Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 00: Library
Series 09: Biography
Donor

MARY GOULD DAVIS

TAG: Mary Gould Davis; storyteller; folk tales; librarians; Middlesboro, KY; philanthropist; Brooklyn Public Library;  New York Public Library; Columbia University; Newberry Award;

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Librarian, storyteller, author, editor, and philanthropist, Mary Gould Davis had Kentucky roots and reasons aplenty to make connections to Pine Mountain Settlement School.

When she was quite young, her parents moved from Bangor, Maine where she was born on February 13, 1882, to Kentucky. The family lived for a brief time in Middlesboro, Kentucky but in 1896 when Mary was 14 her parents moved again, this time to New York City.

It was in New York that Mary was educated and by 1905 she had been hired as an assistant librarian at Brooklyn Public Library.  She later moved to New York Public Library where she also worked as an assistant librarian and honed her storytelling skills. She was soon advanced to children’s librarian.

Perhaps it was her Eastern Kentucky roots, or not, but she was by all accounts, a consummate story-teller and had a deep and commanding voice and a meticulous sense of timing. In 1922 she was advanced to Supervisor of storytelling in the Children’s Library at the NYPL and also began to write.  Her stories became books that also had a wide audience. Her skills were also noticed by Columbia University Library School where she was hired to teach storytelling and courses in Children’s Literature.

As a member of the New York Library Association and the American Library Association, Mary Gould Davis was a strong advocate for children’s literacy, for children’s books and for the promotion of folklore and storytelling in libraries.

While most of her life was spent in New York, she never forgot her early years in Kentucky and the great need for programs that would foreground literacy.  In correspondence with Dr.Francis Hutchins at Berea, she became a fast friend of Pine Mountain Settlement School, donating money and books to support the School Library headed by Mary Rogers.  Mary Gould Davis and Mary Rogers shared the love of storytelling, but it is not known if one ever heard the other tell their folktales.  But, the support of Mary Gould Davis resulted in the dedication of the Pine Mountain Library to her and to her interest in the children of the Southern Appalachians.

Mary Gould David died in New York City on April 15, 1958. Her papers are held by the New York Public Library and include correspondence with her friend Beatrix Potter and also other noted children’s authors.  Correspondence also includes a letter from Dr. Francis Hutchins while he served on the Pine Mountain Board of Trustees in 1959. Additional correspondence is seen below.

Her most important literary work was Truce of the Wolf and Other Tales of Old Italy (1931). It was awarded the prestigious Newberry Award for the best children’s book in 1932. Her other publications are included at the end of this record.

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GALLERY :  MARY GOULD DAVIS Correspondence

MARY GOULD DAVIS

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS  BY OR ABOUT IN DATE ORDER

Davis, Mary G, Perley B. Davis, and Beatrix Potter. Mary Gould Davis Papers. , 1927. Archival material.

Davis, Mary G, and Emma L. Brock. The Handsome Donkey. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1933. Print.

Davis, Mary G. Sandy’s Kingdom. Chicago: E.M. Hale, 1935. Print.

Davis, Mary G, and Richard Bennett. With Cap and Bells: Humorous Stories to Tell and to Read Aloud. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1937. Print.

Shedlock, Marie L, and Mary G. Davis. The Art of the Story-Teller. New York: D. Appleton-Century Co, 1942. Print.

Davis, Mary G, and Joan Vatsek. Stories: A List of Stories to Tell and to Read Aloud. New York: The New York Public Library, 1943. Print.

Kalibala, Ernest B, Mary G. Davis, and Avery Johnson. Wakaima and the Clay Man: And Other African Folktales. New York: Longmans, Green & Co, 1946. Internet resource.

Davis, Mary G. Randolph Caldecott. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, 1946. Print.

Davis, Mary G. Mary Gould Davis Speaking on the Story of Book Week. New York, N.Y: National Broadcasting Co, 1947. Sound recording.

Carmer, Carl, and Mary G. Davis. American Folklore and Its Old-World Backgrounds. Chicago: F.E. Compton, 1950. Print.

Carmer, Carl, and Mary G. Davis. Folklore: Two Articles Reprinted from Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia. Chicago, Ill: F.E. Compton, 1951. Print.

Davis, Mary G. The Girl’s Book of Verse: A Treasury of Old and New Poems. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1952. Print.

Leavell, Ullin W, Matilda Bailey, and Mary G. Davis. The Mastery of Reading. New York: American Book, 1956. Print.

Boggs, Ralph S, Mary G. Davis, and Emma L. Brock. Three Golden Oranges: And Other Spanish Folk Tales. New York: David McKay Co, 1964. Print.

Davis, Mary G. Children’s Books from Twelve Countries. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1975. Print.

Lang, Andrew, Mary G. Davis, and Christine Price. Orange Fairy Book. London: Kestrel Books, 1978. Print.

Lang, Andrew, Mary G. Davis, and Dorothy L. Gregory. Violet Fairy Book. Harmondsworth: Kestrel, 1979. Print.