Boston College collection of Mary Enda Hughes poems

Collection

Identifier: MS-1997-042

Staff Only

Dates

Creation: approximately 1969-2004
Creation: Majority of material found within 1995 - 1997

Scope and Contents

This collection contains poems by Mary Enda Hughes and materials relating to her poetry. The collection includes correspondence, a copy and transcript of a newspaper article, two lists of published poetry and prose with dates and publishers, individual poems with and without handwritten notes, a bound copy of a book of poems entitled Lime Sherbet during Thunder, a copy of a typed manuscript of a book of poems, and indexes of poems which appear to refer to earlier versions of Lime Sherbet during Thunder. The collection of copies of typed poems was created between 1969 and 1975, based on the return address and the stamps used on the envelope in which they were sent. The correspondence dates from 1995 to 2004, and is mostly letters from Hughes to Boston College faculty member William Leonard, SJ, with some to Leonard from others, and some from Hughes to others. Most of the poems are undated, but many of them appear to have been sent to Leonard in 1995.

Creator

Hughes, Mary Enda, 1923-2011 (Person)

Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research.

Restrictions on use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Biographical note

Mary Enda Hughes was born Cecilia June Hughes March 30, 1923 at Fall River, Massachusetts to Arthur and Loretta (Ford) Hughes, and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) in August 1940, took her first vows in August 1943, and was given the religious name Mary Enda. Hughes taught at Catholic schools in Baltimore, New York City, and Charleston from 1943 to 1944 and from 1961 to 1975, and was a librarian and English teacher from 1966 to 1975. Her bachelor’s degree in education is from St. John’s University, New York (1958), and her Master of Arts degree is from Boston College (1970).

Hughes regularly published poetry in the Catholic Press and literary publications starting in the 1970s. The National Catholic Press Association awarded her First Place in Poetry in 1977 for a collection of her poems published in The Catholic New World. She was poet in residence at the College of St. Joseph in Vermont in 1976, and was a writer in the adult religious education division of Paulist Press until 1980. From 1982 to 1988 she taught English, creative writing, and poetry at Boston College. While teaching, she was also a freelance editor, book critic, consultant, and lecturer on creative writing. In 1988 she left Boston for community service and volunteer ministry in Baltimore, Maryland convents. She continued to write after her retirement, and published a book of poetry, What the Poem Did, in 2010. She died on November 8, 2011 at the age of 88.

Sources:

Baltimore Sun, “Sister Mary Enda Hughes.” Baltimore Sun, November 13, 2011.

Hughes, Mary Enda, S.S.N.D. about the author to What the Poem Did. Baltimore, MD: United Book Press, 2010.

School Sisters of Notre Dame. “Sister Mary Enda Hughes.” School Sisters of Notre Dame: Atlantic-Midwest Province. https://atlanticmidwest.org/posts/sister-mary-enda-hughes.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (1 container)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Boston College collection of Mary Enda Hughes poems includes individual and collected poems by Mary Enda Hughes and related correspondence, indexes of poems, a copy and transcript of a newspaper article, and lists of published poetry.

Arrangement

Chronological.

Provenance

Gift of William J. Leonard, SJ, in 1997-1999, and Mary Enda Hughes in 2001 and 2004.

Related Materials

Brendan Galvin papers, MS.2009.008, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Katherine E. Conway Papers, BC.1994.015, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

William J. Leonard, SJ papers, BC.2000.023, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.