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Sister Maura Eichner collection of Samuel Hazo materials

 Collection
Identifier: SC-030

Scope and Contents

The Sister Maura Eichner collection of Samuel Hazo materials, 1961-1972, consists of books of poetry, original manuscripts, magazines, and letters sent by Hazo to Sister Maura at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. The Hart Crane: An Introduction and Interpretation manuscripts include handwritten edits and additions that lead to the final product. The 1962-1966 correspondence contains poems to be published in Hazo's upcoming books and clippings of articles he thought Sister Maura would find interesting. Hazo's critiques of Sister Maura's poetry and other Catholic writers, letters from his wife Mary Anne, and a program from Duquesne University's production of his play are included in the correspondence. Hazo's letters depict a close friendship founded upon Catholic faith and a love of poetry. He sends Sister Maura pictures from his travels and of his son, Samuel Hazo, Jr. and requests a photograph of her to keep in his home office. An undated souvenir book from Jerusalem, signed "Love, Sam and Mary Anne," demonstrates the deep connection the Sister Maura and Samuel Hazo shared.

Dates

  • Creation: 1961 - 1972

Creator

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 Sister Maura Eichner collection of Samuel Hazo materials are 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

Sister Maura Eichner was born May 5, 1915 in New York City. She entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1933 and professed vows in 1936. Sister Maura taught at St. Mary School in Annapolis, Maryland from 1936 to 1938 and Notre Dame High School, then located on the College of Notre Dame of Maryland campus, from 1938 to 1941. In 1942, she began teaching in the College of Notre Dame of Maryland's English Department and remained a beloved faculty member for the next 50 years. Sister Maura received many distinguished teaching awards and published more than 350 poems in newspapers, literary magazines, and journals throughout her 50-year teaching career. She maintained close relationships with past students and Notre Dame faculty until her passing on November 15, 2009 at age 94.

Historical information adapted from:

https://www.archbalt.org/school-sister-of-notre-dame-remembered-as-professor-poet-and-inspiration/ (accessed April 2009)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44381386/maura-eichner (accessed April 2009)

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Samuel John Hazo is a poet, playwright and essayist born July 19, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1948. Dr. Hazo earned a master's degree from Duquesne University in 1955 and a PhD from University of Pittsburgh in 1957. He began writing poetry while serving as a US Marine Corps Captain during the Korean War. His written works have been published in over 50 books and translated into several languages.

Dr. Hazo founded the International Poetry Forum in 1966 and served as its director until 2009. The forum hosted over 800 international poets and advocated poetry's worldwide importance through 2009. In 1993, Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey named Dr. Hazo Pennsylvania Poet Laureate, a title he held for ten years. He is currently the McAnulty Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at his alma mater, Duquesne University, where he taught English for 43 years. Dr. Hazo resides in Pittsburgh with his wife, Mary Anne, and son Samuel Hazo, Jr., a composer.

Historical information adapted from:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/samuel-hazo (accessed March 2019)

https://www.samhazopoet.com/biography/ (accessed March 2019)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_John_Hazo (accessed March 2019)

Extent

0.94 Cubic Feet (2 legal full-size document boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Sister Maura Eichner collection of Samuel Hazo materials, 1961-1972, consists of books of poetry, original manuscripts, magazines, and letters sent by Hazo to Sister Maura Eichner at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Sister Maura Eichner was born May 5, 1915 in New York City. She entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1933 and professed vows in 1936. In 1942, she began teaching English at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and remained a beloved faculty member for the next 50 years. Dr. Samuel John Hazo is a poet, playwright and essayist born July 19, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. His written works have been published in over 50 books and translated into several languages.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated to Notre Dame of Maryland University by Sister Maura Eichner.

Related Materials

The following Samuel Hazo books were transferred to the rare book collection of Loyola Notre Dame Library:

  • Listen with the Eye
  • Quartered
  • Smithereened Apart: A Critique of Hart Crane
  • Once for the Last Bandit
  • My Sons in God
  • The Christian Intellectual
  • Nightwords
  • Blood Rights
  • Hart Crane: An Introduction and Interpretation
  • The Growl of Deeper Waters
  • To Paris
  • Discovery and Other Poems

Processing Information

This collection was processed in 2019 by Shavonne Munnlyn.

Title
Guide to the Sister Maura Eichner collection of Samuel Hazo materials
Author
Shavonne Munnlyn
Date
2019
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Loyola Notre Dame Library Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
200 Winston Avenue
Baltimore MD 21212
410-617-6870