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   from the issue of January 25, 2007

     
 
  Donation offers glimpse into life of famed author

From the hand of Willa Cather

 BY JOANIE BARNES, UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

University archivists couldn't wait to explore envelopes filled with hundreds of Willa Cather's personal musings.

 
INITIAL REVIEW - University archivists Carmella Orosco (left) and Mary Ellen Ducey read letters from the newly donated Roscoe and Meta...
 INITIAL REVIEW - University archivists Carmella Orosco (left) and Mary Ellen Ducey read letters from the newly donated Roscoe and Meta Cather Collection. The collection, which includes hundreds of personal letters from Cather to family members, was donated by Patricia Schreiber (below, at left) and Kathryne Shannon. Photo by Troy Fedderson/University Communications.

Prior to the Jan. 12 donation of the Roscoe and Meta Cather Collection to the University Archives, only a limited number of the famed Nebraska author's correspondence with family members was known to exist. According to Andrew Jewell, editor of the Willa Cather Archive (http://cather.unl.edu), only three letters from Cather to her brothers were available for study - one in Red Cloud, Neb., and the other two at UNL.

However, with the Jan. 22 announcement of the new Cather collection, that total has added 358 letters and 38 postcards, the vast majority written by Cather to her brother Roscoe, his wife and daughters. In addition, there are 35 photos, 77 books, letters from Willa to her sister Elsie, letters to the Roscoe Cather family, and assorted correspondence to Willa from family.

The donation, made by Patricia Schreiber and Kathryne Shannon, grandchildren of Roscoe and Meta Cather, contains the largest amount of the author's personal correspondence ever donated and triples the University Archives' collection of Cather letters.

"The letters and other materials are previously unknown resources for Cather scholars to study," said Katherine Walter, chair of the libraries' Digital Archives and Special Collections. "I firmly believe that the Roscoe and Meta Cather Collection will change the face of Cather scholarship."

Working through the University of Nebraska Foundation, Schreiber and Shannon made the donation in person to the libraries on Jan. 12. They noted that they were happy to make the collection a part of the "premier collections of Cather" within the UNL Archives and Special Collections.

Schreiber hoped the collection renews interest in Cather and motivates others to read her books. Shannon felt the collection would bring Cather to life in a personal way, revealing the affection she had for her brother and his family, and their love for her.

"Once Cather scholars begin to use this collection as a resource, we could see a revised biography of Cather, and numerous essays, books and dissertations added to the volume of Cather scholarship already in existence," Jewell said.

Also in the collection are personal documents written by Margaret Cather Shannon, one of the daughters of Roscoe and Meta, regarding her memories of "Aunt Willie" and a biography of Meta.

Meta was an NU alumna who started at the university in 1899 at the age of 15. She lived in Havelock, graduated from NU in 1903 and worked at Havelock High School. She met Roscoe while teaching and they married on July 27, 1907 in Havelock.

That information is just the first nugget in a priceless literary collection, according to Mary Ellen Ducey, university archivist and special collections librarian.

FAMILY TIES - At left, Willa Cather stands with Roscoe and Meta Cather's daughters, Virginia and twins Margaret and Elizabeth. At...
 
FAMILY TIES - At left, Willa Cather stands with Roscoe and Meta Cather's daughters, Virginia and twins Margaret and Elizabeth. At right, Donors Patricia Schreiber and Kathryne Shannon are the daughters of Margaret Cather Shannon.

 

"We knew Roscoe was married, but few scholars even knew his wife's name," Ducey said. "Now, not only do we know her name but we know something about her life and we are discovering how close she was to Willa."


Willa Cather

Willa Cather (1873-1947) graduated from NU in 1895 and went on to write a number of essays, short stories and novels that drew upon her life in Nebraska, Virginia and her travels.

She won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel about World War I, "One of Ours." Some of her other novels include: "O Pioneers!," "My Antonia," and "Death Comes for the Archbishop."


What's next for new Cather Collection?

University Archives and Special Collections staff have started to move the collection into archival folders and boxes.

They will create a finding aid, which will add the letters and materials to the UNL Libraries Web site (http://iris.unl.edu).

Plans are also under way to update and digitize the University of Nebraska Press' work, "A Calendar of the Letters of Willa Cather."

The project lists all known letters written by Cather by the date written, location, person to whom it is addressed and paraphrased summary of content. Jewell and Janis Stout, editor of the calendar, are working on the project.

An April event is being planned to bring in Cather scholars for a day of discussion on the new collection.

For more information on Cather, go online to the Willa Cather Archive, http://cather.unl.edu.


GO TO: ISSUE OF JANUARY 25

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