Restrictions: Collection may be viewed: the photocopying restrictions for the Welty (Eudora) Collection (Z/0301.000/S) apply to items authored by Eudora Welty in this collection as well.

Biography:

 

Nash Kerr Burger, Jr. and Marjorie (Williams) Burger

Nash Kerr Burger, Jr. was born September 8, 1908 to Nash Kerr, Sr. (June 14, 1868 - May 24, 1936) and Clara Isabel Eddy Burger (January 5, 1880 - May 15, 1978) in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. His father, a traveling shoe, boot, and hosiery salesman, was from Fincastle, Virginia and his mother from Somerville, Massachusetts. His mother’s family was distantly related to Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science Church, Church of Christ Scientist. Burger was a long-time friend of fellow Jacksonian and acclaimed writer, Eudora Welty. Both attended what was then known as Jefferson Davis School on North Congress Street in downtown Jackson. They also graduated from Jackson’s Central High School in 1925. Welty and Burger were also longtime friends with four other renowned Jackson natives, Charlotte Capers, Hubert Creekmore, Lehman Engel, and Frank Lyell. Burger attended Millsaps College in Jackson starting in 1925 though he had aspirations for Sewanee, The University of the South, in Tennessee. He dropped out of Millsaps upon completing his second year and began working full-time. After a year, his parents suggested he attend summer school at Sewanee with hopes he could finish there. He did so graduating from Sewanee in 1930 with a bachelor of arts in English. Over time, Burger completed a master of arts in English in 1935 at the University of Virginia. He married another Jacksonian, Marjorie Williams (December 8, 1918 - February 4, 1998) in late December of 1938. They had three children. Burger had a number of jobs teaching English at the secondary level but his primary position as a teacher was at his alma mater, Central High School.

During the summer of 1944, Eudora Welty worked for a few months as an intern for the New York Times Book Review (NYTBR). She suggested to the publication’s editor, Robert Van Gelder, that he send review materials to Nash Burger in Jackson. Gelder obliged, and not long after, offered Burger a job as a staff reviewer. Burger accepted, moved his family to New York City, and remained at the NYTBR until his retirement in April of 1974. He contributed more than a thousand reviews for the NYTBR and for their daily “Books of the Times” column during his career. He also recruited many other friends and acquaintances to do likewise including members of his Mississippi cadre, including Capers, Lyell and Creekmore.

In addition to his literary work, Nash Burger was also known as a historiographer for he had a deep interest in the history of his home state and that of the Episcopal Church in Mississippi. Both of these interests and the publications that sprang from them, nurtured a long-time connection between Burger and Charlotte Capers, whose father served for many years as rector of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in downtown Jackson. Under the auspices of MDAH, Burger became an editor of the Historical Records Survey and he also wrote the first history of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi. After retiring from the NYTBR, the Burgers moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. He died there on December 19, 1996 at the age of 88. Marjorie Williams Burger died on February 4, 1998 at the age of 79 and is interred near her husband at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Jackson.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection is arranged into four series: correspondence divided into two subseries, poetry, printed material, and Mississippi sesquicentennial commemorative envelope. The poem is about the altercation between Governor Johnson and editor Fred Sullens, and the printed material is Welty’s copy of a January 1992 Mississippi History Newsletter, with a handwritten inscription to Nash Burger. Lastly, the Mississippi commemorative envelope celebrates the 150th Anniversary of Mississippi Statehood.

The first subseries of the correspondence consists of Welty’s letters to Nash and Marjorie Burger, with undated materials appearing at the end. The second subseries of correspondence concerns the William Faulkner letter. Both subseries are arranged chronologically.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1. Correspondence. 1943; 1948; 1969-1989; n.d. [1946].

Subseries 1.1: Correspondence to Nash and Marjorie Burger. 1948; 1969-1980; n.d. 
With the exception of three items, this collection consists largely of typewritten correspondence written by Eudora Welty and addressed to Nash Burger though Welty often asks that her greetings and best wishes be extended to Marjorie Burger. The letters generally discuss mutual friends and literary interests along with news about Jackson.

A holiday greeting card (folder 10), “Nativity,” published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art from Welty to the Burgers bears a handwritten inscription referencing Burger’s December 15, 1974 review of the last volume of Shelby Foote’s The Civil War published in the New York Times Book Review.

Welty invited the Burgers to attend the 1980 Presidential Medal of Freedom Awards ceremony at the White House at which she received the metal. Folder 14 contains four items: an invitation to the Burgers from the White House to attend the upcoming Awards ceremony, an RSVP card, a ticket to the event with “Mr. and Mrs. Nash K. Burger inscribed on it, and the accompanying envelope. A handwritten letter from Welty dated July 8, 1985 and its enclosures related to the death of Reverend George Stephenson, another close Jackson friend of Burger’s who had served several Episcopal congregations around Mississippi, may be found in folder 18.

Items in folder 20 include a handwritten letter from Welty to the Burgers with an August 1987 publication from the Archives and Special Collections at The John Davis Williams Library, University of Mississippi. The publication is entitled “Eudora Welty, a keepsake” and contains a preface by Thomas M. Verish, Curator of Special Collections. This piece was published in honor of Welty’s participation in the Fourteenth Annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawapha Conference and for her address at the official ceremony of the William Faulkner postage stamp.

Finally, the last nine items in this subseries are undated letters or cards. Brackets around dates were imposed by the archivist when, based on the content in Welty’s letters, research provided evidence of a particular year or full date.

Welty mentions her recent purchase of a plantation desk in a letter (folder 22) possibly dated May 1946, a date arrived at after comparing with another one written on May 16, 1946 to her literary agent Diarmuid Russell where she mentions the same purchase. Referring to Mary Chestina Welty recently residing at the Martha Coker Convalescent Home in Yazoo City, Mississippi, this letter (folder 23) is likely dated May 18, 1964, according to Eudora Welty, A Biography by Suzanne Marrs. A “Labor Day” letter (folder 24) should date to September 1967 due to Burger’s book on Rose O’Neale Greenhow was published in 1967 as was a new novel by Elizabeth Spencer, both mentioned in the letter. Welty mentions a review of Losing Battles by James Boatwright and an interview by Walter Clemons in this letter (folder 25), which should date to 1970 because these appear in the New York Times Book Review on April 12, 1970.

In one letter to Nash Burger, Welty mentions the recent death of his mother which took place in 1973 (folder 26). In another letter, Welty mentions the annual State Fair that commenced shortly after Burger’s visit to help adjudicate an awards competition sponsored by Mississippians for Educational Television, and she ends her letter (folder 27) wishing him a “Happy Columbus Day.”

Welty sent a postcard (folder 28) featuring “The Absolutely Abstemious Ass,” a pen and ink drawing by Edward Lear, to Nash Burger possibly in 1979, because she mentioned the flooding of the Pearl River in Jackson and her appearance on the Dick Cavett Show. Another postcard (folder 29) to Burger features an original block print by Walter Inglis Anderson. This correspondence makes reference to “Ms. Crane” at the University of Virginia, and “Nancy,” likely Nancy Farley who had possession of the Faulkner letter to Welty for over four decades. Based on the above correspondence and that between Burger and Welty in the Eudora Welty Collection (Z/0301.000), this postcard likely dates to late 1979 or early 1980.

Box 1 folders 1-30.

Subseries 1.2: Correspondence on the William Faulkner Letter. 1943; 1979-1980; 1989. 
Several letters written between 1979 and 1980, and then again in 1989, specifically address Welty’s first awareness of (folder 31), and her subsequent efforts to recover from the University of Virginia (UVA) the April 27, 1943 letter she had received from William Faulkner; it had been lost to her for many decades. Burger played a role in helping Welty retrieve quality facsimiles of the correspondence purchased by UVA that included the Faulkner letter and its eventual return to Welty in 1989. Much of this subseries consists of facsimiles of the Faulkner letter and photocopies of correspondence with Joan St. Clair Crane (folder 32), Curator of American Literature Collections at UVA, and friend Nancy Farley (folder 33), and some with notes from Welty as they were forwarded to Nash Burger (folders 34-35). Lastly, Welty forwards to Burger a copy of a letter from Edmund Berkeley, Jr., Director of Special Collections, UVA, dated November 15, 1989, confirming the Faulkner letter to Welty will soon be returned to her (folder 36). In her letter to the Burgers, Welty expresses her continued gratitude to Nash Burger for having “set this whole thing going” a decade ago.

Box 1 folders 31-36.

 

Series 2. Poetry. n.d. [1940]. 
The sole item in this series is a fragile two-page poetry typescript titled “The Fight Between Governor Johnson & Fred Sullens.” Another version of this piece is located in the Eudora Welty Collection (Z/0301.000/S), Series 40: Poetry (box 365, folder 5) and the title calls it a ballad. The latter version contains the following inscription by Welty at the top of the first page: “By Hubert [Creekmore], Seta [Sancton], Jimmy [Wooldridge], Eudora [Welty], May 2.” The Friday front page of the Jackson Daily News, dated May 3, 1940 confirms the altercation that inspired this poem.

Box 1, folder 37.

 

Series 3: Printed Material. 1992. 
This series contains Welty’s copy of the Mississippi History Newsletter, Vol. XXXVI, No. 1, from January 2, 1992. The newsletter contains an article on the recent death of John K. Betterworth, a longtime Jackson-born friend and contemporary of Eudora Welty and Nash Burger, who was a retired Professor of History at Millsaps College. An inscribed message from Welty is on the bottom of the page.

Box 1, folder 38.

 

Series 4: Mississippi Sesquicentennial Commemorative Envelope. 1967. 
This series contains a first day of issue envelope and cancellation postage stamp dated December 11, 1967 addressed to Welty commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Mississippi Statehood. The postmark shows the envelope was mailed from Natchez, Mississippi.

Box 1, folder 39.

 

Boxlist:

Folder 1: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, February 10, 1948 (photocopies). 
Folder 2: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, July 17, 1969. 
Folder 3: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, April 6, 1970. 
Folder 4: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, January 12, 1971. 
Folder 5: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, April 26, 1972. 
Folder 6: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, May 10, 1972. 
Folder 7: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, December 14, 1972 [handwritten]. 
Folder 8: Holiday booklet “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” Eudora Welty to the Burgers, December 16, 1972 [handwritten inscription]. 
Folder 9: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, May 26, 1974. 
Folder 10: Holiday card, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, 1974. [handwritten inscription]. 
Folder 11: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, January 28, 1975 [handwritten]. 
Folder 12: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, July 22, 1977 [handwritten]. 
Folder 13: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, April 25, 1980. 
Folder 14: White House Invitation to the Burgers, May 16, 1980. 
Folder 15: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, June 16, 1981. 
Folder 16: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, August 15, 1981. 
Folder 17: Postcard, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, October 14, 1983 [handwritten]. 
Folder 18: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, July 8, 1985. [enclosures]. 
Folder 19: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, February 13, 1986. 
Folder 20: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, August 31, 1987. [enclosures]. 
Folder 21: Postcard, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, October 2, 1989 [handwritten, with enclosures]. 
Folder 22: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, n.d. [ca. May 1946]. 
Folder 23: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, May 18, [1964]. 
Folder 24: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, September [ca. 1967]. 
Folder 25: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, n.d. [ca. 1970]. 
Folder 26: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, n.d. [ca. 1973]. 
Folder 27: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, n.d. [ca. October 1974]. 
Folder 28: Postcard of Edward Lear pen and ink drawing, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, n.d. [ca. 1979]. 
Folder 29: Postcard of Walter Inglis Anderson print, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, n.d. [ca. 1979 or 1980]. 
Folder 30: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, n.d. 
Folder 31: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, November 29, 1979 [with handwritten note]. 
Folder 32: Letters, Joan St. Clair Crane, December 11-17, 1979 (photocopies). 
Folder 33: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nancy Farley, May 16, 1943 (photocopy) [enclosures]. 
Folder 34: Copy of letter to Crane, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, January 17, 1980 (photocopy). 
Folder 35: Copy of letter to Crane, Eudora Welty to Nash Burger, February 1, 1980 (photocopy). 
Folder 36: Letter, Eudora Welty to Nash and Marjorie Burger, November 30, 1989 (handwritten, with enclosures). 
Folder 37: Poem, “The Fight Between Governor Johnson & Fred Sullens,” n.d. [1940]. 
Folder 38: Printed Material, Mississippi History Newsletter, January 2, 1992. 
Folder 39: Mississippi Sesquicentennial Commemorative Envelope, December 11, 1967.