Boehringer, Marie Daerr (1913-1997), Papers, 1930-1997 (C1221)

4 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

Diaries; correspondence; newspaper clippings; article, poem, and story manuscripts; publications; and miscellaneous papers of a Cleveland, Ohio, journalist and poet.

DONOR INFORMATION

The Marie Daerr Boehringer Papers were donated to the University of Missouri by Earl R. Anderson, Chair of the Department of English at Cleveland State University on September 27, 1999 (Accession No. 5820). The papers are part of the National Women And Media Collection.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Marie Daerr was born in 1913, growing up in the Greater Cleveland area. She graduated from Shaker Heights High School and began her career with the Cleveland Press shortly after graduation from Oberlin College.

She came into national prominence in November 1947 when she was sent to London to report on the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Philip Mountbatten for the Cleveland Press, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, and Scripps-Howard. Her news stories included "sidelights" about life in Europe after World War II, and during the late 1940s and 1950s she undertook several tours of European cities, writing as a newspaper expert on European postwar recovery.

In 1944 she also covered the East Ohio Gas Co. explosion and fire in Cleveland. In the late 1950s she became editor of the Cleveland Press's Golden Age Page, published every Wednesday. This was a national "first": the first page devoted to senior citizen's issues ever to appear on a regular basis in a major newspaper. For the rest of her career she was an advocate for the rights and dignity of senior citizens.

During her newspaper career she wrote under her maiden name. After she retired in 1973 she married Albert W. Boehringer, whom she had met while covering the senior citizen's beat. He was a director for the Social Security Administration.

One of Marie Daerr's talents was writing poetry. While working at the Press she submitted poetry to national magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's, as well as other newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor.

After retirement she turned her attention full time to writing poetry. In 1980 she won the Poets Club of Chicago Shakespearean sonnet competition. In the 1980s she published three books of poetry.

Much of her poetry was influenced by her childhood and love of nature. She received an award for distinguished service in journalism from the Cleveland chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, in 1977. In 1988 she was inducted into the Shaker Heights High School Alumni Hall of Fame.

Marie's husband died in 1988. He was very active in the Kiwanis and after his death she became involved with this organization. She died June 22, 1997.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Marie Daerr Boehringer Papers consist of correspondence, newspaper articles, published and unpublished works of poetry (some works by other authors) as well as personal diaries and miscellaneous high school and college material. The correspondence and newspaper articles highlight her work as a journalist and the remainder of the collection mainly emphasizes her poetic talents. The papers are arranged into five series:

• Correspondence
• Articles
• Poetry
• Diaries
• Miscellaneous

FOLDER LIST

Correspondence Series

The Correspondence series comprises letters, arranged chronologically, written by Daerr to her mother while covering the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Philip Mountbatten in 1947. This series also includes letters written by Daerr while writing a series of articles on post-war Europe during the 1950s and 60s. Also included in this series are letters from The Golden Quill Press to Daerr discussing publishing issues. There are also letters written to her from elementary school students thanking her for attending their school and reading some of her selected poetry. This material covers roughly the late 1940s to the late 1990s.

f. 1	1947
f. 2	1949-1966
f. 3	1966
f. 4	1974
f. 5	1975
f. 6	1980
f. 7	1981
f. 8-10	c.1981-1982
f. 11-16	1983-1984
f. 17	1985
f. 18	1988
f. 19	1989
f. 20	1994
f. 21	1997

Articles Series

The Articles series comprises actual articles from newspapers, as well as manuscript material, which was intended for publication in a newspaper or magazine. The subject matter covers Daerr's early writing efforts, her post-war Europe coverage including the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, and articles on senior citizens in Europe, as well as senior citizen issues which were part of a regular column entitled "Golden Days." There is also material written after her retirement in the 1970s. The material spans roughly the late 1920s to the late 1980s and is arranged chronologically.

f. 22	1929-c.1930
f. 23	1947
f. 24	1960
f. 25-26	1961
f. 27	1963
f. 28	1965
f. 29	1966
f. 30-31	1969
f. 32	1970
f. 33	1972
f. 34	1976
f. 35	1979
f. 36	c.1980
f. 37-38	1981
f. 39	c.1981-1984
f. 40	1985
f. 41	1987-1988
f. 42	1988
f. 43	1989-1990
f. 44	1990
f. 45	1994
f. 46	1995
f. 47	1997

Poetry Series

The Poetry series has both published and unpublished poetry and the manuscript material is arranged in alphabetical order by first letter of title. In many cases, several versions of the same poem were saved to help demonstrate the author's thought processes from rough draft to finished draft. This series also includes Marie Daerr Boehringer's published collections of poetry: Without Apology (1981), Everyday Miracles (1983), and How Many Steps (1988). There is also a folder of poetry from other authors. Copies of The Lyric, which was dedicated to the publishing of traditional poetry (Spring, 1979-Fall, 1984), are in this series.

f. 48-50	A
f. 51	A-B
f. 52	B-C
f. 53-54	C
f. 55	C-D
f. 56	D-E
f. 57	E
f. 58	Everyday Miracles
f. 59	E-F
f. 60	F
f. 61-63	G-H
f. 64	How Many Steps
f. 65	H-I
f. 66	I-J
f. 67	J-K-L
f. 68	The Lyric
f. 69	L-M
f. 70-71	M
f. 72	N
f. 73	N-O
f. 74	O-P
f. 75-76	P
f. 77	P-Q-R
f. 78	R
f. 79	R-S
f. 80-83	S
f. 84	S-T
f. 85-86	T
f. 87	T-U
f. 88	U-V-W
f. 89-90	W
f. 91	Without Apology
f. 92	W-Y
f. 93	Various Authors

Diaries Series

The Diaries series contains Boehringer's personal diaries, which she kept from 1973 to 1997. In them she writes of day-to-day activities and events, as well as expressing her personal feelings. They are arranged chronologically.

f. 94	1973
f. 95	1974
f. 96	1975
f. 97	1976
f. 98	1977
f. 99	1978
f. 100	1979
f. 101	1980
f. 102	1981
f. 103	1982
f. 104	1983
f. 105	1984
f. 106	1985
f. 107	1986
f. 108	1987
f. 109	1988
f. 110	1989
f. 111	1990
f. 112	1991
f. 113	1992
f. 114	1993
f. 115	1994
f. 116	1995
f. 117	1996
f. 118	1997

Miscellaneous Series

The Miscellaneous series contains items from high school and college days, awards, Soldier's and Sailor's monument material, a speech given by Boehringer on being a female journalist, as well as some printed exhibit material. It has been arranged roughly in chronological order.

f. 119	Drawing of Billy Daerr by W. Langan 1906; Shaker High School Verse, 1934; Shaker Heights High School Diploma, 1931; Oberlin College Diploma, 1935; Commencement Pamphlet, 1935; English Memorial Medal, 1931
f. 120	The Gristmill, High School Yearbook, 1930
f. 121-123	Research material for Cleveland Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, 1894-1981; Proposal for article for monument in Cleveland, Ohio, to various publications, 1981-1982
f. 124	Speech, "On Being a Woman and Breaking into the Newspaper Business in the 1940s," 1970s; Color photograph of Marie Daerr Boehringer and friend June Wrobbowski taken at the Beachcliff Mall, 1993 (Marie on right side); Memorial Certificate, Ohio Senate, in honor of Marie Daerr Boehringer, c.1997
f. 125-126	Exhibit Material, c.1999

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

• Boehringer, Marie Daerr (1913-1997)
• Elderly
• National Women and Media Collection
• Poetry
• Royalty
• Women journalists