Special Collections: Guide to the Myrtle Doane Papers

Arranged and described by Brenda Howitson Steeves

February 2011

Introduction and Summary Information

Collection title: Myrtle Doane Papers.
Provenance: Gift of Myrtle Doane, 1968-1977.
Collection number: MS 142.
Dates of collection: 1951-1977 (inclusive); 1962-1972 (bulk).
Size of collection: 2 record cartons.
Conservation note: Materials transferred to acid-free boxes and file folders.
Preferred citation: Myrtle Doane Papers, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine.
Restrictions on access and use: Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval.

Biography

Myrtle Caroline Doane, a poet, newspaper columnist and teacher, was born in 1914 in Lynn, Massachusetts. After graduating from Lynn English High School in 1932 she opened a nursery school and worked as a sales clerk and in a garment factory and a laundry in Lynn. She married Alfred M. Doane in 1938. They later moved to Brownfield, Maine, where Doane worked as a substitute teacher and a columnist for The Reporter, a newspaper in North Conway, New Hampshire. She was the author of several volumes of poetry as well as having numerous poems published in poetry anthologies, newspapers and magazines. She received a bachelor of general studies degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Continuing Studies in 1976. Myrtle Doane died September 2, 1997.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains personal papers of Myrtle Doane and consists primarily of copies of her poems and other items that she wrote. Also included are notebooks of her column, “Brownfield News,” written between 1973 and 1977 for The Reporter, a newspaper in North Conway, New Hampshire. A few subject files of material gathered by Doane are also found in the collection.

Box List

Box 1

Folder

1-3 Correspondence, 1962-1976

4 Resume, etc.

Writings of Myrtle Doane

5 Adventures of Freddy, the pug dog from Maine, 1972

6-10 “Brownfield News,” 1973-1977, from The Reporter, North Conway, N.H.

11 Ethel M. Johnson: correspondence, 1969-1972; articles by Doane

12-15 Flamingo, 1970: publication of the Florida State Poetry Society

16 Flavors and savors from Down East, 1973

17 Letters to the editor by Doane

18 Luck-Duck, the North Conway, New Hampshire duck, 1971

19-20 Lyrical echoes of freedom: correspondence, etc.

21 Margaret Burr Todd: profile written by Doane

22 Ornithology articles by Doane

23 Patriotic poems by Doane [scrapbook]

24 Sounds of Maine, rev. ed. 1973

25 Think ecology with haiku, 1972

Anthologies containing poems by Doane

26 Bluebook of American poetry: best poems of 1961

27 Fragments of faith: a treasury of religious poetry, 1963 [p. 118]

28 The golden ours: an anthology of previously unpublished poems, 1972 [“Haiku” by Doane]

29 Hearts’ secrets: best new love poems, 1962 [p. 149]

Box 2

1 Melody of the muse: best of contemporary poetry, 1964 [p. 213]

2 Modern American muse: best of contemporary poetry, 1961; Moon age poets, 1970 [p. 96]

3 Poetry parade, 1969 [p. 157]

4 Rhyme time for the very young, 1964 [p. 148]

5 Treasures of Parnassus: best poems of 1962, 1963 [p. 38]

6 Versatility in verse, 1965 [pp. 136, 137]

7-8 Pamphlets containing poems by Doane

Subject files

9 All about newspapers: elementary school teaching unit

10 Brownfield annual report, FY 1973

11 Campfire Girls

12 Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge awards, 1961-1970

13 Fryeburg: Fifth grade reporter, Sadie Adams School

14 Jakeman, Adelbert M.

15 Maine Writers' Conference, 1974, 1976: Chapbook No. 16 & 18

16 Miscellaneous magazines

Finding Aids for selected manuscript collections in the Special Collections Department at Fogler Library are accessible online in URSUS, in a browsable Guide to Manuscript Collections. Please contact Special Collections at spc@umit.maine.edu or (207) 581-1686 for further information.

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Special Collections Staff: spc@umit.maine.edu | Revised: 01/15/2013