Walker Percy Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: Collection 64

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection originated from Walker Percy’s office at his home in Covington and was donated by his daughter after the death of Mrs. Mary “Bunt” Percy. Handwritten notes, typescripts with marginalia, drafts of speeches and lectures, and correspondence and photocopies of correspondence make up majority of the collection. There are a number of collected articles and academic journals that contain pieces written about Percy as well as unpublished academic papers and theses about him and his writing. The range of the material in the collection focuses mainly on the latter half of Percy’s life.

Dates

Created: 1945-2000
Other: Majority of material found in 1970-1990
Other: Date acquired: 01/06/2011

Creator

Percy, Walker (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the J. Edgar and Louis S. Monroe Library, Loyola University New Orleans. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. Copyright Laws.

Biographical or Historical Information

Walker Percy was born on May 28, 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama. After his father’s death in 1929, Walker’s family relocated to Athens, Georgia. Percy’s mother died in an automobile accident a couple of years later, and Percy and his brothers relocated to Greenville, Mississippi to live with their father’s cousin, William Alexander Percy. Walker Percy attended the University of North Carolina where he received a B.A. in Chemistry in 1937. He later attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University from where he graduated in 1941. In 1944, after battling and recovering from tuberculosis, Percy abandoned his medical career to purse a career in writing. Percy married Mary Bernice (“Bunt”) Townsend in 1946, and shortly thereafter the new couple relocated to Covington, Louisiana. They had two daughters. Around the time they moved to Louisiana both Percy and his wife joined the Roman Catholic Church. Percy published a number of essays in the 1950s. His first novel, The Moviegoer (1961), won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962. Percy continued to publish fiction and nonfiction covering subjects such as philosophy, semiotics, religion, science and life in the South. Percy died of cancer at his home in Covington, Louisiana in 1990.

Note written by

Extent

3.75 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement Note

For majority of the series in the collection, the arrangement scheme for the collection has been maintained from the time of acquisition. When necessary, order was imposed during processing to maintain cohesion between series.

Source of Acquisition

Lobdell, Mary Pratt

Method of Acquisition

Gift, 2011.02

Accruals and Additions

Addendum material June, 2015. Mary Pratt Lobdell donated theseis, distertations, and plays written by students and submitted to Percy for review. There is some marginalia and commentary from Percy found in these materials which are stored on the 5th floor of the archive. There is a deed of gift for this donation in the main file for the accession 2011.02