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Hazel Brain Dunnington Papers 1923-1991

MSS-298

Biographical Note

Hazel A. Brain Dunnington was born in Thorp, Washington on October 31, 1910. She graduated from Thorp High School and Ellensburg Normal School. She received her B.A. in 1935 from Central Washington State Normal School and her M.A. in 1940 from Northwestern University's School of Speech. Additional graduate work was completed at the University of Washington and Moholy Nagy School of Design in Chicago. In December 1949 she married Robert James Dunnington. He was killed in an accident in October 1952. She has two sons: Robert, an orthodontist; and David, a medical doctor.

Her teaching career started in elementary and junior high schools in Washington state in 1939. She proceeded to teach classes in costume design and theatre at Stanford University from 1940 through 1943. During World War II, she served for three years as an American Red Cross Overseas Recreation Club Director in India, Burma, and China. After the war she travelled and lectured--showing slides of her work.

In 1946 she became an instructor and was later promoted to professor at Central Washington College/University, Department of Speech/English and Theatre, where she specialized in teaching creative dramatics. She retired in December 1977 and was named an Emeritus Professor. During her career she attended conferences and contributed to the following organizations: the American Theatre Association (ATA), the Children's Theatre Association of America (CTAA), the Washington Speech Association, and Delta Kappa Gamma.

Highlights of her career include: Receiving the Washington State Speech Association Distinguished Service Award in 1973 Organizing and conducting the NDEA Institute - Poetry in the Elementary School in the summer of 1966 Co-editing with Geraldine Brain Siks, her sister, Children's Theatre and Creative Dramatics. She passed away on March 13, 1989.

Scope and Content Note

The Hazel Brain Dunnington Papers (1923-1991) document the career of this classroom teacher, college professor, stage director, and author from 1923 through 1991. The majority of the collection contains classroom teaching materials and programming and administrative papers for the Institute in English, Poetry in the Language Arts Curriculum for Elementary Teachers in Grades K-6 at Central Washington State College in summer 1966. It is divided into five series: Professional History, Teaching Materials, National Defense Education Act (NDEA) Institute, Audio Tapes, and Oversize Objects.

Series I: Professional History (Box 1), dating from 1923-1991, provides a quick look at Dunnington's early education, her teaching career, awards received, and her family genealogy. Of note is: a letter from Winifred Ward to Dunnington in 1937 regarding Children's Theatre of Evanston productions; and Dunnington's obituary. Included are: vitae, biographies, photographs, correspondence, newspaper articles, a memorial service booklet, a travel itinerary, journal articles, a tribute, and a theatre program. Bulk dates are 1923, 1927, 1937, 1945-1948, 1957-1978, 1980, 1982, 1985, and 1987-1991.

Series II: Teaching Materials (Box 2), dating from 1963-1977, describes Dunnington's classroom teaching techniques and her career at Central Washington State College/University. Included are: correspondence, letters of recommendation, annual professional service records, a sabbatical leave request, a grant proposal, a book bibliography, lesson plans, stories for dramatizing, poems, and journal and newspaper articles.

Series III: National Defense Education Act (NDEA) Institute (Box 3), dating from 1965-1986, documents the preparation, execution and follow up to the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) Institute in English, Poetry in the Language Arts Curriculum for Elementary Teachers in Grades K-6 held at Central Washington State College from June 20-July 29, 1966. Included are: brochures, an institute proposal, a plan of operation, budgets, correspondence, newspaper articles, a participants' list, photographs, poems, poetry bibliographies, lesson plans, participant profiles, poetry anthologies, and a final technical report. Of note is correspondence from poet Eve Merriam regarding her participation in this Institute. Bulk dates are 1965-1971, 1975-1986.

Series IV: Audio Tapes (Box 4), dated 1966, 1969, and undated, includes audio recordings of: children and adults reading poetry and correspondence; and discussions regarding literary lesson plans for children. Of note is a recording of Eve Merriam reading her poetry. Included are: a description of the tapes, and reel-to-reel audio tapes.

Series V: Oversize Objects (Box 5), dated 1927, 1977, 1983, contains materials too large to be housed in the previous document boxes. A document removal form has been placed in the appropriate folders directing patrons to materials in this oversize box. Of note is Dunnington's high school valedictory speech.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Related Material

Child Drama Collection, Geraldine Brain Siks Papers, MS SC CDP-48, the personal papers for Dunnington's sister, Box 1 for family history, and Box 6 for articles, correspondence and reviews of Children's Theatre and Creative Dramatics, the book co-edited by the two sisters.

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Hazel Brain Dunnington Papers, MSS-298, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

Hazel Brain Dunnington and her sister Geraldine Brain Siks donated these materials to the Child Drama Collection on 1988 November 28 and in 1989 April. These two accessions were merged together and assigned the same number in 2004 (Accession #2004-03279).

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