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Call No.: 84-M30--85-M78, T-168
Repository: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute
Creator: Marguerite Jeanne Queneau, 1903-
Title: Papers, 1834, 1880-1902, 1914-1985
Quantity: 1 carton, 1 oversize folder, 1 folio+ folder, 4 audiotapes
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, articles, etc., of Marguerite Jeanne Queneau, nutritionist and dietitian.

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BIOGRAPHY

Marguerite Jeanne Queneau, a nutritionist and dietitian, was born December 5, 1903, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the eldest daughter and the second of six children of Augustin Lèon Jean and Abbie Jean (Blaisdell) Queneau. A French engineer, MJQ's father accepted a position in Liège, Belgium, and the family settled there in 1912. When the Germans invaded Belgium, ALJQ joined the French army; a few months later, MJQ, her mother, and five siblings escaped to England, where AJBQ joined the Red Cross and eventually became secretary and treasurer of the organization in northern England. During the war, MJQ attended Central Newcastle High School; for more information concerning the school, see Olive Carter, Girls' Public Day School Trust, History of Gateshead High School, 1876-1907, and Central Newcastle High School, 1895-1955 (printed by G.F. Laybourne, Newcastle upon Tyne, n.d.) in the Schlesinger Library. In 1919, MJQ moved to Minneapolis, where she earned a B.S. in home economics at the University of Minnesota in 1925. She served as a hospital dietetic intern at Minneapolis General Hospital in 1926, was nutritionist for the New York City Department of Welfare, 1934-1936, and public health nutritionist for the New York State Department of Health in Albany, 1936-1959. She received an M.A. in child development and parent education from Columbia University Teachers' College in 1941.

From 1943 to 1945, MJQ worked for the United States Army as a hospital dietitian in England; in 1950-1951, she was instructor in maternal and child nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health; and in 1953-1954 she taught at the Institut National d'Hygiène and at the Hôpital Bichat in Paris as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow.

MJQ retired to Boston in 1959, and since then has served in various positions in several nearby hospitals (including Peter Bent Brigham Hospital) and in the Health Department of the City of Newton. In 1962-1963 she was a Nutrition Officer for the Freedom from Hunger Campaign of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy.

MJQ is a member of several professional organizations, and has published articles in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and state health department publications.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This collection is divided into three series:

Series I, Queneau and Blaisdell families, includes genealogical paper, correspondence of ALJQ, AJBQ, and other family members; photographs; certificates; and clippings.

Series II, Personal papers, consists of MJQ's personal correspondence; notes; material relating to her religious activities, particularly as a member of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross; and tapes and transcripts of interviews with MJQ.

Series III, Professional papers, includes correspondence, reports, syllabi, papers, articles, and clippings. It is arranged chronologically and covers her employment from the New York City Department of Welfare to her recent post-retirement activities.

CONTAINER LIST

• Carton 1: 1, 3-10v, 14-20, 25-39, 41-45

INVENTORY

• Series I. QUENEAU AND BLAISDELL FAMILIES
  • 1. Genealogical information, including correspondence, 1960, 1981; appointment (photocopy) of Benjamin Blaisdell as captain in the New Hampshire militia, 1834; D.A.R. application (photocopy) of MJQ's cousin, 1920.
  • 2o. Census records, 1880-1900 (photocopies)
  • 3. Blaisdell family; includes correspondence, 1921, 1924, 1955, 1975 (re: death of Helen E. Blaisdell, MJQ's aunt); bank book, 1921-1926; reunion pamphlet, 1935.
    See also #11.
  • 4. Letters to Helen E. Blaisdell, mostly re: death of AJBQ, 1933.
  • 5-6: Augustin Lè;on Jean Queneau
    • 5. Speech, 1944; correspondence, 1918-1972; includes ALS from Herbert Hoover, resume, and obituary.
    • 6. Citations, 1902, 1941, 1960; also clippings, 1960.
  • 7-10v: Abbie Jean Blaisdell Queneau
    • 7. Correspondence, 1914-1934, n.d.; includes note from Lou Henry Hoover.
    • 8. Certificates, membership cards, address books, essays by AJBQ, clippings re: relief work during World War I, obituary.
    • 9v-10v: American Red Cross Care Committee for American Soldiers and Sailors, n.y.
      • 9v. Minutes
      • 10v. Notes re: income and expenditures
  • 11-13: Photographs.
    FILED IN PHOTOGRAPH DRAWER.
    • 11. Blaisdell family (from #3)
    • 12. Queneau family, mostly AJBQ; also American Red Cross workers in England during World War I.
    • 13. ALJQ, ca.1914

• Series II. PERSONAL PAPERS
  • 14-15. Letters, mostly from AJBQ to MJQ, 1915, 1920-1926
  • 16. Essay by MJQ on family's war experiences in Belgium, 1920(?); notes by MJQ re: trips to France and the West Coast, 1978-1979, 1983; speech given by MJQ at Schlesinger Library, 1984.
  • 17. Re: religious activities; includes correspondence (1959-1978), notes, printed material.
  • 18. Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross; includes paper by MJQ, 1967.
  • 19-24at: Interviews with MJQ
    • 19-20: Transcripts
      • 19. Re: family, 1982(?)
      • 20. 1983; interviewer: Emily Carey.
    • 21ac-24at: Tapes of interviews with MJQ.
      SHELVED AS T-168, reels 1-4.
      • 21ac. Re: family
      • 22-23ac. Interview by Alicia Zdanovich, 1981(?)
      • 24at. Unidentified

• Series III. PROFESSIONAL PAPERS
  • 25. Resume; descriptions of jobs, 1925-1930.
  • 26. Certificates, 1931-1980 (scattered)
  • 27. Notes by MJQ re: work (1934-1936) at New York City Department of Welfare, 1985
  • 28-30: New York State Department of Health
    • 28. Correspondence, reports, assessments of MJQ's work, articles, 1937-1959; also later correspondence, 1971, 1981.
    • 29. Clippings, 1937-1938
    • 30. Letters re: retirement, 1958-1960
  • 31. Teachers' College: papers by MJQ, ca.1941
  • 32. World War II: ALS to sister Bertile, 1944; accounts of employment; certificates; clippings, 1945.
  • 33. Harvard School of Public Health, 1951-1952: correspondence, syllabi, class rosters
  • 34-35: Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, Paris, 1953-1955
    • 34. Correspondence, reports, speeches, articles
    • 35. Journal entries, class notes, reports of MJQ's activities
  • 36. Veterans' Administration (Boston): letters to MJQ, 1959; notes by MJQ, 1984.
  • 37. Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (Boston), 1962, 1968
  • 34-40f+: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
    • 38. Correspondence, 1961-1963; reports; printed material.
    • 39. PHOTOGRAPHS of malnourished children, 1956, 1959.
      FILED IN PHOTOGRAPH DRAWER.
    • 40f+. Clipping re: hunger, 1962
  • 41. Correspondence re: professional activities, 1941-1984
  • 42. Conferences, 1942-1975; includes paper by MJQ given at American Public Health Association meeting, 1942.
  • 43. International activities, 1945-1974(?): correspondence, report, printed material, bibliography
  • 44. Writings re: dietetics, 1928-1973, n.d.
  • 45. Translations, 1955, 1974-1983; includes correspondence, articles, etc.

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