William Sidney Porter Papers

Details

Who's responsible?: Greensboro History Museum (Repository)
Where can I find more information?: https://archives.greensborohistory.org/manuscripts/porter-ws
Topics: Literature
People
North Carolina
Subject headings: Henry, O., 1862-1910
Contributing Institution: Greensboro History Museum

: Letters from Margaret Worth Porter (Cesare Sartin); These letters are from Margaret to her father. The early item is written to him while he was in prison and the others are written while Margaret was a student at Belmont College and Dwight School, and later from Asheville, North Carolina.

: Letters from William Sydney Porter to daughter Margaret, 1898-1901; This group of letters was written by William Sydney Porter to his daughter Margaret between April 25, 1898, and July 24, 1901, while he was an inmate in the Ohio State Penitentiary. Margaret was never told of her father's whereabouts. The letters are mainly the chit-chat of a father to his pre-teen daughter. No covers are included with the items; two letters are undated and one is dated only "November 12." Of these three items, two are probably late 1898.

: Letters from William Sydney Porter, miscellaneous; The items in this folder include a calling card, three letters, and one cover. Three photostats of a letter from William Sydney Porter in Texas to his friend Dr. Beall in Greensboro (1882) are included along with the original. Porter also wrote to Mrs. J.K. Hall of what he missed about living in North Carolina. Also included is a 1907 letter written by Porter from New York to Ms. Lily Benbow, and an undated letter to "Uncle John" written by Porter while in New York. This folder also contains two ALS (autograph letter signed) by Porter on the stationery of the General Land Office in Texas. Both 1890 items deal with settling the estate (real estate holdings) of William Kerr. A photostat of each letter is included. Also included are a printed page and photograph of the two letters of introduction that Porter presented in Austin (1884).

: Letters to Lina Gray; Included are an Easter card and an ALS (autograph letter signed) (1897) with cover to Lina Gray from her aunt, Lina Porter. The letter discusses general family matters.

: Letters to Margaret Worth Porter (Cesare Sartin); The earliest item is a note to Margaret from her cousin Waldo Porter asking her to come back to Greensboro, written presumably after Margaret and her mother visited in 1890 or 1891. Two of the 1909 items regard publishing stories written by Margaret (she was an authoress), and one is in French from a schoolmate. The final item regards a Santini painting done of William Sydney Porter.

: Manuscript fragment by Shirley Porter on William Sydney Porter's use of O. Henry

: Typed transcriptions of correspondence between William Sydney Poter and daughter Margaret; This folder consists of a set of typed transcriptions of correspondence between William Sydney Porter and his daughter Margaret from approximately 1898 to 1910. The originals are filed in the appropriate folders in this series.

: Works of art; This series includes an original pencil drawing (12 inches by 15 inches) entitled "the pet fawn," by Lina Porter (1888), the tombstone sketch, probably by WSP, and the Pritchett Spring sketch by WSP. Copies of originals include a photocopy of the Pilot Mountain sketch (1879), three copies of the "sword and cat" sketch, and a copy of the "Tourgee" sketch, all by WSP. The original of the "sword and cat" sketch is included, as is a sketch by Shirley Porter of the Porter house on West Market Street. Finally, the series contains a copy of a cartoon showing the interior of the Porter drugstore and sketches of several Greensboro citizens with accompanying rhymes.

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