularly in the Memorabilia Series in the Introduction to the Files (Box 25) compiled by John T. Moore, 1984-1994, which reveals much about how Moore viewed their work and their relationships to publishers, friends, and family. About eleven hundred letters listed in this introduction were housed in photographic albums but these were removed and interfiled for preservation purposes. Other files with personal information include: Certificates and Awards (Box 24), Genealogy and Family History (Box 24), Photographs (Box 25), Newsclippings (Box 25), Scrapbooks of Press Releases and Poems published in Periodicals (Box 26), and the oversize photograph album arranged in rough chronological order and identified by Moore.

Published sources include Contemporary Authors (1995), The Marquis Who's Who in America, page 2435 (1994) and Who's Who in American Women (1982).

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of the papers of Margaret (1903-1984) and John Travers Moore (1908-1994), ca. 1914-1994, ca. 8,000 items (27 Hollinger boxes; 11 linear shelf feet), poets and authors who published their material in a wide variety of journals, magazines, and books from the 1930's until John Moore's death in 1994. The papers include published and unpublished literary manuscripts, correspondence, audio and video recordings, artwork, memorabilia, bound volumes, photographs, books (transferred to the Rare Books Division), printed material, newsclippings, scrapbooks, certificates and awards, genealogy notes, several philatelic covers, a bust of John Travers Moore and paintings by Robert J. Smith, a friend of Moore's, and sheet music by Moore.

The manuscripts series (Boxes 1-14) contains mostly unpublished manuscripts. Those that have been published include: All Along the Way, The First Moon Landing, How Can I Show You God, Jeannette?, The Little Band and the Inaugural Parade, Pepito's Journey, Pepito's Speech at the United Nations, Pepito's World, Sappho's Poetry, and The Story of Silent Night .

The correspondence series (Boxes 15-23) contains correspondence with editors and publishers, friends and family, and others, arranged alphabetically by folder title. Persons with their own correspondence folders include: Jean Pierre and Muriel de Chambrun (friends of the Moores for almost forty years); James E. Creekman (Moore's dismissed attorney); Harris and Hazel Huston (some of his oldest friends; Harris attended law school with Moore and served in the American Embassy at Curacao, Netherlands Antilles); Tina Miller (editor at D.C. Heath and Company); nephew Jerry Moore (writes concerning Moore family genealogy and news); Margaret and John Moore to each other; Margaret and John Moore to their parents; George and Peggy Rumberger; artist and friend Robert Smith and Nancy Mackey (his daughter), see also drawings by Smith (Box 24) and list of large paintings at the end of the guide; and the University of Virginia, chiefly Edmund Berkeley, concerning Moore's intention of making the University the repository for his literary work.

The correspondence, 1929-1988, with George and Peggy Rumberger, Margaret's brother and sister-in-law, contains fourteen letters and photographs, 1944-1945, concerning the service of George Rumberger in the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, in Burma as a master sergeant during World War II. Rumberger won a citation for the Bronze Star for his advance planning for the Stillwell Road. Other items present in the Rumberger folder include a map of North Burma with Rumberger's notes about his itinerary and the area written in the margins. He also describes his experiences in Burma and India, mentioning riding elephants, hunting tigers, the deprivations and hardships of the soldiers, the Ledo Road, the dense and isolated jungles, and a Buddhist school in Burma. The folders of correspondence with individuals is the best source for personal information about the Moore's missing from the other files.

Topics with separate folders include: banking & savings bonds (Box 15); contracts (Box 15); copyrights (Box 16); Ireland as retirement location (Box 17); lectures (Box 17); the Nobel Peace Award nomination for Pepito and the United Nations trilogy (Box 18); Perfection Form Company Poetry Poster Series, etc. (Box 19); publishers and editors (Box 19); Spoken Arts publisher Arthur Luce Klein (Box 20); reprints & permissions (Box 20-21); royalties (Box 22); social security (Box 22); and Moore's controversy with the Walt Whitman Center for Arts and Humanities (Box 23).

Manuscripts and published books with their own correspondence folders include: Around the Corner from Our House (Box 15) which records the long term disagreement of John Travers Moore with Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lerner of Lerner Publications and Carolrhoda Books about the publication of Around the Corner from Our House and All Along the Way ; copyright concerns regarding The Story of Silent Night (Box 16); the composition and promotion of The Little Band and the Inaugural Parade as a musical play, including correspondence with Carol Davis and Denise Adams (Box 17); the publication of the Pepito and the United Nations trilogy by the United Nations (Boxes 18- 19); Moore's work on the World War II publication Plane Facts (Box 19); Moore's attempt to publish his manuscripts "Portrait of America" (Box 19); "The Road" formerly titled "Jingalong" (Box 21); "Sinmin (Lord Elephant), which includes some wonderful letters from Burma, describing how to capture elephants (Box 22); "Sports Poems" (Box 22); and correspondence concerning Moore's classic children's book The Story of Silent Night .

Organization

The papers have been arranged in three large series: I) Manuscripts (Boxes 1-14); II) Correspondence Files (Boxes 15-23); and III) Memorabilia and Miscellaneous Material. The Correspondence Series retains the original reverse chronological order of the files.

General Correspondence Files

A Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "April Fool's Day," "And So Was the Cat," At the Foot of the Manger "At Night," "Among These Hills" & "Picture Poems," How Can I Show You God, Jeannette? , "The Easter Bup," "A Star for the Christ Child," "At the Margins," "The Astronomer" "Easter Nightingale," "The Voice" and "April Rain"

Correspondents include:

Ruth Cantor, Literary Agent (1966 Oct 7; 1964 Jun 23)
Ruth Hill Viguers, Editor of The Horn Book (1965 Feb 25)
Royal D. Frey, Air Force Museum re Plane Facts (1963 Dec 21)
Edith Mackin, The Authors Guild (1959 Feb 4)
Virginia Sobotka (1959 Jul 23-Aug 6; 1958 Jan 9 & 21, Dec 18)
Laura Harris (1952 Oct 2-1953 Oct 13)
Major Harry E. Shubart, Army Air Forces (1944 Aug 5)
Anne Stoddard (1943 Mar 26)

B Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "The Bicycle," "Blinky," "Minnows," "The Blessing of the Padre," "The Bachelor's Ballad," "The Beetle," "The Butterfly," and an unsubmitted draft of a "National Code of Book Reviewers"

Correspondents include:
Karl Maslowski & Donald Borror re bird behavior (1971 Jul-Aug)
Paschal Boland, The Grail (1955 Jun 11)

C Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "The Cardinal" "The Child," "Christmas Carol," Cinnamin Seed, "The Cincinnati Waltz," "City Lights," "Clem Takes A Wife," "Close to the Sky," "The Coat," "The Colt," "Comparisons," "The Contest," "Cooks Bookmarks," "Crocodile Tears," "Quiet Is My Love."

Correspondents include:
Capital University (1972 Mar 15; 1981 Mar 4)
Harry Carlson, Fraternity Records (1972 Feb 29)
Miriam Chaikin (1970 May 12)
Chicago Tribune re Story of Silent Night reprint (1976 Jan 29)
Congressman James McClure Clarke (1983 Apr 18)
Marion Belden Cook (1951)
Steve Allen and others, CBS, re song "Quiet is My Love" (1951- 1952)
Congressman Bill Hendon re Social Security (1982 May 12; 1985 Oct 24)
Ellen Sarrah, Good Housekeeping (1982 Jun 8)

D-E-F Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "The Deeps," "Dirge for the Old Year," "Easter Song," "The Echo," "Everywhere and In Between," "Farm Mother," "Favorites," "The First King of Israel," "The First Moon Landing," "Poems," and "There's Motion Everywhere"

Correspondents include:
Dayton's Women's Press Club (1942 Nov 9)
University of Dayton art exhibit re Robert J. Smith (1967 Sep 11)

Distinguished People A-H

Neil A. Armstrong
Robert Braine, composer
Pearl S. Buck
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Barbara Bush
Jimmy Carter
Nathalia Crane
Frank Crumit
Phil Donahue (letter to, only)
M.R. "Bob" Evans, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels
Robert Frost
Paul W. Gallico
C. Hugo Grimm
Helen Hayes
Daniel Whitehead Hicky
Ralph Hodgson
Governor James E. Holshouser, Jr., North Carolina
J. Edgar Hoover
Hubert H. Humphrey
Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., North Carolina

Distinguished People I-Z

Governor Ruby Laffoon, Kentucky
Senator H.C. Lodge, Jr.
Henry Loomis, The White House
J.B. Montini, Vatican Secretary of State, (later Pope Paul VI)
Patricia Nixon
Louise G. Owen
Pope John XXIII (form letter)
Oscar Rasbach, composer
Monsignor G.B. Re (for Pope John Paul II)
Mrs. Vernon Reid, Deputy Assistant to Governor James A. Rhodes, Ohio
Marthe Ruspoli
[Samuel C.] Stu, Archbishop of Chicago
Senator Robert A. Taft
Deems Taylor
Jean Thomas, The Traipsin' Woman
Boyce A. Whitmore, Mayor of Hendersonville
Walter Winchell (photostat)

Family Correspondence

This includes correspondence from all relatives except their parents, Jerry Moore, and George Rumberger who all have a separate folder. Correspondents include: Aunt June Moore, Rose Julia, Gould and Rose, Shirley and Sharon Hatfield, Jean and Edith, George H. Lee, Mark Moore, Helen (sister of J.T.M.) and Jim, and Lucille Barlow-Schmitt.

G Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "Favorites," "The Goblin Garden," "God's Wonderful World," "Going Up," "Gratitude," "Green Fingers," "Reading Games," "Rondel in Pinafore," "Thank You, God"

Correspondents include:
Licia Gaut-Correll, with article re Moore "A Lifetime In Literature" (1991 Sep 10)
Ginn & Company, Faith & Freedom Series (1958 Sep 16 & 23, Nov 28)
Cyril Clemens (1955 Jan 18; 1958 Aug 22; n.d.)

H Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "Calico Carnival," "The Hallowe'en Goblin," "Heritage," "Hidden Garden," "Homeward," "Hours of May," "The House," and "Sun Patterns"

Correspondents include:
Henry Holt and Company (1991)

I-L Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "Just-Before Times," The Little Band and the Inaugural Parade (Junior Literary Guild Selection in 1968), "Little Zo," "The Lyrist of Lesbos," "The Last Flower," They Saw Him Fly, "Wind in the Grass," Little Stories About the Saints, Big Saints, Little Saints, "Lanterns," "They Legion of the Dead," and "The Lost Land"

Correspondents include:
Life Experience School (1986 Jun 11)
Bernard Knox, Center for Hellenic Studies (1978 Sep 18; 1979 Jun 18, 22, Oct 31)
Derek C. Bok (1978 Oct 2, Nov 4)
Virginia Sobotka (1957 Dec 12)
Philip Mahin, The Grail (1955 Aug 3)
Paschal Boland The Grail (1953 Jun 1)
Margaret Cousins (1943 Dec 7)

M Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "The Multitudinous Caravan," "Mountain Ballads," "Moonlight," "The May Basket," "The Child," "The Message," "March Came in Like a Lion"

Correspondents include:
Ingrid and Bob Margrave (1984 Sep 4; [1985 Jul 1]; 1988 Apr 27)
Herbert S. Bailey, Princeton University Press (1982-1983) controversy re "The Multitudinous Caravan"

N-O Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "The First Moon Landing," "The Gifts," "New England Poems," "Northern Holiday," "OH -H-H!" "The Old Umbrella," "Olivet," On Cherry Tree Hill, "Other Singers," "Portrait of America," and The Three Tripps (source for ideas, 1971 Feb 19)

Correspondents include:
Cyril Clemens (n.d.)
NASA (1979 Jul 6)
National Catholic Welfare Conference (1942 Jan 21)
New York Statue Committee & Cosmopolis Inscription (1981 Oct 1 & attached)
Cletus E. Oberst (1987 May 19, Jun 23)
Oddo Publishing Company re inability to publish "Guess What I Am" (1971-1975)
Ohio Historical Society (1970 Oct 28)
Our Lady of Cincinnati College (1956 May 13)

P Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "Autumn," "Bonny Bugs," "A Child's Christmas Carol," "Cloud Horses," "The Computer That Didn't," "Everywhere & In-Between," "First Flight," "From Sea to Sea," "Funday Funnies," "Goblin Garden," "Go-Things," "Halfway," "The Halloween Pumpkin," "The Last Flower," The Little Band and the Inaugural Parade, "Let Me Live Dangerously," "Love Lyrics," "My Skateboard," "Night World," "Nooks and Crannies," "Peaceful the Dark," "Peanuts for Miss Bedelia," "Peppercorns," "Peter Polter Guyst," "The Peter Pan Heart," "A Pixie on Main Street," "The Place," "Poem for Editors," "Poetry of Flight," "Portrait of America," "Rondel in Pinafore," "Sputnik," "The Stranger," "Talking Weather," "Voices of the Wild," "Wee Wings," "Weeds," and "The Whisper"

Correspondents include:
Atheneum policy (1979 Dec 3 & 27)
National Science Teachers Association & the insect poems (1983 Feb 4)
Eleanor Nichols, McGraw-Hill (1964)
John Frederick Nims (1980 Jul 31)
"Poethaven," notes re (n.d.)
Poetry magazine (1984 Dec 3 & 13; 1985 Jan 22 & 28)
Henry Charles Suter & plagiarism charge (1943 Sep-Oct)
Charlotte Zolotow (1979 Oct 23, Nov 8, Dec 4)

Q-R Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "Bun Bun," "Quiet is My Love," "Petals," "The Rabbit Who Wanted To Play," "The Race," "The Rebel," "The Recollections," "Reptiliana," "The Robin," "The Robin's Song," and "The Round Book"

Correspondents include:
Regnery Gateway, Inc. re anthology of 101 poems idea (1982-1983)
Charles Roush re poetry writing (1968 Apr-Jun)

S Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "Astronauts," "Cosmonaut," "First Moon Landing," "Harvest," "Nooks and Crannies," "Rhymes and Chimes," "The Santa Claus Party," "Silent Majority Speaks," "Silly Milly," Sing-Along Sary, "Sliding," "Snow," "So Many Springs," "Songs of Shadows," "Sound-Alikes," "Spring Comes to the Hillside," "Sputnik, Blast-Off," "Stand Tall," "Strange Insects and Animals," and "Sun Patterns"

Correspondents include:
Arizona reminiscences of J.T. Moore (1968 Mar 1)
National Review (1979- 1980)
Smithsonian Air & Space Museum (1969 Nov 10, Dec 4,8, 11; and 1979 [Jan?] 19*
Statue of Liberty Song (1984 Mar-Jun)
Julia Louise Sutor (1970 Apr 21)

T Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: On Cherry Tree Hill, "Talky Bird," "The Teacher," "They Saw Him Fly," "The Three Sons," The Three Tripps, "To Be In Love," "Trees," "Turtles," "Two Song," and "Two Tears for Ireland"

U-Z Correspondence

Manuscripts mentioned include: "The Affectionate Bee," "Bird Language," "The First Moon Landing," "Holiday, Happy Day," "Liberty Shall Stand," "The Little World," "The Turtle," "The View," "Voices of the Wild," "Wallflowers," "Water Walkers," We Are Like Wine, "Where I Live," "The Whisper," "Work," and "A Young World of Poetry"

Correspondents include:
Little, Brown Company controversy over "A Young World of Poetry" manuscript (1982-1983)
War Department, Army Air Forces Air Technical Service Command, Hq., ATSC, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio - Moore's record of service (1945 Nov 5)
Xavier University, Margaret Moore employed there 1947-1967 (1955 Jan 7; 1956 Mar 22; 1958 Jun 3; 1959 Feb 2; Jul 22; 1963 Oct 16; 1969 Feb 1; 1972 Jan 5)
Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation (1973 Jan 4; 1980; 1993 Feb 5, Mar 17 & 21, Apr 2 & 7)