This collection includes letters as well as typed and handwritten drafts of poetry written by Elizabeth Ann Burton, a faculty member at Old Dominion University. Included are the original manuscripts for Burton's published book of poetry, Waiting for the Messiah, as well as the draft of a second book, which was never published.
Open to researchers without restrictions.
Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from Special Collections and University Archives, and the holder of the copyright, if not Old Dominion University Libraries.
Mildred Guilds Peele
Gift.
[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
The collection was processed and finding aid created by Elizabeth Vincelette in 2014.
Elizabeth Ann Burton (1958-1990) was a poet born in Richmond, VA, who lived in Painter, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. A member of the Poet Society of Virginia, she held a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Old Dominion University. In 1990, Burton's book of poetry, Waiting for the Messiah, was published. Additionally, she had poems published in a volume of The Poet's Domain
Burton's manuscripts were collected and donated in 2000 by Mildred Guilds Peele, former lecturer in the English department at Old Dominion University, and wife of E. Vernon Peele, professor of English at ODU and past dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.
Note written by Elizabeth Vincelette
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 1, Poetry of Elizabeth A. Burton, 1984-1988, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Thirty-four typed and handwritten drafts of poetry ("The Falcon Came"; "Instructions for the Messiah"; "The Poor Poet"; "Visiting Italy"; "No Title"; "Root, Stem, Leaf"; "Love Poem in Twos and Threes"; "Torn and Tattered Elegy in Black"; "Stoned Cold"; "Remembrance of my Trip to Europe Italy"; "Human Being"; "Buddha Inside the Light"; "An Anginal Equivalent"; "Gift"; "Solitude Late At Night In the Woods"; "Remembering A March Against The Vietnam War"; "But I Do Not Need Kindness"; "The Ghetto Girls at Eastern State"; "The Hospital"; "Christmas Poem"; "August 24, 1987"; "Nocturne for the U. S. Congress"; "Hunger for Me"; "Reading the Names of the Vietnam Dead"; "The Kiss"; "The Black Woman"; "The Phoenix Has Come"; "To a woman in a pink bathing suit"; "A Solitary Woman"; "Exaggerated Self-Portrait"; "To my Sister"; "Mothers, Daughter"; "To a Friend's Child"; "A Dream")
Typed and Handwritten Drafts of Poetry, undated, Box 1, Folder 1, Poetry of Elizabeth A. Burton, 1984-1988, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Manuscript of forty-three poems by Burton ("Iron Heaven"; "To My Sister"; A Dream"; "Summer Garden"; "Silence"; "Song for South Africa"; "The Black Woman"; "V. D. Clinic"; "Newly Born"; "Sounds"; "Harlem on the Poor Side of Town"; "Pheasant"; "Poem"; "Drum"; "You're"; "The Flying Change"; "Your Child"; "A Walk"; "Democracy"; "A Ghost May Come"; "There are Poems"; "To a Friend's Child"; "A Solitary Woman"; "As Benefits A Woman"; "End of the World"; "Madness"; "Our Hands in the Garden"; "I am going to Sleep (suicide poem)"; "The Ghetto Girls at Eastern State"; "Platoon"; "Self-Portrait"; "The Painter in the Lion Cage"; "Song of the Old Woman"; "Talking Fish"; "So Long"; "Abortion"; "The Three Fates"; "Slump"; "Mothers, Daughter"; "Nothing"; "dust"; "July 29, 1987"; "Troubled Woman")
Letter to Mildred Peele Attached to Iron Heaven and Other Poems, 1987 November 16, Box 1, Folder 1, Poetry of Elizabeth A. Burton, 1984-1988, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Contains twenty three poems ("Tucker's"; "Madness"; "Words to Dr. S."; "Another Morning"; "The Hospital Windows at Dunbar"; "I am going to Sleep (suicide poem)"; "Suicidal Note"; "Mr. Death"; "Psychiatrist"; "This is not a Dream"; "Poem #3 on Shock Treatment"; "Shock #9"; "Psychotics at Eastern State"; "Poem #112"; "Sonnet to Satan"; "A Villanele"; "Leftovers from a Mental Institution"; "Let every Woman"; "Coming out of the depression"; "Elencierro"; "La analista"; "Unas palabras ala dra. A."; "A Bedlam y de reqreso en porte")
Notebook of Poetry: To Bedlam and Part Way Back, undated, Box 1, Folder 1, Poetry of Elizabeth A. Burton, 1984-1988, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Contains correspondence dating from November 30, 1987 to October 2, 1990.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 2, Correspondence From Elizabeth A. Burton to Mildred Peele, 1987-1990, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Clippings in regard to the death of Elizabeth A. Burton, including her obituary.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 3, Newspaper Clippings, 1991, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Contains correspondence dating from March 4 to May 9, 1997.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 4, Correspondence From L. S. Loomer to Mildred Peele, 1997, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Contains correspondence between Burton's mother and Peele, also includes handwritten and typed lists of Burton's books.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 5, Correspondence From Mary Ann Burton to Mildred Peele, 1997, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Contains handwritten notes about publishing Elizabeth A. Burton's poetry.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 6, Publication Notes By Mildred Peele, undated, Elizabeth Ann Burton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.