Elaine Hedges papers , 1958-1998

(bulk 1970-1997)

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2022

Collection Overview

Title:	Elaine Hedges papers
Date range:	1958-1998, (1970-1997)
Creator:	Hedges, Elaine
Extent:	18 Linear Feet 18 RCB
Abstract:	A wide array of materials, including correspondence, bibliographies, research, manuscripts, ephemera, photographs, and printed materials, the bulk of which dates from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, from the papers of Elaine Ryan Hedges, who was a stellar educator and scholar in the field of women's studies. It thoroughly documents Hedges' pioneering contributions to the body of feminist literary criticism--especially her groundbreaking contribution to the study of Charlotte Perkins Gilman--and her advocacy of curriculum reform and a more inclusive canon of American literature so as to incorporate works by women, ethnic minorities, and the gay and lesbian community. This collection highlights Hedges' research into the history of 19th century women and their needlework. Her detailed and innovative study of quilts as encoded texts brought to the fore important historical information about women and their social, political and artistic endeavors that had previously been overlooked by mainstream scholars.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	MS.2011.007

Scope & content

The Elaine Hedges papers includes correspondence; manuscripts; research materials (including scattered notes); bibliographies (some with annotations); copies of scholarly essays (some with marginalia); administrative materials; periodicals; photographs (including slides); and a small assortment of mixed-media materials. This collection dates from 1958 and continues through 1998, the bulk of which ranges from the early 1970s to 1997. Series 1. Correspondence: A small amount of scattered correspondence to or about Elaine Hedges that offers insight into both her personal and professional life. It includes letters of condolence collected by her family after her death in 1997, testifying to her many personal attributes and professional achievements. There are also letters from her academic and publishing colleagues that document the depth and scope of her professional activities, and from which one gets a more than adequate sense of Hedges as both a stellar scholar, writer and educator. It should be noted that this series includes various accompanying materials enclosed within many of the individual letters, including contracts, forms and other administrative documents.

Series 2. Personal Materials: Also small in scope, this series contains scattered items documenting aspects of Hedges' personal and social life. It includes annotated desk and wall calendars from 1975 through 1997, copies of her curriculum vitae, and a few of her diaries documenting trips she took to China in 1989 and 1995. Other items of special interest include an assortment of articles (mostly newspaper clippings) about Hedges and her various professional accomplishments, including scholarly interviews and professional tributes. Various obituaries of Hedges and memorials commemorating her life collected by family and friends are also included here.

Series 3. Quilting: This is a comprehensive collection of materials ranging from the 1970s to the late 1990s, documenting Hedges' broad research on the history and significance of quilts within the context of women's social and political history, art, literature, and culture. It primarily consists of research materials such as large files of assorted bibliographical references, many with accompanying annotations by Hedges; extensive research notes (mostly hand-written by Hedges on loose sheets of paper, arranged by topic), all of which attest to her scrupulous attention to detail and academic rigor; several large index card files of additional bibliographical references and notes; and a collection of scholarly essays (by various authors other than Hedges) analyzing the significance of women and quilting and other types of needlework (in the form of photocopies and/or original clippings from various periodicals and scholarly journals). It also includes a small collection of files about individual quilt artists, as well as a small collection of quilt images that she kept as visual references and keepsakes (derived from ephemeral sources such as postcards and journals). This series also incorporates research materials about literary works (both fiction and non-fiction) that allude to aspects of quilting (and/or sewing), or that utilize quilting (and/or sewing) within a metaphorical context. Also incorporated in this series are materials documenting Hedges' membership in quilting organizations, and her extensive participation in quilting conferences, including records of her speaking engagements and manuscripts of some of her talks.

Series 4. Women's Studies: This series is also comprehensive in scope, ranging from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. It documents Hedges' extensive knowledge of women's studies, her pioneering promotion of it as a viable and needed academic discipline in the early 1970s when no such program existed, and the many important contributions that she made to it as both scholar and teacher. Particularly noteworthy are the materials that document the development of Hedges' extensive knowledge of, research on, and her subsequent critical interpretation of the literary works of American women, all of which provide a window into, not only Hedges' intellectual curiosity and scholastic precision, but also her carefully crafted feminist-critical methodology. It includes files covering a broad range of research on a variety of literary works, ranging from the rather obscure diaries of nineteenth century American women to the writings of such iconic writers as Emily Dickinson, Eliza Calvert Hall and Adrienne Rich. It also includes materials documenting Hedges' many contributions to the literary study of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, as both the editor of the first modern Feminist Press edition of Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and as the writer of its afterword, heralded by many feminist scholars as one of the best pioneering works of feminist literary criticism ever written. This section on Gilman also includes corresponding documentation about the Charlotte Perkins Gilman Society which Hedges founded along with Shelley Fisher Fishkin in 1990. One key document in this series is the manuscript of Hedges' introductory essay to Ripenings: Selected Work: A Collection of Writings by Meridel Le Sueur, a book edited by Hedges, and published by the Feminist Press (in 1982, and revised in 1990). Last but not least, this series also documents Hedges' active membership in a variety of academic organizations, including the leadership roles she undertook in the American Studies Association and as a founding member of the Modern Language Association's Commission on the Status of Women, which was created to investigate the inequities that women were experiencing in academia.

Series 5. University: The bulk of this series ranges from the early 1970s to late 1990s and includes an interesting assortment of administrative materials that especially highlight Hedges' teaching career, particularly the many years she spent as professor of American Literature at Towson State University. Among the noteworthy files in this series are an interesting assortment of her teaching materials, which include class notes, research notes (in other areas outside of women's studies), syllabi, and some student papers, as well as administrative materials such as meeting minutes, reports, and grant requests. It includes files of American male authors as well as materials on curriculum transformation.

Series 6. Writings: This series incorporates a hefty collection of manuscripts and print copies of scholarly essays, talks, presentations, and other works by Hedges, dating from 1968 to 1997. Of particular interest are the scholarly articles she wrote for publication within the purview of the history of American women and their literature and needlework, including a copy of her essay "The 19th-Century Diarist and Her Quilts," published in American Quilts: a Handmade Legacy by the Oakland Museum (1981) and reprinted in Feminist Studies (vol. 8, no. 2) the following year; and the original manuscript and galley proof of the article, "The Needle or the Pen : the Literary Rediscovery of Women's Textile Work," published in Tradition and the Talents of Women, edited by Florence Howe by the University of Illinois Press (1991). It includes scattered notes and manuscripts of talks she gave at various conferences and an extensive collection of articles (in the form of newspaper clippings) of the many book reviews she penned for the Baltimore Daily Sun and the Women's Review of Books.

Series 7. Publishing: Although small in size, dating from the late 1950s to the late 1990s, this series provides a window into Hedges' broad participation in the world of publishing as both editor and author. It includes permissions to publish, contracts, royalty statements, office memos, meeting agendas, and book proposals. It should be noted that scattered throughout the files here are various letters, mostly from publishers to Hedges about various projects that she was involved in. Of special interest are the materials that document the pioneering work Hedges accomplished as one of the editors of the Heath Anthology of American Literature--especially the part she played in bringing her women's studies expertise into the implementation of its multicultural methodology. Also of special interest is a rather small, but interesting file of scattered materials documenting Hedges' association with the Feminist Press, including a reference to her ground-breaking analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, and some essays that she wrote for their periodical, Women's Studies Quarterly. Also contained in this series is a small sequence of files documenting the production of Listening to Silences: New Essays in Feminist Criticism (Oxford University Press, 1994), an acclaimed book which Hedges edited (with Shelley Fisher Fishkin); and a few scattered materials documenting some of Hedges' other publishing projects, including the essay she for wrote for Hearts and Hands: the Influence of Women & Quilts on American Society (Quilt Digest Press, 1987), and corresponding references to the subsequent production of the film of the same name (produced by Hearts and Hands Films, 1988). Series 8. Photographs: Dating from 1962 to 1997, this is an interesting, but small collection of photographs primarily comprised of portraits of Hedges, her family, and her many friends and colleagues. It contains snapshots of the Hedges' family and some of their holiday gatherings; photos of her retirement party, among other professional events; and some photos of quilts, taken by Hedges, from the Star Quilt Project at the NGO Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995. The heart of this series are the many photographic slides of quilts and art works by women artists which Hedges compiled as visual documentation to accompany classroom instruction and the many talks she gave at professional conferences.

Series 9. Publications: Dating from 1962 to 1997, this series primarily contains issues from various periodicals and scholarly journals, most of which include scholarly essays by Hedges. Substantive women's studies pieces by Hedges, such as "Small Things Considered: Susan Glaspell's 'A Jury of Her Peers'" in Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal (Vol. 12, no. 1, 1986) and "The 19th-Century Diarist and Her Quilts" in Feminist Studies (vol. 8, no. 2, 1982) highlight the heart of her academic interests and accomplishments. In addition, this series also incorporates her many pioneering works on multiculturalism, including such pioneering pieces as "Women's Studies and the High School Curriculum" in Dialogue (Vol. 6, no. 3, 1974); "Repositionings: Multiculturalism, American Literary History, and the Curriculum," in American Literature (vol. 66, no. 4, 1994); and "Literature: Each Age Must Write Its Own Book: the 'Heath Anthology'" in Acequia (v.1, no.1, 1991). Also of note in this series is an extensive, collection of book reviews that Hedges penned for such titles as Signs, Legacy, and the Women's Review of Books. Not to be overlooked here in this series are scattered issues from two small press newsletters about quilts and quiltmaking: Blanket Statements: Newsletter of the American Quilt Study Group (1993-1997) and Cover Stories: Newsletter of the Canadian Quilt Study Group (1992-1997).

Series 10. MultimediaThis series contains audio, computer and video formats. There audio is a cassette tape of a National Public Radio interview of Hedges recorded circa 1992. The 3.5 inch floppy disc contains a copy of Rebecca Mark's essay "Teaching from the open closet," including her contributor's note, submitted for publication in Listening to Silences: New Essays in Feminist Criticism (1994). The videotapes document conferences and workshops that Hedges attended.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
• Howe, Florence
• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (Yellow Wallpaper)

Subject Organizations

• Towson University
• Feminist Press
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman Society
• Modern Language Association of America. Commission on the Status of Women in the Profession
• American Studies Association

Subject Topics

• Women authors -- 19th century -- Sources
• Women's Studies -- United States -- Sources
• Feminists -- United States -- Biography
• Scholars -- United States -- Biography
• Historians -- United States -- Biography
• Feminism -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
• Women -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Women -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
• Quilting -- United States -- History -- 19th century
• Quilting -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• Material culture -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Material culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
• Essays -- United States -- 20th century
• Women college teachers -- United States -- Biography
• Women authors -- United States -- Biography
• Canon (literature) -- History
• Multiculturalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• Women authors -- 20th century -- Sources

Document Types

• Magazines (periodicals)
• Printed materials
• Floppy disks
• Videocassettes
• Ephemera
• Research notes/files
• Research notes
• Writings (Document genre)
• Clippings -- 20th century -- United States
• Photographs -- 20th century -- United States
• slides (photographs)
• Audiocassettes
• Manuscripts (documents)
• Letters (Correspondence)

Arrangement

The collection is divided into 12 series. All the files within each series are alphabetically arranged by topic. (Series 3-5 are further divided into subseries, also alphabetically arranged by topic).

• The collection is divided into 12 series. All the files within each series are alphabetically arranged by topic. (Series 3-5 are further divided into subseries, also alphabetically arranged by topic).
• Series 1. Correspondence
• Series 2. Personal
• Series 3. Quilting
• Series 4. Women's studies
• Series 5. Teaching and Administration
• Series 6. Writings
• Series 7. Publishing
• Series 8. Photographs
• Series 9. Publications
• Series 10. Multimedia

Biographical / Historical

Elaine Ryan Hedges was born in Yonkers, New York on August 17, 1927. She lived in Baltimore, Maryland, beginning in the late 1960s until her death on June 5, 1997. She was married in 1956 to William Hedges, a college professor, and had two children: daughter, Marietta Hedges, and son, James Leonard Hedges

Hedges graduated from Barnard College in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies. She received a master's degree (1950) and a doctorate degree (1970) in American Studies from Harvard University. Her doctoral thesis was on the author and literary critic William Dean Howells.

From 1951 to 1971, Hedges taught at Harvard University, Wellesley College in Massachusetts, San Francisco State University, the University of California at Berkeley, and Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. From 1972 until her retirement in 1995, she was a professor of American Literature at Towson State University in Towson, Maryland. Hedges was a member of the American Association of University Professors, the National Women's Studies Association, the Modern Language Association, the American Association of University Professors, the American Studies Association, and the American Literature Association. She cofounded and was president of the Charlotte Perkins Gilman Society. Hedges was also a founder, and then director (for 20 years), of the Department of Women's Studies at Towson State University. Largely through her pioneering efforts, the Women's Studies Program at Towson University developed into one of the exemplary women's studies programs in the nation. In the 1990s she helped establish Towson University's National Center for Curriculum Transformation Resources on Women in order to foster nationwide curricula change and the dissemination of scholarship focused on women and ethnic minorities. She edited many of the Center's publications, and wrote its opening book articulating the Center's mission, called Getting Started: Planning Curriculum Transformation (1997), which became a model for many administrators and faculty wishing to work on developing a more inclusive curriculum. Hedges served as writer, advisor, and editor for The Feminist Press. During her lifelong involvement with the Feminist Press, she was instrumental in getting Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story The Yellow Wallpaper republished in 1973 for the series, Lost Or Forgotten Treasures Written By Women. Her renowned afterword to that edition is considered one of the founding works of feminist literary criticism. The other important Feminist Press publications that Hedges was involved with were Ripening: Writings of Meridel Leseuer (1982) and Women Working: an Anthology of Stories and Poems (1979), both of which she edited.

Hedges was one of the contributing editors of the Heath Anthology of American Literature, a two-volume text which virtually redefined the canon of American literature in its concerted effort to represent a fuller range of American literary creativity by including works by women and other marginalized groups. She also co-edited a volume of essays by feminist scholars called Listening to Silences: New Essays in Feminist Criticism (Oxford Press, 1994).

Hedges' interest in women's literature, culture, and creativity evolved into her ground-breaking scholarship on the significance of American women and sewing -- particularly in reference to their quiltmaking in the nineteenth century. She helped to broaden interdisciplinary interest in the then emerging field of women's studies by investigating ways in which women had traditionally expressed themselves within a patriarchal society. Of special note are her original scholarly interpretations of quilts as encoded texts—that is to say, as historical records from which crucial information about the emotional, intellectual, political, and social lives of women could be gleaned. Her many works on American women and quiltmaking include an essay entitled "Quilts and Women's Culture" in In Her Own Image: Women Working in the Arts (Feminist Press, 1980), which she co-edited with Ingrid Wendt; and "The 19th Century Diarist and her Quilts" published in American Quilts: A Handmade Legacy (Oakland Museum, 1981). She also wrote the text for the book, Hearts and Hands: The Influence of Women and Quilts on American Society (originally published by Quilt Digest Press, 1987), which was subsequently made into a PBS documentary film.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access for non-digital materials, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. Advance notice is required to view born-digital records. Born-digital materials in this collection have not been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. Access to original physical digital media is restricted.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Elaine Hedges papers, MS.2011.007, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	This collection was donated by James Hedges and Marietta Hedges in 2004.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Robert Rosa.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-10-12.
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Additional Information

Related material:	Related Materials See also the Feminist Press records (MS.2005.007) for additional materials relating to the work of Elaine Hedges and Women's Studies programs in the United States.
Separated material:	Separated Materials The books from the Elaine Hedges papers are cataloged separately and can be found in the Library's catalog under the heading: Hedges Quilting Collection (Brown University)

Inventory

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