Eudora Welty Project by: Jessica Lineberry

Background: Family Welty was born on April 13, 1909 in Jackson, Mississippi and died on July 23, 2001 in Jackson, Mississippi. Her parents were Chestina and Christian Wetly, a school teacher and insurance executive. She had two older brothers, Edward and Walter.

Background: Childhood Welty lived most of her life in Mississippi in Jackson’s Belhaven neighborhood. Her parents built their home in Eudora donated her home to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in honor of her parents. Today, it is now a museum after being nominated as a National Historic Landmark

Background: Childhood Even at a young age, Welty began writing. She published a poem in 1920 for the children magazine called St. Nicholas. She continue to write for student newspapers

Pictures Welty at the age of 5 years old Welty at the age of 16 years old

Background: Education First, she studied under the Mississippi State College and later studied under the University of Wisconsin and the Columbia University School of Business. During her education at Columbia she was captain of the women’s polo team

Background: Death Welty died at the age of 92 from pneumonia in Jackson. She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Writing Career and Works At first, Welty wanted to establish a career in advertising so she moved to New York and attended Columbia University School of Business. But during this time, the economy was worsening therefore she couldn’t find a stable job. She returned to Jackson in 1931 not only because she couldn’t find a stable job, but for the death of her father.

Writing Career and Works She then accepted a job as a publicist for a government agency called Works Progress Administration, in She spent several years traveling through Mississippi taking photographs and interviewing people. Her most memorable photographs were during the Great Depression in Mississippi. Her pictures were published in One Time, One Place in 1971 and Photographs in 1989.

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Writing Career and Works Being a publicist for the Work Progressive Agency and understanding the history and people of Mississippi during the Great Depression, really inspired as well as influenced her to become a writer. Welt's first short story was “Death of a Traveling Salesman”in This short story attracted the author Katherine Anne Porter. Porter mentor Welty and wrote the foreword to Welty’s first collection of short stories.

Writing Career and Works Death of a Traveling Salesman", 1936 "A Worn Path”,1940 A Curtain of Green, 1941 The Wide Net and Other Stories, 1943 Music from Spain, 1948 The Golden Apples, 1949 Selected Stories, 1954 The Bride of the Innisfallen and Other Stories, 1955 Thirteen Stories, 1965 The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty, 1982 Moon Lake and Other Stories, 1980 Morgana: Two Stories from The Golden Apples, 1988

Welty’s Foundation “In 1999, the Eudora Welty Foundation was established to assist the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in achieving its goals of celebrating the legacy of Eudora Welty” This foundation is basically a remembrance of how great of a short story/novelist Welty’s was to American History. And also to encourage young writers and reader.

Novels The Robber Bridegroom, 1942 Delta Wedding, 1946 The Ponder Heart, 1954 The Shoe Bird, 1964 Losing Battles, 1970 The Optimist’s Daughter, Welty’s most popular novel. She wound a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1973 for this novel.

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