The collection includes research notes, correspondence, and a handwritten copy of the master’s thesis, Sara Teasdale, completed by Helen S. DeFrance in 1939; also included are teaching notes, miscellaneous research notes, and drafts for two other English papers. The papers and notes span from 1910 to 1939 with the bulk of materials dating from 1935 to 1939. The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title/type of document.

The research notes include many index cards with source notations and printed biographical booklets about Sara Teasdale. There are working drafts of DeFrance’s thesis bibliography, outline, footnotes, appendices, and the body of the paper. The handwritten draft includes an Appendix II, selections from Teasdale’s out-of-print first book Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems (1907), that is not included in the typescript copy in the Missouri Historical Society Library. According to Teasdale’s sister, she did not wish the book to be printed again as she was not pleased with her work; therefore, Mamie Teasdale Wheless asked DeFrance not to include it. There are also two copies, one handwritten and one typed, of an earlier paper by DeFrance dated May 9, 1935, On the Life and Work of Sara Teasdale.

Beginning in 1935, two years after Sara Teasdale’s death, DeFrance sought information about Teasdale from official sources such as the Reno, Nevada, county clerk and the Missouri Historical Society. She tried to contact Ernst Filsinger, Teasdale’s former husband, but a colleague replied explaining that he was in China as head of the branch office for Filsinger, Rhines & Campbell, Inc. (12 April 1935). DeFrance contacted Teasdale’s family and began corresponding with her older sister Mamie Teasdale Wheless from 1935 to 1939. Wheless provided details about Sara’s childhood, health, education, travels, her poems and setting them to music, family genealogy, and Sara’s marriage. In her March 27, 1938, letter, Wheless told DeFrance about the death of Ernst Filsinger and quoted from the last letter he wrote to her: “I not only loved Sara to the end, but she lives in my life, soul, and spirit today.” She sent DeFrance a postcard that Teasdale had written to her in 1910 from the Teasdale summer home in Charlevoix, Michigan (20 April 1938) and also booklets about her sister and the Teasdale family. Wheless discussed Teasdale’s friendship with poet Vachel Lindsay and explained that he drew sketches in his books that he sent to Teasdale (19 April 1939).

There are four letters written by Teasdale’s friend, Williamina Parrish, from April through July 1935. Parrish sent extensive answers to DeFrance’s questions about Teasdale’s early work and her personal life. On July 5, 1935, Ms. Parrish sent 12 pages of notes on DeFrance’s first papers on Teasdale, some of which DeFrance cut to use as notes (see Appendix I draft for fragments, B2/f.13). Ms. Parrish wrote at length about Sara’s divorce and relationship with Ernst; copied an unpublished poem that Teasdale gave to her, Stanchezza; shared knowledge regarding the subjects and motivations of several of Teasdale’s poems; quoted letters written by Teasdale; and from herself and other friends provided clarifications, quotes, and observations about Teasdale’s mental health before her death.