Valiant (Margaret) Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS-87

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Margaret Valiant Papers, consists of correspondence and other material concerning Mrs. Valiant's work with the Special Skills Division of the Resettlement Administration and the Music Division of the National Youth Administration. The correspondence includes letters exchanged between Margaret Valiant and Eleanor Roosevelt and letters to and from Leopold Stokowski. Other material in the collection pertains to migrant workers, folk music, dramatic product¬ions, population control, the National Council of the Southern Negro Youth Congress, and biographical material about Mrs. Valiant.

Additions have been made to the collection and have been described separately. The Addenda: 1974-1978 consists of correspondence, clippings, drawing, photographs, certifi¬cates, school album, tapes, and miscellany. Among the corre¬spondents are Margaret Sanger, Harry Truman, and H. L. Mitchell. Inclusive dates are 1918-1977.

The Addendum: 1981 includes correspondence, biograph¬ical information, clippings, cartoons, notes, and miscellany. Inclusive dates are 1940-1981.

The Addendum: 1987 consists of six paintings in the possession of Margaret Valiant at the time of her death, April, 1982.

Dates

1926 - 1980

Conditions Governing Access

Open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

Any requests for permission to publish, quote, or reproduce materials from this collection must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian for Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Mississippi State University 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 / Historical

Margaret Valiant was born on Feb. 22, 1901 in Como, Panola County, Mississippi and died on April 11, 1982, in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. She was married in New York, 1927, to Edwin Mims, Jr. Edwin Mims was the son of Professor Edwin Mims, English professor at Vanderbilt University. They were divorced in 1932. Her father was Denton Hurlock Brahan, b. June 1872, Panola Co., Mississippi, m. Johnnie (Johnie C. Everson) December 11, 1897, died 1962. Her mother was Johnnie C. (Johnie C. ) Everson Brahan, b. Feb. 1880, Mississippi; d. August 13, 1903 Como, Panola Co., Mississippi. Her sisters were Drusilla Brahan, b. 20 Nov. 1898, Panola Co., Mississippi, married? Pullen; died Aug. 1978, Memphis, Shelby Co., Tennessee; and Estelle B. Brahan. Her paternal grandfather was John H. Brahan, b. Sept. 1842, Mississippi, death date unknown, and paternal grandmother was Nannie Speed Brahan b. Feb. 1848, death date unknown.

Margaret Valiant’s mother died when she was two. She lived for a while with an aunt in San Antonio, but then returned to live with her half first cousin, Annie Brahan (Mrs. Sidney) Davis on a farm in DeSoto County, Mississippi. After the death of Sidney Davis, Mrs. Davis and Margaret moved to Memphis about 1914. Margaret Valiant attended Central High School and graduated in 1918. She had studied piano in Memphis and was awarded a six-week scholarship to the Cincinnati Conservatory. Valiant stayed to complete her studies in piano and voice, working her way through by accompanying faculty and staff on the piano, and received her music degree in 1922.

Margaret Valiant evidently met J.Noah Slee and his second wife Margaret Sanger through a visit with her friend to a Lake Champlain resort. “There she met Matilda Steuart, whose father was James L. Steuart, a prominent New York lawyer who included among his clients, J. Noah H. Slee, president of the Three-in-One Oil Co. Mr. Slee was the second husband of Margaret Sanger, pioneer in birth control causes. Through them, Mrs. Valiant received support to study in Europe”.

Margaret Valiant traveled to Europe, where she studied acting, singing and languages, debuting on April 13, 1926 at the Salle des Agriculteurs. Valiant met Rhodes scholar Edwin Mims, Jr. in Europe and returned to New York to marry him in 1927. Valiant divided her time between Europe and New York in the late 1920s and early 1930s. She modeled and designed clothes in New York, selling some designs to Bergdorf Goodman. Returning to New York in 1935, Margaret was hired to work with the Special Skills Division of the Resettlement Administration and for short time worked as Coordinator of the WPA arts program, charged with presenting regional festivals. In 1939, Valiant became the organizer of the arts program for the National Youth Administration. She was a resident of Memphis public housing and frequently corresponded to the Memphis Housing Authority regarding public housing issues.

Extent

6 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Margaret Valiant Papers, 1926-1946, consists of correspondence and other material concerning Mrs. Valiant's work with the Special Skills Division of the Resettlement Administration and the Music Division of the National Youth Administration. The correspondence includes letters exchanged between Margaret Valiant and Eleanor Roosevelt and letters to and from Leopold Stokowski. Other material in the collection pertains to migrant workers, folk music, dramatic product¬ions, population control, the National Council of the Southern Negro Youth Congress, and biographical material about Mrs. Valiant.

Arrangement

Collection is housed in 6 boxes, further divided into folders; and one addendum consisting of unboxed newspapers, as follows: Box 1: Folders 1-27; Box 2: Notebooks (3); Box 3: Addenda: 1974-1978; folders 1-8; Box 4: Addendum: 1981; Folders 1-31; Box 5: Addendum: 1981; Folders 1-23; Separated and unfoldered: Newspaper clippings, and Addendum: 1987; 6 paintings

Bibliography

BeVier, Thomas. A Glass of Sherry with Margaret Valiant. Commercial Appeal Mid-South Magazine, April 30, 1972, 8.

Evans, Cheryl. A ‘Valiant Effort’. Center for Southern Folklore Newsletter 3, no. 1 (Winter 1980), 20.