James Sterling Tippett Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0017

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains manuscripts and typescripts of some of Tippett's poems and children's books. There are also mounted illustrations from some of the works. There are a few personal essays, as well as some correspondence and a few news clippings. The collection also contains wooden toys and a notebook containing the Tippett's research notes for a proposed biography of John Pelham, an officer in the Confederate Army. Along with the notebook is a letter from Mrs. Charles Milham (10/6/53) whose late husband also wrote biography of John Pelham.

Dates

1924 - 1966

Creator

Tippett, James Sterling (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.

Biographical or Historical Information

James Tippett was born in Memphis, Missouri. When he was five, his family moved to a farm inherited from his maternal grandfather and remained there until he was thirteen, when they moved back to Memphis. Tippett began to teach upon graduation from high school, and attended the University of Missouri during the summers to earn his college degree.

In 1918, Tippett moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to become principal of the Peabody Demonstration School. Four years later, he left to join the Lincoln School at Teachers College in New York, as an instructor and special investigator. It was during this time that Tippett began to write books for children. His first book, The Singing Farmer (1927) was inspired by a classroom exhibit of a farm, which brought back happy memories of his childhood.

Tippett went on to teach in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and South Carolina, and continued to write books for children as well as editing educational textbooks. Some of his other titles include I Live in a City (1927), I Go A-Traveling (1929), I Spend the Summer (1930), Busy Carpenters (1930), Toys and Toymakers (1931), A World to Know (1933), Henry and the Garden and Stories about Henry (1936), Shadow and the Stocking (1937), Sniff (1937), Counting the Days (1940), and Abraham Lincoln (1951). He also wrote a series called Understanding Science. The collection given to the library does not contain all of his work.

In 1939, Tippett and his wife Martha moved to Chapel Hill, where he remained a visiting professor of education at the University of North Carolina until his death in 1958. He continued to write books for children, as well as short stories, poems, and essays on education. In 1972, his name was added to the North Carolina Educational Hall of Fame.

Extent

3.80 Linear Feet (6 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

James S. Tippett (1885-1958) was a teacher, administrator, professor, poet, and author of children's books.

The James Sterling Tippett Papers date from 1924 to 1966 and contain manuscripts, illustrations, correspondence, notes, cards, clippings, and toys.

Method of Acquisition

Gift of Martha Tippett, widow of the author, 1959 to 1966. Additional materials came from Mr. Philip Schinhan of Chapel Hill following Mrs. Tippett's passing in June 1989.

Related Materials

More James Tippet papers at the University of Minnesota.

Separated Materials

The Singing Farmer. Yonkers, NY: World Book, 1927. Bound book. Toys and Toymakers. Bound Book. Henry and the Garden (Yonkers, NY: World Book, 1936) X 2. Bound Book Containing Author's 1939 Revisions. Also 1936 English Edition from George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., London. Stories about Henry (Yonkers, NY: World Book, 1936) Bound book. The Picnic E.M. Hale & Co., Milwaukee, in 1938. Sniff (NY: D.C. Heath, 1937) Bound Book. Christmas Magic (NY: Gosset and Dunlap, 1942) Bound Book. Tools for Andy. Bound Book. Crickety Cricket. Bound Book.

Offensive Language Statement

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