Cassette 20 -- Letters Relating to Translations

File — Box: 1, Folder: 20

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

Cassette Tape 20 - Side A - Andre Bay Letters / The Member of the Wedding Translation -- 19 minutes and 23 seconds Sullivan's Label: 20a Side 1 - Andre Bay Letters and MW Translation [MC 289-5-1-014a: Label] Margaret Sullivan begins the tape by saying "This concerns the translation by Andre Bay of the play of The Member of the Wedding which was planned in correspondence of June of 1958. The final letter, which I have copied elsewhere in French . . . a rough draft is given here of three, four pages and there's a note at the top that says "Dictated, we think, by Carson to Marielle Bancou for Andre Bay. Evidently this proposed translation, the idea for it went back many years for there is first of all an initial letter in French from Andre Bay which is undated". She continues with the undated letter, translating it into English. In it Andre Bay regrets not seeing Carson on her last trip to Paris comments on the success of The Member of the Wedding, and thinks that a production in France would be as successful. He suggests that Ethel Waters come to Paris for the production. (Sullivan comments that the top half of the letter is torn off) May 17, 1951 letter, also in French, from Andre Bay in which he mentions getting an option to do her piece for a translation first and a production in Paris after that. He says that he will have his agent contact her producer. He was spoken of it to John L. [Brown?] and he is also enthusiastic about it undated letter Tape 20 - Side B - Letters -- 26 minutes and 38 seconds Sullivan's Label: 20b Side 1 [sic] - Letters/[fans to Carson?] [MC 289-5-1-014b: Label] Sullivan reading: She starts the tape by saying, "Here's a fan letter": May 24, 1963 from Kathleen van Halder to Carson saying that her 11th grade class is studying The Heart is a Lonely Hunter but they have a question about a paragraph on page 27 of the Bantam paperback edition June 3, 1963 Carson' replies that the paragraph in question is symbolic about nationalities and that she is sure that her parents and teacher can be of help in answering her questions May 8, 1963 letter from Bantam Books about the possibility of publishing one of her works in a planned anthology of short novels of contemporary American authors June 3, 1963 McCullers replies saying that she does not have any unpublished short novels at this time March 15, 1963 letter saying that McCullers' article about "that radiant being" Isak Denisen in the recent Saturday Review has prompted David Donaho to write to McCullers about the pleasure she has given him over the years, as well did Isak Denisen June 3, 1963 McCullers' reply is to thank him for his letter and for linking her work with Dinesen's May 30, 1963 letter from William S. Gray saying how much he appreciates the beauty and clarity of her work and after re-reading it, he is more convinced of that opinion than ever; June 3, 1963 McCullers' reply says in its entirety, "Thank you, thank you and thank you. It is so blessed to be appreciated. My best to you" May 28, 1963 letter from John Zeigler describing a quick trip to Philadelphia, Washington and Virginia. He answers a question she had posed to him in a letter read earlier by Sullivan concerning the name of Gordon Hall's cousin. He tells her that it is Isabell Whitney, one of the rich Whitney who left Gordon all this money that he now able to splurge with. Zeigler says that he doesn't believe that they were related, but it easier to say "cousin" than to explain that he was kind to her and she rewarded him with this wonderful legacy. They look forward to seeing her in September June 3, 1963 McCullers' reply ays that when Gordon came to visit he brought her a beautiful Japanese robe which had belonged to Mrs. Whitney. I will wear it to the opening in September May 30, 1963 - a long letter from Fred Thiterman in Sweden thanking her for the signed copy of her book, and telling her of his plans for university and perhaps to immigrate to the United States and, he hopes, to have the chance of meeting her June 4, 1963 - McCullers' reply thanks him for his letter and says that if she is still in Nyack she will be happy to meet him, giving him her phone number undated letter from Christine McKenzie Willaughby in San Francisco about her pleasure in McCullers' work and what it has meant to her June 3, 1963 - McCullers' reply thanks her for her note May 22, 1963 letter from Eugene Haines thanking McCullers for her recent article about Isak Denisen in the Saturday Review, saying that he knew Tanya [as Denisen was known by many people] and had been a frequent guest at her home in Denmark. He enclosed a photo of the Baroness taken with his Polaroid camera. He also told McCullers that Denisen mentioned her with real warmth that day, and also said how much the death of Marilyn Monroe had disturbed her June 4, 1963 - McCullers' reply thanks him for his letter. She tells him that she has invited Clara [Tanya's companion] to come see her in Nyack and regrets that they would not be able to have any musical evenings if Clara did come since McCullers had sold her piano after her crippling stroke June 4, 1963 letter from Parmenia Miget thanking McCullers for her Saturday Review tribute to Isak Denisen, saying that Tanya was a very close friend. Ten years earlier Denisen began to give her notes for an eventual biography and she would like to meet McCullers before she finished in the next few months June 12, 1963 - McCullers reply says that she would like to meet with her and saying that she has several photos of Denisen. She, too, was disturbed by the death of Marilyn Monroe May 26, 1963 letter from Judy Hatch, a high school student writing an English term paper. She posed several questions to McCullers, including whether she believed in the finality of death, whether living in the South had affected her opinion of the Negro race, did her love of music make it easier for her to bring it to life in her writings, does she use symbolism, or merely write as it comes to her, what was her childhood like June 23, 1963 - McCullers reply says that to answer her letter in detail would take too much time and suggests that she read McCullers' work and draw her own conclusions.