Born in Munday, Knox County, Texas, on January 26, 1905, Margaret Cousins was the first child of Walter Henry and Sue Margaret Reeves Cousins. Largely through the influence of her father, Margaret displayed an interest in pursuing a literary career at a young age. Upon graduating from Bryan Street High School in Dallas, Texas, in 1922, Cousins entered the University of Texas at Austin with a major in English literature.
When Cousins left the university in 1926, she found employment as an apprentice on her father's
In 1942, Cousins became assistant editor of
As an editor, Cousins perceived herself not only as a manager, but also as a role model for her reading public. Keenly aware of the power of the press in influencing public values, she sought to “live in a manner worthy of emulation.” This strong sense of moral imperative and vocational devotion was the driving force behind her efforts as an editor. In 1971, Cousins retired from Doubleday and went to work for
In her youth, Cousins had envisioned writing novels of social history, but the course of her career led her to write “simply to entertain.” As a writer, Cousins was known for her Romantic short stories, which appeared in many popular women's magazines, including
Cousins also wrote and edited a number of books. Her first effort, a story entitled
Cousins involved herself actively in the Author's Guild of the Author's League of America as secretary and Magazine Committee chairperson. She spoke on occasion at conferences and meetings of various literary and educational organizations. Her career brought her into contact with many prominent literary figures and other notable personalities in the political and entertainment fields.
Correspondence, printed material, typescripts, photographs, galley proofs, and other materials document the life of Margaret Cousins, from her high school years through her career as a writer and editor. The material is arranged in three series: Writer, Editor, and Personal, in keeping with Cousins' original arrangement scheme.
Cousins' career as a writer is the focus of the first series, which consists of four subseries: Books, Short Stories and Articles, Poetry, and Writing, General. Typescripts, correspondence, and printed material are grouped together under the title of the book in the first subseries. The titles are presented chronologically by date of publication. Those books ghost written by Cousins,
The second series, Editor, documents Cousins' distinguished editorial career. The series is divided into four subseries: Books and Articles, Magazines, Doubleday Publishing Company, and Public Relations. The first subseries pertains primarily to Cousins' editorial work for Lyndon Baines Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, and Margaret Truman. Lyndon Johnson's memoirs,
In the course of her work, Cousins developed personal relationships with the Johnsons and Ms. Truman, as is apparent from the correspondence and printed material present within this subseries. For instance there are files documenting Margaret Truman's wedding in 1956 and the dedication of the LBJ Library in 1970, both of which Cousins attended.
The second subseries, Magazines, is rather small, comprising a mere four folders of primarily printed materials and correspondence pertaining to Cousin's editorial activities at
The final series, Personal, evidences how little Cousins' personal life, as she represents it, diverged from her professional one. This series includes several files containing articles about Cousins dating from her high school days through her return to Texas in 1973. Ever conscious of her professional image, Cousins meticulously collected materials relating to her New York residences. Particularly well-represented is her much vaunted, custom built house near Dobbs Ferry, New York. The papers contain everything from blueprints and legal documents to magazine articles on the house. Cousins' personal correspondence is perhaps the most interesting group of materials in the papers. Included are letters from Joan Crawford, Ethel Merman, Margaret Mitchell, Ogden Nash, J.C Penney, Mike Wallace, Herman Wouk, William F. Buckley, and J. Frank Dobie. Also present are five folders of invitations to sundry social events. Two of the more significant occasions, the inauguration of Alan Simpson as president of Vassar College and a dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, are represented in separate folders. Five folders of photographs, several diplomas, and a poetry scrapbook complete the papers.
The Cousins papers provide a fairly thorough retrospective of her life and work. However, it is more than evident that Cousins assembled her papers with an audience in mind. While certainly informative, the numerous explanatory notes Cousins placed throughout the papers and the materials she collected definitely reflect the image of how she wants to be remembered. Regardless, researchers will find these papers a rich source of information regarding the life of an extremely dedicated and highly able writer and editor of popular literature.
Several runs of correspondence in the papers have been indexed. Correspondence with members of the Authors League of America in box 16, incoming correspondence from literary agents and editors in box 17, editorial correspondence from Cousins' years at Doubleday in boxes 25-27, and incoming personal correspondence in boxes 32-36 is indexed at the end of this finding aid.
Gift, 1973
Open for Research
Donald Firsching, Kendra Trachta, Miriam Wilde, 1990.