Jesse Stuart Collection

Collection

Identifier: MSS.0422

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains papers related to author and educator Jesse Stuart dating from 1937-1987, mostly consisting of correspondence to and from Stuart and inscribed items.

Part of this collection also contains correspondence between Jesse Stuart and the Mississippi-born, Massachusetts-based fellow educator and collector, James C. Mitchell. In the letters Stuart discusses book collecting, his travel plans and soeaking schedules, his works-in-progress and future publications, and the pride he has in his daughter Jane's work.

Also included are letters from the artist and illustrator Robert G. Henneberger, color photographs, a number of Stuart family Christmas cards, a broadside and theatre program both inscribed by Stuart, and the typescript of a poem on Dean Martin which has been signed and dated by Stuart.

Dates

1937 - 1987
Majority of material found within 1966 - 1977

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

This collection may be viewed only in the reading room of Special Collections in the Jean and Alexander Heard Library. Collections should be requested 2-3 days prior to visiting in order to facilitate easier access. For questions or to request a collection, contact specialcollections@vanderbilt.edu.

Biographical / Historical

Jesse Hilton Stuart (August 8, 1906 – February 17, 1984) was an author, teacher, and school administrator known for his short stories, poetry, novels as well as non-fiction autobiographical works set in Appalachia.

Timeline

August 8, 1907
: Born in Riverton, Kentucky, son of Mitchell and Martha Stuart
October 1939
: Married Naomi Dean Norris
1929
: A.B. Degree from Lincoln Memorial University
1931-1932
: Attended Vanderbilt University and Peabody College. Worked as a farmer, newspaper editor, and steel mill laborer, and also taught school in Greenup County, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio.
1932-1934
: Superintendent of Greenup County schools
1934
: Jeannette Sewal Davis poetry prize
1937
: Guggenheim fellowship
1941
: Academy of Arts and Sciences award for Men of the Mountains
1954
: Made poet laureate of Kentucky
1955
: Berea College Centennial award for literature
1961
: Academy of American Poets award
1960-1961
: Visiting Professor of English and Education, The American University, Cairo, Egypt
1962-1963
: American specialist abroad for Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, State Department
February 17, 1984
: Died, Ironton, Ohio