My Mississippi Literary Tour - Tennessee Williams

There is no argument that Tennessee Williams was a very creative, unique man.  Said to have been the most important American playwright ever, Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams was born in Columbus, MS on March 26, 2011.  His Southern ties served as inspiration for years to come in his many hits - A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie, The Rose Tattoo and more. Don't we all know a Blanche?!?  Or maybe we girls are all a little bit of Blanche ourselves.

Tennessee was born in Columbus and had a genteel upbringing.  His father was a shoe salesman and had rather famous family including Tennessee's first governor and first senator.  Some members were the Sevier family (anyone ever been to Sevierville and Sevier County on the way to the Smoky Mountains?). He was also related to many presidents (both Adamses, Cleveland, Taft, Coolidge and 9 more) and other authors (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Truman Capote). His mother was of Germanic lineage (maternal side), and her father was the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Columbus, MS when Tennessee was born.

Tennessee Williams

Rose, their mother - Edwina, & Tennessee

 Tennessee was VERY close with his sister, Rose, and even had a play named The Rose Tattoo for which he won a Tony Award.  She had mental problems and, after medical treatment that didn't work, she had a lobotomy and had to be institutionalized for the rest of her life, which he paid for. There are stories that his father was distant and abusive. He had a younger brother, Dakin, with whom he seemed to have a conflicting relationship - close at times, distant at others.  Many of their life experiences show up in his writings.  Sad.....

The 135-year-old childhood house has been restored and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is definitely worth a visit.  Admission is FREE!! and Mrs. Virginia, the curator, is so friendly and has been involved personally in the events and restoration.

Tennessee's upstairs bedroom

Downstairs parlor

 There are many other historical areas in the city you can visit. Go see Mississippi University for Women's campus - gorgeous!!  There is a spring pilgrimage of the Historic Homes (many are open year-round), 3 Blues Trails Markers, and other monthly events.

For more information, go to www.columbus-ms.org. Columbus is a sweet, southern town with a LOT of history.

"Home is where you hang your childhood, and Mississippi to me is the beauty spot of creation, a dark, wide spacious land that you can breathe in."  Tennessee Williams, 1950s

Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi

  Friendship Cemetery

"Where Flowers Healed a Nation"

After uploading my National Board Renewal (yes, it was insane!), I decided to take a day for myself and went to Columbus, MS.  I spent a couple of years in Columbus when I attended Mississippi University for Women (MUW) to earn my Paralegal Studies Degree and I have many fond memories from there.  But it had been a long time, so a trip was overdue.

First on my list that morning was Friendship Cemetery.  It was here that a southern tradition of putting flowers on a loved one's grave in memory began. My family does it every year and has since before I was born, puts flowers on our loved ones' graves on the "2nd Sunday" in May - Mother's Day.  Tradition began in Columbus when two women set out to place flowers on the graves of their Confederate soldiers.  But as they walked among the graves which included Yankee soldiers, their hearts hurt for the families who wouldn't be able to honor their loved ones in the same way so, in a kind gesture, they placed flowers on ALL soldiers' graves.  It was the beginning of the modern day Memorial Day.  And it was known as the places "Where Flowers Healed a Nation."

The cemetery is sitting on a bluff overlooking the Tombigbee River and was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.  It was founded in 1849, is made up of 65 acres, and has veterans from at least 6 wars beginning with the American Revolution.