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 |
I know you will like to see this. And will you show it to Carrie3 and Mary4? Then keep it for yourself. Her5 last letter was cheerful, almost exultant, though she
says "I write this to a full percussive accompaniment!" I don't see how they
bear the horrible crash of
noise6 night and day, and the loss
loss of sleep. Wonderful people!
World my song with [illegible] provided The Myra Hess Fund
9 East 59th St NY42 So 18th
Information about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let2951.xml
- Letter identifier
- 2951
- Contents
- Document is one leaf, handwritten on recto only. Includes enclosed newspaper clipping and one handwritten envelope.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Beatrix Mizer Florance 1
- Date letter was written
- October 31, 1940
- Accompanying this letter
-
Includes enclosed newspaper clipping dated October 11, 1940, titled "Myra Hess Sends Greetings To the United States."
- Place letter was written
- New York, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Sidney and Beatrice "Trix" Mizer Florance Collection, National Willa Cather Center, Red Cloud, NE
Individual Annotations
In World War II, the Blitz, the German bombing of England and especially London, began on 7 September 1940. After October 1940 the raids were primarily at night. The Blitz effectively ended by June 1941.
Person Annotations
Florance, Beatrix Elizabeth Mizer (1875-1963) (“Trixie,”
“Trix”). Cather’s childhood friend. Beatrix Mizer was born in
Ohio in a German-American family. They moved to Red Cloud, NE, in 1884.
Cather later recalled that when she first enrolled in school in Red Cloud,
“Trix Mizer was the prettiest little girl I had ever seen.” They acted
together in an 1888 production of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Red Cloud
Opera House. Mizer graduated from Red Cloud High School in 1893 and studied
voice at the Chicago Conservatory of Music 1897-1898, qualifying as a music
teacher, and at the Chicago College of Music 1899-1900. She married Sidney
Florance in 1903. In 1909 the couple moved to Red Cloud, where they settled
and raised a family. Beatrix’s Chicago musical studies and return to Red
Cloud may have inspired elements of Cather’s novel Lucy
Gayheart (1935). Cather’s correspondence with both Florances began
as early as 1914 and extended through the 1940s.
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.
Creighton, Mary S. Miner (1873-1968). Clubwoman; Cather’s
friend from childhood. Born in Iowa, Mary Miner was the second
daughter of James and Julia Miner, neighbors of the Cather family in Red
Cloud, NE. Willa Cather later recalled that when she first moved into town
with her family and enrolled in school in 1885, “Margie Miner was so jolly I
wanted awfully to know her.” They became lifelong friends and
correspondents, and Mary’s sisters Irene and Carrie were equally close to
Cather. Mary Miner wed local physician E. A. Creighton in 1900 and lived the
rest of her life in Red Cloud. She was the prototype for Julia Harling in
My Ántonia (1918).
Hess, Myra (1890-1965). British pianist. Born to a Jewish
family in London, England, Myra Hess began playing piano as a young child,
studying at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1907 she made her debut, then
toured in Britain and Europe. She made her American debut in 1922, becoming
popular as a soloist and in ensembles. Cather became acquainted with her
through her publishers, Alfred and Blanche Knopf. Myra Hess was made a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1936 and Dame Commander in
1941. During World War II, when bombings and curfews made evening concerts
impossible, Hess organized thousands of weekday lunch-time concerts by
eminent musicians.
Place Annotations
