Papers of Margaret and John Travers Moore 1914-1994

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968

Summary

Abstract:
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 The papers include published and unpublished literary manuscripts, correspondence, audio and video recordings, artwork, memorabilia, bound volumes, photographs, books (transferred to the Rare Books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.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

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 The papers include published and unpublished literary manuscripts, correspondence, audio and video recordings, artwork, memorabilia, bound volumes, photographs, books (transferred to the Rare Books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The manuscripts series (Boxes 1-14) contains mostly unpublished manuscripts.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 Nationstrilogy (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 Houseand 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 Paradeas a musical play, including correspondence with Carol Davis and Denise Adams (Box 17); the publication of the Pepito and the United Nationstrilogy 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.

Biographical / historical:

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).

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.
Arrangement:

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.

Physical description:
ca. 8,000 items (27 Hollinger boxes; 11 linear shelf feet)