Z 1878.000 Lindsey (Myra Mason) and Family Papers

Z 1878.000
LINDSEY (MYRA MASON) AND FAMILY PAPERS

Myra (Almira) Mason Lindsey was born in Harrison County, Mississippi, in 1889. Her parents were James T. and Frances M. Binford Lindsey. She attended the public schools of Long Beach, Mississippi, and obtained a bachelor of arts degree from the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College (now Mississippi University for Women) in 1912. She studied under both Pauline Van de Graaf Orr and Miriam G. Paslay at the I. I. & C. Lindsey later earned graduate degrees from Tulane University in New Orleans and Columbia University in New York City, where she attended the Pulitzer School of Journalism.

Lindsey briefly taught school in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1920. She worked with the Newark Star Eagle as a daily reporter and feature writer between 1921 and 1923. Lindsey also renewed her friendships with Pauline Orr and Miriam Paslay. After the success of her first two short stories ("Vanilla Wafers," June 1923, and "Miss Tennys Yellow Streak," December 1923) that appeared in Scribners Magazine, Lindsey left the Newark Star Eagle to devote herself to writing. Lindseys sister, Hazel, lived with her in New York City for several years during the 1920s. Myra Lindsey was assistant make-up editor and fiction editor of Good Housekeeping in 1926. Meanwhile, she was publishing stories in Flynns Weekly under the pseudonym, Rienza Rochelle. Lindsey worked for Good Housekeeping until 1928, and then she worked for McCalls before moving back to Jackson, where her family had settled in 1918. She remained in Jackson until 1942, writing for the Clarion-Ledger and other local newspapers. Lindsey also opened a literary agency and taught journalism.

Moving back to New York City in 1942, she continued her literary activity, writing articles, fiction, verse, and historical and genealogical sketches. Lindsey also had various jobs in advertising, culinary editing, and manuscript reading. She worked with literary agent A. L. Fierst, writing on commission from 1947 to 1958. Lindsey was also very close to Pauline Orr during these years. Orr was losing her eyesight, and Lindsey read to her and handled some of her paperwork.

Returning to Jackson in 1958, Lindsey taught creative writing at Millsaps College. She died in 1981.

Although this collection contains occasional photographs and newsclippings, it mainly consists of incoming personal correspondence (arranged chronologically) from the family of Myra Mason Lindsey during the 1920s, 1940s, and 1950s. The majority of the letters are from Frances M. Binford Lindsey ("Mama") to Myra Mason Lindsey ("Sister," "Daughter," "Daught," or "Dit"). The list of other correspondents includes the following: her father, James T. Lindsey ("Papa"); her sister who lived in Pensacola, Sallie B., born in 1891, whose husband was C. P. and whose son was Charles; her sister who was a registered nurse and a professional anesthetist, Frances Ree Lindsey ("Fanny"), born in 1892; her brother, James T. Lindsey, Jr. ("Son," whose wife was Burney), born in 1894; her sister, Hazel M. Lindsey ("Hael"), born in 1895; her brother, Howard Lee Lindsey ("Lee"), born in 1897, whose wife was Ina and whose daughter was Mary Ann Lindsey; her sister, Lillian Clothilde Lindsey ("Clo"), born in 1899, who with Hazel owned a book, stationery, antique, and gift shop in Pensacola, Florida; her sister who taught at Copiah-Lincoln Junior College in Wesson, Mississippi, Laura Bell Lindsey ("Bell"), born in 1902; her brother who lived in Florida, Earle H. Lindsey, born in 1905; her sister, Adeline Lindsey (Mrs. H. W.) Hamilton, born in 1909, who also lived in Florida; her sister who worked at the Veterans Administration in Jackson, John Elizabeth Lindsey ("John"), born in 1911; her cousin, Edward M. Lindsey; and another cousin, Mamie V. Lindsey. A few other relatives and friends are represented in the collection, but their relationships are unclear. One is a photocopy of a letter to Renee Easterling from Cyril Clemens, president of the International Mark Twain Society, dated January 19, 1953.

The letters contain details of family members health, travels, events, daily activities, weather, gardening, house remodeling and repairs, and finances. Since most of the correspondents are single women, their letters report news from extended family members along with their own news. Many letters are grouped together because Frances Lindsey would enclose letters from other family members to be forwarded to Myra Lindsey. There is only one letter (ca. 1958) from Myra Lindsey, but the responsive tone of the other letter writers and the accompanying envelopes place Lindsey at her home in New York or wherever she may have been traveling. The letters of the 1940s and 1950s reveal the increasing professional opportunities for women, and the writers make several oblique references to contemporary social problems. A few family members, both close and extended, experience mental health problems, and the tone of the writers as they respond shows changing attitudes toward psychiatric treatment. The letters also depict a close-knit family experiencing changes in the social, economic, and physical landscape of the post-World War II South, especially in Jackson, Mississippi.

1. Correspondence (Personal). 1922-1925; 1943-1958; n.d. 0.33 cubic ft.