Date of Award
3-17-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Heritage Studies, Ph.D.
First Advisor
Deborah Chappel Daniel
Committee Members
Kellie Buford; Lauri Umansky
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2019 O64
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes the life and published novels of noted Arkansas author Charlie May Simon, a woman whose writing career spanned four decades, during which time she remained an Arkansas resident. None of her twenty-nine published novels, biographies, or memoirs remain in print. Although a yearly award was established in 1970 by the Arkansas Department of Education— the Charlie May Simon Book Award— educators and librarians have difficulty obtaining copies of her own writing that set the high bar of excellence each award recipient demonstrates. My purpose in research is to uncover the prose beauty of Charlie May Simon’s writing, examine the history of her life and the times in which she produced her work, and wrestle with the factors that caused her voice to go silent, lost to our current generation. Broader implications of research include the ability to view patriarchy, gendered performance, and gender roles through the lens she provides in her writing of the times in which she lived. The research conducted occurred in four special collections archives: Butler Center of Arkansas Studies (John Gould Fletcher/Charlie May Simon photograph collection, BC.PHO.32 and Charlie May Simon Materials, MSS.97.28), University of Arkansas in Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture (Charlie May Simon Papers, UALR.MS.0006), University of Memphis Libraries (Mississippi Valley Collection, Charlie May Simon MSS.41), and Syracuse University in New York (E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc. Records). Analysis of her published works, including illustrations and text, is taken from my personal library collection of all Charlie May Simon published books. Literary analysis is the primary focus of the study; new historicism is the literary criticism lens of my methodological approach to contemplate the culture, historical events, and life occurrences that fueled the creative spirit of Arkansas’s most prolific author of the 20th century. Areas for further research are outlined in the conclusion, signifying implications which additional scholarship and archival research in the four collections could reveal. In each collection, personal and business correspondence chronicle the indomitable spirit of the Arkansas literary diamond, Charlie May Simon.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
O'Neal, Aleshia Showen, "Charlie May Simon: Uncovering The Lost Voice of An Arkansas Author" (2020). Student Theses and Dissertations. 417.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/417
Included in
History Commons, Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons
