The collection is open for research.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Nancy Byrd Turner Collection, Ms2005-009, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Nancy Byrd Turner Collection was donated to Special Collections in April 2005.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Nancy Byrd Turner Collection commenced and was completed in April 2005.
Nancy Byrd Turner, poet, editor and lecturer, was born on July 29, 1880 in Boydton (Mecklenburg County), Virginia, the eldest child of Rev. Byrd Thornton and Nancy Turner.
After graduating from Hannah More Academy (Baltimore, Maryland) in 1898, Turner accepted employment as a teacher. She had begun writing poetry at an early age; by 1902, her poems were being published regularly in national magazines. By the time she left Virginia for Boston in 1917 to accept a position on the editorial staff of
In 1925, Turner was accepted to the MacDowell Colony (Peterborough, New Hampshire) and retained her membership in the arts colony until 1944. Her first book of poetry,
In her later years, Turner lived in Ashland (Hanover County), Virginia and wrote freelance while lecturing throughout the United States. She died on September 5, 1971.
Beverly Carper Powley was born on October 5, 1916. Graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in home economics, she worked for the Hanover County Extension Service from 1938 to 1940. She married George R. Powley, who served on the faculty of the Virginia Tech Electrical Engineering Department, and the couple had four children. In Blacksburg, Beverly Powley was actively involved in several organizations and clubs. She served as state president of Gideons International Auxiliary, and as president of both the Virginia Tech Faculty Women's Club and the Women's Chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association. She died in Blacksburg on July 26, 1988.
This collection contains materials assembled by Beverly Carper Powley in the course of writing a biographical article on Nancy Byrd Turner, a Virginia poet, editor, and lecturer. The collection contains pieces of Turner's correspondence--including a few letters written to Powley and photocopies of letters and postcards sent to others--as well as some newsclippings and samples of Turner's poetry.
The collection also contains Powley's correspondence relating to the research project, as well as related correspondence of Mary Balazs, a VMI English professor who worked in tandem with Powley on gathering materials about Turner (included in Balazs' correspondence is a typescript draft of her paper, "Miss Nancy Byrd Turner: a Reconsideration"). Several drafts of Powley's article, "To Honor Nancy Byrd Turner: a Poet Laureate of Virginia," together with the published version (which appeared in the Spring 1988 issue of the
The collection is arranged by document type, then chronologically.
The following books were transferred to the Rare Book Collection:
Balazs, Mary,
Balazs, Mary,
Trout, William E. III,
The guide to the Nancy Byrd Turner Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).