Marion Frances Chevalier papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 5059

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised chiefly of mementos from Chevalier's early years, particularly high school and college. One scrapbook contains photos, clippings, programs, etc. of her life at Pomona College where Chevalier participated in both the Italian and French clubs and from which she graduated in 1924 before continuing her education at USC. A small photo album consists of baby pictures of Chevalier from birth to two years, month by month. Other materials in the collecction include envelopes of book jackets from books of the 1940s and 50s, song books and song sheets, an astronomy notebook from college, a few articles on libraries and library training, several large framed and unframed photographs of Chevalier, school diplomas, a large framed diploma from Johns Hopkins University (1933), and a diploma from the Universite de Dijon (Diplome de Francais Premier Degre).

Dates

Creation: 1900-1980
Creation: Majority of material found in 1920s

Creator

Chevalier, Marion Frances, 1902-1990 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical Note

Marion Frances Chevalier (1902-1990) was a philologist best known for her discovery in the Bibliotheque d'Orleans of The Adventures and Marriage of Panurge, a play by Pousset de Montauban that had remained unknown for 250 years and was the first drama derived from the works of Rabelais. Her analysis of this play formed the basis of her Ph.D. thesis, in 1933, from Johns Hopkins University, under the supervision of Henry Carrington Lancaster. She is the namesake of a professorship in French and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California, currently (since 2001) held by Peggy Kamuf. (Information from Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias.)

Though born in Sacramento in 1902, Marion Chevalier spent most of her childhood and young adulthood in southern California where she attended a grammar school in Alhambra, Long Beach High, School, Pomona College, and the University of Southern California. She graduated from USC with a master's degree in French in 1928. In 1933, Chevalier earned her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Chevalier passed away in 1990.