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Finding aid created by: Mary Skaden
Date: 2012
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Summary |
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Creator: | Parsons, Editha. |
Title: | Editha Parsons Papers |
Dates: | 1899 - 1954 |
Size: | 3 boxes (3 linear feet) |
Abstract: | The Editha Parsons Papers include correspondence, speeches, writings and other materials that document Parsons’ years as Professor of Speech at Syracuse University and her participation in the local community. |
Language: | English |
Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 |
As an acclaimed orator and professor, Editha Parsons dedicated her life to public speaking, enhancing both the local community and Syracuse University.
Editha Ann Parsons was born in 1879 in DeRuyter, New York, a small town south of Syracuse. She was a graduate of the Cazenovia Seminary and the Emerson School of Oratory in Boston, and in 1915, she returned to the area to teach public speaking at Syracuse University. Until 1944, Parsons was a professor in the School of Speech and Dramatic Arts, where she pioneered classes in Story Telling, Pageantry, and Educational Dramatics. In addition to her professorial duties, Parsons took an active role on campus: she served on the Curriculum Committee, was committee chairman for the Silver Anniversary celebrations of the School of Speech and Dramatic Arts, and was involved in a number of academic and professional fraternities and sororities. Upon retirement, she was made Professor Emeritus in 1945, honoring her contributions to Syracuse University.
Outside of her position in the University, Parsons was an active member in a variety of women’s organizations in the area. She had close affiliation with the Professional Women’s League, the National League of American Pen Women, the YWCA, in which she served on the board of directors, and the Syracuse Zonta Club, where she was president for several terms. Parsons also participated in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Red Cross, the Corinthian Club, and the Park Central Presbyterian Church.
In addition to public speaking and community participation, Parsons nurtured her personal interests in the areas of folk lore and pageantry and was gifted in parliamentary procedure. She also took pleasure in traveling and spent time going to conferences and lectures across the U.S. Additionally, she was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation to further her research on cultural folk lore, legends, and storytelling, allowing her to travel internationally to a variety of foreign countries. However, her varied interests were always reflected in her ongoing work. After her retirement, she continued to travel, participate in various community groups, and share her love of public speaking until her death in 1964.
The Editha Parsons Papers are made up of various speeches, articles, and other material from 1899 to 1954. This collection is separated into four series: Organizations, Speeches and Lectures, Subject Files, and Writings.
The Organizations series covers several of the major groups Parsons was affiliated with--the National League of American Pen Women, YWCA, and Zonta--and consists of speeches and information from each. The bulk of the papers are in the Speeches and Lectures series, which is divided into three subseries: Education, General, and Religious. This series contains her notes, drafts, outlines, and full speeches from many different occasions and on a variety of topics. The Subject Files series consists of a variety of material such as correspondence, class related items, and a scrapbook that contains clippings, cards, and articles concerning Parsons' 25th anniversary of teaching in the School of Speech and Dramatic Arts. Writing includes a number of articles, essays, and a proof for a book written by Parsons.
Access Restrictions:
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions:
Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders
before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this
collection.
A portrait file and a clipping file are available for Editha Parsons in the Archives.
Names
Parsons, Editha.
National League of American Pen Women.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.
Young Women's Christian Association.
Zonta International.
Subjects
Public speaking.
College faculty.
Higher education.
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Editha Parsons Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
The items that make up the Editha Parson Papers were given to the Archives by Syracuse University's School of Speech and Dramatic Arts sometime before 1972.
Processing Information
Damaging material, such as staples and paper clips, and duplicates were removed. The collection was placed in acid free folders and archival boxes.
The items are arranged alphabetically within each series.
Organizations
Speeches and Lectures
Subject Files
Writing
Organizations | |||||||||||
Box 1 | National League of American Pen Women - Speech - "History of NLAPW" 1927-1937 | ||||||||||
YWCA | |||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - "Candles" 1924 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - "Women Pioneers-Yesterday and Tomorrow" 1932 | ||||||||||
Zonta | |||||||||||
Box 1 | News Release - "Zontians Will Get Chance to Organize More New Clubs" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Parliamentary Drill and Procedure 1949 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - Albany 1940 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - "Blue Prints" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - Boston/Oneida Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - Glens Falls 1928 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - Introduction Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - Watertown 1927 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - Watkins Glen - "Carry On" 1940 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Speeches - "What the Public Speaker Thinks About When He Speaks" 1933 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Writing - "Dying" Undated |
Speeches and Lectures | |||||||||||
Education | |||||||||||
Box 1 | "Books and Reading for Children" 1931 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Children's Literature and the Place of the Story in the Life of the Child" 1931 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Developing Cooperation through Dramatics and Debate" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Dramatic Instinct in Education" 1932 1933 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Fairy Tales for Grown Ups" 1929-1932 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "How to Coach the High School Play" 1924 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Minimum of Skill Which Should Be Expected of a Teacher of Interpretation" 1928 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Nurse and the Community" 1934 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Oratorical Contests" 1929 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Possibilities and the Limitations of Choric Reading in Our Educational Programs" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Speech Arts and Their Place in the High School Program" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Story Dramatization" 1930 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Students, What of Your Job?" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Tendency of Modern Drama" 1924 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Training Storytellers" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "What Next?" 1932 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "What Price College?" 1928 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Womanhood-Yesterday and Tomorrow" 1931 | ||||||||||
General | |||||||||||
Box 1 | "Augua Entius" Broadcast 1937 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Chi O Banquet Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Friends of Reading" 1928 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Funeral Oration" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "It Happened to Me" 1948-1954 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Ladies of King Arthur's Court" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Lip Lazy American" 1930 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Navigator" 1929 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "An Old Legend" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Poetry" Broadcast 1935 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Presentation of Parsons Scholarship 1950 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "President's Address" 1899 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Problem of the Woman Shopper" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Professional Nuances" 1940 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Relation of Speaker and Audience" 1932 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Responsibilities of College Women" 1924 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "The Voice: Use and Abuse" 1926 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Voice and Diction" 1934 | ||||||||||
Religious | |||||||||||
Box 2 | Christmas Reading Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "Readings for Young and Old" 1931 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "Religious Drama" 1932 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Unidentified Notes Undated |
Subject Files | |||||||||||
Box 2 | Correspondence 1930 - 1943 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Poetry Material Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Reading Course Material Regarding The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (Dickins) Undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Scrapbook 1940 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Script - "A True and Fancied Chronicle of a Mythical Grecian Goddess and the Child Zeta" (Buckland) 1929 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Student Essays Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Vocal Material Undated |
Writing | |||||||||||
Box 2 | Advertisement - "The Book House for Children" Undated | ||||||||||
Articles | |||||||||||
Box 2 | "Class Prophecy" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "The Little Theatre" 1913, 1919 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "My Experiences in a Concert Company" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "Pageantry" 1929 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "Pageantry as a Fine Art" 1930 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "Pageantry and its Place in the Educational Program" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "This is Your House Also" 1945 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Essay - "Football" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Essay - "Nineteenth Century Clubs" Undated | ||||||||||
Proof - "The Place of the Story in the Life of the Child" | |||||||||||
Box 2 | Chapters 1-3 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Chapters 4-6 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Chapters 7-10 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Chapters 11-15 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Chapter 16 and Miscellaneous 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Script - "International Revue" Undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Script - "On the Trail of a Face Cloth" Undated |