The Mitchell Memorial Library was given about 1,700 items belonging to and about Pulitzer Prize-winning Mississippi author Eudora Welty. The addition was made possible thanks to a donation from Jackson resident Hunter Cole, who was a personal friend of Welty.
Noel Polk, professor emeritus, editor of The Mississippi Quarterly and author of Eudora Welty: A Bibliography of Her Work, said Cole’s donation will be valuable addition to the library’s collection.
Polk said he knew Cole was a longtime friend of Welty’s.
“[Hunter] has multiple signed copies of her works and many personal items in his collection,” he said.
Polk said he thinks the donation will also help instructors at MSU.
“I think it is fabulous,” Polk said. “Thanks to Hunter Cole, teaching Welty will be pleasure.”
Polk said he believes Welty might feel surprised to see her papers at MSU.
“I think she might have been a bit taken aback that some of her personal papers are in full public view,” he said.
He said he was sure she would be happy her legacy is available to her fellow Mississippians.
“People are studying her works throughout the world, and this collection will be a magnet to them,” Polk said.
English assistant professor Donald Shaffer said acquiring Welty’s papers will allow MSU students and faculty a greater opportunity to engage in research.
“It gives our students – all of our students – an opportunity to engage in scholarly research,” Shaffer said.
He said this acquisition will give a boost to the prestige of the humanities department by showing a commitment to groundbreaking academic research and showing the university now has the facilities to do so.
“It is good that the humanities are increasing their visibility and presence on campus,” Shaffer said. “It demonstrates that we too are engaged and have the resources to engage in research.”
“Some of the collection will be on display [now], but because of its size, it would take possibly years to display the full collection,” she said.
Mattie Sink, Manuscript coordinator for the library’s special collections department, said since the library received the collection, researchers have discovered some previously unknown Welty artifacts.
“There are some never-before-seen things in the collection, such as letters and memorabilia,” Sink said. “We are still bringing it together in a format for researchers to use.”
Daniel Gillespie, an English graduate student, said he was happy with the donation of the papers by the library and what they will do for both the library and the English department.
“It is a good sign and shows progress being made in our humanities departments,” he said. “I think this greatly enhances our library as well, and I believe that it is in grave need of more acquisitions like this to help boost our reputation around the region and nation.”