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Finding Aid for the Margaret Gray and Smiley Blanton Collection, 1900-1973


MS-0739

University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN


Encoded by: Elizabeth Dunham, November 30, 2006.

Summary Information
Title: Margaret Gray and Smiley Blanton Collection

Date/Date Range :   1900-1973

Extent: 13.0 linear feet

Abstract:
This collection houses published works, manuscripts, correspondence, research notes, clippings, and photographs documenting the lives and works of Margaret Gray and Smiley Blanton.

Call number: MS-0739

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Access and Use
Aquisition Information:
Margaret Gray Blanton donated this collection between 1963 and 1973.
Access Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Copyright:
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of Item], Margaret Gray and Smiley Blanton Collection, MS-0739. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Arrangement

Collection consists of thirteen boxes divided into eleven series:

  1. Series I: Smiley Blanton Manuscripts
  2. Series II: Primarily material written by Dr. Blanton both manuscript and printed, with additional magazine articles by Margaret Blanton
  3. Series III: Miscellaneous material of Dr. Blanton's
  4. Series IV: Research material compiled by Margaret Blanton pertaining to Thomas A' Becket and Sir Richard Whittington
  5. Series V: Material concerning Andrew Johnson's wife Eliza and Bernadette of Lourdes
  6. Series VI: Typescript & rough drafts of short stories by MGB; Poetry composed by MGB and a compilation of poetry collected by MGB
  7. Series VII: Notes, rough drafts, typescripts of unpublished manuscripts by Margaret Gray Blanton
  8. Series VIII: The White Unicorn
  9. Series IX: Research material collected by M. G. B.; Family photographs; Recipes and stereoscopic film
  10. Series X: Books written by Smiley and Margaret Blanton containing their own personal notes and marginalia
  11. Series XI: Miscellaneous

Biography / History

Smiley Blanton was born on May 7, 1882 in Unionville, Tennessee. He earned his B.S. from Vanderbilt University in 1904, his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1914, and a diploma in Psychological Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (London, England) in 1923. During his professional career, he served as an Instructor in Speech at Cornell University (1907-1911), a Professor of Speech and Mental Hygiene at the University of Wisconsin (1914-1924), the director of the Minneapolis Child Guidance Clinic and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Minnesota (1924-1927), a Professor of Child Study at Vassar College (1927-1931), an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Cornell (1933-1938), the Director of the Religiopsychiatry Clinic at the American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry (beginning in 1937), and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical School (beginning 1943). His numerous books include The Art of Real Happiness (with Norman Vincent Peale, 1950), Love or Perish (1956), Now or Never (1959), and The Healing Power of Poetry (1960). Blanton died on October 30, 1966 and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

Margaret Gray was born in 1887 in Sedalla, Missouri. She married Smiley Blanton on October 18, 1910. Gray received most of her early education from tutors, and went on to serve as a lecturer at Tulane University (1918), the University of Wisconsin (1922-1923), the University of Iowa (1926) and Vassar College (1927-1930). She eventually became a well-respected speech pathologist, and wrote a number of books on such topics as speech training, stuttering, and child guidance. She also developed an articulation test and a number of speech and literacy tests with Sara Stinchfield Hawk and was one of the charter members of the American Academy of Speech Correction (now the American Speech-Hearing Language Association). Margaret Gray Blanton died in 1973.


Collection Scope and Content Note

This collection houses published works, manuscripts, correspondence, research notes, clippings, and photographs documenting the lives and works of Margaret Gray and Smiley Blanton.

Subject Terms

  • Blanton, Margaret Gray.
  • Bernadette, Saint, 1844-1879.
  • Blanton, Smiley, 1882-1966.
  • Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939.
  • Psychoanalysis.
  • Speech disorders.
  • Johnson, Eliza McCardle, 1810-1876.
  • Whittington, Richard, d. 1423
  • Thomas, à Becket, Saint, 1118?-1170
  • Christian saints -- Biography.
Contents List
   

Series I: Smiley Blanton Manuscripts
Box   1     Folder   1    
MS of The Healing Power of Poetry

Box   1     Folder   2    
MS of The Art of Real Happiness

Box   1     Folder   3    
Diary of My Analysis with Sigmund Freud ; Xerox copy, and notes.
Box   1     Folder   4    
Diary of My Analysis with Sigmund Freud ; Typescript
Box   1     Folder   5    
Notebook of correspondence concerning Freud

Box   1     Folder   6    
The Mouse Book (referred to in Freud ); Also reviews of Freud . This box also includes a memento to Mrs. Blanton from Sigmund Freud.
Box   1     Folder   7    
MS of Love or Perish

Box   2     Folder   1    
Articles on Speech disorders
Box   2     Folder   2    
Articles on child guidance
Box   2     Folder   3    
Articles for syndicated column
Box   2     Folder   4    
Miscellaneous articles
Box   3     Folder   1    
Radio talks by Dr. Blanton
Box   3     Folder   2    
Speeches by Dr. Blanton
Box   3     Folder   3    
Miscellaneous newspapers, magazines & clipping
Box   3     Folder   4    
Correspondence of Dr. Blanton
   

Series II: Primarily material written by Dr. Blanton with additional magazine articles by Margaret Blanton
Box   4     Folder   1    
Printed articles and pamphlets by Dr. Smiley Blanton.
Box   4     Folder   2    
Several typed copies of "A Program for Mental Hygiene in the College"

Box   4     Folder   3    
Uncorrected proof of "Faith is the Answer"

Box   4     Folder   4    
Miscellaneous typed articles & other bits and pieces by Dr. Blanton
Box   4     Folder   5    
Typescript of articles on crime by Dr. Blanton
Box   4     Folder   6    
Miscellaneous printed articles by Dr. Blanton, Mostly in Hygeia.
Box   4     Folder   7    
Reprints of early articles by Dr. Blanton including "Disorders of Speech" , "The Nervous Child" etc.
Box   4     Folder   8    
Typescript of articles on mental hygiene.
Box   4     Folder   9    
Manuscripts of and notes on articles Dr. Blanton wrote for Reader's Digest

Box   4     Folder   10    
Two typed copies of "Beyond the Middle Years"

Box   4     Folder   11    
Manuscript of "Discipline"

Box   4     Folder   12    
Articles for Reader's Digest by Dr. Blanton including "Three Thousand Years of Wisdom" , and "Don't Fence Me In"

Box   4     Folder   13    
Typed article on Speech
Box   4     Folder   14    
Contracts, copyright, etc.
Box   4     Folder   15    
Early magazine articles written by Margaret Gray Blanton.
Box   4     Folder   16    
Dr. Blanton's material on the nervous system.
   

Series III: Miscellaneous material of Dr. Blanton's
Box   5     Folder   1    
Two copies of "Anything for a Quiet Life"

Box   5     Folder   2    
Jokes and cartoons on psychiatry.
Box   5     Folder   3    
Chart on stutterers compiled by the Blantons, 1921
Box   5     Folder   4    
Dr. Blanton's correspondence with the White House (Eisenhower, and Ex-President Truman)
Box   5     Folder   5    
Translation of "Pere Labat"

Box   5     Folder   6    
Material relating to Dr Blanton's teaching and medical careers.
Box   5     Folder   7    
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1931-1965
Box   5     Folder   8    
Collection of quotations
Box   5     Folder   9    
Material on speech survey of freshman class at the University of Wisconsin, 1920-1921
Box   5     Folder   10    
Material, including correspondence, from Dr. Blanton's school days and very early career, 1897-1915
Box   5     Folder   11    
Material on course in child training which Dr. Blanton taught, 1934
Box   5     Folder   12    
Material on speech
Box   5     Folder   13    
Newspapers, clippings, 1951-1966
Box   5     Folder   14    
Certificates of Dr. Blantons' (New York Athletic Club, National Wildlife Federation, American Psychoanalytic Association)
Box   5     Folder   15    
Correspondence with publishers, 1956-1964
Box   5     Folder   16    
Material on an article, "The Church Clinic"

Box   5     Folder   17    
Material on the religio-psychiatric clinic
Box   5     Folder   18    
Correspondence with publishers on Now or Never and other works, 1957-1959
Box   5     Folder   19    
Biographical material on Dr. Blanton.
Box   5     Folder   20    
Book reviews by Dr. Blanton and correspondence concerning them
Box   5      
Other Material

Scope Note:
  1. 45 rpm record by Psychoanalytic Review -The Voices of Sigmund Freud & Theodor Reik
  2. Democritus Junior [pseud.] Anatomy of Melancholy
  3. Democritus Junior [pseud.] Sigmund Freud
  4. Democritus Junior [pseud.] Beyond the Pleasure Principle (included with Blanton marginalia)
   

Series IV: Research material compiled by Margaret Blanton pertaining to Thomas A' Becket and Sir Richard Whittington
Box   6     Folder   1    
Notes on Becket, his life and times.
Box   6     Folder   2    
Notes on Becket, his life and times.
Box   6     Folder   3    
Notes on Becket, his life and times.
Box   6     Folder   4    
Notes on Becket, his life and times.
Box   6     Folder   5    
Notes on Becket, his life and times.
Box   6     Folder   6    
Notes on Becket, his life and times.
Box   6     Folder   7    
Notes on Becket, his life and times.
Box   6     Folder   8    
Collection of pictures connected with Becket material.
Box   6     Folder   9    
Notes on Sir Richard Whittington
Box   6     Folder   10    
Notes on Sir Richard Whittington
Box   6     Folder   11    
Printed research material Mrs. Blanton used in connection with Becket and Whittington Books. Box VI also includes box of chromatic plates used in connection with Thomas Becket material.
   

Series V: Material concerning Andrew Johnson's wife Eliza and Bernadette of Lourdes
Box   7     Folder   1    
Genealogical data & notes on Eliza & Andrew Johnson
Box   7     Folder   2    
Notes, photostats, transcripts and correspondence concerning Eliza Johnson
Box   7     Folder   3    
Andrew and Eliza Johnson: Notes, photographs, photostats.
Box   7     Folder   4    
Illustrations and typescripts of a short article by MGB, "Tennessee Johnson's Eliza"

Box   7     Folder   5    
"Bits and Pieces" Andrew Johnson and family.
Box   7     Folder   6    
Notebook of correspondence relating to Mrs. Blanton' s research material on Eliza Johnson.
Box   7     Folder   7    
Photos, mementos: Mixed Johnson pictures.
Box   7     Folder   8    
Notes on Charles McDonald collected by Dr. Blanton pertaining to McDonald's cure at Lourdes.
Box   7     Folder   9    
Studies on Odette Riviere & Louise Mamain compiled by Dr. Blanton concerning cures at Lourdes.
Box   7     Folder   10    
Correspondence & other material on cures at Lourdes.
Box   7     Folder   11    
Typescripts of Dr. Blanton's article "A case of a cure at Lourdes"

Box   7     Folder   12    
Typescripts of "Analytical study of a cure at Lourdes" by Dr. Blanton.
Box   7     Folder   13    
Typescript & rough draft of article by Dr. Blanton & Margaret Blanton "Cures at Lourdes"

Box   7     Folder   14    
Notebook of correspondence concerning "The Miracle of Bernadette" by Margaret Gray Blanton.
Box   7     Folder   15    
Correspondence concerning Bernadette & material about trip to Lourdes.
Box   7     Folder   16    
Illustrations used for Bernadette & pp. from MS of "Bernadette"

Box   7     Folder   17    
Publicity about Bernadette & screenplay for television.
   

Series VI: Typescript & rough drafts of short stories by MGB; Poetry composed by MGB and a compilation of poetry collected by MGB
Box   8     Folder   l    
Rough draft of short stories by Margaret G. Blanton
Box   8     Folder   2    
Rough draft and typescript of short stories by Margaret G. Blanton.
Box   8     Folder   3    
Rough draft of "Oh Susannah" , short story by Margaret G. Blanton
Box   8     Folder   4    
Notebook containing "And Hear the Wind Blow" a play by Margaret G. Blanton
Box   8     Folder   5    
Poetry composed by Margaret Blanton in her youth.
Box   8     Folder   6    
Notebook of poetry composed by Margaret Blanton.
Box   8     Folder   7    
2 scrapbooks of published verses collected by Margaret Blanton.
Box   8     Folder   8    
Miscellaneous verses collected by Margaret Blanton
Box   8     Folder   9    
Information collected by Mrs. Blanton about the ship "Nerissa"

   

Series VII: Notes, rough drafts, typescripts of unpublished manuscripts by Margaret Gray Blanton
Box   9     Folder   1    
Prince of Virginia , unfinished typescript and notes. (Historical novel by MGB)
Box   9     Folder   2    
Corrected carbon copy of Prince of Virginia

Box   9     Folder   3    
Finished typescript of Prince of Virginia

Box   9     Folder   4    
Flambeau an unpublished novel by MGB
Box   9     Folder   5    
Rough draft of Uncle Tom by MGB. (An unpublished novel about the Civil War)
Box   9     Folder   6    
Additional rough draft and research material pertaining to Uncle Tom

Box   9     Folder   7    
The Foursome an unpublished manuscript by MGB.
Box   9     Folder   8    
Xerox copy of The Foursome

Box   9     Folder   9    
Notes and research material on The Foursome

Box   9     Folder   10    
Material on "Darling the African Gray Parrot" an article on speech by MGB.
Box   9     Folder   11    
Typescript of "Throw out the life line" and "The best prescription for weight reduction, T. L. C."

   

Series VIII: The White Unicorn
Box   10     Folder   1    
Correspondence with Publishers concerning "The White Unicorn"

Box   10     Folder   2    
Letters regarding "The White Unicorn"

Box   10     Folder   3    
MS. of "The White Unicorn"

Box   10     Folder   4    
Early drafts of "The White Unicorn"

Box   10     Folder   5    
Material relating to "The White Unicorn"

   

Series IX: Research material collected by M. G. B.; Family photographs; Recipes and stereoscopic film
Box   11     Folder   1    
Correspondence and article about Gilbert Gaul, Nashville artist.
Box   11     Folder   2    
Sam Davis & George Hughes material collected by Mrs. Blanton.
Box   11     Folder   3    
Notes on George Hughes and copy of George Hughes article which appeared in Civil War Times

Box   11     Folder   4    
Photographs of Margaret Gray Blanton.
Box   11     Folder   5    
Photographs of family and ancestors of Margaret Gray Blanton.
Box   11     Folder   6    
Photographs of Dr. Blanton, family and friends.
Box   11     Folder   7    
Two recipe books compiled by Margaret Blanton.
Box   11     Folder   8    
Notebook of Mrs. Blanton's favorite recipes.
Box   11     Folder   9    
Stereoscopic film.
   

Series X: Books written by Smiley and Margaret Blanton containing their own personal notes and marginalia
Box   12      
Books written by Smiley and Margaret Blanton containing their own personal notes and marginalia
   

Series XI: Miscellaneous
Box   13     Folder   1    
Copy of marriage license, calling cards, book jackets, Miscellaneous bits & pieces
Box   13     Folder   2    
Notebook containing correspondence with UT.
Box   13     Folder   3    
Notebook of General correspondence. Photostatic map of Virginia, Blanton bookplates, maps of Great Britain, London & Wales.