Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Niggli, Josefina, 1910-1983
- Abstract:
- This collection consists of the personal book collection of dramatist, writer and teacher Josefina Niggli. She was a Mexican-born Anglo-American playwright and novelist. Her plays address issues of identity, Mexican and pre-Columbian history, and women's roles.
- Extent:
- 4.17 linear feet (10 document boxes)
- Language:
- English , Spanish; Castilian .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Josefina Niggli Book Collection (Collection 37), Chicano Studies Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection consists of Josefina Niggli's book collection, which cover a wide variety of topics. The books are in English and Spanish, and the subjects include Mexican history and society, Catholic spirituality and history, botanical guides, the history of Spanish missions, and Mexican geography.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Josefina Niggli was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on July 13, 1910. Her father Frederick Ferdinand Niggli was descended from Swiss and Alsatian migrants who had immigrated to Texas in 1836. Frederick moved to Mexico in 1893 and found a job as the manager of a cement plant in the village of Hidalgo. Josefina's mother, Goldie (Morgan) Niggli, was a violinist of Irish, French and German descent.
In 1925 Niggli was sent to San Antonio, Texas, when she was 15 years old to finish her high school education. Afterward she received her B.A. from the College of the Incarnate Word, majoring in Philosophy and minoring in History. She credited Dr. Roehl, head of the English Department at the College of the Incarnate Word, with influencing her to become a writer. During her college years, Niggli published articles in Mexican Life and Ladies' Home Journal. Her early creative efforts earned her prizes both in fiction writing (Ladies' Home Journal) and poetry (National Catholic Poetry Contest). She received her M.A. from the University of North Carolina in 1937. While there she wrote a number of plays including her master's thesis, Singing Valley in 1936, the Carolina Playmakers produced Tooth or Shave (1935, 1936), The Cry of Dolores, Soldadera, The Red Velvet Goat, Azteca, Sunday Costs Five Pesos (1936), and The Fair-God (1937).
In 1938 Margaret Mayorga published Niggli's play This Is Villa and Soldaderain The Best One-Act Plays of 1937. In 1939 Niggli began teaching English and drama at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She also wrote for radio, television and film.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Ernesto Martinez and CSRC Staff, June 2006.
- Physical location:
- COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library and Archive for paging information. Researchers MUST make a research appointment through the CSRC Library's website
- Rules or conventions:
- DACS
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. Advance requests can be made to CSRC Library staff via email.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC). All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to CSRC Library. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRC as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where the museum does not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Josefina Niggli Book Collection (Collection 37), Chicano Studies Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Los Angeles, Chicano Studies Research Center Library, 193 Haines HallLos Angeles, CA 90095-1544, US
- Contact:
- (310) 206-6052