Iowa Women's Archives
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa

JESSIE HORNSBY (1917-1993)

PAPERS, 1876-1993
7.5 linear inches

Collection Overview

Biography

Jessie Gillespie Hornsby, French professor and department head at the University of Iowa, was born in Algiers, North Africa, to William and Jessie Gillespie in 1917.  She was educated in Belgium and Paris and grew up speaking French.  In 1939, Gillespie earned her BA from the University of Toronto.  During World War II, she worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London, England, as an Intelligence Assistant analyzing public opinion and reactions to BBC broadcasts in France and its colonies.   Hornsby earned her MA in 1949 and her PhD in 1956, both from the University of Toronto.  While there, Gillespie taught French language and literature but was told that she could not become a professor because she was a woman.  In 1956, Gillespie accepted a teaching position at the University of Iowa, where she rose to the rank of assistant professor before returning to teach at the University of Toronto in 1959 for one year.  She married Roger Hornsby, whom she met in Iowa City, and returned to the University of Iowa in 1960.  

Jessie Hornsby’s scholarly work includes two published books (one of which was translated into Spanish) and several articles on Georges Bernanos as well as work on the literature of Marcel Proust.  She advanced to the position of professor at the University of Iowa in 1973, and was the chairman of the French and Italian Department from 1981 to 1984.  In 1986, she became a professor emeritus.  Hornsby died in Iowa City in 1993.

Scope and Content Note

The Jessie Gillespie Hornsby papers date from 1876 to 1993 and measure 7.5 linear inches.  Much of the collection consists of French-language materials. The bulk of the collection is composed of materials pertaining to Hornsby’s research on the works of Marcel Proust and Georges Bernanos. It includes published works, lectures and drafts of manuscripts, and her PhD dissertation, “Le Tragique dans l’oeuvre de Georges Bernanos.”  Hornsby’s notes on Proust consist of both her own observations on his body of work and typed passages quoted from other sources.  Reviews of Hornsby’s first book, which was adapted from her PhD dissertation and published in 1960, may be found within the collection.  The book itself, Le Tragique dans l’ouevre de Georges Bernanos, is held by the University of Iowa Libraries.

The collection includes a few personal items, two unidentified black and white photographs, and Hornsby’s curriculum vitae.  Materials regarding her parents, Jessie and William Gillespie (including their original marriage certificate, which was issued in Canada, and a copy of William’s birth certificate), may be found in the collection.

Box List

Box 1
	Biographical information, 1952-1993, undated Correspondence, 1941-1981 Grade report, 1932-1935 Parents, 1876-1956 Photographs, undated Work on Georges Bernanos
		“Le Tragique dans l’oeuvre de GeorgesBernanos,” PhD dissertation, University of Toronto, 1956 Reviews of Le Tragique dans l’oeuvre de Georges Bernanos, 1960-1962 “Georges Bernanos” (French draft of work to be published in Spanish), ca. 1965 “Monsieur Ouine: roman nouveau ou nouveau roman?” in Courrier Georges Bernanos, pp. 36-42, 1971 Miscellaneous
	Work on Marcel Proust
		Proust notes, undated (2 folders)
Box 2
		Proust notes, undated (2 folders) "Theatre and Temple Imagery and Theme in Proust’s A la Recherche du Temps Perdu" humanities lecture, May 5, 1969 "Theatre and Temple Imagery and Theme in Proust’s A la Recherche du Temps Perdu" drafts of unpublished paper, undated (2 folders)

 

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