Columbus State University - Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians

Carson McCullers Center For Writers and Musicians

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Life Timeline (1930-1935)

1930		Enters eighth grade at Columbus High School on February 3. Visits uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Elam Waters, in Cincinnati in July and drops Lula from name. Colonel Albert S.J. and Mary Tucker (Carson's future piano teacher) transferred to Fort Benning in August. Ends piano study with Mrs. Kierce in fall. Begins piano study with Mrs. Tucker in October.
1931		Future husband, James Reeves McCullers, Jr., (born August 11, 1913) graduates from Weumpka High School (Wetumpka, Alabama) in June. Reeves McCullers enlists in army at Fort Benning, Georgia on November 3.
1932		Stricken with rheumatic fever (misdiagnosed and untreated), ill for several weeks during winter. Tells friend Helen Harvey of decisions to write and give up plans for the concert stage.
1933		Reads voraciously, writes plays, and writes first short story, "Sucker." Graduates from Columbus High School in June.
1934		Meets friend Edwin Peacock in spring. Tucker family transferred to Fort Howard, Maryland in June. Tells Mary Tucker of decision to write. At age seventeen, travels by boat from Savannah to New York in September. Reeves McCullers copletes three-year enlistment in army on November 2 and re-enlists for three additional years. Edwin Peacock introduces Reeves to Smith family while Carson is in New York.
1935		Enrolls in creative writing courses with Dorothy Scarborough and Helen Rose Hull at Columbia University from February to June. Returns to Columbus by bus in mid-June. Edwin Peacock introduces Carson to Reeves McCullers. Works as reporter for hometown newspaper, Columbus Ledger, during August. Returns to New York in September, enrolls at Washington Square College of New York University and studies writing for two semesters with Sylvia Chatfield Bates. John Vincent Adams, a friend of Reeves and Edwin Peacock, moves to New York in November and urges Reeves to leave Army, join him in New York, and dedicate himself to writing.

Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians, 1519 Stark Avenue, Columbus, Georgia, 31906

(706) 568-2054

Created By Patricia Gilbert