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Betty Bard MacDonald Collection

autographing copies of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Betty MacDonald autographing books, 1947

Betty MacDonald, bestselling mid-century author, specialized in writing humorous personal tales. Known for her books "The Egg and I" and the "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series" of children’s books, she also published other popular books. Her papers, photographs, and American and foreign editions of her books are open to researchers in Special Collections.

The Collection

The collection includes thousands of documents, personal and professional correspondence, legal and real estate records, writings, sound discs, clippings, publicity materials, fan mail, diaries, hundreds of print photos from her personal life, writing career, and professional life, including publicity photographs for the 1946 feature film of The Egg and I starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. The collection also includes Betty MacDonald American and Foreign editions in UW Libraries Special Collections. Select items from the Betty MacDonald collection are accessible here in the Digital Collections.

Books by Betty
Betty MacDonald Books

How the Collection Came to UW Libraries

While researching her book Looking for Betty MacDonald: The Egg, the Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I, author Paula Becker discovered Betty MacDonald’s archives and was given full access. The archives held materials never seen by any researcher. The biography of this endearing Northwest storyteller reveals the story behind the memoirs and the difference between the real Betty MacDonald and her literary persona. Paula Becker arranged for the Betty MacDonald collection to be donated to the UW Libraries Special Collections and then spent hours arranging and describing the collection. The Betty MacDonald papers opened in January 2020.

About Betty

Betty MacDonald sitting at typewriter
Betty MacDonald sitting at typewriter

Betty MacDonald (born Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard) was born to parents Darsie and Elsie/Sydney Bard on March 26, 1907, in Boulder, Colorado. Her family moved often before settling in Seattle, where Betty attended the St. Nicholas School and Lincoln High School before graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1924. She later attended the University of Washington.

On July 9, 1927, Betty married Robert E. Heskett. The couple moved to a small farming community, Center in the Chimacum Valley, near Port Townsend. During this time, Betty and Robert operated an egg ranch. It was this experience that inspired MacDonald to write one of her most famous books, The Egg and I. MacDonald left Heskett after four years of marriage, and returned to Seattle with her daughters, Anne and Joan.

Throughout the 1930s, Betty lived with her mother and sisters (Mary Bard, Dede Bard, and Alison Bard) in Seattle and was eventually hired by the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and then the United States Treasury Department. In 1938, she was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and was admitted to the Firland Sanatorium in Richmond Highlands, Washington. She was discharged in 1939 but the experience inspired her to write "The Plague and I".

She married Donald C. MacDonald on April 29, 1942 and moved with him and her daughters to Vashon Island. While Anne and Joan were in school, Betty and Donald commuted by ferry to Seattle for work each day.

MacDonald's first book, The Egg and I, was published in 1945. It quickly became a bestseller and was eventually translated into many different languages. She continued to write many bestsellers, including The Plague and I, (about her battle with tuberculosis), Anybody Can Do Anything (about surviving the Great Depression) Onions in the Stew, (about raising her daughters on Vashon Island) and her best-selling children's books, the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series and Nancy and Plum.

The MacDonalds purchased ranch land in Carmel Valley, California in 1952. They moved there to ranch cattle in 1956 but continued to travel to Seattle periodically. In 1956, Betty was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She died in Seattle on February 7th, 1958, at the age of 49.


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