Available August 2003

Southern Letters

$35.00t, Hardback

256 pages, 6 x 9

978-0-86554-808-4, H611

Index, bibliography

The Correspondence of John Donald Wade and Donald Davidson, 1930–1939

The correspondence of two of the original Agrarians

Gerald J. Smith, editor

John Donald Wade of Marshallville, Georgia, and Donald Davidson of Nashville, Tennessee, were lifelong friends and colleagues, dedicated to a common, passionate goal—to further the beauty and ideals of their beloved South. To that end, they participated with ten other like-minds in the landmark symposium “I’ll Take My Stand”: The South and the Agrarian Tradition, published in 1930, just as the Great Depression was settling hard on the American experience. In this book, they took their stand against the evils of Progress, viewing the Depression as a product of its minions. Wade, who was director of graduate studies in American Literature at Vanderbilt, was introduced by Davidson, already on the faculty there, to others of the Nashville Agrarians, as the twelve Southerners were soon to be called. Later, when the campus building was burned in which Davidson and his family lodged, Wade rented to him the little “green house” in Marshallville which was adjacent to Wade’s home. In the little town, Davidson spent a year that he never forgot. In the environs of Marshallville, he found the true agrarian experience, human values, less hectic lifestyles, and a palpable history.

These letters represent the correspondence of the two friends during the heyday of the Agrarians—the 1930s. When Wade was away at Vanderbilt, Davidson wrote him from Marshallville, a curious reversal indeed. They discuss in the letters the inner workings of the Agrarian circle, articles they were writing, and further symposiums. This volume of letters contributes greatly to the growing interest in the Nashville Agrarians in providing for the first time this unique collection of letters.

Gerald J. Smith is retired from Paine College where he was professor of English (1977–2001).

Titles of related interest

Elements: The Novels of James Dickey

For the Record: A Robert Drake Reader

Flannery O’Connor:
The Woman, the Thinker, the Visionary

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