Dorothy Scarborough – The Texas Collection

Dottie Scarborough: A Woman of Many Talents

Posted on May 8, 2015

By Casey Schumacher, Graduate Assistant, The Texas Collection, and Museum Studies graduate student

Image of Dorothy Scarborough, artist unknown, circa 1900. Fine Art collection, The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

Dorothy, or “Dottie” as she was known to her friends and family, achieved an outstanding education and professional career for a woman in the early 20^th century. Born on January 27, 1873 in Mount Carmel, Texas, she received a BA and MA in English from Baylor University before completing her doctoral work at Columbia University in 1917. She also attended the University of Oxford from 1910-1911, even though they did not grant degrees to women at the time. After receiving her PhD, Scarborough went on to teach at Columbia, where she specialized in courses on creative writing but taught classes on a multitude of topics, including the Development of the English Novel and the History of the English Language. The Dorothy Scarborough papers also include extensive teaching and research notes, programs, and invitations from her time at Columbia.

Manuscript, "Land of Cotton," Dorothy Scarborough, undated — For each of her novels, Scarborough hand wrote full-length early manuscripts in blue notebooks like the one shown here. To our chagrin, her handwriting is equally atrocious in all of her notebooks. Dorothy Scarborough Papers #153, Series 2, Box 6, Folder 8.

Scarborough’s collection reflects her wide range of interests and includes many drafts and typescripts of her publications (she published five novels along with scripts, short stories, essays and poems), as well as some unpublished work. Her doctoral thesis discussed the supernatural in modern English fiction, and later publications featured research in southern life, the history of the cotton industry, ghost stories, marriage, gender, poetry, and short stories. In addition, Scarborough was a strong advocate for the study of folklore. She served as president of the Texas Folklore Society from 1914-1915, was a founding member of the American Folk Song Society, and a lifelong member of the American Folklore Society.

"Billy Boy" sheet music, variations — Scarborough collected several copies and versions of hundreds of folksongs throughout the South. One of the more popular songs, Billy Boy, includes sheet music and lyric pages with the name of the person who gave her the song as well as when and where she found it. Dorothy Scarborough Papers #153, Series 3, Box 6, Folder 9.

One of Dottie’s main interests was in the area of folklore and folk songs. Two of her books, On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs and A Song Catcher in Southern Mountains document her journeys throughout the South collecting personal stories and folksongs from anyone who would share them with her. Travel notes, sheet music, and hundreds of pages of lyrics make up a significant part of her collection and demonstrate the passion she devoted to her research.

Dottie’s career truly embodied the values of leadership and service so deeply cherished at Baylor University. Anyone interested in her personal life, her folklore and English research, or women in academia during the 1920s-1930s will find a wealth of information in her personal and professional papers.

Research Ready: March 2015

Posted on March 31, 2015

Each month, we post a processing update to notify our readers about the latest collections that have finding aids online and are primed for research. Here are March’s finding aids:

Galveston Storm Letter, 1900 — This letter from Elizabeth Thatcher recounts the grim aftermath of the 1900 Galveston storm. One of the worst national disasters in United States history, Thatcher gives an eyewitness account of the aftermath of the storm: thousands of people dead, all communication to the island cut off, and the city placed under martial law. Galveston Storm letters, 1700, box 1, folder 1.

Dorothy Scarborough papers, 1886-1938, undated (#153):

Contains research, teaching, and personal materials of noted Southern folklorist Dorothy Scarborough, who taught English at Baylor University for ten years.

Galveston Storm Letters, 1900 (#1700):

Two letters describing the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, one of the deadliest natural disasters to affect the United States.

Thomas C. Mann papers, 1946-1975, undated (#2461):

Materials include documents relating to Mann’s professional career in the United States State Department as a Foreign Service diplomat.

Preface to Telephone Conversation Memos, 1973 — This document is a preface to Mann’s Memos of Telephone Conversations books and explains why he kept written records of all telephone conversations generated by his office while working for the United States government. Thomas C. Mann papers, 2461, box 16, folder 2.

Preserving Texas Folklore

Posted on April 2, 2012

On a cold December day in 1909, two English professors acted on a common thread of interest—preserving the songs, music, and tales of Texas, known collectively as folklore. John A. Lomax and Dr. Leonidas Payne created the Texas Folklore Society to begin collecting folklore across Texas and the Southwest. Today, the organization still stands as the second oldest such society, behind only the American Folklore Society. Members write papers and articles on different types of folklore and can present their work at the annual meeting that is held in a different Texas town each year.

In recognition of their work and in conjunction with the Baylor University Libraries’ “A Celebration of Texas: Literature, Music & Film,” The Texas Collection is hosting “Texas Folklore Writers,” an exhibit examining the roots of the Texas Folklore Society and its current role. The exhibit displays photographs of the early “pioneers” of the Society, such as Lomax, Payne, Dorothy Scarborough, and J. Frank Dobie; a wide array of the Society’s yearly publications; the story of its symbol, the roadrunner; and the Society’s current activities.

A Baylor literary legend, Emily Dorothy Scarborough, is featured centrally in the exhibit. Ms. Scarborough taught English at Baylor and at Columbia University in New York during the early twentieth century. Ms. Scarborough was passionately committed to preserving folklore and spent summers writing down the “elusive” folksongs of Southern mountain families and African-Americans.

Known for her adept and sensitive portrayals of Texas life around the turn of the century—likely aided by her folklore work—Ms. Scarborough wrote novels set in almost every region of the state. One of her most famous novels is The Wind, written in 1925 and set in West Texas. The book weaves a tale of a young woman from the East driven mad by the howling Texas winds. First published anonymously for media speculation, the book was a hit and made into a movie at MGM studios in 1929, starring Lillian Gish. Original transcriptions, documents and manuscripts, photographs, quotes, and first edition volumes by Ms. Scarborough are on display.

Visit The Texas Collection from March 29–May 31 to see the exhibit. Be sure to drop by the other “Celebration of Texas” exhibits at the University Libraries, including a Texas Writers exhibit at Moody Memorial Library, Texas poetry at Armstrong Browning Library, and Texas works from the Hightower Collection at the W.R. Poage Legislative Library. Check out our calendar of events, too!

By Ann Payne, exhibit curator