The Magic Marks manuscript/typescript

This collection contains correspondence related to the books of Alabama authors Alice Alison Lide and Margaret Alison Johansen. The bulk of the correspondence is dated from 1938 to 1959 and primarily consists of letters, contracts, and receipts from publishers. The letters reference a number of Lide and Johansen's books, includingHawk of Hawk Clan,Booker and the Magic Marks,Glory Road: Life of Booker T. Washington,The Wooden Locket, andSea Gold. The collection also contains research notes, including a church registry of St. Paul's Parish in Carlowville, Alabama, and correspondence concerning Reverend Francis Robert Goulding, a Georgian who invented an early sewing machine.

The collection also includes several typescripts and galley proofs of the sisters' novels and short story collections. Manuscripts holdings include the novels The Wooden Locket, and The Outsider. A collection of short biographies of Booker T. Washington published under the titles "The Magic Marks," "Little Booker Washington," " Call to Glory," and "Parade for a President" is also included. Galley proofs of Alice Lide's solo 1941 novel Johnny of the 4-H Club completes the collection. Of possible interest to researchers is the inclusion of typescript copies of the sisters' correspondence detailing their creative process as they were writing The Wooden Locket.