Emma May Laney (November 27, 1886 – March 26, 1969) was an American college professor who taught English at Agnes Scott College in Georgia for 37 years, and friend of poet Robert Frost.
Emma May Laney | |
|---|---|
 Emma May Laney, from the 1905 yearbook of the Mississippi State College for Women | |
| Born | November 27, 1886 Shannon, Mississippi |
| Died | March 26, 1969 (age 82) Denver, Colorado |
| Occupation | College professor |
| Known for | Correspondence with Robert Frost |
Early life and education
editEmma May Laney was born in Shannon, Mississippi, the daughter of William Ervyn Laney and Elizabeth Harkey Laney. Her father died when she was a little girl. She graduated from the Mississippi Industrial Institute & College in 1905, where her classmates included librarian Nannie Herndon Rice, physician Mary Maxwell Hathorn, and home economist Connie J. Bonslagel, and her English professor was Pauline Van de Graaf Orr.[1][2] She pursued further studies at the University of Chicago,[3] earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1911, and completed doctoral studies in English at Yale University (1930).[4] Her dissertation was a study of the work of Richard Steele.[5]
Career
editLaney taught at her alma mater's summer normal program in 1909,[6] and at Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina,[7] early in her career.[8] She was an English professor at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, for 37 years.[9] She was a summer visiting professor at Hunter College.[10] In 1932, she was one of the speakers in a weekly lecture series at Warm Springs Institute.[11] In 1952 she represented Agnes Scott College at the inauguration of the new president of the Mississippi State College for Women.[12]
In 1935, as chair of the college's lecture program, she invited Robert Frost to speak on campus, which he then did annually from 1945 to 1962.[13][14] Frost and Laney became friends and correspondents.[15][16] Frost sent Laney autographed copies of his books, and Laney donated those copies and their letters to the library at Agnes Scott College.[17][18] When Laney retired in 1956, Frost wrote to the president of Agnes Scott College, to say "it was my great admiration for her that so interested me in her college, to watch its success and sing its praises."[4][19]
Laney was an active member of the Southern Association of College Women,[8] and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[20] In 1948 she was made an honorary member of the Agnes Scott College chapter of Mortar Board.[21]
Personal life
editLaney traveled and studied in Europe during some of her summers.[22] She retired in 1956,[23] and moved to Denver, Colorado, to live with her sister Lula.[16] Another sister, Corinne, was dean of women and a Latin professor at Berry College before her death in a car accident in 1936.[24] Laney died in 1969, in Denver, at the age of 82.[25]
References
edit- ^ Shawhan, Dorothy (2017-11-30). Fannye Cook: Mississippi's Pioneering Conservationist. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-1413-5.
- ^ Mississippi Industrial Institute & College, Meh Lady (1905 yearbook).
- ^ University of Chicago (1908). Annual Register. 1893-1930. p. 473.
- ^ a b Faulkner, Leesha (2023-01-27). "Emma May Laney: Miles to go before she slept". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
- ^ Yale University (1927). Doctors of Philosophy of Yale University: With the Titles of Their Dissertations, 1861-1927.
- ^ "Much Interest Manifested in Summer Normal". The Commercial Dispatch. 1909-06-20. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Agnes Scott Alumnae Hear Dr. Emma M. Laney Tonight". The Charlotte News. 1946-02-22. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Southern Association of College Women (1913). Proceedings in Full of ... Annual Meeting. The Association. pp. 5, 107, 108.
- ^ McNair, Walter Edward (1983). Lest We Forget: An Account of Agnes Scott College. Agnes Scott College. p. 337.
- ^ "University WOmen to Hear Dr. Laney on Tuesday". The Birmingham News. 1933-02-19. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Educational Entertainment" The Polio Chronicle (April 1932), via the Disability History Museum.
- ^ "Laney to Represent ASC at College Inauguration". Agnes Scott News. October 8, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved June 6, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Laughton to Lecture on Campus Jan. 24". Agnes Scott News. December 3, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved June 6, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Robert Frost to Lecture Tonight; Poet to Speak Here for Eleventh Time". The Agnes Scott News. January 28, 1953. p. 1. Retrieved June 6, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Frost, Robert (2021-04-13). The Letters of Robert Frost, Volume 3: 1929-1936. Harvard University Press. pp. 586, 731. ISBN 978-0-674-72665-9.
- ^ a b Morgan, Elizabeth (1957-01-30). "Robert Frost Sparkles Despite 82 Years on No-Breakfast Diet". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Alston, Wallace McPherson. "Agnes Scott's Friendship with Robert Frost." Agnes Scott College, 1976.
- ^ Byers, Edna Hanley, and Wallace M. Alston. Robert Frost at Agnes Scott College. Agnes Scott College, 1963.
- ^ Gulliver, Hal (1963-06-03). "Agnes Scott's Book Honors Poet Frost". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dr. Emma M. Laney to Address Local College Alumnae". The Charlotte Observer. 1946-02-17. p. 32. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dr. Emma Laney Nationally Honored". The Atlanta Constitution. 1948-11-14. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Faculty Reveal Summers of Study, Travel, Teaching". The Agnes Scott News. June 8, 1953. p. 2. Retrieved June 6, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Agnes Scott Alumnae Assn. Honors Retiring Miss Laney". Ledger-Enquirer. 1956-06-04. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Berry Teacher Dies in Crash; Miss Laney Killed in Fatal Accident on Campus of Mountain School". The Columbus Ledger. 1936-11-26. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Emma Laney Dies; Was Scott Teacher". The Atlanta Constitution. 1969-03-28. p. 33. Retrieved 2023-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.