Felicia Geffen (December 28, 1943) | Willa Cather Archive

#3252: Sarah J. Bloom on behalf of Willa Cather to Felicia Geffen, December 28, 1943

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December 28, 1943. Dear Miss Geffen¹:

Miss Cather has been out of town² for nearly a month, and such a heavy mail came in during her absence that I forwarded only the personal letters which seemed most important. I am afraid that blanks for the balloting³ for new members of the National Institute, being bulky matter, got lost. I regret that I am unable to find them; but if you can forward duplicates, I will take them to her in person, as she is now in New York.

Very truly yours, Sarah J. Bloom⁴ Secretary

Information about this letter:

Source File:: cat.let3252.xml
Letter identifier: 3252
Contents: Document is one leaf, typewritten on recto only.
Person to whom letter was written: Felicia Geffen ¹
Date letter was written: December 28, 1943
Place letter was written: New York, New York, United States²
Location of original letter: Cather, Willa (1873-1947), Member Archives, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY

Individual Annotations

On 11 October 1943 Geffen sent duplicate ballots because Cather had not yet returned hers. On 30 December 1943 she explained to Bloom that it was too late for Cather to vote.

Person Annotations

1562

Geffen, Felicia (1903-1995). American Academy of Arts administrator. Born in New York City, youngest daughter of a rare-book dealer, Felicia Geffen graduated from Hunter College, where she studied music. She became administrative assistant to conductor Walter Damrosch, who later became director of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She corresponded with members of the Academy, including Cather, about Academy business and functions. Geffen became executive director in 1941, retiring in 1973. She married immunologist George Heller, then after his death, she married muralist Stuyvesant van Veen.

0102

Bloom, Sarah J. (1889-1961). Cather's personal secretary. Born in New York in 1889 to Russian immigrants Solomon and Bertha Bloom, Sarah J. Bloom worked for Cather from some time in the 1920s until Cather's death and continued to work for Edith Lewis on matters pertaining to Cather's literary estate thereafter. Bloom typed Cather's literary manuscripts and managed Cather's correspondence, typing dictated letters and sometimes responding for Cather when she was traveling. Bloom’s work for Cather supplemented full-time office employment in New York City (for many years she worked for the New York State Public Service Commission). She thus came to Cather and Lewis's apartment on weekends to take dictation, pick up and deliver typescripts, and deliver typed letters for signature. She died in New York city in 1961.

Place Annotations

New York, New York, United States