Tennessee Williams. "Dear Mother and Rose. I received your letters. Laura [household servant] arrested her husband for trying to steel [sic] her clothes and beating her. Grand[ma] has a beautiful new Ro[o]ster, his feathers are all different colors and he wakes me up early in the morning. . . . Tell Jane I have some cotton seeds for her. Grand[ma] teaches me music every day and Grandfody helps me in Arithmetic. I go to church every day with Grand[ma]. . . . Did you get the letter telling about Fussy turning out to be a Ro[o]ster? Grand[ma] knew it was a ro[o]ster because it began to crow." Written on blank pages of his grandfather's ALS, "Father," to Williams's mother about the lessons "Tom" is receiving including on the violin and piano: "He already knows all the treble notes and some bass notes . . . ." 3 pages, small 8vo, written on folded sheet; faint scattered soiling, horizontal fold. Clarksdale, MS, 3 March 1920.
Rose Williams, to Tennessee Williams:
28 December 1925: ". . . Mr. & Mrs. Pepperdine . . . are English. They both have heaps of pep and are learning the Charleston. Every one here is learning it. I'm afraid that I'll never master one step. Mr. Peperdine . . . looks perfectly killing when he dances with a ball woman. . . .
"Is Daddy still considering buying a home. I was so pep[p]ed when I heard he was considering it. But so often it has merely been to tease us and get us all thrilled in vain. . . ."
5 November 1926: ". . . I wish I was at home going to U[niveristy] C[ity High School, MO] with you, I know you must [be] enjoying it. . . .
"School is very dull and tiresome just now . . . .
"We had pumpkin pie the other night and I was unusually hungry. . . . I remained in the dining room after the others left and . . . ate almost a whole pie. Hardly any of the girls like it so we got our fill and some demerits for being late for chapel. . . ."
11 February 1927: ". . . I am improving a great deal in my music. I think I'll really be able to play when I get home. I am going to write Grand-Fods to send my tennis racquet and am going to play when I can. I hope that you and I can have some games next summer. . . ."
12 April 1927 [from postmark]: ". . . I'll bet Daddy was furious when he got my letter but I can't help it. I buy fruit twice a week because I've lost so much weight that I had to have something. . . .
". . . [W]e are going to celebrate by having a feast on dry rye bread which one of the maids will smuggle in and bananas and any thing else we can swipe. I dreamed of chicken salad sandwiches last night and woke up nearly starved. Be sure and send me some food on my birthday. We had one of your favorite dishes today. Navy beans. A huge bowl full. Something I can't eat. I filled up on lettuce . . . & a slice of hard bread without any butter. . . .
"P.S. Tom, Bulah walked in her sleep . . . and carried her pillow into the bathroom . . . . I'm as afraid of a person who walks in their sleep as I am of one who's crasy [sic]."
Rose Williams, to her mother, father, or mother's parents:
[12] April 1922: ". . . I sent Tom three Reference books today and his baseball. The books are fine. There is 7 volumes and they cost $30. Tell Tom to take care of them. They are to be his and mine together. Don't lend them. . . ."
[24 November 1925]: ". . . One girl had a terrible case of hysterics. Of course the girls flocked around her, which made her all the worse. Her mother was dead and a dear friend of hers was dying. She screamed, laughed and yelled. Some of the girls who crowded around her were orphans and they began to wail. The doctor had to be called. It sounded like a holy roller meeting. At least twenty girls crying at once. Elvira in the mi[d]st of the commotion had an attack of appendicitous [sic]. Another doctor had to be called. I never spent such a night. . . ."
"Sunday" February 1926: "I . . . thoughtlessly mentioned at the dinner table that I hoped I'd get a letter from you today since it had been almost three weeks since I've heard from you. People's mouths opened and eyes rolled and I could have choked myself for mentioning it, but do you realize that you treat me like a step child. Dan is the only one . . . who care[s] a cent about me. . . .
"I have been down . . . . I cried so hard yesterday that I was sick all day. . . .
". . . [S]ome days I feel like giving up the goast [sic] and others . . . I feel fine. . . ."
31 January 1927: "I got all of my exam grades today. I made A in French and English . . . . I am a member of Canterbury Pilgrims now; which is an English club. One has to make A on monthly grades and tests. . . .
"I sent Tom's letters on to Grand-Fods as he requested me to do. He thinks Tom is destined to become some brilliant man. Tell Tom to write to them. . . ."
[28 February] 1927: ". . . Tom's letter came yesterday and it was so interesting that I read it out loud to the girls who thought it 'quite the stuff.' . . .
"I met the nicest young man at the dance; he wasn't handsome, but such a gentleman that he made all the girls like him . . . . Tell Tom if he wants to go over big with the ladies to be a Beau Brummel [British dandy George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (1778-1840)]. . . ."
19 April 1927: "I can't begin to tell you just how much I enjoyed my visit in Pinckneyville. . . . The people were all of fine old southern families. They aren't wealthy now, but . . . I couldn't see that the men hurt themselves working. The negroes were the real, old southern type and did all the work--seemed almost like slaves, tho' happy and very respectful. They only paid the cook seven dollars a month and such a cook! . . . Rosie, a little colored maid brought us hot coffee, the real Louisiana stuff, to bed every morning and sometimes our entire breakfast. . . . I never saw so many cousins and they all live on neighboring plantations. . . ."
2 May 1927: ". . . I am so anxious to know if you are going to let me stay in Pinckneyville for a week before coming home. Tell Tom that it certainly is 'the life' to live out there . . . .
"P.S. Tell Tom we are reading Milton's minor poems in English; they are not simplified, tho' I wish they were."
"Saturday" no year: ". . . The falls here are so damp and depressing . . . . There was a big fire near here the other day. The country club burned down and we were taken by Miss James . . . to see it. We had the time of our lives, climbing on the fire engines and acting like escaped lunatics. It was the first time we had gone out of the park . . . . "
With--Three items: Rose Williams's report card from All Saints' College for the period of November 14 to December 12, 1925, signed by the school principal, Mary Leslie Newton. Most grades are "B," but she received a "C" in English, and "A+" in both Neatness and Deportment. 1 page, oblong 8vo. [17 December 1925]. With the original envelope, addressed in type to Mrs. C.C. Williams • Printed school newsletter entitled "Intermediate Funny Fax" containing brief snippets of local news and jokes. 4 pages, small 4to, folded sheet. [Vicksburg, 1920s] • Printed letter from Mary Leslie Newton of All Saints' College "To our Patrons," reporting on recent flooding in the area and vaccination efforts. 1 page, 4to, "All Saints' College" stationery. 1 May 1927.
In 1935, Tennessee Williams was enrolled in the University of MO, where he studied journalism and joined the ROTC. Excepting English, his grades were poor, and when he failed to maintain the ROTC's requirements, his father--a shoe salesman who attended military academy as a boy and later served in the Spanish-American war--forced him to withdraw and begin work in the shoe industry. Later that year, Williams suffered a mental breakdown, and not long after this, his sister Rose suffered a breakdown herself so complete, the family granted permission to have her lobotomized. Rose had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman, first showing signs that she was not well in her late 20s while attending All Saints' College. Williams was close to Rose throughout her life, devoting a portion of proceeds from his plays for her care.