Cassette Tape 13 -- Special Letters

File — Box: 1, Folder: 13

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

These papers include Sullivan's school papers, research materials (mainly focusing on Carson McCullers and Lillian Smith) from graduate school through her later life, newspaper clippings of local and national events, copies of her dissertation, and a varied and voluminous correspondence.

Below are two lists of selected correspondents; one alphabetically by signature and the other by last name, if known:

Selected Correspondents of Margaret S. Sullivan, alphabetically by the name they used in correspondence:

Alberta = Alberta Schwartz

Alice = Alice Clark

Alice = Alice Degilio

Alicia = Alicia Jurado

Alva = Alva Current-Garcia

Ann = Ann and Howard (last name not known)

Arlin = Arlin Turner

Arthur = Arthur Rosenthal

Barbara = Barbara Freeman

Barbara = Barbara and Bob Kernelk

Barbara = Barbara Maris

Barbara = Frank and Barbara Star

Beau = Beau Brian

Belle (or Aunt Belle) = Mrs. Clarence Bailey

Bev = Beveridge Webster

Bill = William Erwin

Carlton = Carlton Johnson

Caroline = Caroline Cable

Casey = unidentified

Cesi = Cecilia Cook

Chuck = Charles Padora

Clint = Clinton J. Atkinson

Clarence (or Uncle Speedy) = Clarence Bailey

Constance = Constance Johnson

Cora = Cora Howell, later Mrs. J. J. Sullivan

Dawn = Dawn Langley Simmons, a.k.a. Pepita

Dean = Dean Barton

Dee = Dee Rainey

Diane = Tim and Diane Aureden

Dick = Richard and Lilo Larner

Dolores = Mrs. Rick Eckberg

Don = Don Dixon

Donald = Donald Diamon

Donna = Donna and B. T. (Bennie) Abbott

Doris = Doris Bullock

Dot = Dorothy Lewis Griffith

Edwin = Edwin Peacock

Elizabeth = Elizabeth Barton

Emily (Miss Emily) = Mrs. Colin Davies

Emily (Miss Emily) = Emily Massee, later Mrs. James F. Brown

Emily = Emily Woodruff

Estelle (Miss Estelle) = Mrs. W. E. H. Searcy, III

Esther = Esther Smith

Fred = Frederick Marshall Karsten

Gene = Gene Current-Garcia

Genie = Genie Rose

George = George P. Brockway

Gin = Virginia Tucker, later Mrs. Thomas Melgaard

Helen = Helen Anne Caine, later Mrs. Benjamin Ira Franklin

Helen = Helen Harvey

Humphrey = unidentified

Isabelle = Jim and Isabelle Portner

Jay and Zee = Jay and Zee Claiborne

Jim = Jim and Isabelle Portner

John = unidentified

Judy = Judy Brown

Judy = Judy Frazer and later Mrs. Bernice (Bernie) Brouillette

Judy = Judy Ludwig

Judy = Mrs. Fred Stoll (of NYC in 1976)

Karen = Karen Tucker Melgaard, later Mrs. Russell Ward Miller

Lee = Nathalie Lee Goldstein

Lil = Lillian Smith

Liz = Elizabeth Barton

Liza = Liza Molodovsky

Locke = Locke Bullock

Louise = unidentified

Margaret = Margaret Smith, a.k.a. Rita (the sister of Carson McCullers)

Maris = Maris Urbans

Mark = Mark Orton, later married to Doris Cunningham

Mary = Mary Ames

Mary = Mary Dawson

Mary = Mary Louise Lasher

Mary = Mary Elizabeth Mercer, MD

Mary = Mary Tucker

Mary Ann = Mary Ann and Henry (last name not known)

Mary Ann = Mary Ann Taylor

Mary Ellen = Mary Ellen Templeton

Mitsy = Edna H. Campbell, later Mrs. Imre Kovacs

Monica = Monica Fleishman

Muriel = Muriel McClanahan

Myrtis = Mrs. H. Maxwell Morrison, Jr.

Nancy = Nancy Bunge

Nancy = Nancy Bush

Nelson = Nelson Shipp

Noel = Noel Dorman

Noel = Noel Mawer

Norman = Norman Rothschild

Odessa = Odessa Elliott

Olga = Olga Perlgueig, a.k.a. Olga Merx

Pastora = unidentified

Pat = Mrs. Harold Davis

Pat = Pat Stutts

Pat = Patricia Sullivan, later Mrs. Frank H. Conner, Jr.

Paula = Paula Snelling

Pepita = Dawn Langley Simons

Rinky = Mrs. Charles J. Caine

Rita = Margarita Smith (the sister of Carson McCullers)

Roberta = Mrs. J. E. Bush

Ruth = Mrs. William H. Barns

Ruth = Ruth and Richard Howell

Ruth = Ruth Lehmann

Sally = Sally Fitzgerald

Sally = Sally and Bill Thomas

Sam = Sam and Cheryl Dimon

Sissie = Bill and Sissie Morris

Speedy (Uncle Speedy) = Clarence Bailey

Susan = Mrs. Tom Rogan

Susan = Susan Sigmon

Susanne = Susanne Schaup

Tom = Tom Wrergbricke

Virginia = Virginia Spencer Carr

Virginia = Virginia Tucker, later Mrs. Thomas Melgaard

Walter = Walter Sturdivant

Selected Correspondents of Margaret S. Sullivan by last name (if known):

Abbott, Mrs. B. T (Bennie); known as Donna

Aureden, Tim and Diane

Ames, Mary

Ann and Howard (not otherwise identified)

Atkinson, Clinton J. (1928-2002); actor and director, working mostly in New York, and friend of Margaret S. Sullivan

Bailey, Belle and Clarence (Aunt Bell and Uncle Speedy); relatives on Cora Howell Sullivan's side of the family

Barns, Mrs. William H., known as Ruth

Barton, Dean; 5th grade teacher of Carson McCullers

Barton, Elizabeth; sister of Dean Barton, 5th grade teacher of Carson McCullers

Brian, Beau

Brockway, George P.; editor of Lillian Smith

Brouillette, Judy Frazer; life-long friend of Margaret S. Sullivan, married to Bernard (Bernie) Brouillette in 1967

Brown, Emily Massee (Miss Emily); married to James F. Brown and sister of Jordan Massee, a cousin of Carson McCullers

Brown, Judy

Bullock, Locke and Doris

Bunge, Nancy; teaching colleague and friend of Margaret S. Sullivan

Bush, Catherine; niece of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan and daughter of John and Nancy Sullivan Bush

Bush, Jeff; nephew of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan and son of John and Nancy Sullivan Bush

Bush, Nancy Sullivan (1935-1999); sister of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan, married to John Karl Bush

Bush, Roberta; the mother-in-law of Nancy Sullivan Bush

Bush, Steve; nephew of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan and son of John and Nancy Sullivan Bush

Cable, Caroline

Cain, Helen see: Mrs. Benjamin Ira Franklin

Caine, Mrs. Charles J., known as Rinky

Campbell, Edna H see: Kovacs, Mitsy

Carr, Virginia Spencer; biographer of Carson McCullers and research rival of Margaret Sullivan

Claiborne, Jay and Zee

Clark, Alice

Conner, Patricia Sullivan (1936-2003), known as Pat or Patsy; sister of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan, married to Frank H. Conner, Jr.

Conner, Frank H., III; nephew of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan, son of Frank H., Jr. and Patricia Sullivan Conner, married to Susan

Conner, William Jordan "Will"; nephew of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan and son of Frank H. Conner, Jr. and Patricia Sullivan Conner, married to Natalie

Conner, Ann (d. 1999); niece of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan daughter of Frank H. Conner, Jr. and Patricia Sullivan Conner, married to John Kraynik

Cook, Cathy and Bruce; parents of Cecilia (Cesi), Bob and Katy Cook

Cook, Cecilia, known as Cesi; daughter of Cathy and Bruce Cook

Current-Garcia, Alva and Gene

Davies, Mrs. Colin, known as Miss Emily; daughter of a Methodist preacher who lived in Columbus while Carson McCullers lived there. Was very useful to Sullivan in her McCullers research

Davis, Pat; married to Harold Davis

Dawson, Mary; friend of Margaret S. Sullivan

Degilio, Alice

Diamond, Donald (1915-2005); musician and teacher at Julliard, and a friend of Carson McCullers and her family. Very useful to Sullivan in her McCullers research.

Dimon, Sam and Cheryl

Dixon, Don

Dorman, Noel

Eckberg, Jason, son of Dolores Eckberg

Eckberg, Mrs. Rick (Dolores), mother of Jason

Elliott, Odessa

Erwin, William (Bill)

Fitzgerald, Sally (1917-2000); friend and biographer of Flannery O'Connor, as well as the editor of her letters and short stories. Also friend of Margaret S. Sullivan.

Fleishman, Monica

Franklin, Mrs. Benjamin Ira, born Helen Cain

Frazer, Judy, see; Brouillette, Judy Frazer

Freeman, Barbara

Goldstein, Nathalie Lee; McCullers scholar and friend of Margaret S. Sullivan

Griffith, Dorothy Lewis (b. 1932); pianist and friend of McCullers' piano teacher, Mary Tucker. She became a long-time friend and correspondent of Margaret S. Sullivan

Harvey, Helen; neighbor and friend of Carson McCullers in Columbus

Henry, Mary Ann

Howell, Ruth and Richard

Humphrey (unidentified)

Johnson, Constance and Carleton

Jurado, Alicia

Karsten, Frederick Marshall "Frank"

Kernelk, Barbara and Bob

Kovacs, Edna H Campbell, known as Mitsy; life-long friend of Margaret Sullivan

Larner, Richard "Dick" and Lilo

Lasher, Mary Louise

Lehmann, Ruth

Louise (unidentified)

Ludwig, Judy

Maris, Barbara (in Baltimore in 1975)

Mawer, Noel

McClanahan, Muriel

Melgaard, Karen Tucker; daughter of Mrs. Thomas Melgaard. She married Russell Ward Miller in 1971.

Melgaard, Mrs. Thomas; daughter of Mary Tucker, known as Virginia or Gin

Mercer, Dr. Mary Elizabeth (1911-2013); the doctor, friend and heir of Carson McCullers, and very useful to Margaret S. Sullivan in her McCullers research

Merx, Olga = Olga Perlgueig

Molodovsky, Liza

Morris, Mrs. William "Sissie"

Morrison, Jr., Mrs. H. Maxwell "Myrtis"

Orton, Mark (married Doris Cunningham in 1968

Padorn, Charles "Chuck"

Pastora (otherwise unidentified)

Peacock, Edwin

Perlgueig, Olga = Olga Merx

Porter, Katherine Ann; novelist and contemporary of Carson McCullers

Portner, Jim and Isabell; neighbors and friends of Margaret S. Sullivan in Fairfax, Virginia

Rainey, Dee

Regan, Susan; married to Tom Regan

Rosa, Genie

Rosenthal, Arthur; a close friend of Margaret Sullivan when she lived in New York in the 1960s

Rothschild, Norman (1908-1998) was a Columbus, Georgia artist and co-owner of the David Rothschild Company. He was a friend of Carson McCullers and became acquainted with Margaret Sue Sullivan as a result of her McCullers research during the 1960s. They formed a friendship that lasted as long as he lived.

Schaup, Susanne; Austrian-born friend of Margaret S. Sullivan and perhaps one of her students

Schwartz, Alberta

Searcy III, Mrs. W. E. H "Miss Estelle"

Shipp, Nelson

Sigmon, Susan; perhaps a student of Margaret Sue Sullivan

Simmons, Dawn Langley, known as Pepita; friend of Carson McCullers in her New York days.

Smith, Ester; sister of Lillian Smith

Smith, Lillian "Lil", author and friend of both Carson McCullers and Margaret Sue Sullivan

Smith, Margareta "Rita"; sister of Carson McCullers

Snelling, Paula; partner of Lillian Smith

Star, Frank and Barbara

Stoll, Judy; Mrs. Fred Stoll; friends of Margaret S. Sullivan who lived in New York in the 1970s

Sturdivant, Walter; writer and friend of Margaret S. Sullivan

Stutts, Pat

Sullivan, Cora Howell (1907-1988); mother of Margaret S. Sullivan

Sullivan, Elizabeth T. "Beth"; daughter of James H. & Bunny Sullivan

Sullivan, James Howell (1931-2008); brother of Dr. Margaret Sue Sullivan, married to Margaret Thomas Sullivan "Bunny"

Sullivan, James H. Sullivan, Jr. "Jay"; son of James H. and Bunny Sullivan, married to Elizabeth G. Sullivan

Sullivan, Margaret "Meg"; daughter of J. H. and Bunny Sullivan, married to James L. Clark

Sullivan, Margaret Thomas (1933-2009) "Bunny", married to James "Jimmy" Howell Sullivan

Sullivan, Nancy; daughter of James H. and Bunny Sullivan, married to Robert F. Burgin

Taylor, Mary Ann; friend of Margaret S. Sullivan

Templeton, Mary Ellen; friend of Margaret S. Sullivan

Thomas, Sally and Bill

Tucker, Mary (d. 1982); Carson McCullers' piano teacher in high school who became a friend of Margaret S. Sullivan during her research on McCullers

Turner, Arlin; Margaret S. Sullivan's dissertation advisor and friend

Urbans, Maris.

Webster, Beveridge; pianist and colleague of Dorothy Lewis Griffin, known as Bev

Woodruff, Emily

Wrergbricke, Tom

1897-2011 13 boxes (13 c.f.)

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1897 - 2011

Extent

From the Collection: 13.0 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Materials Specific Details

Tape 13 - Side A -- Special Letters -- 31 minutes and 18 seconds Sullivan's Label: 13a - Side 1 - Special Letters I These are letters from celebrities, close friends and some fan letters, read by Margaret Sullivan. They include: January 23, 1967 get well card from President and Mrs. Johnson May 12, 1966 note from Robert Lantz saying that he knows that Brando has written and that John Huston hopes to see her in Ireland next year. Nov 15 1966 fan letter dated from "Antaclito", a Filipino immigrant whose real name is Zoro David May 3, 1966 note from Andre Girard describing his reaction to the film, The Member of the Wedding and saying that he and Marielle hope to stop by to see McCullers the following week undated thank-you note from Mary Rodgers Guattel August 4, 1963 note from Cheryl Crawford referring to Mary Mercer's Bentley and hoping to have a Bentley race with her David Garrett letter dated November 19, 1959 about meeting McCullers at a party in New York with Hindu diplomats and Alsatian dogs and would like to visit her around Christmas undated note from Betsy Brewer about the acceptance of Aeneas' book of Greek sketches and a visit to her of Ben Edwards. She also asks McCullers how the arrangement for Alice Rowald's [?] apartment in Paris is going and comments that she hope's Edward Albee's play is going well [perhaps referring to the Broadway production of The Member of the Wedding.] September 11 [with no year but obviously written during World War II] letter from Mary M expressing worry about Reeves, asking about being able to publish an extract from Carson's current book in Bazaar, and knowing that Carson would like to be in France in the midst of the danger, but reassuring her that her writing was also very important undated note from H. William Fitelson thanking McCullers for a gift of her book, with a guest list on the back Special Delivery envelop dated July 8, 1958 [empty] August [no year] letter from Pete about his time spent at the beach in Massachusetts writing 9 hours a day trying to finish his novel undated postcard of the Hollywood Bowl from "Speed" and a note that says "Everyone loves your book" October 7, 1953 note from J. Jean Evans about some books they had discussed March 10, 1950 letter from Harold Strauss of Knopf Books declining to become Carson McCullers' editor until she had made a clean break with Houghton-Mifflin February 25, 1950 letter from Harrel Wolfolk thanking McCullers for her gift of an inscribed copy of her book and describing a frenetic housewarming party outside Charleston, South Carolina March 6, 1950 note from Egon Hostovskty congratulating Carson on the dramatization of The Member of the Wedding and saying that he hopes to see her soon November 7, 1959 letter from Mary Tucker and Carson's reply [unread since they were "transcribed by Mother"] June 8, 1953 letter from Cheryl Crawford addressed to "Darling Carson and Reeves" referring to her current work on a play, hoping that Carson will finish Clock since she's rolling on it and not interrupt that work with another play and wishing that Carson had seen Camino Real July 15, 1953 letter from Tennessee Williams saying that he is in Barcelona and Frank is in Rome. Just before leaving Rome he had tried to see Reeves in the hospital but he had already checked out. He said that his relations with Frank were strained. Paul Bowles is in Madrid and Williams had convinced Visconti to hire Paul to write some dialog for an Italian movie. Williams also mentions that he has heard that "Miss Capote" is in Europe but they haven't seen each other. He also talks about his bulldog, Mr. Moon, who is in Rome with Frank. Tape 13 - Side B - Special Letters 2 -- 31 minutes and 14 seconds Sullivan's Label: 13b - Side 2 - Special Letters These letters read by Margaret Sullivan include: November 25, 1952 letter from Kay Boyle (Mrs. J.M. Franckenstein) saying that she was distressed to hear from Janet the day before that Carson had not received Boyle's note thanking her for her support right after the ordeal of the hearing. They still don't know the decision of the panel and may not for several weeks. [This is presumably the McCarthy hearings as a result of which von Franckenstein was fired from his job with the State Department] June 14, 1951 note from Brooks Adkinson thanking McCullers for a copy of her book June 28, 1951 note, also from Brooks Adkinson thanking McCullers in more detail after he had read her book, saying that in his opinion it is better than Hemingway and Faulkner Mar 1, 1950 postcard from Claire Booth Luce congratulating her on her play; February 22, 1961 postcard from Vanwicks [?] Brooks thanking McCullers for a "a nice message you sent me" January 27, 1950 letter from John Van Druten who refers to The Member of the Wedding as "the best thing on Broadway since The Glass Menagerie, adding that he had thought for a long while that theater should take over some of the work of the novel and that she had succeeded in her "widening of the camera lens" through the play undated McCullers' reply to Van Druten thanking him for his letter and saying that his reaction to the play was the most insightful she had received, and referring to Tennessee Williams and how she met him after the novel The Member of the Wedding was published and closed by inviting Van Druten to come visit her in Nyack February 7, 1950 note from Van Druten regretting that he was leaving New York to return to his home in California, but that he was seeing The Member again on Wednesday so that the last thing he would take away with him from the New York season would be her play June 24, 1951 note from John Druten thanking McCullers for her gift of an autographed copy of her book of short stories an undated, hand-drawn map of the way to Janet Flanner's home in the French country-side, with notes from Flanner and Margarita to Reeves October 25, 1962 letter from Tennessee Williams asking how the lecture went and saying that he is back in Key West where the noise from jet fighters flying over kept him from sleeping and hoping that the Cuban crisis soon ends. He has paid off the mortgage on the Key West properties and enclosed a picture of him and Carson Sullivan says "This letter that may have been in the Special Delivery envelope of July 8, 1958 from Peter Felderman hoping that Carson is better and promising to come see her after his visit to his grandmother 30 April, 1947 letter from Cyril Connelly asking McCullers for something to put in the upcoming special edition of Horizon April 10, 1946 letter from Marjory Rowland praising The Member of the Wedding the contents of a folder labeled Houghton Mifflin, April-May 1946 which includes several letters concerning reviews of Member, especially disagreeing with the review written by Edmund Wilson in The New Yorker.