Collections Database Manuscript & Object Collect... Small collections of manusc... Post-1650 Manuscripts Edith S. Kellogg copies of ... Finding AidTitle: Edith S. Kellogg copies of Vachel Lindsay letters to Harriet Moody, 1914-1929
ID: 01/02/02/POST-1650 MS 0065
Primary Creator: Kellogg, Edith S.
Other Creators: Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931), Moody, Harriet (1857-1932)
Extent: 2.0 Volumes
Arrangement: The collection is arranged chronologically across two volumes.
Subjects: American poetry - 20th century, Springfield (Ill.)
Forms of Material: Poets, American - 20th century - Correspondence
Languages: English
This collection consists of typescript and manuscript copies of 37 letters that Vachel Lindsay wrote to Harriet Moody between 1914 and 1929. Also included is one copied note from Moody to Lindsay, in which she responded to news of his wedding (May 27, 1925). Internal evidence suggests that Edith S. Kellogg, Harriet Moody's personal secretary, created and compiled this collection.
In his personal letters to Moody, Lindsay discussed several aspects of his career, such as his published works, works in progress, and related speaking engagements; he occasionally referred to critical opinions of his works. His letters sometimes mention his relationship and interactions with other poets, including Harriet's husband, William Vaughn Moody, and he often provided news of his family members and acquaintances. In the few letters written after his marriage to Elizabeth Connor, Lindsay described their wedding and referred to their children. The letters also provide insight into Lindsay's mental and emotional state throughout the period.
Nicholas Vachel Lindsay, professionally known as Vachel Lindsay, was born in Springfield, Illinois, on November 10, 1879. After studying medicine at Hiram College in the late 1890s, Lindsay studied art in Chicago and New York, where he also began writing and publishing poetry; he returned to Springfield in 1908. Lindsay's literary reputation steadily grew after 1910, when he published a collection of his editorials and poems entitled The Village Magazine, and he toured extensively throughout the remainder of his life, delivering dramatic recitations of his work domestically and abroad. Lindsay taught at the Gulf Park College for Women from 1923-1924 and lived in Spokane, Washington, from 1924-1929. On May 19, 1925, he married Elizabeth Connor, with whom he had two children: Susan Mountjoy Doniphan Frazee (b. 1926) and Nicholas Cave (b. 1927). Faced with declining popularity, a difficult financial situation, an excessive touring schedule, and his own deteriorating mental health, Lindsay committed suicide on December 5, 1931.
Harriet Converse Tilden was born in Ohio on March 18, 1857, and moved to Chicago with her family in 1868. Tilden earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1876 and briefly studied medicine at the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia. Upon her return to Chicago, she married Edwin Brainard; the marriage, an unhappy one, soon ended in divorce, and she began teaching high school in 1889. She married William Vaughn Moody, a poet and English professor at the University of Chicago, on May 7, 1909. Following his death in October 1910, Moody formed and maintained friendships with several influential writers, including Rabindranath Tagore, Robert Frost, and Vachel Lindsay. She hosted many of these figures in her home and at "Les Petits Jeux Floraux," a literary series held at her Chicago restaurant, Le Petit Gourmet. Moody had previously established a catering company, the Home Delicacies Association, and later published Mrs. William Vaughn Moody's Cookbook (1931). Harriet Moody died on February 22, 1932.
Edith S. Kellogg was Harriet Moody's personal secretary after 1912. She lived in Moody's Chicago home as of 1920.
Sources
Albertine, Susan. "Moody, Harriet Converse." American National Biography Online. 2000.
Chenetier, Marc, ed. Letters of Vachel Lindsay. New York: Burt Franklin & Co., 1979.
Dunbar, Olivia Howard. A House in Chicago. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1947.
Kronick, Joseph G. "Lindsay, Vachel." American National Biography Online. 2000.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920--Population. 1920.
Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Access Restrictions: The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions:
This collection is the physical property of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, may reside with the materials' creator(s) or their heirs.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reproduction and publication policies are available here. The library welcomes requests for reproductions made from works in our collections, though restrictions may apply to certain materials. Please contact the library with any questions.
Original/Copies Note: Original copies of Vachel Lindsay's letters to Harriet Moody may be found in the Harriet Brainard Moody papers at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center.
Related Materials:
The Carl Sandburg papers (Connemara Accession) include numerous letters written by Vachel and Elizabeth Connor Lindsay.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library holds numerous published works by and about Vachel Lindsay. Search the library's catalog for more information.
The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia holds an extensive collection of Nicholas Vachel Lindsay papers. Several other institutions hold small archival collections related to Lindsay.
The University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center holds a collection of Harriet Brainard Moody papers.
Related Publications: Some of Vachel Lindsay's letters to Harriet Moody are reprinted in Chenetier, Marc, ed. Letters of Vachel Lindsay. New York: Burt Franklin & Co., 1979.
Preferred Citation: Edith S. Kellogg copies of Vachel Lindsay letters to Harriet Moody, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Other Note: Former shelfmark: B L749l1
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