In Search of Mary: The Woman and the Symbol

ML-029.xml Guide to the Sally Cunneen papers, 1952-2009 ML.029 Marian Library The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute

300 College Park Dayton, Ohio, 45469-1390 937-229-4214

April 2012

crra

This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2012-12-21T09:46-0500 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Sally Cunneen papers ML.029 The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute 9.0 Linear feet (17 document cases) Bulk, 1980-2004 1952-2009 inclusive, 1980-2004 bulk This collection contains the papers of author and educator Sally Cunneen. The materials are primarily related to the texts, In Search of Mary: The Woman and the Symbol, and Mother Church: What the Experience of Women is Teaching Her, her tenure as an English professor at Rockland Community College, her studies in education and psychology at Columbia and Fordham University, and additional articles, talks, correspondence, journals, and research materials, primarily on the topics of Catholicism, the Blessed Virgin Mary, education, and women's studies. Cunneen, Sally Biography of Sally Cunneen

Sally Simpson McDevitt was born July 9, 1926 in Providence, Rhode Island to John and Marguerite McDevitt. In 1943 she graduated from Classical High School in Providence and went on to study at Smith College and completed her B.A. in History and Literature at the University of Toronto in 1947. In 1949 she married Joseph Edmund Cunneen in New York. In 1950, she and her husband co-founded the ecumenical quarterly, Cross Currents, and she was associate editor until both retired in 1998. She was the mother of four sons, John, Michael, Peter, and Paul.

In 1964 Cunneen received her M.A. in English Literature with a major in Renaissance and minor in English Novel from Fordham University. She went on to receive an M.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University in 1977 and received her Ph.D. in Philosophy of Education from Teachers College Columbia University. She began teaching part-time at Rockland Community College (State University of New York) in 1970 and later became a full time Professor of English. Cuneen retired in 1993 and was awarded emerita status.

She was the author of Sex: Female Religion: Catholic, In Search of Mary: the Woman and the Symbol, Mother Church: What the Experience of Women is Teaching Her, A Contemporary Meditation on the Everyday God and The Icon Reborn (with Frederick Franck). She was also the translator of Kurt Klinger's A Pope Laughs: Stories of John XXIII. In addition to her books, she also authored a number of book reviews and articles. Cunneen was a frequent speaker and presenter at conferences, many on Catholic and Marian topics. She passed away in Nyack, New York on October 30, 2009.

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the activities of Sally Cunneen, primarily related to her work as an author and educator, from the years 1952-2009. The collection contains the manuscripts and related materials for her books In Search of Mary: The Woman and the Symbol and Mother Church: What the Experience of Women is Teaching Her, including book reviews, correspondence, and articles on both books.

The collection includes Mrs. Cunneen's journals which contain research, creative and nonfiction writing, notes on classes that she taught, and some writing of autobiographical nature. Materials also include those related to her studies at Columbia and Fordham University in the areas of literature, education, and psychology, and her tenure as an English professor at Rockland Community College. Other materials include papers for talks, articles, correspondence, research materials, and some creative writing, primarily covering topics of Catholicism, the Blessed Virgin Mary, education, and women's studies. There is one box of audio cassette tapes of talks and related events.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 10 series:

Series 1: In Search of Mary Series 2: Journals Series 3: Marian research materials Series 4: Mother Church Series 5: Teaching materials Series 6: Coursework Series 7: Manuscripts and fiction Series 8: Articles Series 9: Talks Series 10: Correspondence and ephemera Access to Materials

This collection is open and available to the public for research in the Marian Library reading room. The materials are non-circulating.

Preferred Citation

Sally Cunneen papers, 1952-2009. Marian Library, University of Dayton Libraries, Dayton, Ohio.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to the Marian Library by Sally Cunneen's husband, Joseph Cunneen and family in April, 2012.

The materials in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). The materials are available for personal, educational, and scholarly use. It is the responsibility of the researcher to locate and obtain permission form the copyright owner or his or her heirs for any other use, such as reproduction and publication.

Catholic women authors Catholic women--United States Ecumenism Education--United States--History--20th century Feminism--Religious aspects--Catholic Church Higher education of women Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint--Study and teaching Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint--Symbolism Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint--Theology notebooks In Search of Mary Series 1 1991-2001 Scope and Contents

This series contains 8 notebooks of research and notes for the book In Search of Mary: The Woman and the Symbol, published by Ballantine Books in 1996. The series also contains correspondence, articles, press, book reviews, and flyers for events relating to the book. In addition, the series contains course materials for the "In Search of Mary" course taught by Cunneen in 2001.

Research and notes 1 1 1991-1994 Research and notes 1 2 1991-1994 Research and notes 1 3 1991-1994 Research and notes 1 4 1991-1994 Research and notes 2 1 1991-1994 Correspondence 2 2 1996-2000 Articles, press, reviews 2 3 1996-1997 Flyers for lectures and appearances 2 4 1996-2001 Course materials 2 5 2001 Journals Series 2 1978-2008 Scope and Contents

This series contains handwritten, personal journals from 1978-2008. The journals include research and notes for articles and books, creative writing, some notes for courses taken and taught, and some autobiographical writing. The earlier journals primarily cover topics of research on writers and literature, travel, psychology, womens studies, and some creative writing. In the later journals (after 1993) there is an emphasis on Catholic and Marian topics including research on saints, icons, various Marian topics, and reviews of Marian books.

Iris Murdoch, notes on reading 3 1 1978-1979 Writing, Paris, Rhetoric and Murdoch 3 2 1979-1983 Women on Women, wise women, W.O.W. France 3 3 1984-1985 Journals 4 1 1983-1985 Schlessinger, women and aging 4 2 1984-1986 Sabbatical in France 4 3 1985-1987 Creative writing, teaching notes 4 4 1986 Journals 4 5 1982-1985 Bible conference, In Memory of Her, American Literature 5 1 1986-1991 African and Caribbean Literature 5 2 1989-1991 Story ideas, Human Freedom 5 3 1989-1991 Notes on Mary, Icons 5 4 1993-1995 Journals 6 1 1995-1997 Authors, Saints 6 2 1996 Notes for articles 6 3 1996-1998 St. Therese, women saints, travel 6 4 1997-1999 Notes for Mary article, Mary of Islam, travel 7 1 1999-2000 Notes on books, library discussions, talks 7 2 2002-2005 Notes on Marian books 7 3 2002-2004 Notes on Marian books, writing ideas 7 4 2000-2001 Icons class, notes on books 7 5 2000-2002 Mary course, Key to Mary notebooks 8 1 2001-2005 Books to review, writing, talks 8 2 2005 Notes on books 8 3 2006-2007 Writing, notes 8 4 2006-2007 Personal diary, book discussions 9 1 2008 Marian research materials Series 3 1991-2005 Scope and Contents

This series contains research materials on Marian topics including the Black Madonna, rosary, legends, apparitions, and Marian art. Materials include clippings, articles, and handwritten and typed notes.

Research materials 9 2 1995-2005 Research materials 9 3 1991-2006 Research materials 9 4 1992-2004 Research materials 9 5 1998-2003 Mother Church Series 4 1985-1994 Scope and Contents

This series contains materials relating to the book Mother Church: What the Experience of Women is Teaching Her, published by Paulist Press in 1991. The materials include research and notes, clippings of reviews of the book, and correspondence.

Notes 10 1 1985-1988 Reviews, correspondence 10 2 1991-1994 Teaching materials Series 5 1980-1996 Scope and Contents

This series contains materials relating to Cunneen's career as a professor of English at Rockland Community College in New York. The materials include notes, creative and non-fiction writing, syllabi, activity proposals, course planning materials, course evaluation, and Cunneen's portfolio for promotion and tenure.

Rockland Community College (Suffern, N.Y.) Notes 10 3 1983-1991 Writing 10 4 1992-1996 Syllabi, activity proposals, notes 10 5 1984-1992 Planning, evaluation 11 1 1980-1985 Portfolio for promotion and tenure 11 2 1986 Coursework Series 6 1952-1978 Scope and Contents

This series documents Cunneen's activities as a student at Fordham University, Columbia University and Teachers College (Columbia University). She received an M.A. in English Literature with a major in Renaissance and minor in English Novel from Fordham University in 1964, an M.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University in 1977, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Education from Teachers College Columbia University. Materials primarily include notes related to courses taken, papers, as well as her 1977 thesis. Some materials may include coursework from earlier education.

Notes 11 3 circa 1970 Columbia University thesis 11 4 1978 Columbia University thesis 11 5 1978 Notes 12 1 1952 Notes 12 2 1975 Columbia 12 3 1974-1976 Columbia 12 4 1975-1976 Fordham 13 1 1964 Manuscripts and fiction Series 7 Bulk, 1980-2002 1954-2009 inclusive, circa 1980-2002 bulk Scope and Contents

This series contains Cunneens writing, primarily creative writing, including fiction, manuscripts, humor, and some non-fiction; both handwritten and typed.

Skits, songs 13 2 1976 Fiction and humor 13 3 circa 1980 The Man Who Was Thursday 13 4 circa 1980 Catholic family 13 5 1998-1999 Three for Providence 14 1 circa 1980 Manuscripts and fiction 14 2 1954-circa 1980 Articles Series 8 1957-2009 Scope and Contents

This series contains articles and book reviews written by Cunneen between 1957 and 2009. Articles cover topics related to her studies in literature and education and later articles focus primarily on Catholic and Marian topics and books. Most articles are clippings of the published pieces and others are typewritten drafts.

Articles 14 3 1957-1978 Articles 14 4 1979-2002 Articles 15 1 2003-2009 Talks Series 9 1974-2009 Scope and Contents

This series contains typewritten papers for talks given by Cunneen between 1974 and 2009. The talks primarily cover Catholic and Marian topics and were given at local and national conferences and seminars. Some of the talks are also recorded in the form of audiocassette tapes (Box 17).

Talks 15 2 1974-1999 Talks 15 3 2000-2006 Talks 15 4 2007-2009 Correspondence and ephemera Series 10 1975-2009 Scope and Contents

This series includes Cunneens long correspondence with Catherine de Vinck, including de Vincks poetry that she sent to Cunneen. Other materials include correspondence, memorabilia and ephemera relating to Cross Currents and Cunneen's retirement and other events. The last box of materials includes audiocassette tapes, many are recordings of talks given by Cunneen.

Catherine de Vinck 16 1 1975-2009 Correspondence 16 2 1984-2008 Ephemera, Cross Currents, retirement, brochures 16 3 circa 1990 Cassette tapes 17 circa 1980