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 Grosvenor4
35 FIFTH AVENUE
New York2 Dear Mother1:
Whenever I was cross and moody last winter, this was what was wrong—merely feet!! They are so much better now, as the foot doctor at Rochester5 made me throw all my old shoes away and wear high heels, (moderately high.) How Helen Louise6 would laugh, she used to be so ashamed of my shoes.
You will like this picture of me better than the one I sent by air mail yesterday. At least I am not bald, as all the old boys were!
Hastily W. VIRTUS NON STEMMAThe Grosvenor
35 FIFTH AVENUE
New York
Think of it, the President7 of the University of California came all the way to New York8 to take his degree9! University people think a lot of degrees,—take them very seriously. Old Dr. de Bustamante10 came all the way from Havana11, and the French Ambassador12 from Washington13.
Mrs. C. F. Cather1 The Cooper Arms Long Beach3 California NEW YORK, N. Y. STA. D2 JUN 8 1928 1130 AM The Grosvenor 35 FIFTH AVENUE New YorkInformation about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let1968.xml
- Letter identifier
- 1968
- Contents
- Document is two leaves, handwritten on recto and verso of first leaf and recto only of second leaf. Includes one newspaper clipping entitled "Feet and Faces." Includes one envelope, handwritten.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Mary Virginia Boak Cather1
- Date letter was written
- [June 8, 1928]
- Accompanying this letter
-
Includes one enclosed newspaper clipping entitled "Feet and Faces."
- Place letter was written
- New York, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Philip L. and Helen Cather Southwick Collection (MS077), University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Archives & Special Collections, Lincoln, 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, as well as William Wallace Campell and six others, was awarded an honorary degree from Columbia University in June 1928.
Person Annotations
Cather, Mary Virginia Boak (1850-1931) (“Virginia” or
“Jenny”). Cather’s mother. Born in the Virginia to William Lee
Boak and Rachel Seibert Boak, Virginia was educated in Baltimore, MD, and
was a schoolteacher until her marriage to Charles Fectigue Cather in 1872.
Her husband’s family were primarily Union supporters during the Civil War
while her family supported the Confederacy (three brothers served in the
Confederate Army although their mother opposed slavery). After her marriage
she tried to help unite the divided family. Four of her children, Willa,
Roscoe, Charles Douglas, and Jessica Virginia, were born in Virginia, while
three, James Donald, Elsie Margaret, and John Esten, were born in Nebraska
after the family moved there in 1883. Despite occasional differences, Cather
remained in affectionate contact with her mother, who remained in Red Cloud,
NE, where the family settled in 1884. After her husband’s death in 1928
Virginia Cather suffered a stroke while visiting her children and their
families in California. She spent nearly three years in a sanitarium in
Pasadena, CA, unable to speak. Willa Cather visited her there several times
but was unable to travel quickly enough from Grand Manan to Red Cloud for
her funeral and interment after she died in Pasadena in 1931. Virginia
Cather was the prototype for Victoria Templeton in “Old Mrs. Harris” (1932),
which Willa Cather completed shortly before her mother’s death.
Southwick, Helen Louise Cather (1918-2004). Cather’s niece.
Helen was born in Red Cloud, NE, to Willa Cather’s brother James and
his wife Ethel. Willa was a doting aunt on her visits to Red Cloud. In 1931,
Helen moved with her family to Long Beach, CA, where she graduated high
school and attended Long Beach City College. In 1939, Helen returned to Red
Cloud to help care for her maternal grandmother and then enrolled in the
University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where she met her future husband, Philip
Southwick. After graduating in 1941, she briefly returned to California to
work in the personnel department of Douglas Aircraft company, but married
Southwick in Lincoln in 1942, and then moved with him to Champaign, IL. When
Philip’s employment took them to Plainfield, NJ, she frequently spent time
with her aunt in New York City. In 1946, the Southwicks moved to Pittsburgh,
PA, where their son James was born. In later years Helen worked as a school
librarian and was active in the Cather Foundation in Red Cloud, NE. She was
a beneficiary of Cather’s literary estate, and when Edith Lewis died in 1972
she bequeathed Cather books and manuscripts to Helen and her brother Charles
Cather. Helen donated her share of these materials and Willa Cather’s
letters to her to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Campbell, William Wallace (1862-1938). American astronomer. Born in Hancock county, OH, William Wallace Campbell graduated from the University of Michigan in 1886, where he served as an instructor before joining the Lick Observatory in 1890. He became director of the Lick in 1901 and served as president of the University of California from 1923 to 1930. In 1928, Columbia University awarded both Willa Cather and Campbell honorary degrees at the university’s commencement.
Bustamante y Sirvén, Antonio Sánchez de (1865-1951). Cuban politician and professor. Born in Havana, Cuba, Antonio Sánchez de Bustamante y Sirvén attended the Colegio de Belen in Havana and the Universities of Havana and Madrid. Appointed a professor of international law at the University of Havana, he also served as a Cuban senator (1902-1918) and judge to the Permanent Court of International Justice at the League of Nations (1921-1942). In 1928, Columbia University awarded both Willa Cather and Bustamante honorary degrees at the university’s commencement.
Claudel, Paul (1868-1955). French writer and diplomat. Born
in Champagne, France, the younger brother of sculptor Camille Claudel, and
educated in Paris, Paul Claudel is a major figure in early twentieth century
French literature, well-known for poetry and drama steeped in devout
Catholicism. He served as a diplomat from 1893 to 1936, including as French
Ambassador to the United States from 1926 to 1933. Cather met Claudel at a
1928 Columbia University commencement ceremony at which both were awarded
honorary degrees and were seated next to one another.
Place Annotations
