McDaniel, Wilma E. Papers, 1936-2007

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Summary

Title:
Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel Papers
Dates:
1936-2007
Abstract:
Papers of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, Central Valley, California poet.
Extent:
11.61 Linear Feet (24 archives boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

The Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel Papers (RA-0001). Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Merced Library, 5200 North Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343.

Background

Scope and content:

The Wilma E. McDaniel Papers documents the personal life, literary, and creative life of the poet and author Wilma Eliabeth McDaniel. This collection spans 1918 to 2007 bring together family records, extensive correspondence, literary manuscripts, diaries, photographs, artwork, ephemeral, audiovisual recordings, and published materials. These materials provide a comprehensive record of McDaniel's development as a writer, her personal relationships, her engagement with literary communities, and her role within the cultural history of California's Central Valley.

The first part of the collection consists of family documentation such as correspondence, vital records, photographs, and memorial materials that illuminate the personal and familial context that McDaniel lived in. Second series is Correspondence to and from Wilma E. McDaniel. The Correspondence encompassed both personal letters and professional letters with friends, family, as well as poets, publishers, institutions, and collaborators. These materials document McDaniel's prolific letter writing, her professional networks, and the administrative and contractual aspects of her literary career. McDaniel's literary materials constitute the bulk of the collection. Several series consist of loose-leaf writings, manuscripts, and multiple draft versions of poems and short stories tracing McDaniel's creative process from conception to publication. Diaries dating from 1938 to 2003 further enrich the collection, offering sustained insight into her inner life, daily experiences, and evolving poetic voice. Complementing the written record are photographic materials that document McDaniel's family history, public readings, community events, and later-life recognition. The artwork series was created by members of the McDaniel family and including illustrated manuscripts that integrate Wilma E. McDaniel's visual and literary expression.

Together, this collection offers researchers rich insight into Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel's personal history, artistic practice, and enduring impact on regional and national literary communities.

Biographical / historical:

Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel was an American poet best known for her evocative, plain-spoken verse that chronicled the Dust Bowl migration and the lives of working-class communities in California's Central Valley. Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel was born in 1918 in Stroud, Oklahoma. Where she began writing poetry as a child. In 1936, Wilma E. McDaniel with her family moved to the Central Valley of California as part of the larger Dust Bowl Migration looking for work.

McDaniel did not publish her poems professionally until she was in her 50s, she went to a newspaper editor of the Tulare Advance Register about publishing her poems. This led her to publishing over fifteen collections of poetry and prose, mostly dealing with the different aspects of life in Central Valley. Wilma E. McDaniel become known as an "Okie Folk poet" due to her themes and motifs regarding migrant farming. She was the subject of a film documentary by Chris Simon, "Down an Old Road: The Poetic Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel." Wilma E. McDaniel lived in the Central Valley until her death on April 13, 2007, at the age of eighty-eight.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Lillian Vallee, Trustee of the Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel Literary Estate, 2008.
Arrangement:

This collection is organized into eleven series with two subseries:

Series 1- McDaniel Family Papers, 1926-1997

Series 2-Correspondence, C.1990 - 2007

Subseries 1- Personal Correspondence

Subseries 2- Professional Correspondence

Series 3- Loose leaf writings (poems and short stories) by W.E.M.

Series 4-Manuscripts of poems and short stories, C. 1960-2007

Series 5-Photographic Materials, 1930-2007

Series 6-Artwork Series

7-Diaries, 1938-2003

Series 8-Miscellaneous Notes and Poems, 1970-2002

Series 9-Audiovisual Materials, 1984-2003

Series 10-Oversized and Ephemera Objects

Series 11-Serial publications containing work by W.E.M. (non-circulating)

Series 12-Publications by W.E.M. (non-circulating)

About this collection guide

Sponsor:
University of California, Merced Library 5200 North Lake Road Merced 95343
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-07-23 15:09:03 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. For help locating material and making a research request please contact archives@ucmerced.edu.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel's literary works is owned by the Regents of the University of California. Transmission or reproduction of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. Contact the UC Merced Library regarding permissions

Preferred citation:

The Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel Papers (RA-0001). Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Merced Library, 5200 North Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343.

Location of this collection:
5200 North Lake Road
Merced, CA 95343, US
Contact:
(209) 228-4444
archives@ucmerced.edu
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