Dawn Langley Simmons Papers

Dawn Langley Simmons Papers

Simmons, Dawn Langley

Hall, Gordon Langley

1958-1999

Authors, American -- 20th Century -- Correspondence.

Gender reassignment surgery -- United States.

Hall, Gordon Langley -- Correspondence.

Rutherford, Margaret, 1892-1972 -- Correspondence.

Sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary -- Correspondence.

Peterson, Louis, 1922- -- Correspondence.

Pinchot, Ann -- Correspondence.

Pinckney, Elise, 1925- -- Correspondence.

Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979 -- Correspondence.

Simons, Katherine Drayton Mayrant, b. 1892 -- Correspondence.

Thurmond, Strom, 1902-2003 -- Correspondence.

Whitney, Isabel, 1878-1962 -- Correspondence.

Laidler, Harry Wellington, 1884-1970 -- Correspondence.

Aiken, Charles Avery, 1872-1965 -- Correspondence.

Ambler, Sarah -- Correspondence.

Boorman, Henry Roy Pratt, 1900- -- Correspondence.

Brando, Marlon -- Correspondence.

Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstricker), 1892-1973 -- Correspondence.

Chimay, Jacqueline de, 1903- -- Correspondence.

Clark, Mark W. (Mark Wayne), 1896-1984 -- Correspondence.

Crawford, Joan, 1908-1977 -- Correspondence.

Crawford, John, 1913- -- Correspondence.

Dickson, Lovat, 1902-1987 -- Correspondence.

Hale, Mabel -- Correspondence.

Hurst, Fannie, 1889-1968 -- Correspondence.

Keyes, Frances Parkinson, 1885-1970 -- Correspondence.

Lindsay, John V. (John Vliet) -- Correspondence.

Luce, Clare -- Correspondence.

McKnight, Gerald -- Correspondence.

McCullers, Carson, 1917-1967 -- Correspondence.

Mazyck, Susanna K. -- Correspondence.

Nicolson, Harold, 1886-1968 -- Correspondence.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY) -- Correspondence.

Bradford Junior College -- Correspondence.

Charleston Library Society (Charleston, S.C.) -- Correspondence.

Dawn Langley Simmons was one of the first prominent transgender figures in the United States, undergoing gender reassignment surgery at Johns Hopkins University in 1968. Born in Kent, England in 1922 as Gordon Langley Hall, her parents worked for famous writers Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West. She moved to Canada in 1946 to work for the Ojibway native reserve, then later became a prolific biographer of famous women in New York. She met British actress Dame Margaret Rutherford in the 1950s, who she considered an adoptive mother.

In 1962 Simmons moved to the Dr. Joseph Johnson House at 56 Society Street in Charleston with her close friend, muralist Isabel Whitney. After her transition she married mechanic John-Paul Simmons in January 1969, one of the first interracial marriages in South Carolina after the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia overturned the ban on such unions. The couple had a daughter, Natasha, in 1971 and divorced in 1982. After relocating to New York for several years, Simmons returned to Charleston and passed away at her daughter's home in 2000.

Items that have not been digitized may be viewed in person for research purposes upon request.

Contents:

Ser.1 (3 folders) : Included is correspondence related to the manuscript collections of Gordon Langley Hall. Correspondence with Virginia Rugheimer relates to papers [1958] - [1999] donated to the Charleston Library Society ; A letter from John T. Challoner discusses the organization of Hall's library and museum files ; and Letters from Sheila Flanagan mention the Gordon Langley Hall manuscripts accessioned by the University of Minnesota.

1. Virginia Rugheimer Correspondence
2. John T. Challoner Correspondence
3. Sheila Flanagan Correspondence

Ser.2 (79 folders) : Included is personal and professional correspondence of Gordon Langley Hall. Letters from various sources relate to book research and publishing, Dr. Joseph Johnson House tours, and personal matters. Mark & Renie Clark, Helen Keeler, Frances Parkinson Keyes, Carson McCullers, Margaret Rutherford, Katherine Drayton Mayrant Simons, Barbara Van Kampen-Smith, and Lillian Watson are some of the more frequent correspondents of Gordon Langley Hall. Other letters of interest are from Princess Jacqueline de Caraman-Chimay, Mabel F. Hale, Clare Luce, Louis Peterson, Zenobia Stockton, Strom Thurmond, Isabel Lydia Whitney, and the White House (during Kennedy and Johnson presidencies).

1. Charles A. Aiken Correspondence
2. Sarah Ambler Correspondence
3. Dorothy M. Bell Correspondence
4. H. R. Pratt Boorman Correspondence
5. Marlon Brando Correspondence
6. Elizabeth Brundage Correspondence
7. Pearl S. Buck Correspondence
8. Princess Jacqueline de Caraman-Chimay Correspondence
9. Emily and Willie Chamberlain Correspondence
10. Gordon Chesterfield Correspondence
11. Mark and Renie Clark Correspondence
12. Norman Coe Correspondence
13. Katherine Collins Correspondence
14. Joan Crawford Correspondence
15. John M. Crawford Correspondence
16. Gertrude Colburn Correspondence
17. Lovat Dickson Correspondence
18. John Doyle Correspondence
19. Mrs. Lindsay Drummond Correspondence
20. Mrs. S. Henry Edmunds Correspondence
21. Thomas C. Elsam Correspondence
22. Adeline Emerson Correspondence
23. Mrs. William Jenkins Foster Correspondence
24. Hy Gardner Correspondence
25. Lucy Gillman Correspondence
26. Charles Howard Grof Correspondence
27. Mabel F. Hall Correspondence
28. Helena Hall Correspondence
29. Mrs. Jerald S. Hanks Correspondence
30. Belle Hayes Correspondence
31. Mrs. Labar Hoagland Correspondence
32. Fannie Hurst Correspondence
33. Paul F. Jenner Correspondence
34. Helen Keeler Correspondence
35. Frances Parkinson Keyes Correspondence
36. Franklin Lenthall Correspondence
37. John V. Lindsay Correspondence
38. Clare Luce Correspondence
39. Carson McCullers Correspondence
40. Gerald McKnight Correspondence
41. Robert Mackworth-Young Correspondence
42. Peter Manigault Correspondence
43. A.W. Marsh Correspondence
44. Susanna K. Mazyck
45. "Aunt Merle" Correspondence
46. Sister M. Monica Correspondence
47. Ivy Nias Correspondence
48. Sir Harold Nicolson Correspondence
49. Correspondence from Godson Nigel
50. Correspondence from the Order of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
51. Roger Pain Correspondence
52. Louis Peterson Correspondence
53. Ann Pinchot Correspondence
54. Elise Pinckney Correspondence
55. Virginia Ravenel Correspondence
56. Ida Reeder Correspondence
57. H. Reid Correspondence
58. Anne Woreham Richardson Correspondence
59. Nelson A. Rockefeller Correspondence
60. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence
61. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence, 1960
62. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence, 1961
63. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence, 1962
64. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence, 1963
65. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence, 1964
66. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence, 1965
67. Margaret Rutherford Correspondence, 1966
68. Rev. T. G. Savins Correspondence
69. Katherine Drayton Mayrant Simons Correspondence
70. Zenobia Stockton Correspondence
71. Lady Kitty Tempany Correspondence
72. Strom Thurmond Correspondence
73. Barbara Van Kampen-Smith Correspondence
74. Lillian Watson Correspondence
75. William F. Wefer Correspondence
76. Isabel Lydia Whitney Correspondence
77. Correspondence with the White House Assistant to the Curator
78. White House Correspondence, Kennedy Administration
79. White House Correspondence, Johnson Administration

Ser.3 (9 folders) : Included is miscellaneous and impersonal correspondence.

1. Barbara A. Correspondence
2. Angelus Temple Christmas Letter
3. "Battling Bessie Braddock" New Year Card
4. Pierre Berton Correspondence
5. Letters from Students at Elm Street School
6. Paul F. Hoag Correspondence
7. Jacqueline Lapidus Correspondence
8. Queen of the Netherlands Correspondence
9. Jennie Yamashita Correspondence

Ser.4 (4 folders) : Included are letters(1961-1962) to Isabel Lydia Whitney from Mrs. Achille D. Van Suetendael (Elizabeth) and Harry Laidler ; Catalogs (1963) of Whitney art exhibits at Bradford Junior College and the Pen and Brush Club ; and Correspondence (1966-1967) related to a posthumous gift of Whitney artwork to the Metropolitan Museum by Gordon Langley Hall.

1. Letter to Isabel Whitney from Mrs. Achille D. Van Suetendael, December 28, 1961
2. Letters to Isabel Whitney from Harry Laidler, 1961-1962
3. Isabel Whitney Art Exhibits, Bradford Junior College Pen & Brush Club
4. Gift of Isabel Whitney Pieces to the Metropolitan Museum

Ser.5 (7 folders) : Included are promotional materials and autobiographical notes from Gordon Langley Hall / Dawn Pepita Langley Hall. Promotional materials relate to books by Gordon Langley Hall and the restored Dr. Joseph Johnson House. An announcement (1967) discusses the gender reassignment in progress at Johns Hopkins, and Hall's new identity as Dawn Pepita Langley Hall.

1. Christmas Card - Gordon Langley Hall (Post Card - Dr. Joseph Johnson House)
2. Promotional Pamphlet - "What Ever Happened to Princess Margaret?"
3. Announcement - Dawn Pepita Langley Hall
4. Book Jacket (partial) - She-Crab Soup
5. Press Release - Dr. Joseph Johnson House
6. Biographical Material - Gordon Langley Hall
7. Drawings and Related Items - Collection in the Dr. Johnson House

Ser.6 (15 folders) : Included are newsclippings (1962-1999) related to Gordon Langley Hall, Margaret Rutherford, Isabel Lydia Whitney, the Dr. Joseph Johnson House at 56 Society Street, Fannie Hurst, Dawn Pepita Langley Hall, John Paul Simmons, and Dawn Langley Hall Simmons. Later items detail Simmons' sex change, marriage, and motherhood. Some items written by Hall / Simmons.

1. News Clippings - Dame Margaret Rutherford
2. News Clipping - "To Isabel... with Love"
3. News Clipping - Bradford and the Hasseltines
4. News Clipping - Lee Artifacts in Dr. Joseph Johnson House
5. News Clipping - "A New Challenge for Author"
6. News Clipping - "Dr. Johnson Mansion is Now Open Daily"
7. News Clipping - "An Historic Reunion"
8. News Clipping - "Three Books in a Year"
9. News Clipping - Photo from The Charleston Gateway
10. News Clipping - Gordon Langley Hall and Fannie Hurst
11. News Clipping - "Home Proves Haven for Pair of Writers"
12. News Clipping - "New Gal Weds Ex-Butler"
13. News Clipping - "Sex Change Wife Says She's Mother"
14. GQ - "The Legend of Dawn"
15. News Clipping - Movie rights to "Dawn: A Charleston Legend"

Ser.7 (6 folders) : Included are photographs collected by Gordon Langley Hall.

1. Photograph - Hall and Whitney
2. Photograph - Candace LaVoris Ladson
3. Photograph - Miss Nelly and Miss Annabel Eliza Hall (Chihuahuas)
4. Photograph - Book Signing
5. Drawing - Simon Langley Hall
6. Photograph - Statue of St. Teresa of Avila, Saint of Writers

This item is in copyright but can be used for educational purposes. Please contact Charleston Library Society for more information for any use not qualifying as educational use.

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Ms. 411 : Dawn Langley Simmons Papers

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