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Author Agnes Clifford Smith (October 18, 1906-January 11, 1994) was born in Clarksburg, grew up in Clarksburg and Charleston, and finished high school at the Academy of St. Joseph in Brentwood, New York. She graduated from Fairmont State College with a degree in English, and in 1936 married Fairmont native Richard Bruce Parrish, who for many years was editor of the city's afternoon newspaper, The West Virginian.
Following graduation from college she pursued her interest in writing, among other activities. Her major work, An Edge of the Forest, was published by Viking Press in 1959; it won the Aurianne Award of the American Library Association, a children's book award. Smith went on to publish two additional works, The Bluegreen Tree, also a children's book, and a collection of essays titled Speaking as a Writer. She passed away in Fairmont.
[This historical note was adapted from an article in the West Virginia Encyclopedia authored by Eleanor Mahoney.]
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Agnes Smith (1906-1994), Author, Literary Manuscripts, A&M 4080, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Literary manuscripts authored by Agnes Clifford Smith, an award winning author of two published children's books and a published book of essays. The collection includes short stories, a novella, a play, and other material. There are also two short story manuscripts by West Virginia author Melville Davisson Post as well as digital photographs of Agnes Smith Parrish, digitized copies of home video footage of West Wind Farm, and a digital copy of a radio program titled "Know Your State" in which Parrish talks about "An Edge of the Forest." This collection is minimally unprocessed.
box 1; Short Stories; The Professor
box 1; Short Stories; The Gilt Chair
box 1; Short Stories; The Morning After
box 1; Short Stories; Mrs. Clarkson and Zona
box 1; Short Stories; Brush Field
box 1; Short Stories; Phoebus Apollo
box 1; Short Stories; Across the Street
box 1; Short Stories; The Old Gentleman
box 1; Short Stories; The Last Language
box 1; Novella; Sinbad and the Twins (for children)
box 1; Play; The Revolt of the Marionettes
box 2; Stories From Where, Volume 1 (The Bridge and How Avenue, Counter Clockwise, at least 6 parts)
boxes 3 and 4; Stories From Where, Volume 2 (The Bridge and How Avenue, Clockwise, at least 6 parts)
box 4; Stories From Where, Volume 3 (The Village, at least 4 parts)
box 4; Stories From Where, Volume 4 (The Village, More About Where and River Road District)
box 5; Stories About Ridgeville; The Colors Are Still Bright -- A Chronicle (Prologue, A Tree Has Hope)
box 5; Stories About Ridgeville; A View of the River
box 5; Stories About Ridgeville; The Middle Distance
box 5; Stories About Ridgeville; The Wavingwalkers' War
box 6; Stories About Ridgeville; The Wooden Dancer
box 6; Stories About Ridgeville; Mark Tabour's Recovery
box 6; Other Manuscripts by Agnes Smith
box 6; Short Story by Melville Davisson Post; The Unknown Disciple
box 6; Short Story by Melville Davisson Post; The Paint Horses -- A Phase of the Nativity
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