Madeline DeFrees is a noted author of poetry and short fiction who has taught creative writing at the elementary, high school, and college levels for over fifty years. She was born in Ontario, Oregon, in 1919, and moved to Hillsboro in 1923. She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Portland and entered the Sisters of Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, where she was known as Sister Mary Gilbert. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Maryhurst College and a Master of Arts from the University of Oregon. She taught at Holy Names College in Spokane, Washington, from 1950 to 1967. While still a nun, she taught at the University of Montana, in Missoula, from 1967 to 1979. She was dispensed from her religious vows in 1973. She taught at the University of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985, after which she retired to Seattle, Washington.
DeFrees has penned seven poetry collections, including Blue Dusk: New and Selected Poems, 1951-2001 (Copper Canyon Press, 2001). She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry and a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts.
This collection contains some of poet Madeline DeFrees’s correspondence and writings from 1952 to 1975. Some of the correspondence is organized by publisher, correspondent, or book project. Other correspondence and writings are arranged chronologically by year. Among the correspondents are Richard Hugo, John Logan, David Posner, William Stafford, Edith Shiffert and James Arlington Wright. The collection also contains copies of literary digests featuring Madeline DeFrees’s poetry.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and the University of Montana--Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana
Madeline DeFrees Papers, Archives and Special Collections, The University of Montana-Missoula.
Donated through Richard Gercken, UM Humanities Librarian, 1973 and Madeline DeFrees, 1977.
The author’s original arrangement and folder descriptions were maintained whenever possible. Unlabeled materials were organized and described during processing. In 2015, ten literary journals containing poetry by DeFrees were removed from this archival collection and placed in the Mansfield Library's Poetry Corner.
The W.E.B. DuBois Library at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst also holds a collection of Madeline DeFrees’s papers, circa 1950-1986.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.