Cassette Tape 14 -- Letters -- Special and Regular

File — Box: 1, Folder: 14

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 14 - Side A - Special and Regular Letters 3 -- 30 minutes and 42 seconds Sullivan's Label: 14a - Side 3 - Special/Reg [with check-mark] Sullivan reading letters: April 1, 1946 [conclusion] from Christine Noble Govan about Wilson's review of Member letter from Kenneth S. Sagen to Edmund Wilson excoriating his review April 2, 1946 letter from Leonard Erving to Houghton Mifflin about the reviews of Member March 24, 1946 letter from Howard Dowdy praising Member July 7, 1945 letter from Rome on V mail from Corporal Klaus Mann describing his tour of war-torn Europe, hopes to meet Erika, hopes to be discharged before the end of the year, say hello to Reeves "recent communications" note dated February 8, 1956 from Mary Rodgers; Christmas 1958 postcard from Marielle Bancou saying "I never loved you and admired you as much as I do tonight" photograph dated Paris, December 1960 with a letter saying "Darling I love you for having finished your book . . . " August 6, 1967 letter from Marielle Bancou in London saying she would soon be in Nyack, and sending her love to Ida Some letters typed by Carson McCullers in ALL CAPS to Mary Mercer; to Marielle about a planned cruise, about Mary Mercer's housekeeper going mad; to Marielle about the assassination of President Kennedy Sullivan says "And here is a series of all kinds of letters to Carson" February 4, 1950 from Ramsom H. Gurganes [?] who had met her back in Prohibition days September 17, 1961 from Debora Davis referring to the Three Arts Club and remembering a "girl in barrette and sneakers absorbed in a writer's workshop at Columbia in 1936 or 1937", "you gave me a tea pot which has survived four marriages" July 12, 1963 from Edwin Peacock and John Zeigler with several photos dated April 1963 of them, Carson McCullers and Mary Mercer. The letter says Oliver Evans came to talk over their early days in Columbus and asking for tickets for the opening night of the play, and thanking them for gifts received from Mary and Carson 15 April, 1963 from Bob Walding [?] and Ed Berry saying that they treasure her friendship and remembering their times together in Columbus and other places, partly thorough reading her books; 21 October from Bob about an upcoming dinner party and a trip to New York, and possibly moving back to Indiana from Paris. Tape 14 - Side B - Letters to Carson McCullers -- 30 minutes and 43 seconds Sullivan's Label: 14b - Side 4 Letters to C November 7, 1961 letter from Frances and Albert Hackett about Carson's illness and hand issues. Describes a wildfire in their area of Los Angeles and their evacuation plans, they are coming to New York soon to see plays and to see her July 7, 1961 letter from Elizabeth Schmack [?] describing a drought in Switzerland and her hopes to move soon to Zurich in autumn, will keep the chalet. Sorry to hear that Carson had lost the picture of Annemarie and the poem June 11, 1963 note about a call to thank Mrs. Charles T. Ables for Ida's purse, and to thank McCullers for the Ballad of the Sad Café note dated around Christmas and New Year's from Mary Tucker thanking McCullers for a poinsettia and talking of various parties, an article about Edward Albee's work, refers to McCullers' pneumonia August 14, 1963 letter from Grace S. McCallister thanking McCullers for a party on August 2 July 20, [1962?] letter from Jo [Joanne Gomme?] thanking her for a gift of a silver tray that McCullers sent her as a wedding present January 19, 1965 letter from Alex apologizing for not writing and saying was a wonderful experience it was to serve as her nurse and to thank Dr. Mercer for her hospitality 21 April, 1966 letter from George Freedley regarding the "Ballad of Carson McCullers" and his meeting of her at Cherry Grove with Jane and Paul Bowles May 11, 1966 McCullers reply asking for his review of "The Ballad of Carson McCullers" November 15 letter from Jim Spicer about meeting her "that rainy afternoon" and asking to meet her again. He remarks on reading Clock Without Hands and her collected works and how much he admires them undated note from Joe "to remind you of me who drove you and Max from Peggy's" and hopes to visit her soon undated letter from Howard Moody who will see her when next at Glen Paterson's March 25 from Josephine Mullins who says "I hesitate in writing to you but I remember you and your mother. . . from when you lived next door to us on Stark Avenue, I also remember you as a musician" undated letter from Melven J. Lasky [Floria Lasky's brother] thanking her for flowers McCullers sent, hopes to see her soon march 21, 1950 postcard from the Bahamas thanking Carson for her cable signed C.L.R March 21, 1950 letter from Viola W. Bernard thanking McCullers for her invitation to a fundraiser, and replying to McCullers request for a recommendation about a doctor in Nyack saying she doesn't know anyone to recommend, and also mentions elephants at the Clarkstown Country Club undated letter from Dr. Sigbert Hershfield in Rome to Carson and Reeves thanking her for her gift of a book and her invitation to Paris, discusses his father's illness, and declines their invitation, glad to hear that the country life "agrees with you both and you are in a better state, especially with Reeve's gastric ulcers" January 14, 1953 partial letter from Ira Morris to Reeves and Carson from Morocco detailing the on-going riots and unrest, and their pleasant time spent in Marrakesh and are waiting for their visas before going on to West Africa for two weeks March 2, 1953 letter from Dr. Hugh Gainsbourgh in London saying that it was good to hear from Carson, discussing Reeve's illness and a recommended low-fat diet and recommending another doctor for a second opinion and hopes to see them in Paris sometime March 13, 1950 letter from Fran Sullivan about The Member of the Wedding opening on Broadway, and hopes she will go on writing for the theater and the Empire Theater where it was performed.