Guide to Reading Letter Transcriptions
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| Textual Feature | Appearance |
|---|---|
| passage deleted with a strikethrough mark | |
| passage deleted by overwritten added letters | |
| passage added above the line | passage with added text above |
| passage added on the line | passage with added text inline |
| passage added in the margin | passage with text added in margin |
| handwritten addition to a typewritten letter | typed passage with added handwritten text |
| missing or unreadable text | missing text noted with "[illegible]" |
| uncertain transcriptions | word[?] |
| notes written by someone other than Willa Cather | Note in another's hand |
| printed letterhead text | printed text |
| text printed on postcards, envelopes, etc. | printed text |
| text of date and place stamps | stamped text |
| passage written by Cather on separate enclosure. | written text |
The Grosvenor3
35 FIFTH AVENUE
New York2 Dearest Carrie1;
You will receive the two books in a few days. Please keep them for me, with
these press clippings. I had a wonderful time at Princeton4. At the President's5 dinner Lindbergh6 took me out to dinner and sat at my right. Next
day I lunched with him and his wife7
in the students hall dining hall. She is
enchanting, quite worthy to be his
wife.
It broke my heart not to stop8 in Red Cloud9, but I had only one day to spare, and I had to see Jim10. He has been unfortunate. But I'm coming someday—my heart's right there, as the song11 said12.
Lovingly WillieInformation about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let1055.xml
- Letter identifier
- 1055
- Contents
- Document is one leaf, handwritten on recto only.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Carrie Miner Sherwood1
- Date letter was written
- [late June 1931]
- Explanation of conjectured date
-
Cather received her honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Princeton University on 16 June 1931.
- Place letter was written
- New York, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- WCPM Collection, National Willa Cather Center, Red Cloud, NE
Individual Annotations
Grosvenor Hotel (New York City): When Cather and Edith Lewis lost their 5 Bank Street apartment in 1927, they moved into the Grosvenor Hotel, where they continued to live until 1932. The hotel was located at 35 Fifth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Cather received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Princeton University at a ceremony on 16 June 1931. The New York Times noted that she received the most attention among the honorees, as she was the first woman to receive a degree from Princeton.
Willa Cather stopped in Kearney, NE, on 2 June 1931 to see her brother James Cather and his family.
The last lines of the chorus of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (1912) are: "It's a long long way to Tipperary, / But my heart's right there."
Person Annotations
Sherwood, Carrie Miner (1869-1971). Sherwood, Carrie Belle
Miner (1869-1972) Civic leader; Cather's friend. Born in Waukon,
IA, to James L. Miner and Julia Erickson Miner, Carrie Miner was the eldest
of their children. The family moved to Red Cloud, NE, in 1878, where the
Miner Brothers store became the largest in town. Cather remembered meeting
Carrie there. In 1884, Carrie, her mother, and siblings were confirmed in
the Catholic church. In 1888, she studied music at St. Mary’s Academy at
Notre Dame, IN. She married bank clerk Walter Sherwood in late 1889; they
had two sons. The Sherwoods travelled often in the West, and visited Europe
in 1930. They built a new house at 3rd and Seward streets in Red Cloud in
1908; Cather sometimes sent materials for Carrie to keep in its spacious
attics. Carrie Miner Sherwood led local Red Cross work during the two World
Wars, served on the Red Cloud school board and park commission, and was
active in the League of Women Voters and in the Ladies Guild of Grace
Episcopal Church. Cather corresponded with Carrie Miner Sherwood throughout
her life and dedicated My Ántonia to Carrie, model
for Frances Harling in the novel, and her sister Irene. Carrie was one of
Mildred Bennett’s chief sources for The World of Willa
Cather (1951), and was instrumental in setting up what is now the
Willa Cather Foundation in Red Cloud.
Hibben, John Grier (1861-1933). President of Princeton University.
John Grier Hibben was born in Peoria, IL, and graduated from
Princeton University in 1882. After a brief career in the ministry, he
returned to Princeton as an instructor, earning his PhD there in 1893. He
was a highly successful academic, wrote and edited many books of philosophy,
and became Princeton's president in 1912. During his two decades as
president, Princeton grew tremendously and earned a reputation as a top
research university. Cather met him in 1931 when she received an honorary
degree from Princeton.
Lindbergh, Charles Augustus (1902-1974). American aviator.
Born in Detroit, MI, to parents of Swedish descent and raised in
Minnesota, Charles Lindbergh wanted to become a flyer in World War I but was
too young. After three semesters studying engineering at the University of
Wisconsin, he left to become a barnstorming pilot and later enlisted in the
Army Air Service and became a captain in the Missouri National Guard.
Lindbergh’s 1927 nonstop flight from New York to Paris piloting the Spirit
of St. Louis made him an international celebrity. In 1929 he married Anne
Cutter Morrow, who became his copilot. Cather met the Lindberghs in 1931,
when both she and Charles Lindbergh were given honorary degrees by Princeton
University. On March 1, 1932, the Lindberghs first child, Charles Jr., was
kidnapped; the crime and the discovery of the boy’s body ten weeks later
were a media sensation. In 1939 Charles Lindbergh advocated against American
involvement in World War II, and although he eventually supported the war,
his non-interventionist stance tarnished his reputation. His bestselling
book about his pioneering flight, The Spirit of St.
Louis (1953), was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow (1906-2001). American author and
aviator. Born in Englewood, NJ, to Dwight Morrow and Elizabeth
Cutter Morrow, Anne Morrow graduated from Smith College in 1928 with a
degree in English. She married aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1929 and became
his copilot. Cather met the Lindberghs in 1931, when both she and Charles
Lindbergh were given honorary degrees by Princeton University. On March 1,
1932, the Lindberghs first child, Charles Jr., was kidnapped; the crime and
the discovery of the boy’s body ten weeks later were a media sensation.
Cather admired Anne Lindbergh’s first book, North to the
Orient (1935), which recounted her 1931 journey with Charles to
Asia via the great circle route in 1931. Lindbergh’s best-known book is Gift from the Sea (1955), an inspirational meditation
on modern life and particularly the challenges facing women, which has sold
more than three million copies.
Cather, James Donald (1886-1966) (“Jim”). Cather’s brother.
James was born in Red Cloud, NE, the fifth child and third son of
Charles and Virginia Cather. James moved to Wyoming in 1907 to work with his
brothers Douglass and Roscoe. In 1913 he married Ethel Garber, and owned and
operated clothing stores first in Red Cloud and then Holyoke, CO, where the
family settled for a time 1920 before returning to Red Cloud in 1922. The
couple had two children, Helen Louise and Charles Edwin. In 1930 the family
moved to California so James could work in the oil business with Douglass
and his partners. Willa’s relationship with James was more distant than that
with her brothers Douglass and Roscoe, who were closer to her own age,
although she was very fond of his children.
Place Annotations
Work Annotations
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (1912) by Henry James Williams and Jack Judge
