Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1952-2003 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
54.3 cm of textual records
30 photographs
6 books
2 CDs of electronic records
1 floppy disc
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mary Jane Norris Gormley was a copy editor, calligrapher, and prominent member of the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica (SPAH).
Born on March 3, 1940, in Milton, Massachusetts, Gormley attended the Milton Academy in the greater Boston area for her elementary and high school education. She then completed an honors degree at the University of Toronto in History and Philosophy in 1961. After her graduation, she spent a year working for the Catholic missions in Angleton, Texas.
In 1965, she and her husband Dexter Gormley moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where she worked at the Indiana University typing up dissertations for graduate students and faculty members. Her typing experience lead to her pursuing a career as a copy editor for Indiana University Press, and then later, the Journal of American History, where she worked at until medical issues forced her retirement in late 2005.
Due to her difficulty breathing caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Gormley came up with the idea of using a harmonica to exercise her lungs and strengthen them. Accordingly, she became a member of SPAH to promote a general appreciation for harmonicas as musical instruments but also as potential medical aids.
Mary Jane Gormley died on December 9, 2022.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Records were donated to the archive by Dexter Gormley in 2024.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This fonds consists of materials related to Mary Jane Gormley’s involvement in the editing and publication of Fr. Edward Synan’s texts. Materials largely derive from Gormley’s joint project with Janice Schultz-Aldrich where they took a collaborative effort to publish Fr. Synan’s previously unpublished and sometimes unfinished texts. Records consist of original texts, copy edits, notes, lists, correspondences, articles, books, and more.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Original order of material has been maintained from accession.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
- Polish
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Several images exist of some of Gormley's original file folders with her handwriting and notes.
Note
Majority of file titles are transcribed directly from folders as labelled by Mary Jane Gormley, with a few modified by the archivist for improved clarity or for better reflection of file content.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Synan, Edward A. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created by V Tywonek-Sobota, April 2025.