Wills, William Ridley
Dates
- Existence: 4 March 1897 - 8 September 1957
Biography
William Ridley Wills was a graduate of Vanderbilt University and a member of the Fugitive literary group. He worked for the Memphis Press, Memphis Evening Appeal, and the Nashville Banner newspapers before leaving for New York to work for the New York World. He served in the army during World War I and saw action in France and Germany. He was well known as a novelist, poet, and journalist. He spent the last four years of his life as a patient at the Bay Pines Veterans Hospital in Florida where he also served as the editor of the hospital newspaper. He died on September 8, 1957.
Found in 2 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: