Descriptive Summary
David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke
University
McCullers, Carson, 1917-1967.
Carson McCullers Papers, 1941-1995 and undated (bulk 1945-1970)
Material in English
1.2 Linear Feet
300 Items
For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Carson McCullers (1917-1967) was an author, born in Muscogee County, Ga., as Lula Carson Smith. Her husband was Reeves McCullers. Her works included The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) and The Member of the Wedding (1946).
Collection consists of correspondence between McCullers and Tennessee Williams, Dame Edith Sitwell, and cousins, Jordan Massee, Jr., and Paul Bigelow; writings by McCullers; poems by Dame Edith Sitwell; and clippings; together with correspondence from McCullers' mother, Marguerite (Waters) Smith, to Massee and Bigelow, and other papers. Topics include the relationship between McCullers and Williams and their lifestyles, health, moods, travels, residences, and attitudes toward well-known contemporary writers, and McCullers' relationship with her husband, Reeves.
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], Carson McCullers Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Provenance
The Carson McCullers Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library through purchases in 1971, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1995. Donors include Jordan Massee, Kathleen Balten, John Ziegler, and David Battan.
Processing Information
Processed by Pavla Vesela and other staff, May 2004
Encoded by Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Michael Shumate, February 2006
Accessions 10-21-1971, 1-24-1979, 7-23-1980, 9-9-1982, 3-23-1983, 10-21-1983, 7-30-1985, 1995-0074 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
The Carson McCullers Papers were formerly part of a larger collection titled 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
Carson McCullers, born Lula Carson Smith, was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and poetry. She was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1917, and studied piano as a child. She left Georgia for New York City in 1934, where she began taking creative writing classes at Columbia University and New York University. Her first essay,
Wunderkind, was published in 1936.
McCullers returned to the South in 1937 and lived with her husband, Reeves, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, a novel written in the Southern Gothic tradition, was published in 1940. Subsequent works included Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941), The Member of the Wedding (1946), The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1951), and The Square Root of Wonderful (1957).
McCullers' personal life was tumultuous: she divorced Reeves McCullers in 1941, moving to New York and eventually to Paris after World War II, where she was friends with Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote. She remarried Reeves McCullers in 1945, and he committed suicide in 1953. Carson McCullers suffered from depression, alcoholism, and strokes throughout her life. She died in New York in 1967.
Collection Overview
The Carson McCullers Papers span the years 1941-1995 and are divided into six series: Correspondence, Writings, Jordan Massee Notebooks, Photographs, Printed Materials, and Clippings. The Correspondence Series includes numerous letters from Carson McCullers to Jordan Massee, Paul Bigelow, Edith Sitwell, and other friends and family members. Most significant in the series is the correspondence between McCullers and Tennessee Williams, in which both writers touch on a variety of topics such as the writing process, health, marital problems, and their travels. Carson's relationship with her husband, Reeves McCullers, is a frequent topic.
The Writings Series, the largest in the collection, comprises typewritten manuscripts of several long as well as short published works of McCullers, including
The Member of the Wedding (which has handwritten revisions) and The Clock Without Hands. Notable short writings include verses that McCullers wrote for children, an essay on literary criticism, and two short works that are inscribed and signed by the author. At the end of the series there are also two poems by Edith Sitwell.
The Jordan Massee Notebooks Series contains a catalogue that Massee compiled about the McCullers papers he owned, as well as a notebook with notes about McCullers and extracts from his journals.
The Photographs Series consists of five photographs, most of which are of Carson McCullers. Particularly noteworthy is a photograph taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson, where McCullers appears with the editor of Harper's Bazaar, George Davis.
The Printed Materials Series and the Clippings Series both contain reviews of writings by McCullers and materials related to their dramatization. The latter series includes two short essays by Tennessee Williams as well as numerous obituaries published after McCullers's death.
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.
- McCullers, Carson, 1917-1967.
- McCullers, Carson, 1917-1967. Clock Without Hands.
- McCullers, Carson, 1917-1967. Member of the Wedding.
- Bigelow, Paul, d. 1961.
- McCullers, Reeves, 1913-1953.
- Sitwell, Edith, Dame, 1887-1964.
- Smith, Marguerite Waters, 1890-1955.
- Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983.
- Authors, American--Biography.
- Authors, American--Correspondence.
- Women authors--Biography.
- Women authors, American--Georgia.
- Women authors--Relations with men.
- Women authors--20th century.
- Clippings.
- Memorabilia.
- Typescripts.
Related Material
Related materials include the Virginia Spencer Carr 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 the Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Contents of Collection
Correspondence Series, 1944-1978 and undated
Contains letters to and from family members and friends of Carson McCullers, most notably Tennessee Williams. Other prominent correspondents in the series include McCullers's cousins, Jordan Massee, Jr. and Paul Bigelow; Edith Sitwell, and Kathleen Batteen. There are also several letters from Carson's mother, Marguerite Smith, as well as Edward Albee, Bessie Brewer, Marielle Bancou, Julie Harris, Mary Mercer, Glenway Wescott, Robert Whitehead, and Donald Windham.
11944-1948 and undated
1949
1950 Jan. 2-1978 May 9 and undated
Writings Series, 1941-1967 and undated
The largest component of the series is the typewritten manuscript of
The Member of the Wedding, with the author's hand-written corrections. There are numerous variants for certain portions of the novel and material not used in the published version. The series also contains a copy of the manuscript of The Clock without Hands, which was sent at the request of McCullers to Jordan Massee by Robert Lantz of Robin Productions. Other material includes Jordan Massee's notes about The Member of the Wedding, as well as published and unpublished short pieces written by McCullers. Among these are an essay by McCullers entitled Russian Realists and Southern Writers; her contemplation on the writing process; a collection of verses for children originally bound in a notebook, Sweet as a Pickle and Clean as a Pig; handwritten lyrics for a song from The Ballad of the Sad Cafe; and finally, typescripts of The Dual Angel and A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud, inscribed and signed by the author. At the end of the series, there are also two poems by Edith Sitwell, accompanied by Jordan Massee's notes.
Folders are arranged by title or format; materials within each folder are in chronological order.
1Clock Without Hands
Manuscript, 1961 (2 folders)
Member of the Wedding
Information folder, 1983 and undated
Sections 1-55, undated (folders 1-6 of 9)
2Member of the Wedding
Sections 1-55, undated (folders 7-9 of 9)
Short published pieces
1941-1967
The Dual Angel (in Botteghe Obscure, 1952)
Drafts and manuscripts
The Dual Angel, A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud, The Mortgaged Heart, Decision, and a lyric for song from The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, 1951-1954 and undated
Edith Sitwell's poems, 1950 Nov.
Jordan Massee Notebooks Series, 1974-1977
Contains two notebooks compiled in 1974 by Jordan Massee, a cousin and close friend of Carson McCullers, as well as a brief recapitulation that was added three years later. The first notebook is a catalog of the Carson McCullers collection Massee owned; the second notebook consists of excerpts from Massee's journals, 1949-1965, and his household account book for 1956. This volume also contains an introduction by Massee written in 1974, a list of Carson's visits to his apartment in New York in 1957, notes concerning the funeral arrangements for Carson, and his recollections of a conversation with Truman Capote about Carson in July 1965.
21974, Catalogue
1974, XII: Notes
1977, Second recapitulation
Photographs Series, 1946-1959
Contains three large portraits of Carson McCullers, a picture of the author's sister, Margarita Smith (with the headmistress of Ashley Hall in Charleston, Estelle McBee), and a photograph of McCullers with the editor of Harper's Bazaar, George Davis (taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson).
2Photographs, 1946-1959
Printed Materials Series, 1949-1968
Contains several documents related to life and writings of Carson McCullers, including a review of her work in German, a short article about
Clock Without Hands from The New Republic, as well as a small booklet that advertises the publication of the novel.
2Criticism, reviews, advertisements, 1949-1968
Clippings Series, 1946-1955 and undated
Clippings from newspapers, journals, and playbills in this series provide insights into the representation of Carson McCullers by the media. There are short clippings about the author's life, documents regarding the reception and dramatization of her works, as well as brief essays of literary criticism, including two articles written by Tennessee Williams.
2Clippings, 1946-1957
Clippings, 1961-1963
Clippings, 1965-1995 and undated
Obituaries, funeral invoice, and sympathy card, 1967 and undated