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Summary
- Abstract:
- This collection documents Leona Train Rienow's professional career as a writer. The papers contain a significant number of drafts of Leona Train Rienow's manuscripts, papers concerning her research for her books and articles, and correspondence files.
- Extent:
- 2.78 cubic ft.
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Leona Train Rienow Papers, 1856-1988. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Train Reinow Papers).
Background
- Scope and Content:
This collection documents Leona Train Rienow's professional career as a writer. The papers contain a significant number of drafts of Leona Train Rienow's manuscripts, papers concerning her research for her books and articles, and correspondence files. Much of the correspondence concerns publishers and editors of various magazines and publishing houses.
Strengths of this collection include the many drafts of manuscripts that document the changes that Leona Train Rienow made to her works over a span of many years. Weaknesses of this collection include a lack of material on Rienow's personal life outside of her professional career as a writer and her environmental activism. There are also many whole newspaper sections, news clippings, and notes written on scraps of paper whose significance is often unclear. Also, this collection does not comprise drafts of all her books and articles.
Preservation concerns include yellowing and/or brittle paper which is often folded and/or wavy, foxing on the edges of some manuscripts, corners or pieces torn out of some pages, and fire damage.
Several collections in the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives provide further information on the environmental and political issues that were of concern to Rienow throughout her life. Of particular note are the collections of her husband Robert Rienow (UA-902.009), Environmental Advocates of New York (APAP-104), Nancy Papish (APAP-144), Environmental Clearinghouse, Inc. (APAP-180), and Vincent J. Schaefer (UA-902.010). For a complete list of related collections see the subject guides for Conservation and the Environment and Literature.
- Biographical / Historical:
Leona Train Rienow was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1903, but moved when she was one year old to the mining site of Chisholm, Minnesota. She received a B.A. from the University of Chicago and her Master's from the University of Minnesota. In 1931, she married Robert Rienow while he was attending West Point. She toured Europe in 1948 and Italy in 1953. She also traveled on a tramp freighter around the Mediterranean visiting Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, and Damascus. Her interests included birds and bird-watching, baking, camping, canoeing, touring, forestry, the environment, politics, photography, roses, cats, prehistory, and the Middle Ages.
Leona Train Rienow authored books, most of which were for children, short stories, and articles. Her books included The Bewitched Caverns (1948), The Dark Pool (1949), The Year of the Last Eagle (1970), and Unbottled Scotch (1987). She also co-authored a number of books with her husband including Our New Life with the Atom (1959), Of Snuff, Sin and the Senate (1965), The Lonely Quest: the Evolution of Presidential Leadership (1966), Moment in the Sun: a Report on the Deteriorating Quality of the American Environment (1967), Man Against His Environment (1970), and The Great Unwanteds Want Us: Illegal Aliens-too late to close the gates? (1980).
Leona Train Rienow died of a stroke in 1983 at Child's Hospital in Albany, New York. She was eighty years old.
- Acquisition information:
- All items in this manuscript group were donated to the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, in June 1988.
- Processing information:
Processed in 2006 by Tim Bridgman.
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1 - Typescripts, ca. 1950-1955, Undated
- Series 2 - Research Materials, 1856-1960
- Series 3 - Correspondence, 1946-1988
All series are arranged alphabetically.
- Physical location:
- The materials are located onsite in the department.
Contents
Access
Using These Materials
- ACCESS:
- The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
- RESTRICTIONS:
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Access to this record group is unrestricted.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Leona Train Rienow Papers, 1856-1988. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Train Reinow Papers).