Elsie Barker was born in Leicester, Vermont in 1869 to Albert Galvin Barker and Louise Maria (Taylor) Barker. When she was 13, her father died. The following year, as she related, she put on long skirts and took a teaching job elsewhere in Vermont, but came home on weekends and played with her dolls. At 16, she left teaching and learned telegraphy. At 18, she learned shorthand by taking night courses and became a private secretary first in Boston and then New York City and then a court stenographer.
In 1889, she married Edwin E. Gay of Springfield, Massachusetts and although the New York Times obituary reported that he died shortly after their marriage, there are legal papers in the collection stating that Elsa divorced him in New York State in 1893. For a while she was known as Elsie Gay, then, in 1900, she resumed her maiden name but dropped "Elsie" for the less homespun "Elsa".
In 1898, she treated herself to her first trip to Europe having earned the money by doing the stenography for a particularly difficult legal case. In 1901 she helped edit The Consolidated Encyclopaedia Library, penning the section on Hindu mythology. From 1904 to 1905 she was a lecturer for the New York Board of Education, then a copy editor, then an associate editor for various newspapers. She was a lecturer and, after 1900, as she became better known as a writer of poetry and short stories, she gave readings from her own works. She also began to teach writing privately which she continued to do into her eighties.
From 1909-1910 she worked at Hampton's Magazine and was the editor in charge of the big story of Peary's expedition to the North Pole. Her poem about the quest, "The Frozen Grail", appeared in the New York Times on July 6, 1908, the day the expedition officially departed, and Peary carried the poem with him to the pole. From 1910-1914 she lived in Europe, first in Paris and then London, spending the winter of 1910-1911 writing in Algeria. Her obituary says that she studied with Carl Jung during those years in Europe. It is certain that while in London, she was a liaison between the American and British branches of a Rosicrucian sect called the Alpha et Omega. She wrote her first book of spirit writings in Europe and it was published to great acclaim in 1915. In it, she channeled her recently deceased friend and spiritual advisor, David Patterson Hatch. She produced, in all, three volumes of his dictations which have been regularly republished into the 21st century.
She was a founder of the Poetry Society of America, which in 1942 named her as the winner of its Lola Ridge Award. She was also a founding member of the Progressive Stage Society. Her play, "The Scab", was produced both in Boston and New York in the early 20th century. Her mystery novel, "The Cobra Candlestick" was the first selection of the Crime Club. She died in New York on August 31, 1954.
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Elsa Barker papers, Ms. 2009.007, Brown University Library.
The Elsa Barker papers provide a window into the early 20th century literary world on both sides of the Atlantic. Her poems, especially the one written for the Peary Expedition to the North Pole, were popular enough to be set to music. She was a founding member of the Poetry Society of America and the Progressive Stage Society. Her books by the Living Dead Man which she produced by automatic writing (the process or production of writing material that does not come from the conscious thoughts of the writer) were best sellers at the end of World War I. Her detective stories, which featured the debonair Dexter Drake, ran in popular magazines alongside articles by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Mary Roberts Rhinehart. Barker corresponded with Ted Shawn, one of the founders of the modern dance movement, had a play produced in Boston and New York, studied psychology and psychoanalysis briefly with Jung and was a member of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega. In short she was part of the major intellectual and emotional movements of the 1920's and 1930's.
The bulk of the collection is correspondence. Almost all of it is either to Elsa Barker or from her but there are a few letters to or from others. The letters are separated into two subseries: business correspondence and personal correspondence. The business letters are filed by firm or agent alphabetically with the exception of small batches filed by decade (1920-1930 for example) at the end. Anything to do with payment for stories, royalties, or editing has been considered business correspondence. The personal letters are filed by author's last name, if known, or the first name if the last is not known. There are two exceptions: one large folder of fan mail is filed under "F" and another large folder of correspondence on occultism is filed under "O". Many of the letters in both subseries are not originals, but copies on poor paper in very fragile condition. Nicknames are used for some of the salutations and signatures. Champa is Elsa Barker, Mamma is Alma Lloyd, one of Barker's early supporters and friends, and Tad or Tadpole is Alma's daughter, Estelle Lloyd, Barker's long-time student.
The second largest group of materials are the manuscripts. There are multiple copies of several of Barker's Dexter Drake mysteries published in The Book and Red Book magazines, a play, and chapters from several of her novels. The novels show more than a hint of her interest in the occult while the mysteries have some of the flavor of both Rex Stout and Dorothy Sayers. Included in the manuscripts are the original English and a French translation of Barker's poem "The Frozen Grail" set to music as well as a German translation without music.
The third series consists of financial papers. There are items such as bank books, checks, and lists of furniture from the London apartment she left in storage. The personal papers series consist of items like a passport, biographical blurbs for books or encyclopedias and the copy of a legal document establishing the author as Elsa Barker rather than Elsie Barker or Elsie Gay.
Barker saved only a few of what must have been hundreds of book reviews and these are in the reviews series.
The collection is arranged into the following series:
The collection was purchased from Charles Apfelbaum Rare Books & Collections in May and October 1980.
Brown University Library catalog record for this collection: