The Poet, Miss Kate , and I

A&M 1110Margaret Prescott Montague, Author, Papers A&M 1110Staff of the West Virginia & Regional History CenterWest Virginia and Regional History Center

1549 University Ave. P.O. Box 6069 Morgantown, WV 26506-6069Business Number: 304-293-3536wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.comURL:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-08-30 07:52:34 -0400.EnglishDescribing Archives: A Content Standard West Virginia and Regional History Center Margaret Prescott Montague, Author, Papers Montague, Margaret Prescott, 1878-1955 A&M 1110 Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key /repositories/2/resources/4354 6.5 Linear Feet Summary: 6 ft. 5 3/4 in. (14 document cases, 5 in. each); (3 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each); (1 oversize folder, 1/4 in.) 1893-1958 West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/ English Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Biographical / Historical

Margaret Prescott Montague was born on November 28, 1878 at "Oakhurst," the Montague homestead near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Of New England parentages, she inherited the cultural milieu of the Back Bay as well as that of the West Virginia highlands. Her early education was undertaken by her parents; in her middle teens she was attending Miss Gussie Daniel's school in Richmond, Virginia. It was Miss Gussie, according to Miss Montague, who "discovered my small ability."

Under the influence of the local colorists, Miss Montague turned to the mountain folk of West Virginia for her early novels: The Poet, Miss Kate , and I (1905), The Sowing of Alderson Cree (1907), and In Calvert's Valley (1908). Linda (1912), showed a trend away from the earlier folk literature, oscillating as the novel did between the Back Bay and the back woods.

From 1909 on Miss Montague was subject to "severe physical afflictions" that left her partially blind and deaf for the rest of her career. Always an intensely religious person, she now sought to find self-realization and truth in Christian mysticism and a philosophy of ennoblement through suffering. These themes marked much of her work after 1915. Closed Doors (1915) was a study of handicapped children at the West Virginia School of the Deaf and Blind. In "The Lucky Lady" (1933) Miss Montague asserted that man was still master of his fate and also his handicaps. She recorded her mystical experiences in such articles as "Twenty Minutes of Reality" (1916) and "Leaves from a Secret Journal'' (1926) written under the nome de plume of Jane Steger.

From 1915 she turned more and more to the shorter forms of prose, the short story and essay. She wrote a series of wartime stories, and won the first O. Henry Memorial Prize in 1919 for "England to America" which has become an American classic. Her passionate interest in politics, absent in most of her writings, was the moving force of "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge" (1920), a plea for ratification of the League Covenant. The story was made into a film and became an issue in the presidential election of 1920.

In Deep Channel (1923), her last full length novel, Miss Montague returned to the locale of her earlier novels, yet the book was a more skillful and sophisticated work, closely tied to the new literature of the 1920s and, in the words of Professor Stuart P. Sherman, "animated by the passion for self-realization." In a lighter vein were the legendary exploits of Tony Beaver, the Paul Bunyan of West Virginia, which Miss Montague published as a collection of short stories in Up Eel River (1928).

While the author continued writing short stories, essays, poetry, and completed a long unpublished novel in the 1930s, her didactic writings had been part of a world less harsh and irrational than that the United States of the depression decade. Her works now belong to a passing era. Nevertheless, she was active with her pen almost until the time of her death in Richmond, Virginia on September 26, 1955.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Margaret Prescott Montague, Author, Papers, A&M 1110, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Processing Information

In September 2018, A&M 1152 and 1169 were formally merged into this collection. The former custodian of this collection had donated A&M 1152 and 1169 the year following the donation of A&M 1110, likely with the intention of adding them to the first collection. Previous processors had already interfiled 1152 and 1169 into this collection and described the three collections as one. When reprocessing this collection, we tried to maintain the original intellectual arrangement as best we could. The note from the original paper finding aid is as follows: The Montague papers were presented to the West Virginia Collection by the author's brother, the Reverend Cary Montague of Richmond, Virginia. Miss Ellen Lee Ball had custody of the papers from 1955 to 1958 and spent much time and effort in arranging and annotating the collection. Further processing and cataloging has been done by the staff of the West Virginia Collection.

Related A&M Collections

582, 1110, 1348, 2218

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, manuscripts, notes and notebooks, diaries, press clippings, photographs, and printed material of a West Virginia essayist, short-story writer, poet and novelist, who won the first O. Henry Memorial Prize in 1919 for her short story, "England to America." The papers include correspondence from editors, publishers, agents and critics; readers' correspondence; family letters; manuscripts of short stories and other works; outlines, plots, and drafts; and diaries and notebooks primarily concerned with religious meditation, Christian mysticism, and Miss Montague's concept of human ennoblement through suffering. Correspondents include Bernard Baruch, Russell Doubleday, Howard M. Gore, M.A. DeWolfe Howe, Vachel Lindsay, Christopher Morley, Philip Van Doren Stern, Joseph P. Tumulty, and Woodrow Wilson.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Authors -- Letters and papers Diaries and journals. Poets and poetry. Religion. SEE ALSO Churches. Women's history -- 1850-1899 Women's history -- 1900-1929 Women's history -- 1929-1950 Women's history -- 1951-present Montague, Margaret Prescott, 1878-1955 Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965 Doubleday, Russell, 1872-1949 Gore, Howard M. Howe, M. A. De Wolfe (Mark Antony De Wolfe), 1864-1960 Lindsay, Vachel, 1879-1931 Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957 Stern, Philip Van Doren, 1900-1984 Tumulty, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick), 1879-1954 Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825901893–1958Scope and Contents

Includes correspondence from editors, publishers, agents, and critics; readers; general correspondence; and correspondence from Montague herself.

Publishers' Correspondence, AArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825951911–194211Scope and Contents

Correspondents include Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, American Foundation for the Blind, The American Red Cross, Mary Asquith, Atlantic Monthly.

Publishers' Correspondence, Atlantic Monthly, Ellery SedgwickArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825961909–193812Publishers' Correspondence, B-E (1 of 2)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825971905–194613Scope and Contents

Correspondents include Baker and Taylor Company; Katharine N. Birdsall; Brentano's; Charles Wakefield Cadman; Frederich H. Chase; Christian Observer; Robert Collier, Inc.; Crowell Publishing Company; Daniels Studios; A. Mervyn Davies; Doubleday, Doran and Company; Doubleday, Page and Company; E.P. Dutton and Company; The Exposition Press.

Publishers' Correspondence, B-E (2 of 2)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825981905–194614Scope and Contents

Publishers' Correspondence, F-MArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825991904–194415Scope and Contents

Correspondents include The Form; Goldwin Pictures Corporation; Harper and Brothers; Harper's Bazaar; Harper's Magazine; Houghton Mifflin Company; Jefferson Jones; The Ladies Home Journal. Christopher Morley; Liberty; Library of Congress; Little, Brown Company; C.R. Maculey Photoplays, Inc.; The MacMillian Company; Frank A. Munsey Company.

Publishers' Correspondence, N-ZArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826001916–194116Scope and Contents

Correspondents include National Broadcasting Company; The North American Review; The Outlook Company. Lawrence F. Abbott; Felix Orman; Paget Literary Agency; Pocket Books, Inc.; Board of Christian Education, Presbyterian Church, USA; Reader's Digest; Charles I. Reid; Paul R. Reynolds; Saturday Review of Literature. Henry S. Canby; Robert Haven Schauffler; Henry Staton; The Steck Company; Service for Authors, Inc.; The Trend; Toronto Star Weekly; The Volta Review; Walt Disney Productions, Lts.; The Yale Review. Henry S. Canby; The West Virginia Review.

Publishers' Correspondence, "England to America"Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826011919–194417Scope and Contents

Correspondents include Oscar Cargill, Edgar White Burrell, Russell Doubleday, Meredith Page, Ellery Sedgwick, Philip Van Doren Stern.

Readers' Correspondence, "England to America"Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826021919–193718Readers' Correspondence, "Leaves from a Secret Journal"Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826031925–194119Readers' Correspondence, "The Lucky Lady"Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826041933–1936110Readers' Correspondence, "Twenty Minutes of Reality"Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826051916–194021Readers' Correspondence, "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge"Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82606192022Scope and Contents

Also includes publishers correspondence.

Readers' Correspondence, Regarding Various Short Stories and Articles (1 of 2)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826071907–194123Readers' Correspondence, Regarding Various Short Stories and Articles (2 of 2)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826081907–194124General Correspondence from Well-Known Persons (folder 1 of 2)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826091911–194225Scope and Contents

Correspondents include Dr. E. A. Alderman Mary Antin Irving Bacheller Bernard M. Baruch Gamaliel Bradford Milledge L. Bonham Glenn Clark Frederick Perry Fish M.A. DeWolfe Howe Basil King Mary Johnson Rufus M. Jones Howard M. Gore Gardiner Martin Lane Vachel Lindsay Edward W. Osborne Margaret Dreier Robins Laura E. Richards Stuart Pratt Sherman Joseph P. Tumulty James Southall Wilson Woodrow Wilson Simon Wolf Dr. Elwood Worcester Owen D. Young Sir. Francis Younghusband

General Correspondence from Well-Known Persons (folder 2 of 2)Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826101911–194226Scope and Contents

Correspondence from Dr. and Mrs. Richard C. CabotArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82611ca. 1914-194327Correspondence of Mrs. K. G McGeeArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826121936–194028Miscellaneous CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826131893–1958151Correspondence from Montague's European TripArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826141907152Scope and Contents

Many of the letters are written to family. This folder was originally part of A&M 1152.

Correspondence from Montague's European TripArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826151907153Scope and Contents

Many of the letters are written to family. This folder was originally part of A&M 1152.

Letters from Montague to her FamilyArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826161907–1919154Scope and Contents

Some of these letters were written while on her European tour.

WritingsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82591ca. 1895-1946Scope and Contents

Includes drafts (typescripts and manuscripts), published works, and various notes. Works include short stories, articles, essays, plays, poetry, and a novel. Also includes a few folders of publications by other people that Montague may have used for inspiration.

Drafts, Short StoriesArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82617ca. 1895-19463Scope and Contents

Mostly typescripts of short stories, some with annotations. Stories include: "Altars of Earth" "At the Fall of the Year" "The Baby Angel" "The Battlefield" "The Benefit of the Doubt" "Big Music" "Blue Silk and Gingham Apron" (1st page) "The Cloak of Dreams" "Cock Crow" "Concerning the Mystery" "The Dark Tower" "Fine Growing Weather" and "Nice Growin Weather" "The First Breakfast " "In the Grip of John Hamilton" "A Good Bargain" "Grand Rough Old Martin Luther" "The Great Sleep Tanks" "The Kiss at Large" "The Last Tenth" "The Lucky Lady" "North Plays South" "Portrait of a Saint" "Pretty Gal" "The Squirt Gun" "The Storm in the Mountains" "The Third Rail" "To the Unknown People" "The Troubles of Tipsy Turpentine" "Victory of Dorothy Ellis" "Visitors from the Air" "The Ways of Providence" "What Trouble Is" "The Word" "A Yard of Nonsense"

Drafts, Articles and Other ProseArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82618ca. 1895-19464Scope and Contents

Mostly typescript drafts of articles and other prose writings, some with annotations. Includes: Acquiring a Social Conscience At the Long Last Baby and the Steam Shovel Blue Birds for the Blind Christians and Criminals The Closing of the Doors The Danger in Gardens Deliverance A Dinner of Herbs Do They Bite You Dog's Eye View The Doll-Baby Dresses A Farewell and a Message A Fugitive Seeks Sanctuary The Game The Girl and the Mountains God and a Few Souls The Great Awakener The Ground of Thy Beseeching The Hidden Flame Home to Him's Muvver The Hungry House John Bull at His Window Lee's Old Gray Nag Let the People Praise Thee, O God Lion-In-The-Conversation The Night After Christmas An Offering of Worship An Open Letter to All the School Children in the United States Papa in Soap Pictures of Englishman Pioneers of Silence In Praise of Machines Prayer for the World The Rally For Death Shingles from an Old Roof Sister Water Squints Some Lesser Loves Tangier Thoughts Time for Immemorial to Seek the Rest Cure Time Dispatch (Richmond), Letter to the Editor To the Women of America A Tribute of Praise Waifie When Gold May Lose its Glamour When Nature Takes the Lid Off The Women's Moment

Drafts, PlaysArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826191921–194351-3Scope and Contents

Typescript drafts of "The Spell," "For the Fighting Men," and "Gold"

Drafts, PoetryArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82620ca. 1895-1945Scope and Contents

Includes a variety of notes and drafts of poetry.

Draft poems and collections of poetryArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82626ca. 1905-194354-8Scope and Contents

Mostly typescripts, some with annotations. One folder contains material that may have originally been part of A&M 1152.

Poems from "A Toast to Life," "From a Secret Journal," and other manuscript poemsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82627ca. 1895-194561-2Poetry notes and draftsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82628ca. 1895-194563-5Poetry note pads and draftsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82629ca. 1895-194566"Verse"Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82630193767Drafts, NovelArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826211936–19417Scope and Contents

Two typescripts of unpublished novel, The Answer, (also called Life and Hands?) with publishers critiques and rejection notices.

Notes on WorksArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826221893–1946Scope and Contents

Includes outlines, plots, and drafts of short stories and essays, novels, plays, and miscellaneous works.

Short Stories and EssaysArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826311893–1946816Scope and Contents

Includes outlines, plots, and drafts of short stories and essays, including: The Answer Is… Beauty of the Earth Belief in Billy Brains, Brawn, and Something More Catching Stride with One's Self The Christmas Gift Closed Doors Danger in Gardens The Dogwood Road The Door Keeper Drifts of Opinion on the Colour Question Ecstasy Education for Life The Engagement Fiction and New York Fire For Age on Age For France The Forgiveness of Sins The Gate of Life and other Ann Eversole stories The Gift The Gift of Herself A Good Bedside Manner Great Adventure Hidden Portals The Hound of Heaven I Must Confess The Impending Fate The Inexorable Master The Intoxication of Danger The King's Letter The Lady Agriculturist Leaves From a Secrete Journal Let's Save the World The Little Comrade Looking at Life The Lost Love Loving His Brother The Millions Inherit Kitty A Million Little Colorless Women The Negro Sense of Humor O Muse! O Theophilus On Brick Walls On the Lack of Fairness in the American Nation On Flowers On Saying Sara On Voyages of Discovery Once I Was A Water Lilly Out Burst The Old Man of the Sea The Other Truth The Pulse of the World Salvation for the Magazines The Seeing Eye Studies on Loneliness Temper or Temperature This is the Day The Three Swords Thus Spake Zarathustra To Miss Mary Jefferies To Recommend Edward Imagination The Most Unforgettable Person I Ever Knew [Twenty Minutes of Reality?] Understanding Algernon The Unexpectedness of God Up Eel River The Victoria A Travel Story Wings of the Morning White Hollyhock

NovelsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826321925, undated91Scope and Contents

Includes outlines and plots for the following novels: A Call for Volunteers The Alabaster Box The Builder The Curse Money

PlaysArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82633undated92Scope and Contents

Includes outlines, notes, and drafts for the following plays: Elizabeth Home The Spell

MiscellaneousArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82634undated93-7Scope and Contents

Includes notes, plots, etc. on unidentified works as well as notes on writing.

Diaries and NotebooksArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826231906–1948101117Scope and Contents

Includes diaries and notebooks, which include religious meditations and observations, drafts of works and notes about her work, correspondence, and more: Box 10. Diary, 1906, 1927 Diary, 1907 (account of a trip to Europe) Diary, 1917, 1925-1927 (record of personal income, charities, household accounts, writing and manuscripts submitted for publication) Diary, Etc., 1927, 1928, 1929, 1942 (also portions of a play, Awake) Diary, 1929-1933 Diary, Meditation, 1929 Guidance record, 1929 Diary, 1935-1938, 1944 Diary, 1936-1940 Box 11: Diary, A Tapestry of Thought, 1908-1912, 1915-1925 (portions published as "Leaves from a Secrete Journal") Diary, A Book of Pleasant Things, 1947-1948 (essays and reminiscences) Diary, 1910-1915 (manuscripts sent to publishers), 1927 (religious meditations) Notebook, 1908 (notes and plots) Notebook, undated (notes, plots, and accounts) Notebook, undated (Biblical and religious quotations) Notebook undated (notes on the blind) Note pads, 2 vols (notes, poetry and letters) Notes for lectures, 1927 Box 17: Diary with notes on flowers "Diary" of verse and miscellaneous notes Booklet, "A Happy New Year" (originally from A&M 1169) Notebook, undated Notebook, undated Miscellaneous Notes

Material on Suffering, Etc.Archival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82624undated12Scope and Contents

Includes essays, notes, and outlines on handicaps, death, fear, nerves, the philosophy of suffering, and Montague's attitude toward suffering.

Printed WorksArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/826251905–1942Scope and Contents

Includes published articles, poetry, short stories, etc., materials advertising Montague's works, and inspirational publications.

Printed Works and AdvertisementsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/82702ca. 1905-1942131-6Scope and Contents

Includes published articles, poetry, short stories, etc. appearing in newspapers, journals, magazines, etc., as well as material advertising "The Lucky Lady," "Up Eel River," "Deep Channel," and the film version of "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge." Also includes the short version of "Twenty Minutes of Reality" along with a complete but unbound copy of the book version. (A second, incomplete unbound copy of "Twenty Minutes of Reality" will be housed with the Rare Book Librarian for use as a teaching tool.)

Inspirational PublicationsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825921917–1939137-11Scope and Contents

Includes pamphlets, booklets, etc. mostly on religious and psychological subjects.

Oversize ClippingsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825941925–1940Scope and Contents

Includes oversize clippings from magazines and newspapers that contain published works. Also includes sheet music for "The Christmas Street"

ClippingsArchival Resource Key/repositories/2/archival_objects/825931905–195514Scope and Contents

Press clippings (mostly from newspapers) and biographical information. Includes two clipping scrapbooks, for "The Poet, Miss Kate, and I" and "In Calvert's Valley." Also includes folders of clippings for "Uncle Sam of Freedom Ridge," "Closed Doors," "Deep Channel," "England to America," "Home to Him's Muvver," "Linda," "Twenty Minutes of Reality," and "Up Eel River" as well as miscellaneous clippings.