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[Identification of item], Mary E. Mercer Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
The Mary E. Mercer Collection of Carson McCullers-Mary Tucker Correspondence was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a gift in 2001.
Processed by Pavla Vesela and other staff, May 15, 2004
Encoded by Pavla Vesela, Brittany E. Wilson, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Michael Shumate, February 2006
Encoding updated by Meghan Lyon, February 2010
Accession 2001-0077 is described in this finding aid.
The Mary E. Mercer Collection of Carson McCullers-Mary Tucker Correspondence was formerly known as both the Mary E. Mercer Papers and the Carson McCullers-Mary Tucker Correspondence. It was initially described as part of the Collections on Carson McCullers.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Mary Mercer was born in Connecticut, graduated from Simmons College in Boston, and received her M.D. from the University of Colorado. Before opening a private practice in Nyack in 1958, she worked in New York Hospital and at the Payne Whitney Clinic. In 1958, she became Carson McCullers's therapist and eventually a close friend and correspondent.
The Mary E. Mercer Collection of Carson McCullers-Mary Tucker Correspondence, 1959-1976, contain letters written primarily to Dr. Mercer by Mary Tucker, Carson McCullers's piano teacher and a long-time close friend. Most correspondence concerns the life and work of McCullers; however, there are also several letters written after the death of the author, regarding her biographers and the allocation of her papers to various libraries. Topics include the writer's mental and physical health, her work, and Tucker and Mercer's love and admiration for the author. There is also correspondence between Tucker and Mercer regarding various biographers of McCullers and the purchase of her papers by Duke University. The papers also include several copies of Mercer's own letters and a slide of Mary Tucker taken by Mary Mercer. Arranged in chronological order.
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.
Related materials include the Carson McCullers Papers, the Virginia Spencer Carr Papers, the Edwin Peacock Papers, and the Mary Sames Tucker Papers, all housed at Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Contains a slide of Mary Tucker on Columbus trip, taken by Mary Mercer.