Katherine Milhous (1894-1977) and Frances Lichten (1889-1961) were life partners and artistic collaborators who shared several passions: creating vibrant artwork for children and adults, entertaining in their homey studio on Pine Street, and corresponding with treasured longtime friends. They also shared a love of Philadelphia and respect for the history and cultural traditions of the region.

The Katherine Milhous and Frances Lichten papers, an impressive 40 linear feet of personal and professional correspondence, fan mail, published and unpublished artwork, research notes, photographs, journals, and scrapbooks, is now available at the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Children’s Literature Research Collection (CLRC). In 1967, Milhous donated the majority of her manuscripts, illustrations, and papers as well as several boxes of Lichten’s papers to the library, and researchers will benefit from the artist’s handwritten comments, labeled research files, and extensive notes on her own work. 

Katherine Milhous was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Pitman, New Jersey. The activities, culture, and opportunities of her birthplace beckoned, and she returned to the city to study at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she met Frances Lichten, an artist specializing in Pennsylvania folk art.  Influenced by Pennsylvania Dutch designs and crafts, Milhous is primarily known for writing and illustrating children’s books such as The Egg Tree, for which she won the Caldecott medal in 1951, and Through These Arches: The Story of Independence Hall (1964), a thorough and reverent history of the Native American settlers through the building’s restoration to its original design in 1950. The positive impact she had on audiences of all ages is reflected by the folders of fan mail, including photos of her young readers decorating their own egg trees, notes from appreciative librarians, a letter from Pat Nixon praising Through These Arches, and a letter from Philadelphia mayor Bernard Samuel referencing Patrick and the Golden Slippers (1951), her book about the Mummer’s Parade.

Researchers can explore the relationship of author and publisher through the professional and personal letters written to Milhous by Alice Dalgliesh, children’s book editor at Charles Scribner’s Sons in New York City.  Dalgliesh, also an author, saw Milhous’s Works Progress Administration posters featuring rural life; she promptly invited Milhous to create the illustrations for her children’s books and then encouraged her to write her own, sparking a twenty-seven-year friendship.  Lichten and Milhous worked together on the artwork for Dalgliesh’s They Live in South America (1942).

Milhous kept many files of clippings, notes, poems, and greeting cards from which she drew inspiration for her work. In addition, those interested in physical representations of the mid-twentieth century publishing process can examine outlines, galleys, preliminary and final artwork, as well as a complete dummy for Through These Arches, which Milhous considered her most important book.

Like Katherine Milhous, Frances Lichten left a tremendous impact on her chosen field. She was born in Bellafonte, Pennsylvania (near State College), and studied art in Philadelphia. She worked as a commercial artist, served as the State Supervisor for the Index of American Design, a WPA initiative, and was the Research Associate in the Decorative Arts department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, home of the Frances Lichten Research Collection. She wrote several books on decorative and folk art as well as two featuring her own illustrations. The collection features smaller publications in which Lichten published scholarly articles, artwork including bookplates and drawings from her childhood, and several research and subject files pertaining to her research interests.

Sadly, Lichten suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), which eventually took her life. The debilitating disease robbed her of muscle movement, a particularly cruel fate for an artist. The collection holds several folders of correspondence documenting her condition, condolence letters from friends and family to Milhous upon Lichten’s death in 1961, and her personal effects collected by Milhous from the nursing home where her beloved Frances, her partner of 40 years, spent her final months.

For additional biographical information as well as a complete inventory of the collection, please see the finding aid for the Katherine Milhous and Frances Lichten Papers.

For more on all of the CLRC collections visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for more updates from the Children’s Literature Research Collection.

- Jennifer Schnabel

Tags: CLIR Grant, Children's Literature Research Collection, archives

In a previous post, I wrote about researching the personal and professional life of Philadelphia writer, actor, and comedian, Ed Wynn (1886-1966). A versatile and adaptable performer with vaudeville beginnings, Wynn wrote and starred in Broadway shows, radio programs, and a television variety show. He went on to appear in feature films, including several Walt Disney productions, and later took on dramatic roles, a difficult transition for the giggling jokester who adapted the moniker, “The Perfect Fool.”

Now that I was familiar with Wynn’s biography, I was eager to examine the collection. The acquisitions history of the Ed Wynn Papers was difficult to determine. The Theatre Collection (THC) catalog held one undated card, listing a few of the items found in the boxes. After sifting through hundreds of yellowed newspaper clippings, I discovered an article from the May 2, 1965 issue of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin in which reporter James Smart writes about a local event honoring a 78-year-old Ed Wynn. He refers to “two big boxes” of Wynn memorabilia that a local public relations professional, “Scoop” Lieberman, had purchased from Minnie Leopold’s estate. Many of the items listed mirrored the contents of the FLP’s collection; this was a triumphant day for me and for Karin. A week later, she uncovered a copy of a letter from Edward “Scoop” Lieberman, probably from 1968, to the then head of the FLP Literature Department, offering to show him the “Ed Wynn Memories.” Therefore, we were able to solve the mystery of the acquisition and confirm that these materials were from the estate of Wynn’s mother.  This link also suggests that the prayer book, from a synagogue in Atlantic City, belonged to Minnie after she moved from Philadelphia to New Jersey. (Coincidentally, a quick online search of the rabbi’s name printed on the title page was the same who performed the midnight funeral of the subject of another THC collection, Philadelphia filmmaker Siegmund Lubin, in 1923.)

These revelations were exciting, but we are still unsure of the function of the heavy, weighted gloves. The catalog card cited them as “stage props,” but with Wynn’s extensive gag repertoire, it is difficult to determine for which stunt(s) they were used. I’ve posted a photo—if you have any idea, please let us know!

Recently, while walking on North Second Street between Callowhill and Spring Garden, I realized I was close to the site of the Leopolds’ home at the time of Wynn’s birth. I stopped and imagined a giggling Wynn, riding his invented “piano bicycle” while donning his “Fire Chief” hat and wearing his trademark oversized shoes. Although he has been awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one each for radio, television, and motion pictures, his name and accomplishments ought to be printed in gold letters on a navy blue square sign right here in Philadelphia. Perhaps one day the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will unveil a marker honoring “The Perfect Fool,” who left an indelible mark on the history of stage and screen.  For now, I am happy that researchers can view the new online finding aid and access the Ed Wynn Papers in the library of his hometown.

In addition to Karin Suni, I would like to thank Janine Pollock, Head of the Rare Book Department, and the Special Collections staff for supporting this project

--Jennifer Schnabel

To schedule an appointment to view the Ed Wynn Papers, please contact Karin Suni at 215-686-5427 or SuniK@freelibrary.org.

Tags: Disney, comedians, film, radio, television, theatre, vaudeville

This past year, I had the privilege of processing and creating a finding aid for the papers of Ed Wynn (1886-1966), an actor, writer, and comedian from Philadelphia, as part of an internship requirement for Temple University’s graduate archives management program. I had not heard of the name Ed Wynn before I was assigned this project by Karin Suni, librarian and curator of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Theatre Collection. Yet, after watching several YouTube clips of the comedian in film roles such Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins (floating in the air and shrieking, “I love to laugh!”) and the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland (the character for which Wynn provided the vocals as well as the physical model for the cartoonists), I instantly recognized his wobbly voice, exaggerated lisp, and high-pitched giggle. It’s hard to forget.

Although I could have watched video clips of the wacky Wynn for days, I needed to learn more about his life before I could create a processing plan. The six boxes contained publicity photographs, newspaper clippings, postcards, letters, telegrams, notes, artwork, and other items such as a tiny Hebrew prayer book and a pair of worn suede, weighted gloves.  I consulted the FLP’s extensive Theatre Collection, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), and the Internet Broadway Database (IBDb) for biographical information.  I discovered Wynn contributed far more to the history of Philadelphia and American theatre than just portraying whimsical characters in beloved Disney films.

Ed Wynn was born Isaiah Edwin Leopold on November 9, 1886, to Jewish immigrants, Joseph and Minnie Leopold. He attended Central High School before dropping out to pursue a vaudeville career in New England. He toured the country and eventually appeared on Broadway. Despite his rising success, he actively participated in the Actors’ Equity Strike in 1919 and was blacklisted by the prominent theater managers and producers in New York, including the powerful Schubert family. However, the resilient Wynn promptly wrote and staged his own Broadway productions, including  Ed Wynn’s Carnival (1920); The Perfect Fool (1921), the title of which gave him his subsequent nickname; The Grab Bag (1924); Manhattan Mary (1927); Simple Simon (1930; 1931);  and The Laugh Parade (1931).  

Wynn invented and embodied zany characters such as “The Fire Chief,” and his performances blended slapstick comedy, props, and puns to entertain his audiences. For instance, he constructed an eleven-foot pole (for people he wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole).

As technology changed and newer mediums for entertainers emerged, he bravely tried his acts on radio and television and accepted comedic as well as dramatic roles in feature films. From 1949 to 1950 he hosted the variety program, The Ed Wynn Show, on CBS. This was the first network television show broadcasted via kinescope from Hollywood to the East Coast, one week after each episode aired. Wynn died of cancer on June 19, 1966 in Beverly Hills, California; the epitaph on his tombstone simply reads, “Dear God, Thank you.” (For more on Wynn’s personal and professional life, including his television and film credits, please see the biographical note in the finding aid.)

--Jennifer Schnabel

Tags: Disney, comedians, film, radio, television, theatre, vaudeville

How do you write a children’s book about political corruption? It becomes quite simple when the real life story features a rhinoceros. Little Una by Elizabeth Olds is about a rhino that lives in a zoo and is beloved by the city’s children. When the mayor and city council decide to sell the rhino in order to build a monument to themselves, the children decide to teach them a lesson. They nominate Little Una for mayor and on election day the rhino wins by a landslide! Appropriately humbled, the city council leads a parade to the zoo and agrees not to sell Little Una.

The book was inspired by real events that took place in São Paulo, Brazil in 1959. The citizens were so fed up with the rampant government corruption that they created a campaign to write in the rhinoceros from the local zoo. Her name was Cacareco, which makes “rubbish” in Portuguese, and she became the mascot for a reform movement. People printed up ballots that listed her as part of the “Independent Party” and her unofficial slogan was, “Better a rhino, than an a**.” When all the ballots were counted she had received a stunning 100,000 votes and beat 11 different political parties in a massive victory!

Elizabeth Olds based her book Little Una on these real life events, but it takes place in a land “far, far away.” The colorful pictures Olds created of the children and animals in the zoo are a combination of several artistic techniques including collage and wood block printing. At the end of the book, the animals watch a wonderful fireworks display and the children bring Little Una flowers on the anniversary of the election. The election in São Paulo was not such a happy tale and was not so easily resolved. Olds’s version makes for a much better picture book.

-Lindsay Friedman

To find out more about the real life story of Cacareco, check out this article from Life Magazine, " Rhino Horns in on a Brazilian Election."

For more about Elizabeth Olds and all of our other authors and illustrators, visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for more updates from the Children’s Literature Research Collection.

Tags: CLIR Grant, Children's Literature Research Collection, Children's books, archives