Wills, Jesse Ely
Dates
- Existence: 31 August 1899 - 4 March 1977
Biography
Jesse Ely Wills received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1922. While at Vanderbilt, he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the Blue Pencil Club, and the Calumet Literary Club. In 1922, he was invited to join the Fugitive literary group. After leaving Vanderbilt, he became an officer and executive of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company and was active in Vanderbilt University affairs as a member of the Board of Trust and chairman of the Board of the Joint University Libraries. He helped establish the Fugitive Room as a depository for Fugitive papers and manuscripts as part of the H. Fort Flowers wing of the Joint University Libraries building. He died in Nashville, Tennessee on March 4, 1977.
Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:
Fugitive and Agrarian Collection
This collection contains 1.67 linear feet of materials on the Fugitive Poets and the Nashville Agrarians. Most of the materials have to do with the years in the 1920’s when the Fugitive poet group was formed and the resulting poems, manuscripts, and correspondence. In addition there are a few items, mostly articles, that concern the Agrarian group.
Fugitive and Agrarian Collection Addition
This collection, 3.34 linear feet, is an addition to the Fugitive and Agrarian Collection MSS 160. It includes a wide range of items relating to the Fugitive and Agrarian groups and is especially valuable in the holdings of items from the 1980’s and 1990’s including correspondence, articles, book reviews, and other materials. In addition to the Fugitives and Agrarians themselves, whose biographical notes follow below, associates represented in this collection include:
Jesse Ely Wills Papers
This collection contains literary correspondence, poems, and manuscripts of poet and businessman Jesse Ely Wills.