Lauren Gilfillan papers, 1921-1999 (majority within 1921-1938)

Summary

Creator:

Gilfillan, Lauren, 1909-

Abstract:

Author of I Went to Pit College; correspondence and other materials relating to her book and to her later struggle with mental illness.

Extent:

0.5 linear feet
1 oversize volume

Language:

English

Call Number:

2008131 Aa 2

Authors:

Finding aid created by Michigan Historical Collections staff

Background

Scope and Content:

The Gilfillan collection is arranged into two series: Correspondence and Other Materials. Most of the collection relates to the publication of her book I Went to Pit College, and to its reception by newspapers and literary periodicals. Some of the later materials in the collection concern Gilfillan's struggles with mental illness.

Biographical / Historical:

Lauren Gilfillan was the pseudonym of Harriet Woodbridge Gilfillan. She was born in 1909 in Washington DC, but eventually came to live in Kalamazoo where she graduated from high school. She graduated from Smith College in 1931 and moved to New York to seek a job in the publishing industry. One publisher encouraged her to write a first-hand account of the plight of miners in Pennsylvania. The result of her experiences was the book, published in 1934 I Went to Pit College. Soon after completing her work on this project, Gilfillan would suffer from what would later be diagnosed as schizophrenia. She moved back to Kalamazoo but would eventually be hospitalized for an extended period of time at the University of Michigan Hospital and Kalamazoo State Hospital. She died in 1978.

Acquisition Information:

The collection was donated by Alan M. Wald (donor no. 10079 ) in July 2009.

Accruals:

No further additions to the papers are expected.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Mentally ill -- Michigan.
Proletariat in literature.
Women authors, American -- 20th century.
Working class writings, American -- Women authors.

Names:

Gilfillan, Lauren, 1909-
Gilfillan, Lauren, 1909- -- I went to pit college.
Wald, Alan M., 1946-