Biography:

Charles Elmo East

Charles Elmo East, son of Elmo Montan and Mabel Grandolph East, was born in Shelby, Bolivar County, Mississippi, on December 11, 1924. He graduated from Cleveland High School in Bolivar County in 1942. East attended Louisiana State University where he earned a bachelor of arts degree. He married Sarah Simmons on September 30, 1948. Their son, Charles Elmo East, Jr., was born on December 5, 1949. East worked for Colliers Magazine in New York City before returning to Baton Rouge to work for the Morning Advocate and the State-Times. He earned a master of arts degree from Louisiana State University in 1962, and he joined the staff of the Louisiana State University Press. While serving as an editor at the press, East published a book of short stories entitled Where the Music Was in 1965. East served as director of the Louisiana State University Press from 1975 until 1980, when he accepted a position as assistant director and editor of the University of Georgia Press. While working at the press, East helped to establish the Flannery OConnor award. He also served as editor of the published short stories that won the Flannery OConnor award. East returned to Baton Rouge in 1983, and he remains active in the literary community. He has continued to work freelance, editing several other books, including Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman, as well as publishing another collection of short stories entitled Distant Friends and Intimate Strangers.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection accretion includes an annotated typewritten manuscript entitled "The Civil War Diary of Sarah Morgan," which was edited by Charles E. East and published as Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman by the University of Georgia Press in 1991. Also included are Easts typewritten transcriptions of the microfilm edition of volumes one through five of Sarah Morgans original diary, which is located in the private manuscript collection of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Manuscript (Typewritten). 1991. 7 folders.