Guide to the George H. McMurry Papers M0309
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
2022
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: George H. McMurry papers
Identifier/Call Number: M0309
Identifier/Call Number: 2577
Physical Description:
5 Linear Feet
(11 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1890-1975
Abstract: George H. McMurry (1898-1975) was a writer and journalist who studied with Wallace Stegner at Stanford and later worked for
Stanford Libraries. He was born in India to Methodist missionary parents.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of George H. McMurry, ca. 1975.
Biographical / Historical
George Harold McMurry was born in Bombay (Mumbai), India on November 14, 1898, the son of American missionaries Valentine
G. McMurry and Celia Ferries McMurry. He received his B.A. degree in 1921 from College of the Pacific where he studied English
and History. He served in the Air Service during WWI and in the Air Corps during WWII. McMurry was married, had two daughters,
and lived in San Jose, California. For over 20 years he worked as reporter, feature writer, and editorial writer, first with
the
San Jose Evening News and later with the
Mercury-Herald. His first published work appeared in 1933 entitled
History of San Jose, co-authored by William F. James.
From 1951 to 1960, McMurry was associated with the Stanford Univer-
sity English Department. He completed the PhD course work and taught
Freshman English and Creative Writing on a half-time basis. During this time he completed his novel
The Call to Murralla while on a year
Saxton Fellowship from Harper's. In 1961 McMurry was hired by the Stanford University Libraries to work in the Circulation
Division. At the same time,
his recent novel was enjoying a good deal of recognition. McMurry died in 1975.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], George McMurry Papers (M0309). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford Libraries,
Stanford, Calif.
Scope and Contents
Collection contains material related to McMurry's writing career and studies at Stanford; biographical research & writing
about author and illustrator Mary Hallock Foote (1847-1938) as well as other California historical topics; and correspondence
and printed material related to the McMurry family and missionary work. The collection also contains many photographic prints,
slides and negatives, mostly depicting family and India.
Separated Materials
Selected photographic negatives from this collection are separated and housed in MSS PHOTO 0100 General Photograph Collection.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American literature -- 20th century.
Santa Clara County (Calif.) -- History.
Missionaries -- India -- History
Authors, American -- 20th century
McMurray, George H. (George Harold)
Foote, Mary Hallock
McMurry, V. G. (Valentine G.)
Stegner, Wallace, 1909-1993
Stanford University. Creative Writing Program
Series 1. Stanford Creative Writing Program & publishing
Box 1, folder 1
Correspondence 1960-1961. 9 leaves. 6 items
Scope and Contents
1. 1960 March 17. Berkeley, Ca. Jane Putnam to McMurry, Palo Alto, ea. TLS lp. (1) with enclosed card + envelope Asking McMurray
to participate in California Writers Conference if Wallace Stegner cannot. Announcement of conference.
2. Vernia (?) M. Smith to [McMurry and Frances] ACS lp. (1) Invitation to Celebrity Luncheon given by Santa Clara County Branch,
National League of American Pen Women, on February 4, 1961.
3. 1961 Feb 11. Los Gatos, Ca. Phil Blake, S.J., Ca. to McMurry TLS lp. (1) Returning negatives of Knowles house. Santa Clara
University's interest in McMurry's collection of local history.
4. 1961 March 30. Elizabeth, N.J. H.K.Linzell to McMurry, S.J. Ca. TLS 2pp. (2) + envelope Fan letter from son of a missionary
who also spent early years in India.
5. 1961 April 11. Salem, Oregon Margaret B. Ringnalda to McMurry TLS lp. (1) In praise of McMurry's book and his teaching
of her daughter at Stanford.
6. Lillie Mae to Aunt Orza ALS 2p. (4) Received book. Family news.
Box 1, folder 2
Master calendar 1928 + notes. ±130 pp. 3 Items
Scope and Contents
1. AN in short hand 1p. (1)
2. AN 3pp. (2) Working notes including a diagram.
3. [1928] Master Calendar approx. 130 pp. Notes for novel's themes. Also contains early court registar in back.
Box 1, folder 3
Organization and synopsis. 23 leaves. 8 Items
Scope and Contents
. TMS with AN 5pp. (5) Detailed outline for "The Call to Murralla" in 39 sections.
2. TMS with AN lp. (1) Notes for Christmas scene.
3. TMs 4pp. (4) "As the story goes on" Part IX (cont'd) thorugh Epilogue. "(So ...what the book doesn't say...he lived long
enough to attain almost Cervantes'age before he stumbled onto Stanford Creative Writing Center to write his own Don Quixote.)"
4. 1952 April 7. TMs 2pp. (2) Story Synopsis: "No Red Carpet" "---a youngster brought up in the confusions of several cultures."
5. AN lp. (1) Diagramed notes.
6. AN 1p. (1) Notes in shorthand, concerning canned fruit, buttons, safety pins.
7. AMs 4pp. (4), not in order. "Opening--Ants".
8. TMs with AN 4pp. (4), not in order. "Opening Ants"
Box 1, folder 4
"Stanford Submissions." 87 leaves. 16 Items
Scope and Contents
1. AN lp. (1) "Stanford Submissions"
2. 1952, Nov 20. McMurry to Stegner TL with AN lp. (1) "I'm too close to judge if this gets sticky in parts."
3. 1952 Dec 12. [Stegner to McMurry] TL lp. (1) Stegner on Gyppy story. "The impression gains on me that you're really
writing a novel and trying to make its chapters self-sufficient."
4. ? to McMurry AN lp. (1) critique of "Yankee, Go Home".
5. McMurry to Dr. Robert Scowcroft TL lp. (1) "...the economics of the job are nagging pretty dreadfully".
6. TMs with corrections. 6pp. (6) "Glory Be", revised as stated in above letter to Scowcroft, [1952].
7. [1952) July 22, Sep 2, May 13 AN 3pp. (5) [class notes) with mention of Scowcroft, a fellow students.
8. [Wils) to McMurry ALs 2pp. (3) Critique of "Red Carpet".
9. 1952 Dec 2. McMurry to Stegner TLs and TMs with corrections 9pp. (10). AN by Stegner Opening chapter.
10. 1953 Jan 2. TMs with corrections Spp. (7) Comments by Stegner. "Glory Be" [sic).
11. TMs with corrections and comments. Some fragments 5pp. (5) Not in order.
12. AMs a TMs with revisions 7pp. (9).
13. TM's with revision a AN 5pp. (8) "Glory Be, ---3---".
14. TMs with AN llppo (11) "Glory Be, ---4--"·
15. TMs with revision a AN 5pp. (5) "--4---".
16. TMs with corrections 22pp. (24) Revisions of "---4---" plus "---5---", pages 64-83.
Box 1, folder 5
Early Chapters. 42 leaves. 4 Items
Scope and Contents
1. TMs with revision and AN 14pp. (23) "I did too know about Waterloo."
2. TMs with revision and AN 11pp. (12) "America is the smell of mince pie". Comments by a reader.
3. TMs with revision 3pp. (3) Pages 45, 48, 60.
4. TMs with revision a AN 14 pp. (20) Some comments by reader.
Box 1, folder 6
"The True Word." 39 leaves. 4 Items
Scope and Contents
1. 1952 July 22. TMs cc with corrections lp. (1).
2. 1952 July 22. TMs with AN 19pp. (23) with comments [by Scowcroft].
3. [1952 Feb 20] unknown to Warnock 1p. (1) TL about McMurry's work.
4. 1952 Feb 20 TMs with revision a AN 19 pp. (23) "The Face of Evil". ''Yankee". 41 leaves 8 Items
Box 1, folder 7
"Yankee." 41 Leaves. 8 Items
Scope and Contents
1. TMs with revision, AN 14pp. (17) with outline notes.
2. TMs with revision 3pp. (3) Not in order. Pages 65, 84, 94.
3. TMs with revision a AN 7pp. (13) Pages 89-95.
4. TMs with revision 1p. (1) Page identification: McMurry: Yankee: B-2.
5. TMs with revision 2pp. (2) "Days after Priscilla--".
6. TMs with revision 4pp. (4) Pages B-41, 137, 191, 192.
7. TMs with revision 8pp. (9) "---11---".
8. TMs with revision 2pp. (2) Pages 104, 143.
Box 1, folder 8
"Best of Bread" + "To Grow to Be." 37 leaves. 2 Items
Scope and Contents
1. 1952 Dec 20. TMs with revision a AN 21pp. (27) Best of Bread" AN [by Stegner] 1st draft.
2. TMs with revision. AN by a reader. "To Grow to Be...
Box 1, folder 9
"Red Carpet." 71 leaves. 5 Items
Scope and Contents
1. 1952 April 18. TMs with revision and AN 16pp. (16) "Red Carpet" "1st submission" AN [by Pollack).
2. 38 N 11th St. S.J, Ca. TMs with revision 18pp. (24) "Red Carpet" AN by a reader.
3. 1952 May 13. TMs with revision 18pp. (18) "Red Carpet" with AN [by Pollack). "This is a later revise with a half-dozen
minor word changes, not in the other two copies."
4. 1952 May 20. TMs with revision lp. (1) "Red Carpet" page 1.
5. TMs with revision 18pp. (21) "My shoulder ached clear to the marrow."
Box 1, folder 10
Unidentified fragments. 58 leaves. 8 Items
Scope and Contents
1. TMs with revision and AN 14pp. (20) AN by a reader. "For the first time it begins to have continuity, it goes at a novel's
pace."
2. TMs with revision 10pp. (11) AN by unidentified reader "Much virtue in this chapter."
3. TMs and cc with revisions 2pp. ( 2) Page 29.
4. TMs with revisions a AN 3pp. (5) AN by a reader or the author.
5. TMs with revision 4pp. (4) Pages 145, 146, 149, 147.
6. TMs a AMs with revision llpp. (12) AN in shorthand.
7. TMs with revision 9pp. (9) Not in order, fragments.
8. AMs with revision 5pp. (5) Not in order, fragments.
Box 1, folder 11-17
TMs for "The Call to Murralla." Small brown tabs mark sections in the work. There are extensive corrections by hand. Some
notes and fragments laid in the manuscript unnumbered (preserve existing order).
Box 1, folder 18
Miscellaneous notes, both handwritten and typed, and parts of manuscript. Various page sizes. Possibly unused notes pertaining
to the end of the novel. Small brown tabs on some pages
Box 1, folder 19
Miscellaneous notes, as above in folder #18. Notes and manuscript concern the end of the novel
Box 1, folder 20
TMs with revision "Novel." Rewrite between 1st and 2nd Harper submissions
Box 1, folder 21-23
Printer's proofs of "The Call to Murralla," York Comp. Co, Harper & Brothers, N.Y. with corrections, 1960
Box 2, folder 24
1960 Scrapbook, approx. 40 leaves. Numerous news and magazine clippings. Publishers announcements. Correspondence includes:
Edith Mirrielees, Feb 8 [1960]; Fan letter, unsigned Feb 15, 1960; Wallace Stegner, March 13, 1960; Telegrams: "Elizabeth
and all the Harpers" Feb 3, 1960; Luther Nichols, Feb 22, 1960
Box 2, folder 24
1960 Feb 21. Herald Tribune book review
Box 2, folder 24
1960 March 2. S.F. Examiner book review
Box 2, folder 24
1960 March 27. S.F. Sunday Chronicle book review
Box 2
Nov '59 - Feb '60. Pamphlet announcing "New Harper Books"
Box 2
1959-60 Winter. Pamphlet announcing ''New Harper Books"
Box 2
Dust jacket for The Call to Murralla
Box 2
McMurry, George Harold, 1898-1975. The Call to Murralla, [1st ed.] New York, Harper, 1960
Series 2. George McMurry notes, scrapbooks, etc.
Box 3
Scrapbooks containing clippings on the history of Santa Clara Valley (3 volumes)
circa 1927-1939
Box 6, folder 5
Composition book with clippings & notes
circa 1960s
Series 3. Mary Hallock Foote research
Box 4, folder 1
Mary Hallock Foote research & notes - Family, Quakers
Box 4, folder 2
Mary Hallock Foote research correspondence
Box 4, folder 3
Mary Hallock Foote research binder - annotated typescripts
Box 4, folder 4
Mary Hallock Foote research clippings, notes
Box 4, folder 5
Mary Hallock Foote research - Stegner correspondence, notes, term paper, etc.
Series 4. V.G. McMurry and Celia Ferries McMurry
Box 4, folder 6-7
McMurry notes, ephemera, correspondence, clippings, material related to History of San Jose book
Box 4, Folder 8
Correspondence to Mr. & Mrs. V.G. McMurry re: missionary work in Asia, etc.
Box 6, folder 1
Rev. & Mrs. V.G. McMurry documents, notes, etc.
Box 6, folder 5
Rev. W.W. McMurry funeral program
Box 6, folder 5
Baba Padmanji - A Garland of Christian Doctrines
1893
Box 6, folder 6
Newspaper clippings and printed ephemera
Box 6, folder 6
Nagpur District Advocate
Scope and Contents
Article about McMurrys September 1909.
Box 7
Missionary Tidings
1897-1899
Scope and Contents
Bound volume in poor condition, begins with Vol.1 No.2. Includes articles by Celia Ferries and V.G. McMurry.
Series 5. Photographs
Separated Materials
Selected photographic negatives from this collection are separated and housed in MSS PHOTO 0100 General Photograph Collection.
Box 5, folder 1-3
Photographs - GHM, family & friends
Box 5, Folder 4
Photographs - Yosemite trip
Box 5, Folder 5
Photographs - China & Malaysia (3 prints)
Box 5, Folder 6
Photographs - prints from negatives
Box 5, folder 8
Picture postcards - India
Scope and Contents
Most are unsent. Also includes small number from Japan, Singapore, and elsewhere.
Box 6, folder 3
Photo albums - Family ("Dad And His Outfit" & "Photographs")
Box 6, folder 4
Photographs - landscapes and artistic (in envelope sent from Anthony Boucher to Dino Rossi dated 1952)
Box 6, folder 4
Photographs - Bushnell portrait of female McMurry family member (?)
circa 1920s
Box 8
Photo albums (2)
Scope and Contents
One album contains prints of India and missionary work; the other contains larger prints of India and Italy, some published
for tourist trade, with captions in pencil.
Box 9
Negatives and lantern slides
Box 10
Negatives and lantern slides
