Rae Blanchard (1889, Milton, Iowa – January 7, 1972, Baltimore) was an American scholar of English literature, specialising in the works of Richard Steele, and a professor emerita of Goucher College. She won the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay Prize in 1945.
Professor Rae Blanchard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1889 |
| Died | January 7, 1979 |
| Awards | Rose Mary Crawshay Prize (1945) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | English literature |
| Sub-discipline | 18th-century |
| Institutions | Goucher College |
| Notable works | The Correspondence of Richard Steele (1941) |
Life
editRae Blanchard was born in 1889 at Milton, Iowa, to William Blanchard and Myrtle Jones. She attended high school in Milton and the Boston Normal School.[1] She graduated from Colorado State Teachers' College in 1914 with a bachelor of arts degree in English literature. She then obtained master's degree from the University of Chicago, with a thesis on Michael Drayton. She attended the University of Oxford before returning to Chicago in 1925. Her doctoral dissertation was titled Richard Steele as a Moralist and Reformer.[2]
Blanchard was an instructor at the University of Chicago[3] before joining Goucher College as an assistant professor of English in 1929. Though a specialist in 18th century literature, her teaching focused more on contemporary fiction, which she felt was more relevant to students' lives than the classics.[4] In 1933, while an associate professor, she was awarded a fellowship by the American Council of Learned Societies to prepare her edition of Richard Steele's correspondence.[5] She travelled to England that summer to continue her research into Steele.[4]
In 1934, Goucher College established a new programme of adult education. Blanchard presented a series of lectures on contemporary British and American poetry and fiction.[6] She was elected as summer faculty at her alma mater, by now renamed to Colorado State College of Education, Greeley, in 1940.[7]
Blanchard was elected president of the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore in 1941.[8]
In 1945, Blanchard received the Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for her edited correspondence of Richard Steele.[1] This was lauded for its careful scholarship and as a fecund sourcebook of 18th century English history.[9]
After retirement in 1954, Blanchard was made professor emerita.[10] In 1958, she was honoured with a Doctor of Letters degree by Goucher College.[11] She continued to work on Steele's oeuvre, publishing a volume of his periodical journalism in 1959. Her eyesight failed in later years, and she died on January 7, 1972, after a long illness.[12][2]
Selected works
edit- "The French Source of Two Early English Feminist Tracts" (1929)[13]
- The Correspondence of Richard Steele. Oxford University. 1941.
- Tracts and Pamphlets of Richard Steele. Johns Hopkins University. 1944.
- Richard Steele's Periodical Journalism, 1714–1716. Clarendon. 1959.
References
edit- ^ a b "Dr Blanchard Wins Award". The Baltimore Sun. July 9, 1945. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Dr Blanchard Dies, Was Goucher Professor". The Baltimore Sun. January 9, 1972.
- ^ "Goucher College Adds 7 to Faculty". The Baltimore Sun. October 1, 1929.
- ^ a b "Thinks Study of Modern Novel Good for Students". The Baltimore Sun. June 6, 1933. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Three Baltimore Scholars Honored". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. March 26, 1933. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Goucher takes a new step towards alumnae education". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. February 4, 1934. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Named to Colorado Faculty". The Baltimore Sun. January 29, 1940. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Honoring Poe Next Sunday". The Baltimore Sun. January 12, 1941. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Brief Notices". The Evening Sun. Baltimore. July 11, 1942. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "3 on Goucher's Staff Retiring". The Evening Sun. Baltimore. June 9, 1954. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Live Fully, Class Urged at Goucher". The Baltimore Sun. June 16, 1958. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ Geen, Elizabeth (January 21, 1972). "Rae Blanchard". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ Blanchard, Rae (1929). "The French Source of Two Early English Feminist Tracts". Modern Language Notes. 44 (6): 381–383. doi:10.2307/2913222. ISSN 0149-6611. JSTOR 2913222.