Eudora Welty House and Garden

Greetings from the Eudora Welty House! What a difference a year can make. At this time last year, we were in full swing celebrating Welty’s Centennial with events every month, beginning with the November 2008 photography exhibit in New York. This January, we experienced one of the coldest winters on record and were closed for a week because of water main breaks throughout the city, which not only created a water crisis but damaged many city streets. In addition, we had to cancel our annual teacher-in-service seminar in February because of snow.

In spite of the bad weather, in January we served as the writing affiliate for Mississippi for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition. We adjudicated entries from junior high and high school students in the tri-county area and sent four gold key winning entries on to be adjudicated nationally. What is really exciting is that all four winners from our region also won on the national level—two gold medals and two silvers!

The Education and Visitors Center (EVC), located in the Tudor Revival house due west of the Welty House, has seen lots of changes over the past year. Permanent and temporary exhibits which were installed during summer now enhance the visitor’s experience and provide a venue to further explore the many facets of Welty’s life and work. The exhibits offer additional opportunities to display artifacts and photographs which would not be able to be seen in the Welty House. Another benefit is that the EVC provides much needed space to host the docent enrichment seminars that are frequently led by Suzanne Marrs or Susan Haltom.

In addition, guests are able to view the orientation film in a room with comfortable seating and to see the State Fair mural which was discovered in Welty’s basement during the house restoration. The painting was conserved and premiered in Merriment on the Midway, an exhibit of Welty’s photography at the Mississippi Museum of Art in October. The mural was installed in its permanent location in the EVC in February.

Perhaps one of the biggest changes at the Welty House was the retirement of Mary Alice Welty White in September 2009. This resulted in several staff changes. I stepped into the director’s position in October. Meemie Jackson became the Director of Education in November and Katie Hamm became the Special Projects Coordinator in December. They are doing an outstanding job in their new roles. Elaine Blaine continue as education and administrative assistant.

One thing that has not changed is that we continue to welcome visitors from near and far whose interests and reasons for visiting are as varied as the places from which they come. Almost universally, whether a Welty fan before they arrived, someone being introduced to Welty for the first time, or a garden enthusiast, they leave the Welty House inspired by what they have experienced and so glad they came.

Now is a glorious time to visit. With spring officially here, even though our temperatures don’t always reflect it, the garden is coming into its full glory with the promise of larkspur, hollyhocks, cornflowers, and sweet peas to name a few. If you haven’t visited, we invite you to do so soon. Even if you have been here before, there is always something new to see. Tours of the Welty House are given Tuesday—Friday at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. For a reservation, call 601-353-7762 or e-mail weltytours@mdah.state.ms.us.