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MA Reardon Illustrated Books Finding Aid: Collection Overview

Title: MA Reardon Illustrated Books

Date(s): 1942-1946

Repository I.D.: US: MBEmm: Lib-2012-2

Collection Call No.: Lib-2012-2

Location: Emmanuel Archives—Cardinal Cushing Library 202

Author/Collector/Creator:

Reardon,Mary (illustrator)
Fox, Genevieve, d. 1959   (author)
McSwigan, Marie, 1907-1962 (author)
Judson, Clara Ingram, 1879-1960 (author)
Howells, Anne Molloy, 1907-1999 (author)
Neilson, Frances Fullerton (author)

Extent: 3.75 linear inches (1 box / 5 items)

Language(s): English

Abstract: The collection contains the five (5) children's books illustrated by MA Reardon in the 1940s.

Access Restrictions: 1) The collection is not restricted. 2) Material is under copyright. 3) Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation: [Item Title]. [Box Number]. MA Reardon Illustrated Books. Cardinal Cushing Library, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA.

Related Collection(s):

MA Reardon Collection. Cardinal Cushing Library, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA.

 Mary A. Reardon Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA.

Mary Reardon Papers. Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.

Provenance: The books were purchased by Emmanuel College through Amazon.com and Abe Books in February and March 2012. The books were accessioned by the Emmanuel College Archives at that time. For the provenance of individual volumes consult the archivist.

Processed By: Processed by John P. Healey, Jr. in May 2012.

Biography/History: Mary Agnes (MA) Reardon was a liturgical artist of the mid and late 20th century, who after graduating from the Yale School of Fine Arts (1938) began her career as an artists of landscapes and portraits. Throughout the 1940s she illustrated several children's books that include: Sir Wilfred Grenfell, (1942) Snow Treasure, (1942) They Came from Scotland, (1944) A Bird in the Hand, (1945) and Giant Mountain (1946). After her successful career as a children's illustrator she participated in the creation of murals and other religiously based art at San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (c. 1948), St. John's Seminary in Brighton, MA (c. 1958),Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, MD (c. 1959), The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC (c. 1964-1973), St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, CA (1970s), and the St. Louis Cathedral in St. Louis, MO (1980s).

Genevieve Fox was a children's author in the 1940s. She died in 1959.

Marie McSwigan, born in 1907, was the author of ten (10) children's books who worked for the Pittsburg Press. She died in 1962.

Clara Ingram Judson, born on May 4, 1879, was the author of over seventy (70) children's books. She received three Newbury awards in the 1950s for the books Abraham Lincoln, Friend of the People (1951), Theodore Roosevelt, Fighting Patriot (1954), and Mr. Justice Holmes (1957), respectively. Ms. Judson died on May 24, 1960.

Anne Molloy was the author of twenty-two (22) books and an admirer of the New England coast where many of her stories were based. She died in 1999.

Frances Fullerton Neilson was educated in both Philadelphia, PA and in England before she moved to New York City. In addition to writing she enjoyed oil painting while raising two (2) sons.

Scope and Content: The collection, which documents MA Reardon's early professional art career, contains the 1940s published children books illustrated by MA Reardon. These include: Sir Wilfred Grenfell, (1942) Snow Treasure, (1942) They Came from Scotland, (1944) A Bird in Hand, (1945) and Giant Mountain (1946).

Collection Arrangement: The collection is arranged into one (1) series. It contains all the children's books illustrated by MA Reardon in chronological and then alphabetical order by author's last name.