Valdosta State University Archives

Call Number:  MS-22
Name:  An Inventory of the Papers of Janice Daugharty (1944-) held in the Valdosta State University Archives
Dates:  1980's-present
Size:  48 boxes

 

Biography:

Janice Daugharty was born in 1944 outside of Valdosta, and has lived almost all of her life in Echols county, Georgia.  Prior to her writing career, she was a farm wife and at-home mother.  It is from her rural background, from her observations of small town life, of parents and children, of blacks and whites, that her fiction springs.  She began attending Valdosta State College at 38 (in 1982 or 1983) where she quickly began taking English classes.  Her early literature papers show a thorough grounding in American and Southern Literature.  Then followed ten years of "rejection slips" as she churned out  over 19 novels and dozens of short stories.  Her work caught the eye of Joyce Carol Oates, and some of her stories were published in the Ontario press.  In 1994 she finally broke into print with Going Through the Change, a collection of short stories,  and her first published novel, Dark of the Moon. 

She followed with Necessary Lies, 1995, Paw Paw Patch in 1996,  Earl in the Yellow Shirt in 1997, Whistle in 1998, Like a Sister in 1999.  She has also published numerous short stories, newspaper articles, essays, and has been interviewed repeatedly in all forms of media.  She is currently working on different versions of three novels, experimenting with a blend of fiction and history.  

 Scope and Content:

The papers of Janice Daugharty in the VSU Archives are an open collection.  The reflect the work of a writer in the prime of her production; thus, material will be added to the collection periodically.  The collection contains handwritten and typed manuscripts of short stories and novels, edited copies of works, copies of published books, VSC college coursework, correspondence, newspaper clippings and publicity material, photographs and audio tapes.  It is essentially the "education of a writer."  Here are the various versions of her published novels, from synopsis through handwritten draft,  to correspondence between published and author discussing changes, to the finished product.  Most fascinating are the early novels and stories as she moves towards her voice and style.  Two Shades of Morning, written in 1987, and Moon by Day, written in 1986 and revised in 1988, are two of her early novels which show this transition very well.  

This collection currently contains 48 boxes of materials.  They are divided in series that are only partially chronological.

Series 1:  Biography and Criticism: these four boxes contain correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, Daugharty's VSC papers and coursework, essays on her writing by students, and stories and correspondence related to a short story anthology on "Rejections" (from publishers to famous writers) that she worked on in the early 1990's.  The news clippings are organized first by related or reviewed publication, such as Dark of the Moon, and then there are general news articles that cover signings, interviews, and biographical sketches.  

Series 2: The Short Stories (unpublished).  These three boxes contain 75 short stories and/or short novellas that have never been published.  Most would date from the 1980's and early 1990's, although Daugharty continues to write and publish short stories today. Although an attempt was made to determine chronological order within this series, most of the stories were undated and thus the series does not reflect the order of writing.

Series 3: Unpublished Novels: These 12 boxes contain versions of 12 full-length novels written prior to 1994.  Here are Moon by Day, Two Shades of Morning, and Sling the Biscuit. Some of these have quite a few revisions included, which show a good deal of change and growth as a writer.  Materials within each box were ordered chronologically based upon an analysis of edited changes through the different versions.  This chronological order is an approximation only.

Series 4: Published novels and short story collections:   Ten boxes contain the manuscripts, edits and final book copies of her previously published works.  There is even a German edition of Necessary Lies.  With the correspondence and news articles from series one, these notes, handwritten manuscripts, edited copies and final copies create a complete snapshot of the development of each book. Materials within each box were ordered chronologically based upon an analysis of edited changes through the different versions.  This chronological order is an approximation only.

Series 5: Unpublished recent novels:  Staten Bay  is a departure from the works that previously defined a "Janice Daugharty" in that the novel is set much farther back in history and traces  three generations of women from 1887-1999.  The historical research necessary to write this 700+ page book is with the manuscripts.  She interviewed "old timers," read and collected information on the time periods extensively, and those notes are in the collection.   

Series 6: Recent Additions

Items removed from collection and related items created from the collection:

The publicity poster from Like a Sister is in the map case.  Also, a display celebrating her work was created using images of books, newspaper clippings, photographs, and notes.  It is housed in the map case when not in use. The Royal electric typewriter Janice Daugharty used to type all of her early manuscripts with is part of the collection, but housed separately, in a storage area or on display.

Subject Headings:
 Subject headings in the general category often refer to the entire collection. Links from the general headings represent starting places for research; however, the heading, linked or unlinked, can refer to many places in the collection.

        General

Daugharty, Janice

Anthology

Articles

Manuscripts

Novels

Photographs

Short stories/Novellas

Online Display

        Published

Dark of the Moon

Necessary Lies

Going Through the Change

Paw Paw Patch

Earl in the Yellow Shirt

Whistle

Like a Sister

Just Doll

        Unpublished

Children of Molech

From Whence the River Comes

An Imposing Presence

Candy Block

An Extra

Moon By Day

Land Grab

Little Splinter Boy

Mr. P.C. Brown

Old Man Dubbies Girl

The Reaping Years

Sling the Biscuit

Staten Bay

Summer Thunder

Two Shades

Year of Jubilee

Asylum 

 

        Correspondents

Rick Bass

Madison Smartt Bell

Ray Bradbury

Larry Brown 

Rozellen Brown

Frederick Busch 

Ethan Canin

Kelly Cherry 

James Crumley

Rick DeMarinis

Andre Dubus

Clyde Edgerton

Harlin Ellison 

Ursula K. Le Guin 

Mary Hood

Bobbie Ann Mason

Jay McIerney 

Padgett Powell 

Joyce Carol Oates 

Inventory:

The papers include the following parts:
 

Series 1:  Biography and Criticism:

Box 1:  Articles related to published works and other general files

Box 2:  Correspondence, Critical Writing on Janice, general clippings, and family/personal files

Box 3:  Papers for classes at Valdosta State University, Journal 1985 and Anthology The One that Almost Got Away: (Copies of Stories and copies of letters)

Box 4:  Photographs 

Series 2: The Short Stories (unpublished):

Box 5:  Short stories and novellas

Box 6:  Short stories and novellas

Box 7:  Short stories and novellas

Series 3: Unpublished Novels

Box 8:  The Reaping Years AKA Asylum, Children of Molech and Old Man Dubbie's Girl

Box 9:  From Whence the River Comes

Box 10:  Land Grab

Box 11:  Little Splinter Boy

Box 12:  Sling the Biscuit

Box 13:  Summer Thunder

Box 14:  Summer Thunder and Mr. P. C. Brown

Box 15:  An Imposing Presence aka Candy Block aka An Extra aka Moon by Day - Part I

Box 16:  An Imposing Presence aka Candy Block aka An Extra aka Moon by Day - Part II

Box 17:  Two Shades - Part I

Box 18:  Two Shades - Part II

Box 19: Year of Jubilee

Series 4:  Published novels and short story collections: 

Box 20:  Dark of the Moon - Part I

Box 21:  Dark of the Moon - Part II

Box 22:  Going Through the Change

Box 23:  Burning of the Heifer/Necessary Lies - Part I

Box 24:  Burning of the Heifer/Necessary Lies - Part II

Box 25:  Burning of the Heifer/Necessary Lies - Part III

Box 26:  Paw Paw Patch

Box 27:  Earl in A Yellow Shirt - Part I

Box 28:  Earl in A Yellow Shirt - Part II

Box 29:  Whistle

Box 30:  Like a Sister

Series 5: Unpublished recent novels: 

Box 31:  Staten Bay - Part I

Box 32:  Staten Bay- Part II

Series 6: Recent Additions

Box 33:  Janice Daugharty Display Contents

Box 34:  Regional Identity- Reading, Writing- a Regional Issues Grant Using the Works of Janice Daugharty

Box 35:  Regional Identity- Reading, Writing- a Regional Issues Grant Using the Works of Janice Daugharty

Box 36:  Short Stories

Box 37:  Short Stories

Box 38:  The Way to Sisters House

Box 39:  Photos and Press Clippings

Box 40:  Massacre at Moniac Crossing

Box 41:  Short Stories

Box 42:  Staten Bay - Notes and "Just Doll"

Box 43:  Turnstile 2000

Box 44:  Going Through the Change

Box 45:  Short Stories

Box 46:  A/V Box

Box 47:  Publicity and Correspondence

Box 48:  Magazines and Publications  

Royal Academy electric typewriter, used to write early manuscripts. 

Processing Date: Shirley Schoening Scheuler and Deborah S. Davis, completed September 2002