Louise Imogen Guiney collection

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: SC-020

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Louise Imogen Guiney collection, 1889-1914 and undated, contains photographs, poems, letters, a pamphlet, a newspaper, and souvenirs belonging to the Catholic poet and essayist. The poems and letters are written by Guiney and a Litany of St. Charles pamphlet contains edits in her handwriting. Two undated photographs of Guiney are included as well as a 1914 Thomas Hardy poem published in an English newspaper addressed to her. The collection also contains two postcards with pictures of Oxford, England attractions and a cloth souvenir program from the Opening of Kingsway detailing the King and Queen of England's schedule for the day.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1889-1914

Creator

Guiney, Louise Imogen, 1861-1920 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is located at the Loyola Notre Dame Library. Contact Archives and Special Collections for more information.

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Louise Imogen Guiney collection is the physical property of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Notre Dame Library. Copyright, except in cases where material has passed into the public domain, belongs to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns.

Biographical / Historical

Louise Imogen Guiney was born January 7, 1861 in Roxbury, Massachusetts to an Irish-born, Catholic father and American mother. She was raised in the Catholic faith and graduated from Elmhurst, a convent school in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1879. Guiney began writing poetry for newspapers and magazines while serving as a postmistress and cataloger at the Boston Public Library. Her Catholic-inspired poetry and essays, first published in 1884, brought recognition from the Boston literary scene and famous English writers. As Guiney's health declined in the late 1890s, she turned to literary studies of Catholic poets. In 1901, she moved to Oxford, England where she continued to produce essays and verses until her death on November 2, 1920 in Gloucestershire, England. Historical information adapted from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louise-Imogen-Guiney and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Imogen_Guiney (accessed January 2019).

Extent

1.00 Cubic Feet (6 legal sized folders)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Louise Imogen Guiney collection, 1889-1914, contains photographs, poems, letters, a pamphlet, a newspaper, and souvenirs belonging to the Catholic poet and essayist. Louise Imogen Guiney was born January 7, 1861 in Roxbury, Massachusetts to an Irish-born, Catholic father and American mother. She was raised in the Catholic faith and wrote celebrated poems, essays, and verses inspired by her religious beliefs.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was given to Sister Superior M. Thomasine of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in February 1951 by Sister Mary James Powers, principal of Malden Catholic High School in Massachusetts. Sister James received the collection from Monsignor John Fletcher, a pastor at the Immaculate Conception Parish that supervised Malden Catholic High School.