carrvirginiaspencer Inventory of the Virginia Spencer Carr Papers, 1867-2009 Processed by: Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, and other staff; machine-readable finding aid created by: Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Michael Shumate David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, N.C., USA

(C) 2009 Duke University. All Rights Reserved.

Aleph Number: 000851076

 Machine-readable finding aid derived from XML authoring program. Date of source: February 2006Processed by Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, and other staff, May 15 2004; finding aid encoded by Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Michael Shumate, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, February 2006 Description is in English Finding aid was prepared using DACS and local Style Guide Inventory of the Virginia Spencer Carr Papers, 1867-2009 and undated David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185 USA

(C) 2009 Duke University. All Rights Reserved.

 Descriptive Summary David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University Carr, Virginia Spencer. Virginia Spencer Carr Papers, 1867-2009 and undated, bulk 1970-1977 Material in English 6.6 Linear Feet 2480 Items For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Scholar and a professor of American literature at Georgia State University. Her first book was The Lonely Hunter: A Biography of Carson McCullers. Correspondence, notes, drafts, clippings, and other materials used by Carr in writing The Lonely Hunter (1975), a biography of Southern author Carson McCullers. Includes correspondence between Carr and McCullers' friends and relatives and literary and artistic figures, notes from interviews, McCullers family correspondence, genealogy, and drafts of Carr's doctoral dissertation on McCullers as well as drafts and foundry proofs for The Lonely Hunter. Includes material on Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., February House, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., and Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Middlebury, Vt. Persons represented in the collection include Elizabeth Ames, W. H. Auden, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, John Ciardi, David Leo Diamond, Granville Hicks, John Huston, Jordan Massee, Louis Untermeyer, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Leo Lerman, and Eleanor Clarke Warren. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.

Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

 Copyright Notice

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

 Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Virginia Spencer Carr Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

 Provenance

The Virginia Spencer Carr Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 1977 and 1981.

Processing Information

Processed by Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, and other staff, May 15 2004

Accession 2009-0088 added to Virginia Spencer Carr papers by Alice Poffinberger, September 17 2009.

Encoded by Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Michael Shumate, February 2006

Encoding updated by Meghan Lyon, December 2009

Accessions were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

The Virginia Spencer Carr Papers were formerly part of the Collections on Carson McCullers.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

 Biographical Note

Virginia Spencer Carr earned her Ph.D. at Florida State University in 1969. She taught courses in the American novel, American writers and poets, literature of the South, and the writing of biography at Georgia State University. The Lonely Hunter: A Biography of Carson McCullers was her first book, and was awarded the Francis Butler Simkins Prize from the Southern Historical Society and Longwood College for distinguished writing in Southern History. Her second book, Dos Passos: A Life, was selected Best Book of Nonfiction for 1984 by the Dixie Council of Author and Journalists. Dr. Carr holds an honorary doctorate in humane letters (Lynchburg College). She also was a Senior Fulbright Professor at the University of Wroclaw, Poland (1980), and held the 1993 Stanley J. Kahrl Fellowship in Theater History at Harvard University.

 Collection Overview

The Virginia Spencer Carr Papers span the years 1867 to 2009 and document the research and production of Carr's biography of Carson McCullers, The Lonely Hunter. Formats include correspondence, notes, drafts, and clippings. The collection consists of four series: Alphabetical Files, Research Files, Correspondence by McCullers Family, and Drafts and Proofs. The Alphabetical Files Series consists primarily of correspondence and interview notes between Carr and the many individuals she contacted while doing research for her book. Prominent correspondents include David Leo Diamond, Jordan Massee, Edwin Peacock, Mary Mercer, Mary S. Tucker, and Doubleday Publishing. Materials in the Research Files Series also include a large number of copies of correspondence, primarily letters written by Carson McCullers. There are also some clippings, notes from interviews that Carr conducted and letters she received in reaction to the publication of her book. The Correspondence by McCullers Family Series consists of copies of letters written primarily by Carson McCullers to her friends and family, including Reeves McCullers, David Leo Diamond, and her mother, Marguerite Waters Smith. There is also a series of letters McCullers wrote John Huston in the last year of her life. Finally, the Drafts and Proofs Series includes a copy of Carr's doctoral dissertation on Carson McCullers and notes that served in its preparation. There are also edited sections of the manuscript of the The Lonely Hunter, as well as a foundry proof and a galley of the same.

 Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.

Carr, Virginia Spencer. Lonely hunter. Ames, Elizabeth. Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973. Bernstein, Leonard, 1918-1990. Bowles, Paul, 1910-1999. Ciardi, John, 1916-1986. Diamond, David, 1915-2005. Hicks, Granville, 1901-1982. Huston, John, 1906-1987. Lerman, Leo. McCullers, Carson, 1917-1967. Warren, Eleanor, 1913- Yaddo (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) February House (Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.) Bread Loaf Writers' Conference at Middlebury College. American literature--Women authors. Women authors, American--Southern States. Related Material

Related materials include the Carson McCullers Papers, the Mary E. Mercer Collection of Carson McCullers-Mary Tucker Correspondence, the Edwin Peacock Papers, and the Mary Sames Tucker Papers, all housed at Duke University in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

 Contents of Collection Alphabetical Files Series, 1867-2009 and undated (7 boxes)

The largest in the collection, this series consists primarily of correspondence and interview notes with various people to whom Carr wrote while doing research for her biography of McCullers. Among the many writers, artists, and friends of McCullers that Carr contacted, there are Edward Albee, W.H. Auden, Djuna Barnes, Simone de Beauvoir, Elizabeth Bowen, Salvator Dali, Greta Garbo, Graham Greene, Christopher Isherwood, and Alberto Moravia. While many of the people Carr addressed refused to cooperate with her biography, numerous others offered their assistance, and the series includes significant material from and about David Diamond, Jordan Massee, Edwin Peacock, Mary S. Tucker, and Tennessee Williams. The series is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the correspondent, but is preceded by four folders with general information, including addresses and notes about the people represented in the series.

1Addresses, 1970-1971 and undated Bibliography, undated Information folder, 1977 and undated Notes on persons in files, undated Abels, Cirilly, 1972-1973 and undated Adams, John Vincent, 1946-1975 and undated Albee, Edward Franklin, 1963-1975 Alexander Aimee, 1968-1974 and undated American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1952-1973 and undated Ames, Elizabeth, 1970-1974 Arkin, Alan, 1970 Arvin, Newton, 1971 and undated Aschaffenburg, Walter, 1973 Aswell, Mary Louis (White), 1972 Auchincloss, Louis, 1971-1976 and undated Auden, W. H., 1970-1975 and undated Avedon, Richard, 1974 Awards of McCullers, 1970-1971 and undated Bahr, Jerome, 1971 Balakian, Nona, 1961-1973 and undated Bancou, Mariello, 1971-1974 and undated Barnes, Djuna, 1965-1973 Baxter, Anne, 1971-1975 and undated Bay, Andre and Chedid, Andree, 1972-1973 Beaton, Cecil, 1970-1972 de Beauvoir, Simone, 1970-1971 Berman, Eugene, 1965-1971 Bernstein, Leonard, 1968-1970 and undated Bigelow, Paul, 1971-1974 Blackwell, Betsy Talbot, 1972-1973 Bloomgarden, Kermit, 1971-1973 Bolster, George, 1973-1974 Bourjaily, Vance, 1973 Bowen, Elizabeth, 1951-1972 and undated Bowles, Paul, 1970-1971 and undated Boyle, Kay, 1962-1971 Bradley Library, 1973 Bread Loaf Writers Conference, 1970-1973 and undated Britten, Benjamin, 1968-1970 and undated 2Brown, John Lackey, 1970-1973 and undated Burford, Kay, 1973-1974 Burnett, Whit, 1936-1975 and undated Calisher, Hortense, 1970-1973 and undated Cameron, Polly, 1971-1973 Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 1973-1976 and undated Charleston Evening Post, 1974 Cheney, Brainard, 1972-1973 Cheltenham Arts Festival, 1970 Clark-Schwarzenbach, Annemarle, 1940-1973 and undated Clarke, David, 1972 Clay, Helena, 1972 and undated Cleckley, Hervey Milton, 1970-1975 Clurman, Harold, 1950-1973 Columbia Broadcasting System, 1970 Columbus College Foundation Grant, 1970-1972 Connelly, Mark, 1971 and undated Copland, Aaron, 1970 Cordona, Charlie, 1971 Cornell, Katherine, 1972 Cowley, Malcolm, 1963-1975 Crawford, Cheryl, 1968-1973 Dahl-Wolfe, Louise, 1971-1973 and undated Dale, Marion, 1970-1971 Dalmas, John, 1975-1976 Dali, Salvador, 1961-1972 Davis, Dorothy Salisbury, 1971 Deceased, 1971-1973 del Corso, Gasparo, 1972-1973 and undated Deutsch, Babette, 1973 de Wilde, Brandon, 1961-1972 Diamond, David, 1966-1975 and undated Dinesen, Isak, 1957-1974 and undated Doar, Harriet, 1963-1973 Doubleday Publishing, 1971-1976 and undated (folders 1-2 of 3) 3Doubleday Publishing, 1971-1976 and undated (folder 3 of 3) Drutman, Irving, 1972 Edel, Leon, 1971-1972 Erlich, Leonard, 1972-1974 and undated Eisendrath, David, 1973 Ellison, Ralph Waldo, 1971 English, Margaret, 1971 Erskine, Albert, 1972-1974 Eustis, Helen, 1972-1974 and undated Evans, Oliver, 1952-1970 and undated February House, 1867-1972 and undated Feibleman, Peter, 1971-1974 and undated Ferguson, Nancy, 1970-1971 Fite, Harvey, 1973-1974 Flanner, Janet, 1970-1973 and undated Foley, Martha, 1970-1971 Foreign Publishers, 1972-1974 and undated Formentor Prize, 1962 French, Kenneth, 1970-1975 Fullilove, Jack, 1970-1973 Garbo, Greta, 1971 Garnett, David, 1963-1973 Gascoyne, David, 1971-1973 Gikow, Rita, 1971 Gordon, Larry, 1974 Goyen, William, 1972-1973 Graphic House, Inc., 1974 Grau, Shirley Ann, 1959-1975 Greene, Graham, 1970-1971 Hackett, Albert and Frances, 1971 Hammerschlag, Ernst, 1972-1973 Harris, Julie, 1970-1972 and undated Harvey, Helen, 1970-1973 Hassan, Ihab, 1964-1975 Havoc, Julie, 1966-1973 Hayes, Helen, 1966-1973 and undated Heffelfinger, Heaton, 1971-1973 Heller, Joseph, 1971-1973 Hellman, Lillian, 1970-1973 Hicks, Granville, 1964-1973 and undated Holton, Nina, 1972 Houghton Miflin Publishing, undated Howard, Elizabeth Jane, 1972-1973 Howard, Leila Caetani, 1973 Howe, Irving, 1961-1971 Hull, Helen Rose, 1964-1970 Huston, John, 1966-1976 4Isherwood, Christopher, 1968-1973 Johnson, Greer, 1947-1973 Johnson, Nunnally, 1971 Johnson, Uwe, 1972-1973 Kaldor, Peter, 1971 Kallman, Chester, 1970 Kantorowicz, Alfred, 1970-1976 Kazin, Alfred, 1971-1975 Keathley, George, 1966-1971 Kellogg, Marjorie, 1971-1973 Kirstein, Lincoln, 1968-1973 Kramer, Stanley, 1968-1973 Kuhn, Werner, 1974 Lang, George, 1973 Lantz, Robert, 1970-1972 Lasky, Floria, 1970-1976 and undated Lee, Gypsy Rose, 1971 Lee, Harper, 1972-1973 Leggett, John, 1972 Lehmann, John, 1973 and undated Lehmann, Rosa, 1971-1973 Lenya, Lotte, 1966-1976 and undated Lerman, Leo, 1972-1973 Lewis, Stanley, 1970-1975 and undated Library Correspondence, 1971-1974 and undated Linscott, Robert, 1965-1973 Logan, Joshua, 1973 and undated Lonely Hunting, undated Long, Margaret, 1965-1972 Lopatnikoff, Nikolai, 1972 Luce, Claire Booth, 1972 Lyndon, Andrew, 1970-1975 and undated Maas, Willard and Marie, 1970-1973 McCullers's Memorabilia, 1940-1973 and undated McCullers's Poetry, 1941-1970 McCullers Symposium, 1970-1975 McDowell, David, 1971-1973 McGill, Ralph, 1971 and undated MacGregor, Robert M., 1972 Mclendon, Gay Noe, 1972-1974 Mac Neice, Louis, 1942-1970 Macombe, Rev. Anthony, 1971 Magazines, 1971-1972 and undated Magruder, Felicia, 1972 Malin, Irving, 1975 Mangione, Jerre, 1972-1973 Mann, Golo, 1942-1972 and undated Mann, Marty, 1972-1973 and undated 5Mann, Theodore, 1971-1972 Marks, Joseph, 1971 Marks, Robert, 1970-1973 Marre, Albert, 1973 and undated Martin, Mary, 1972-1973 Martineau, Florence, 1972 Massee, Jordan, 1951-1976 and undated  (2 folders) McCullers, James Reeves Jr., 1967-1973 and undated Medical records, 1970-1973 and undated Mercer, Mary, 1970-1973 and undated Miller, Arthur, 1970-1973 Mielziner, Jo, 1972 Miscellaneous, 1967-1974 and undated Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1970-1974 Mohrt, Michael, 1972-1973 Monti, Mario, 1973 Moody, Rev. Howard, 1973 Moore, Marianne, 1970-1971 Moravia, Alberto, 1970-1973 Morris, Alice, 1970-1973 Morris, Ira and Edita, 1971 Morrison, Theodore, 1972 Mortgaged Heart, 1971-1972 Mullin, Josephine, 1971 Murray, Natalie Denesi, 1971-1973 Murray, Terry, 1970 6New York Times, 1940-1971 Newhouse, Edward, 1970-1973 and undated Nin, Anaïs, 1969-1970 and undated Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy, 1971 Orkin, Ruth, 1971-1974 and undated Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1971 Page, Lucy Q., 1972 Peacock, Edwin, 1970-1975 and undated Pears, Peter, 1968-1970 Permission lists, 1973 Phelps, Robert, 1968-1971 Photographers, 1974-1975 Pitts, Rebecca E., 1972-1974 and undated Plagemann, Bentz, 1971-1973 Polakov, Lester, 1971-1973 Poor, Henry Varnum, 1970-1972 Porter, Dr. Frederick S., 1970 Porter, Katherine Anne, 1970-1976 Presley, Dr. Delma E., 1970-1972 and undated Price, Edward, 1972-1973 Pritchett, Victor Sawdon, 1970-1971 Pugh, St. Clair, 1972 Quintero, Jose, 1972-1974 and undated Rahv, Philip, 1972-1974 Redbook, 1971 Reed, Rex, 1968-1972 Reeder, Ida, 1970-1973 and undated Rodgers, Mary, 1970-1975 and undated Rodriguez, Pancho, 1971-1974 Romano, Emanuel, 1961-1972 and undated Rougemont, Denis de, 1970-1971 Rukeyser, Muriel, 1962-1974 and undated Rutherford, Dame Margaret, 1971 Ryan, Thomas C., 1970-1973 and undated Sagan, Franqoise, 1969-1970 Saint George's Hospital (London, England), 1973 Saint Just, Maria, 1972 Saint Subber, Arnold, 1970-1972 Sartre, Jean-Paul, 1972 School Records (Carson Smith McCullers), 1930-1972 Schorer, Mark, 1963-1975 Searle, Ronald, 1973 Sibley, Celestine, 1973 Sitwell, Dame Edith and Sir Sacheverell, 1954-1976 and undated Simmons, Dawn Pepita (Langley-Hall), 1954-1974 and undated Smith, Lamar, 1970-1974 Smith, Lillian, 1965-1972 and undated Smith, Margarita G., 1970-1972 and undated Smith, Oliver, 1961-1973 and undated 7Smith, Simeon, 1970 and undated Snelling, Paula, 1936-1971 Spender, Stephen, 1965-1972 Stafford, Jean, 1970-1971 Stapleton, Maureen, 1971 Starke Avenue, 1972 Steele, Max, 1970-1971 Stegner, Wallace Earle, 1972 Stern, James, 1972-1974 Strassburg, Lee and Paula, 1971 Stringer, Edward, 1971 Styron, William, 1972 Sykes, Gerald, 1970-1971 Taylor, Elizabeth, 1970 Thomson, Virgil, 1966-1970 Trussell, Dr. Ray E., 1973 Tucker, Mary, 1970-1973 University of Texas (Austin) Library, 1970-1973 and undated Untermeyer, Louis, 1941-1975 and undated Valente, Alfredo, 1973 Van den Heuvel, Jean, 1970-1973 and undated Van Vechten, Carl, 1971-1974 Vidal, Gore, 1970 Von Opel, Margo, 1972 Walden, Robert, 1970-1973 and undated Walter, Eugene, 1965-1973 Warren, Eleanor (Clark) and Robert Penn, 1955-1973 and undated Waters, Ethel, 1950-1971 Watkins, Armitage, 1971-1972 and undated Webb, Constance, 1970-1973 and undated Wells, Ruth, 1971-1972 Welty, Eudora, 1971 Wersba, Barbara, 1973 Wescott, Glenway, 1965-1972 and undated Whitehead, Robert, 1949-1974 Will (Carson Smith McCullers), 1951-1970 William Morris Theatrical Agency, 1971-1973 Williams, Tennessee, 1948-1976 and undated Wood, Audrey, 1970-1973 Woolfolk, Harrell, 1971-1975 Woodruff, Kathleen, 1971 Wouk, Herman, 1972 Yaddo School for Writers, 1971-1975 Young, Marguerite, 1970-1973 Yourcenar, Marguerite, 1971 Zeigler, John, 1989-2009 Zinnemann, Fred, 1973 Research Files Series, 1907-1976 and undated (2 boxes)

Consists of various materials that Carr compiled while preparing the publication of her biography of McCullers. The bulk are copies of correspondence (written primarily by Carson McCullers), notes from interviews Carr conducted, clippings, and several journal articles. Other documents in the series include acknowledgements for The Lonely Hunter and readers' reactions to the book's publication. The series is arranged alphabetically, and then chronologically within individual folders.

 8Acknowledgments for book, 1970-1973 and undated Chronology (of Carson Smith McCullers), undated Genealogy, undated Genealogy, 1907-1972 and undated Hometown interview notes, 1970-1971 and undated Interpolated interview notes, 1973 Letters relating to The Lonely Hunter 1972-1976 Feb. 1975 (2 folders) 1976 Mar.-Dec. and undated Local people, 1970-1973 and undated Miscellaneous notes, undated Pictures and photographers (comments), 1963-1974 and undated Sources, 1933-1943 (folders 1-2 of 11) 9Sources, 1944-1975 (folders 3-11 of 11) Correspondence by McCullers Family Series, 1933-1967 and undated (2 boxes)

Contains correspondence written primarily by Carson McCullers, even though there are several by others, including her husband Reeves. By far the greatest number of letters are from McCullers to David Leo Diamond, written in the early and middle 1940s, and to John Huston, from the last year of her life (1966-1967). The series also contains some correspondence addressed to Jordan Massee, Edwin Peacock, Muriel Rukeyser, and Carson's mother, Marguerite Smith. Folders are arranged in alphabetical order; materials inside them are organized chronologically.

 9Arvin, Newton, 1941 Bradley Library, 1958 Burnett, Whit, 1936 Connelly, Mare, 1952 Diamond, David, 1941-1961 and undated (2 folders) 10Harris, Julie, 1955 Huston, John, 1966-1967 and undated Kantorowiez, Alfred, undated Mann, Klaus, 1942-1945 Massee, Jordan, 1949 McCullers, James Reeves, 1933-1951 and undated Peacock, Edwin, 1943-1963 and undated Rukeyser, Muriel, 1941-1942 Smith, Lillian, 1954-1961 Smith, Marguerite (Waters), 1942-1951 Strassburg, Lee and Paula, 1971 Walden, Robert and Newberry, Edward, 1954 Whitehead, Robert, 1949 Woodruff, Kathleen, undated Drafts and Proofs Series, 1975 and undated (2 boxes)

Divided into three subseries, the first of which contains a copy of Virginia Carr's doctoral dissertation on Carson McCullers, completed in 1969 at Florida State University, and the notes for her dissertation. The second subseries consists of manuscript portions of the The Lonely Hunter, edited with marginalia by such persons as David Leo Diamond, Leo Lerman, and Eleanor Warren. Finally, in the last subseries, there is a foundry proof and a galley of the completed biography. Folders in the series are arranged alphabetically; materials in them remain in original order.

 10Doctoral dissertation Chapters 1-End, undated (2 folders) Notes, undated (3 folders) Edited manuscripts Abels, Cyrilly, undated Bancou, Marielle, undated Calisher, Hortense, undated Diamond, David, undated 11Edited manuscripts Eustis, Helen, undated Hellman, Lillian, undated Lerman, Leo, undated Newhouse, Edward, undated Plagemann, Bentz, undated Warren, Eleanor (Clark), undated Foundry proof, The Lonely Hunter, 1975 Galley, The Lonely Hunter, 1975