Butler, Francelia, 1913-1998

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Founder and editor-in-chief, Children's Literature (Yale University Press), and author of Skipping Around the World: the Ritual Nature of Folk Rhymes (1989), Reflections on Literature for Children (1984), and other works. Contributor to the Paris Herald in the 1930s before her marraige to Jerome Butler (d. 1949).

From the description of Francelia Butler correspondence, 1944-1980. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 64683544

Francelia Butler was born in Elyria, Ohio. She attended Oberlin College where she received her undergraduate in the Classics, and later got her doctorate in Renaissance literature at the Univeristy of Virginia. She moved on to teach Englsih at the University of Tennessee and the University of Connecticut. An activist throughout her life, Butler struggeld to revolutionize the study of children's literature as a formal collegiate discipline. Butler was instrumental in creating the Children's Literature journal and the founding of the Children's Literature Association in 1972. She died in 1998 in a nursing home in Windham, Conn. at the age of 85. Biographical Source: Thomas, Robert MCG. III, Francelia Butler Is Dead at 85; Children's Literature Champion, New York Times, 25 Sept. 1998. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EED71739F936A1575AC0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 (Accessed 24 Jan. 2008)

From the guide to the Francelia Butler Papers, 1963, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])

Teacher of children's literature at University of Connecticut.

From the description of Francelia Butler papers, 1970-1980. (University of Connecticut). WorldCat record id: 28412648

When Francelia (McWilliams) Butler was a young child, Harriet Taylor Upton, suffragist and chair of the Republican National Committee, visited her family. Seeing that Francelia had an unhappy family life, Upton corresponded with her and sent her stories until Upton's death in 1945. Butler graduated from Oberlin College, and in the 1930s lived in Paris. She wrote for the Paris Herald and married newsroom staffer Jerome Butler in 1939. They returned to the United States in 1940, and had a daughter. In the early 1960s Butler, by then widowed, earned a doctorate in 17th century English literature from the University of Virginia. Since 1975 she has been on the faculty of the University of Connecticut, where she has championed the study of children's literature. The author of The Lucky Piece, An Autobiographical Novel (1984), and Skipping Around the World: The Ritual Nature of Folk Rhymes (1989), Butler helped found the Modern Language Association's Division on Children's Literature; the Children's Literature Foundation; Children's Literature, a journal; the Foundation for Contributed Thought on Peace; International Peace Games; and the Connecticut League against Age Discrimination.

From the description of Papers, 1922-1996 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122471637

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Haley, Gail E. The skip rope book : production material. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
creatorOf Dell, Floyd, 1887-1969. Letter to Francelia Butler [manuscript] 1959 Dec. 19. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Francelia Butler Papers., undated Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Center.
creatorOf Francelia Butler Papers, 1963 University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections
referencedIn Francelia Butler collection, 1911-1998 bulk 1966-1998 Hollins University, Wyndham Robertson Library
creatorOf Butler, Francelia. Francelia Butler correspondence, 1944-1980. Cornell University Library
creatorOf Butler, Francelia, 1913-1998. Francelia Butler papers, 1970-1980. University of Connecticut, Homer Babbidge Library
creatorOf Butler, Francelia, 1913-1998. Papers, 1922-1996 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Children's Literature Association (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Dell, Floyd, 1887-1969. person
associatedWith Haley, Gail E. person
associatedWith Sage, Robert. person
associatedWith Travers, P. L., 1906- person
associatedWith University of Connecticut corporateBody
associatedWith Upton, Harriet Taylor. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Paris (France)
Storrs (Conn.)
United States
Paris (France)--1940-1944
Connecticut
United States
Subject
American periodicals
Children and peace
Children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature
Universities and colleges
Trade and professional associations
Women
Occupation
College teachers
College teachers
Women college teachers
Activity

Person

Birth 1913-04-25

Death 1998-09-17

Americans

English

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SNAC ID: 18473765