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David Cory Collection

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 17 Aug 2010

Biographical History

David Magie (or MacGhie) Cory (1872-1966) was an American poet and an author of children's stories, among them the daily "Jack Rabbit" stories, which were syndicated, and the Little Indian series. He was also a pioneer of radio broadcasting, working for WZJ in Newark, New Jersey. He came to writing after a twenty-year career as a stockbroker, beginning with stories invented for his children.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The David Cory Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts and memorabilia.

Correspondence consists almost entirely of incoming letters from fans, editors and friends. There are a few poems written to him, and a photocopy of a letter from Cory at age 16 to his father, giving his thoughts on something his father had written.

Manuscripts consist of handwritten and typed manuscripts of both published and unpublished poems and short stories. The majority of these appear to be drafts (some incomplete) of a story entitled "The Lollypop Tree." Some pages are damaged. There are also a number of poems, some of them annotated as having been written to or for a certain person, other annotated as "Printed."

Memorabilia contains clippings of Cory's published poems as well as pieces about him. Many of the poems have individual titles but evidently appeared under a consistent heading in newspapers; for example, for nine of the poems, printed above their individual titles is the title, "Dear Yesterday By David Cory." Other collective titles are Village Verses and Way, Way Yonder. There are also several articles about Cory and a scrapbook of a booksigning/author's tour in cities such as New Orleans and Memphis, which includes clippings from newspapers in various cities about Cory's appearances there as well as letters from children about his books. There is also a photocopy of his grandfather Joseph Cory's will.

Arrangement of the Collection

Alphabetical by type or topic.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Cory, David, 1872-1966.

Subjects

Children's literature, American.
Poets, American -- 19th century.

Genres and Forms

Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Manuscripts (document genre)
Photocopies.
Scrapbooks.

Occupations

Authors.
Poets.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

David Cory Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of David Monroe Cory, 1968.

Gift of Daniel Cory, 2011.

Gift of Joyce K. Conklin, 2012.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Manuscripts

Memorabilia

Inventory