Title: Sandra Donaldson Papers, 1826-1862, 1980-2012

ID: OGLMC1618

Primary Creator: Donaldson, Sandra

Other Creators: Browning, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861)

Extent: 2.5 Linear Feet

Date Acquired: 10/31/2012. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Literary - Poetry, University of North Dakota - Faculty, University of North Dakota - Writers Conference, Women's History

Languages: English

The Sandra Donaldson Papers include Dr. Donaldson’s working photocopies of various editions of poems published by Elizabeth Barrett Browning during her lifetime and used by Dr. Sandra Donaldson for The Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 5 Volumes, London, Pickering & Chatto, 2010.

The photocopies consist of An Essay on Mind, with Other Poems, 1826: 1 vol., Prometheus Bound, and Miscellaneous Poems, 1838: 1 vol., The Seraphim and Other Poems, 1838, editions of Poems, 1844: 2 vols., 1850: 2 vols., 1853: 2 vols., 1856: 3 vols., two editions of Aurora Leigh, 1857, 1859, Poems Before Congress, 1860: 1 vol., Last Poems, posthumous, 1862: 1 vol..

Also included are journals in which articles and reviews by Sandra Donaldson are published: “’Motherhood’s Advent in Power’: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Poems about Motherhood” Victorian Poetry, Spring 1980, pgs. 51-60; “‘Ophelia’ in Elizabeth Siddal’s Poem ‘A Year and a Day’”, The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, November 1981, pgs. 127-33; “Elizabeth Barrett Browning by Angela Leighton reviewed by Sandra Donaldson” Studies in Browning and His Circle, Vol. 15 1987, pgs. 77-80; “Christina Rossetti: The Poetry of Endurance by Dolores Rosenblum reviewed by Sandra Donaldson” Studies in Browning and His Circle, Vol. 16 1988.

Also included are several newspaper articles from The Grand Forks Herald as well as articles from UND publications on Donaldson’s EBB anthology and scholarly achievements. Also enclosed is a speech given by Janet Rex on May 2014 in honor of Sandra Donaldson’s retirement and influence on the Women’s Studies Program at the University of North Dakota. Photographs of the retirement tea party accompany the transcription of the speech.

The arrangement of all pieces retains the original order of the creator.

Sandra Donaldson began her education at the State University of New York at Albany, where she studied French and Latin, but dropped out, later enrolling in night school and studying sociology. She lived in London for a time before returning to New York to receive her Bachelors of Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her Masters of Arts and Ph. D. from the University of Connecticut.

Donaldson began teaching in 1970 at Eastern Connecticut University, and began teaching at the University of North Dakota in 1977. Donaldson was a founding member of UND’s Women Studies Program and is responsible for the change of the interpretation of UND’s Latin motto, “Lux et Lex” from “By the light of knowledge men read the laws of life” to “By the light of knowledge we read the laws of life”.

She received the UND Foundation/Clifford Faculty Achievement Award for Outstanding Faculty Development and Service and was named Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor, the highest honor a UND professor may receive, in 2004. Her complete five-volume scholarly anthology of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (E.B.B.) 's works, The Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, was published in 2010 and she is credited with the discovery of a previously unknown manuscript of the poem “Sonnets from the Portuguese” by E.B.B. After retiring in April 2012 Sandra Donaldson moved with her husband, Lonny Winrich, to Maine.

Sources: Grand Forks Herald: 25 February 2000, 4 September 2009, 24 April 2012.  (All available in Box 2, Folder 15)

Literary - Poetry
University of North Dakota - Faculty
University of North Dakota - Writers Conference
Women's History

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Accruals: Donaldson donated additional material in October 2014; 2014-3261

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

Acquisition Source: Sandra Donaldson, Grand Forks, North Dakota

Acquisition Method: Donation; 2013-3213.  A signed Certificate of Gift was received from Sandra Donaldson on April 7, 2014, after which the collection was formally opened for research.

Related Publications:

Publications written by Sandra Donaldson:

Critical essays on Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  New York: G.K. Hall, 1999.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: an annotated bibliography of the commentary and criticism, 1826-1990.  New York: G.K. Hall, 1993.

Publications edited by Sandra Donaldson:

Florentine friends: the letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning to Isa Blagden, 1850-1861.  Winfield, Kan.: Wedgestone Press, 2009.

The works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  London: Pickering & Chatto, 2010.

Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Sandra Donaldson Papers.  OGLMC 1618, Box #, Folder #.  Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Processing Information: Processed by Devon Olson, Special Collections Volunteer, in December 2013.