Dates: 1959; 1992-1993
Size: 0.25 cubic ft.
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:
Virginia Fox Metz

Known locally as the “Drama Mama,” Virginia Fox Metz was a familiar and avid supporter of, and participant in, Jackson’s theatrical sphere for more than fifty years and the many local newspaper articles mentioning Metz attest to her devotion to drama. The daughter of Virginia Lockhart Fox (b. July 25, 1900 - d. November 14, 1992) and Edgar W. Fox (b. ca. 1898 -), Virginia was born on October 16, 1917, in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. She was married to Joseph Charles Metz (b. November 10, 1914 - d. July 13, 1985) of Pennsylvania, and had two daughters, Virginia “Bunny” and Maria “Boots.”

Metz wore many hats in addition to raising her children. During World War II, she entertained service members in local hospitals and at the Jackson USO while working several wartime jobs to support her family. She served as actor, director, stage manager, make-up artist, board member, fundraiser and drama teacher for several Jackson-based theatrical endeavors including the Little Theatre, New Stage Theatre and its Children’s Theatre, and the Galloway Players, sometimes known as the “Virginia Hams.” She also worked many years for the Mississippi Foundation for Independent Colleges.

Due to their mutual love of drama and theatre, Virginia Fox Metz and acclaimed Jackson-based writer Eudora Welty were friends. Like Metz, Welty was also involved with the Little Theatre, New Stage, and was a member of Galloway Methodist Church. Virginia Fox Metz died at the age of 92 on October 12, 2010, in College Station, Texas, after a lengthy illness, and is buried in Lakewood Memorial Park, in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi.

Related Collections at MDAH:

Jackson Little Theatre Collection, (Z/2013.000/S).
Little Theatre Players of Jackson Collection, (Z/2014.000/S).
Moore (Ross H.) Theatre Collection, (Z/2012.000/S).
Welty (Eudora) Collection, (Z/0301.000/S).

 
Scope and Content Note:

This collection is comprised of two series. The first is a 13-page typescript photocopy of a skit manuscript by Eudora Welty titled “Bye Bye Brevoort” and related materials. The second series consists of two magazines, Mirabella and The Oxford American, both of which published articles on Welty’s photographs.

 

Series Description:

Series 1: “Bye Bye Brevoort” Manuscript and Related Materials. 1959; 1993.

This series contains a 13-page typescript photocopy of “Bye Bye Brevoort,” a skit written by Eudora Welty, a photocopy of Welty’s permission to produce the skit, and a one-page photocopy of a newsletter announcing an early production of the skit at the same venue in 1959.

“Bye Bye Brevoort” was originally performed as part of The Littlest Review at The Phoenix Theatre in New York City starting on May 23, 1956. This photocopy contains a handwritten note to Metz from Welty expressing her thanks and best wishes for the success of the 1993 production at Galloway Methodist Church. Welty’s inscription, and an article in The Clarion-Ledger dated November 20, 1993, confirms that “Bye Bye Brevoort” was performed by the Galloway Players as part of a larger celebration inaugurating the opening of Galloway’s new Youth and Arts Center.

There is also a photocopy of permission Welty gave Metz to produce the skit. Finally, there is a copy of page four of the November 1959 issue of “Galloway News” listing the “Virginia Hams” production of this same skit decades before. “Boots,” one of Metz’s daughters, is listed in that production.

Box 1, folders 1-3.

 

Series 2: Published Materials. 1992.

This series contains magazine publications containing articles written by others about Eudora Welty’s photographs. An article, “Southern Exposure, Eudora Welty’s Photographs of Life in 1930s Mississippi Deserve a Close Reading” by novelist Richard Ford, is in the Mirabella Magazine, November 1992, on pages 74-77. There are two copies of the Oxford American: A Magazine from the South, Volume 2, 1992, which includes the photo essay “Photographs” by Eudora Welty on pages 30-33.

Box 1, folders 4-5.

 

Box List:

Folder 1: Manuscript, “Bye Bye Brevoort”, October 8, 1993 (photocopy). 
Folder 2: Permission note, Welty to Metz, September 10, 1993 (photocopy). 
Folder 3: Article, “The Galloway Players,” Galloway News, November 1959 (photocopy). 
Folder 4: Magazine, Mirabella, November 1992. 
Folder 5: Magazine, Oxford American, 1992, Volume 2, (2 copies).