Title: Mary Margaret Frank Papers

ID: OGLMC1362

Primary Creator: Frank, Mary Margaret (French) (1912-2012)

Extent: 1.25 Linear Feet

Date Acquired: 06/30/1997. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Genealogy and Family History, University of North Dakota - Alumni, Women's History

Languages: English

The Mary Margaret Frank Papers include a number of items relating to the genealogy of the French family. Two different books, Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel French the Joiner, and The Family of David Scott French, examine the history of the French family from the 1600s through the 1900s. The Mallory and French papers establish a connection between the two families four generations before Mary Margaret French Frank was born in 1912. This folder is followed by one which contains material related to French Frank’s immediate family.

Those folders that do not deal specifically with the genealogy of the French family include a folder on Samuel S. Townsley, who was French Frank's maternal grandfather. Mary Margaret French Frank contributed one of her mother’s letters which was used in the publication Humanities on the Frontier. Blanche Harding was a friend of both Mary Margaret French Frank and her mother, Mabel.  John French Jr.’s connection to the other French family could not be established, while the folder on Skulda Banér, an author who wrote about a woman who left home to become a teacher in North Dakota, has no relation to the French Family. Also included is one folder of Frank's correspondence, one scrapbook, and biographical information regarding Buron Townsley French.

One oversize folder was placed in the Oversize File Cabinet. The folder contains an original deed for land owned by a “John Whitney” in the Province of Upper Canada, 1804. Whitney’s relation to the French family is unknown.

Mary Margaret French Frank was born August 8, 1912, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Harley and Mabel (Townsley) French. She was a 1930 graduate of Grand Forks Central High School.  During that time she was involved in Glee Club, was the program chair of the Student Club, assistant editor of the school newspaper and was also a member of the volleyball and soccer teams.

Mary Margaret French graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1934 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the College of Liberal Arts. She was a member of the women's social sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, and the honors society, Phi Beta Kappa. She taught in North Dakota and Iowa from 1934 to 1941. She also received a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Wellesley College in 1937. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1943 to continue teaching, before returning to Grand Forks in 1945 to teach piano. In 1955, she earned a Master's Degree in Library Science from the University of Illinois and was named the head of the Grand Forks Public Library. She was married to Richard Frank in 1957 and lived with him in Grand Forks until his death on March 1, 1995.  She died October 4, 2012, in Grand Forks.

Genealogy and Family History
University of North Dakota - Alumni
Women's History

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Accruals:

Additional material was donated by:

Mary Margaret Frank (via the UND Alumni Association) in November 2006 (2006-2871)

Unknown donor in 2013 (2013-3227)

Transferred from the UND Alumni Association in October 2018 (2018-3391)

Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Acquisition Source: Mary Margaret Frank, Grand Forks, North Dakota

Acquisition Method: Donation; 98-2195

Related Materials:

Dr. Richard Frank Papers, OGLMC 1382

Dr. Harley E. French Papers, OGLMC 142

Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Mary Margaret Frank Papers. OGLMC 1362, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in March 2014.