Finding Aid of the Maude Emily Glass Papers

Processed by Dan Luckenbill
© 2004
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Finding Aid of the Maude Emily Glass Papers

UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections

Manuscripts Division



Los Angeles, CA
Processed by:
Dan Luckenbill, April 1974
Encoded by:
ByteManagers using OAC finding aid conversion service specifications
Encoding supervision and revision by:
Caroline Cubé
Edited by:
Josh Fiala, August 2004
© 2004 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Maude Emily Glass Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1912-1970
Collection number: 1140
Creator: Glass, Maude Emily
Extent: 5 boxes (2.5 linear ft.)
Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Born Maude Emily Taylor in 1897, Maude Emily Glass began writing in her youth, inspired by advice given in letters from Julian Hawthorne, the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a television drama based on the life of her friend Ruth St. Denis, did ghostwriting and screenwriting, was an original member of the Pasadena Playhouse, and published (under the pseudonym Emily Harvin) her most widely-read work, The stubborn wood (1948), a novel dealing with the treatment of patients in mental institutions. The collection consists of Glass' correspondence, manuscripts, screen treatments, photographs, and research materials.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Maude Emily Glass Papers (Collection 1140). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Gordon Harvin Glass, 1974.

Biography

Born Maude Emily Taylor in 1897, Maude Emily Glass began writing in her youth, inspired by advice given in letters from Julian Hawthorne, the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne; as a friend of the Wilshire family she planned first a biography of Gaylord, and then of Mary Wilshire, but finished neither project; wrote a television drama based on the life of her friend Ruth St. Denis; did ghostwriting and screenwriting; original member, Pasadena Playhouse; published (under the pseudonym Emily Harvin) her most widely-read work, The stubborn wood (1948), a novel dealing with the treatment of patients in mental institutions.

Biographical Narrative

Maude Emily Glass was born Maude Emily Taylor, the initials of which formed her nickname, Met, and also one of the many pseudonyms under which she wrote. After her marriage to Charles Ray Glass, she led a life “carefree and advantaged, interests no wider than children, books, golf, and horses.” Even in her youth, though, she wrote continually, and those manuscripts were preserved by Emily Glass along with later, published manuscripts. Also in this collection are letters from friends of her youth, among them the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Julian Hawthorne. She later praised his “invaluable guidance in choice of reading matter” and stated: “I feel that any worth my writing has, or may have, will largely be due to his influence and suggestions.”
Also among her earliest friends was the Wilshire family. She corresponded with both Gaylord Wilshire and his wife, Mary, and later with their son Logan and Mrs. Logan (Mary) Wilshire. One of the projects later in her life was to write a biography of Gaylord Wilshire, but someone was already in the process of doing that, so she turned her attentions to writing about Mary Wilshire, a fascinating woman apart from her relationship to Gaylord Wilshire. This project was not completed, but a considerable number of letters from the Wilshires and material about them was collected together, now in these papers.
Ruth St. Denis was another friend, with whom she corresponded and about whom she based a treatment for a television drama. That script and letters from Ruth St. Denis and photographs of her are in this collection.
She had many writing projects, among them ghost-writing and revising books of others. Some of these materials are in the collection. She was an original member of the Pasadena Playhouse. She often did screenwriting--treatments and scripts. Some of these are collected here. She published in 1948 her most widely-read work, a novel called The Stubborn wood, written under the pseudonym Emily Harvin. It attracted considerable interest and was a best-seller in Los Angeles. There is a large body of letters from readers of the book, as well as clippings related to its subject matter, the treatment of patients in mental institutions.

Scope and Content

Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, screen treatments, photographs, and research materials of freelance writer Maude Emily Glass. Includes materials related to her friendships with the Wilshire family, Julian Hawthorne, and Ruth St. Denis. Includes letters from Julian Hawthorne, letters from and material about the Wilshires, and letters and photographs from Ruth St. Denis, along with a television script about her life.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:
  • Biographical (Box 1).
  • Letters received (Box 1).
  • Ruth St. Denis material (Box 1).
  • Story material (Box 2).
  • Wilshire family material (Box 3).
  • Screen treatments (Boxes 3-4).
  • Revisions and ghost-writes (Box 4).
  • Manuscripts (Box 5).
  • Manuscripts and publications by other writers (Box 5).

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the repository's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Glass, Maude Emily--Archives.
Hawthorne, Julian, 1846-1934--Correspondence.
St. Denis, Ruth, 1880-1968.
Wilshire family.
Women authors, American--California, Southern--Archival resources.

Items Removed from Collection

The following manuscripts by Logan Wilshire have been added to the Wilshire family papers (Collection 231) available in the Department of Special Collections, UCLA:
  • Salesman beware, 1957.
  • The communist myth of Armageddon, n.d.
  • One week of teaching, n.d.

 

Biographical

Scope and Content Note

Primarily clippings.
Box 1, Folder 1

Miscellaneous.

Scope and Content Note

  • Writers' market & methods, February 1949, containing interview with Emily Harvin.
  • Clipping from Boston Post about Emily Harvin's writing.
  • Brief biographical note by Emily Harvin.
  • Letters received: 1 from editor of Reader's digest; 1 from Spring Byington.
  • Clippings about the Glass family.
Box 1, Folder 2

Griffith, Corinne.

Scope and Content Note

Clippings about her and her book, Papa's delicate condition, and about the movie made from the book.
Box 1, Folder 3

Baus, Ruth.

Scope and Content Note

Clippings about her and her book, Who's running this expedition?
Box 1, Folder 4

Mattewan.

Scope and Content Note

Clippings about this movie, story by Emily Glass.
Box 1, Folder 5

Miscellaneous writings.

Scope and Content Note

Clippings from trade papers.
Box 1, Folder 6

Clippings concerning friends of Emily Glass: Frank Scully, Monte Brice, etc.

Box 1, Folders 7-12

The Stubborn wood

Box 1, Folder 7

Clippings.

Box 1, Folder 8

Clippings related to its subject matter.

Box 1, Folder 9

Clippings from trades, etc. about sale to movies.

Box 1, Folders 10-12

Letters received from readers.

 

Letters Received, Also Some Clippings and Manuscript Material

Box 1, Folder 13

Coryell, Russell. Letters, 1915 and 1917.

Scope and Content Note

“The way of love” (manuscript?).
Box 1, Folder 14

Greenbie, Sydney. Letters, c1912-1916.

Box 1, Folders 15-16

Hawthorne, Julian.

Scope and Content Note

(Correspondence and poem)
Box 1, Folder 15

Letters.

Scope and Content Note

  • 1) to Maud Emily Glass, 1922-24 and n.d.
  • 2) to Home Telephone Company of Pasadena, 1920.
  • 3) to “My dear boy” (Charles Ray Glass?), 1905.
Box 1, Folder 16

Poem, n.d.

Physical Description: (Holograph manuscript, 1p. Carbon of a typed copy)

Scope and Content Note

Beginning “Before Day was, my birth was - .”
Box 1, Folder 17

Hawthorne, Edith. Letters, 1916, 1924, 1928 and n.d.

Box 1, Folders 18-19

Hawthorne, Edith and Julian.

Box 1, Folder 18

[Notes and correspondence].

Scope and Content Note

  • Notes by Emily Glass.
  • Copy of her letter to Paul Jordan Smith (1961), concerning Julian Hawthorne
  • Letter from Charles Ray Glass to Emily Glass (1959), concerning Edith Hawthorne and the Wilshires and book about Julian Hawthorne.
Box 1, Folder 19

Clippings, 1949 and n.d.

 

Ruth St. Denis

Scope and Content Note

This file constitutes “story material,” in one sense, since Emily Glass did write a television play about Ruth St. Denis; but, as they were friends, the file is also more than that.
Box 1, Folder 20

Miscellaneous.

Scope and Content Note

Includes 1 letter from Arlene Dahl Lamas, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 21

Notes by Emily Glass.

Box 1, Folder 22

Printed materials: souvenir programs, announcements, etc.

Box 1, Folder 23

Manuscripts and typed material.

Physical Description: (Carbon typescripts)
Box 1, Folder 23

Current biography, by Ruth St. Denis, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 23

Brief outline of the career of Ruth St. Denis for Mrs. Joy Parnes, May 7, 1959.

Box 1, Folder 23

Lecture for play-house, April 29, 1959.

Box 1, Folder 23

Lecture to be given at Assistance League, May 29, 1959.

Box 1, Folder 23

Poem beginning “Canst thou not say 'I love thee'” (by Ruth St. Denis?), 1955.

Box 1, Folder 23

Biography, by Ruth St. Denis, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 24

Manuscripts by Emily Harvin.

Box 1, Folder 24

The Salomé of St. Denis, n.d.

Physical Description: (2 carbons, typescript)

Scope and Content Note

Poem, heavily corrected.
Box 1, Folder 24

German episode, Ruth St. Denis, 1959.

Physical Description: (2 copies)

Scope and Content Note

  • Condensed treatment by Emily Harvin.
  • 1 copy with cover letter from Bud Kay, Independent Television Corporation, September 2, 1959.
Box 1, Folder 24

For Miss Arlene Dahl: condensed treatment, Episode Ruth St. Denis, 1959[?].

Physical Description: (Corrected carbon typescript)
Box 1, Folder 25

Clippings.

Box 1, Folder 26

Photographs.

Physical Description: (15 items)

Scope and Content Note

Includes two negatives of snapshots taken in Emily Harvin's apartment at the Villa Carlotta.
Box 1, Folder 27

Letters from Ruth St. Denis (and her secretary, etc.), 1957-1965 and n.d.

 

Story Material (Clippings, Notes, Correspondence, etc.)

Note

The folder titles are those given by Emily Glass.
Box 2, Folder 1

Hemingway (story material?).

Scope and Content Note

Clippings from national magazines, c1966.
Box 2, Folders 2-4

Alex, Greece

Scope and Content Note

These story materials also document the efforts of Emily Glass to expedite the immigration of Maria Papavasilopoulos.
Box 2, Folder 2

Notes.

Box 2, Folder 3

Clippings.

Box 2, Folder 4

Correspondence, documents and 1 photograph.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with American Consulate, Greek Consulate General, etc., December 1950-February 1951.
Box 2, Folders 5-6

Cripple Creek

Box 2, Folder 5

Notes, clippings, brochures about this area.

Box 2, Folder 6

Clippings about Emily Harvin's writing on this subject.

Box 2, Folder 7

National geographic - Moon.

Physical Description: (Copies)
Box 2, Folders 8-9

The Woman.

Scope and Content Note

Clippings and marked copies of national magazines.
 

Story Material: the Wilshire Family

Scope and Content Note

While much of this material is correspondence having nothing to to with Emily Glass' writing, it was later collected by her into folders and envelopes marked “for Wilshire book,” when she conceived the idea of writing biographies of her friends, the Wilshires.
Box 3, Folder 1

Wilshires - Photographs.

Physical Description: (22 items)

Scope and Content Note

Primarily of Gaylord and Mary Wilshire.
Box 3, Folder 2

“Wilshire papers - reserve for checking.”

Box 3, Folder 2

Letters - Gaylord Wilshire to Emily Glass, 1914, 1916, 1924, n.d.

Box 3, Folder 2

Mollie Price Rapp to Emily Glass, 1927.

Box 3, Folder 2

From Emily Glass to [???], n.d.

Box 3, Folder 6

Clippings, primarily n.d.

Box 3, Folder 7

Notes by Emily Glass.

Box 3, Folder 3

Wilshire, Mary (Mrs. Gaylord). Letters, 1934-1952 and n.d.

Box 3, Folder 4

Wilshire, Mary - Miscellaneous.

Scope and Content Note

Letters to Mary Wilshire, notes by Emily Glass, notes by Mary Wilshire[?] and The art directors position in motion pictures by James Mitchell Leisen (carbon typescript of speech, 1928).
Box 3, Folder 5

Wilshire, Logan and Mary (Mrs. Logan)

Box 3, Folder 5

Letters from Logan Wilshire, 1957 (sent with “Salesman beware”), 1961-63 and n.d.

Box 3, Folder 5

Letters from Mary Wilshire, 1960, 1963, 1970 and n.d.

Box 3, Folder 5

Letter from Monica Fernandez, n.d.

Box 3, Folder 5

Notes by Emily Glass.

Physical Description: (Typed and written)
Box 3, Folders 8-10

“For Wilshire book.”

Box 3, Folder 8

Notes by Emily Glass, photocopied material.

Box 3, Folder 9

National magazines, with notes by Emily Glass.

Physical Description: (Copies)
Box 3, Folder 10

Clippings.

Box 3, Folder 11

Acknowledgements of gifts and papers. From Regents of the University of California, 1956, Huntington Library, 1961, and UCLA, 1956 and 1961.

Box 3, Folder 12

Nichols, Roberta A.

Box 3, Folder 12

Correspondence re the use of materials for writing an article about Gaylord Wilshire.

Scope and Content Note

  • 1) to Robert Vosper.
  • 2) to Emily Glass.
  • 3) from James V. Mink.
  • Also, notes by Emily Glass.
Box 3, Folder 13

The many lives of Gaylord Wilshire.

Physical Description: (Carbon typescript)
Box 3, Folder 14

The many lives of Gaylord Wilshire. In Southland magazine (Sunday, September 29, 1963).

Physical Description: (Clipping)
 

Screen Treatments: Manuscripts

Box 3, Folders 15-17

The Young American, c1945-46.

Box 3, Folder 15

A screen treatment by Lucy Butner, c1945-46.

Physical Description: (Typescript, 44 leaves and carbon typescript, 44 leaves)
Box 3, Folder 16

Draft, clipping and notes, n.d.

Physical Description: (Typed, carbon typescript and typescript, heavily corrected)
Box 3, Folder 17

Story outline and screen treatment by Emily Harvin, n.d.

Physical Description: (2 copies)

Scope and Content Note

  • 1) Typescript, 58 leaves and carbon.
  • 2) Carbon typescript, 59 leaves.
Box 4, Folders 1-2

“Arnold story,” n.d.

Box 4, Folder 1

Notes for screen treatment about Dr. Nita Arnold, n.d.

Box 4, Folder 2

Information and synopsis of proposed screen story, n.d.

Physical Description: (Carbon typescript, and typescript, 31 leaves)

Scope and Content Note

Also, The screen story (untitled).
 

Revisions and Ghost-Writes: Manuscripts

Box 4, Folder 3

The Dizzy and the dazed. By L. Jory[?,] n.d.

Physical Description: (Typescript, 267 leaves)
Box 4, Folder 4

Faith moved a church. Ghostwritten by Emily Harvin for Dana and Ginger Lamb, n.d.

Physical Description: (Corrected typescript, corrected carbon)
Box 4, Folder 5

Coco. Revision for Dana and Ginger Lamb, n.d.

Physical Description: (3 typescripts)
Box 4, Folder 6

Story by Mary Sheldon, with various suggested titles.

Physical Description: (Corrected typescript, 33 leaves)

Scope and Content Note

Also, notes (holograph).
Box 4, Folder 7

The Man in the car, by Emily Harvin and Monte Brice.

Physical Description: (Carbon typescript, 39 leaves)

Scope and Content Note

A screen original, story line and treatment.
Box 4, Folders 8-10

The Makings of a doctor, by Carl Custer Crane, M.D., ed. and revised by Emily Harvin, n.d.

Physical Description: (Typescript, 377 leaves)
Box 4, Folder 8

pp.1-156.

Box 4, Folder 9

pp.157-351.

Box 4, Folder 10

pp.352-377.

 

Odds & Ends - Beginnings, 1937-38: Manuscripts

Scope and Content Note

This was Emily Glass' title for folders containing these manuscripts. Some fall outside of the dates she gave on the folder. They bear the various names she used for her writings. Pages and dates given only if on item.
Box 5, Folder 1

“Old-unusable” (Emily Glass' title for this folder), n.d.

Scope and Content Note

Notes and beginnings of stories.
Box 5, Folder 2

Swan song, 1938.

Physical Description: (Typescript and carbon, 9 leaves, each corrected)
Box 5, Folder 3

What's in a song!

Physical Description: (Corrected typescript, 9 leaves)
Box 5, Folder 4

America went to war.

Scope and Content Note

Various corrected typescripts.
Box 5, Folder 5

Visitor begins with a V.

Physical Description: (Typescript, corrected, and carbon, 28 leaves)

Note

(Carbon lacks leaf 28)
Box 5, Folder 6

Plate glass window full of stars, c.1937.

Physical Description: (Typescript)
Box 5, Folder 7

Athanasy for one.

Physical Description: (Typescript)

Scope and Content Note

Also, another copy, 1933 (Typescript).
Box 5, Folder 8

The Procession of the beasts at sunset: a maternity dream.

Physical Description: (Typescript)

Scope and Content Note

Also, another copy, 1918 (Typescript).
Box 5, Folder 9

Four walls.

Physical Description: (Typescript)

Scope and Content Note

Also, another copy, 1922 (Typescript).
Box 5, Folder 10

Asylum, 1937.

Physical Description: (Typescript)
Box 5, Folder 11

Miscellany, 1915-1916 and n.d.

Physical Description: (Typescripts)

Scope and Content Note

  • 1) Prose poem, 1916.
  • 2) Week-end impression, 1915.
  • 3) Answer to the letter of my dear friend Sydney Greenbie, 1916.
  • 4) Female trouble, 1930.
  • 5) Diary page, n.d.
  • 6) Margaret is dead for all time, n.d.
  • 7) Farewell to Margaret, n.d. (2 copies).
Box 5, Folder 12

Love song, by “Polk Lenoir,” c.1939-40.

Physical Description: (Typescript)

Scope and Content Note

1st and 3rd draft.
Box 5, Folder 13

Christ drank wine, 1939[?].

Physical Description: (Typescript, 11 leaves)
Box 5, Folder 14

Foreword and first episode of a radio serial titled The Back room (first episode titled “Only Natural”).

Physical Description: (Carbon typescript)
Box 5, Folder 15

M'Amie, by Emily Harvin, n.d.

Physical Description: (Typescript, 29 leaves and Carbon typescript, 15 leaves)

Scope and Content Note

Proof sent by Reader's digest.
Box 5, Folder 16

As fighters go (meet the workmen who were on Wake!). By Met Glass, 1941.

Physical Description: (Typescript, 16 leaves)

Scope and Content Note

Also, clippings pertaining to Wake Island.
 

Manuscripts by Other Writers

Box 5, Folder 17

Janda, Jane. The Last straw, n.d.

Physical Description: (Carbon typescript, 97 leaves)
Box 5, Folder 18

Janda, Jane and Harry Jenkins. The Cockeroo: a comedy in three acts, n.d.

Physical Description: (Typescript, various paging)
Box 5, Folder 19

Heard, Dale and Evelyn Robertson. Kanaima, 1944.

Physical Description: (122 leaves, Mimeographed)
Box 5, Folder 20

Glass, Charles Ray[?]. Torero!n.d.

Physical Description: (Holograph manuscript or copy[?] 11 leaves)
 

Publications

Box 5, Folder 21

Harris, Arthur Trevenning. “Amatechana!” in Jungle stories (vol.4, no.9), Winter 1949-1950 (November-January).

Physical Description: (pp.42-53)

Note

Ghost-written by Emily Harvin[?].
Box 5, Folder 22

Harris, Arthur Trevenning. “Nitwit in feathers,” in Saturday evening post, December 24, 1949.

Physical Description: (pp.19, 51-52)

Note

“Ghost written by Emily Harvin.”