Jody Jones Hunter Collection of Mississippi Authors, 1941-2003
Navigate the Collection
Summary
- Creator:
- Hunter, Jody Jones, collector
- Abstract:
- Jody Jones Hunter is a collector of works by certain southern authors taught by William Blackburn. The Mississippi authors represented in this collection include William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying, Light in August), Eudora Welty (The Ponder Heart, The Optimist's Daughter), and Willie Morris (North Toward Home, My Dog Skip). Accession (2008-0079) (2.0 lin. ft.; 1000 items; dated 1941-2003) includes a first edition proof copy of Willie Morris's My Two Oxfords, Good Old Boy and the serialized version of Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding in The Atlantic magazine. Also included are a few pages of correspondence between Welty and her friends. The majority of the collection consists of magazine articles and news clippings about Mississippi writers, in particular these two authors, as well as a small amount of similar material for William Faulkner. There are also 6 videotapes of news coverage and movies made from Welty's and Morris's books, along with oversize photographs of them.
- Extent:
- 2 Linear Feet
1000 Items - Language:
- Material in English
- Collection ID:
- RL.00595
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection includes a wide range of materials, most seeking to document the lives and influences of Mississippi authors. Specifically, the majority of the collection consists of magazines, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and other published interviews and coverage of Eudora Welty and Willie Morris. William Faulkner material is present, but to a much smaller extent, and no primary resource information about Faulkner is available in this collection.
The Eudora Welty materials include correspondence, publications, prints, photographs, and other miscellaneous materials. The correspondence was collected by Jody Jones Hunter, and although it is only a few pages of materials, includes letters in which Welty confides to her recipients about her Fulbright, her resistance to autographing books and articles, her Pulitzer and Gold Medal for Fiction awards, and other personal reflections on her travels and events. Also of note in this series are the first and limited edition materials, including the original serialized version of Welty's "Delta Wedding" in The Atlantic. The majority of the Welty materials are newspapers and clippings, magazine articles, and other brochures and ephemera that discuss Welty or include interviews with her.
The Willie Morris materials also include some first edition and proof copies of his works, including My Two Oxfords and Good Old Boy. Like the Welty materials, the majority of this series consists of magazine and newspaper articles about Morris, as well as miscellaneous Morris-related brochures and ephemera. There are also some photographs of him with Pete, his dog, and with Eudora Welty.
The remainder of the collection consists of general Mississippi and Southern magazine coverage. One folder of materials relates to William Faulkner, consisting largely of Faulkner newsletters from the University of Mississippi. Also included are several videotapes of commercially-produced renditions of Welty's and Morris's work, such as My Dog Skip and Why I Live at the PO, along with taped newscasts or interviews of the authors.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Jody Jones Hunter is a collector of works by certain southern authors taught by William Blackburn. The Mississippi authors represented in this collection include William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and Willie Morris.
William Faulkner (1897-1962) was born in New Albany, Mississippi, and spent most of his life in Oxford, Mississippi. He wrote both novels and short stories, most of them based in Mississippi. Some of his works include The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and Absalom, Absalom!. He was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature, as well as two Pulitzers for his novels.
Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was born and spent most of her life in Jackson, Mississippi. She was a photographer for the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s, eventually choosing to work on her writing. She wrote novels, short stories, and non-fiction, eventually winning the Pulitzer Prize (1973), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1980), and numerous other awards. Some of her works include The Ponder Heart, The Optimist's Daughter, "Petrified Man," and "Why I Live at the PO."
Willie Morris (1934-1999) was born in Jackson and grew up in Yazoo City, Mississippi. He left the state for college and eventually studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. After serving as editor of Harper's Magazine, Morris returned to the South and became a writer-in-residence at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Some of his works include My Dog Skip, Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood, North Toward Home, and My Mississippi.
- Acquisition information:
- The Jody Jones Hunter Collection of Mississippi Authors were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2008.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Meghan Lyon, November 2009
Encoded by Meghan Lyon, November 2009
Materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
Contents
Using These Materials
- Using These Materials Links:
-
Using These Materials
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.
- Terms of access:
-
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.
- Before you visit:
- Please consult our up-to-date information for visitors page, as our services and guidelines periodically change.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Jody Jones Hunter Collection of Mississippi Authors, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University