Papers of Margaret Prendergast McLean

Margaret Prendergast McLean (1878-1961) graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1899. She was born near Fort Collins, Colorado, and attended local schools in her youth. Enrollment and graduation records at the college list her as Marguerite Prendergast.

After graduation from Colorado State University, she became the assistant in the cooking department at Colorado Chautauqua. In 1901, she assumed responsibility for cooking in the sociological department of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company located in Pueblo, Colorado. She returned to Colorado Chautauqua, this time in the sewing department in 1903. She returned to Fort Collins and the college as a sewing instructor in 1904. McLean was promoted to Head of the Department of Domestic Science by 1906. A year later she married John Allan McLean and left her teaching position at the college.

McLean went on to study dramatics with Professor William Tilly at Columbia University for eight years. She worked with the Leland Powers School of Boston and the Cornish School of Drama and Dance of Seattle before studying voice and diction in London, England, with Daniel Jones. From 1924 through 1930, McLean was the Head of the Department of Diction at the American Laboratory Theatre of New York. When Madame Marie Ouspenskaya opened the Studio of Dramatic Art in Hollywood, McLean moved and taught there. Additional prominent schools where McLean taught courses include New York University, the University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Denver.

She wrote several books on the subjects of speech and diction. McLean became a well-known and respected authority in the fields. Her book Good American Speech became a standard volume for courses on the subject. At Colorado State University's 75th Anniversary commencement, McLean was named the Honor Alumnus of 1945 and received an honorary Doctor of Science. Ruth J. Wattles may have nominated McLean for these honors. In 1959, McLean taught dramatics at the David Seabury School of Psychology and the Leontovich Dramatics School in Hollywood. For three decades, she taught speech, voice, dialects, and dramatic interpretation to film stars.

By 1961, she relocated to the National Jewish Hospital of Denver for treatment of tuberculosis. During her hospitalization, she was writing a book on dialects. Later that year, she died in Denver.