Call Number:

C1292

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Gertrude Claytor Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1941-1956 (inclusive)

Creator:

Claytor, Gertrude Boatwright, 1890?-1973.

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century and photographs -- 20th century

Abstract:

Consists of selected correspondence, photographs, and printed material of the American poet Gertrude Claytor, some of which is related to the author Edgar Lee Masters.

Gertrude Harris Boatwright Claytor was born in Staunton, Virginia, on October 1, 1888. She later moved with her family to Roanoke, Virginia, where she was privately educated. She married William Graham Claytor, an engineer at the Roanoke Railway and Electric Company, with whom she had five sons. She began publishing poetry in publications such as the New York Times and Carolina Quarterly in the late 1920s, and published two collections, Sunday in Virginia and Other Poems (1951) and Mirage at Midnight and Other Poems (1960).

The collection consists of selected correspondence, photographs, and printed material of the American poet Gertrude Claytor, some of which relates to the author Edgar Lee Masters. Correspondents include Edgar Lee Masters, John Cowper Powys, Margaret Stevenson, and Olivia and Ridgley Torrence. There are also two letters from Alice Davis, Masters' companion and romantic partner, in which she talks about her relationship with Masters. In addition, there are photographs of Gertrude Claytor, Edgar Lee Masters, and Thomas O. Mabbott, as well as several photographs of miniature clay figure sculptures.