Elise Ayers Sanguinetti Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS-0098

No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of the correspondence, manuscripts and galley proofs, as well as reviews and notices of Elise Ayers Sanguinetti, the Alabama author of The Last of the Whitfields (1962), The New Girl (1964), The Dowager (1968), and McBee's Station (1972).

The correspondence includes letters to and from her parents, Colonel and Mrs. Harry M. Ayers (Edel Y.) of Anniston, Alabama, various other family members, agents, and editors, as well as letters from friends and classmates Nelle Harper Lee and Barbara Pierce Bush. The correspondence is arranged by name and then chronologically. There are also condolence letters to Elise Sanguinetti when her father died in 1964 and one when her mother died in 1977.

The collection also includes typescript manuscript copies (with edits) and galley proofs of The Last of the Whitfields, The New Girl, and McBee's Station. There are also clippings and photocopies of notices and reviews of all her novels. The clippings are arranged by the novel title. There was no attempt made to arrange the clippings by newspaper or magazine or by date.

There is also a small group of books and essays covering various family histories and another small collection of various alumni and church publications. The group of photographs and negatives include a scrapbook covering Elise Sanguinetti's trip to California in January of 1945 to act as the maid of honor at the christening of the SS Anniston Victory (584 Anniston Victory, VC2-S-AP2).

Dates

Creation: 1929 - 2003

Creator

Sanguinetti, Elise (Person)
Lee, Nelle Harper (1926-2016) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Conditions Governing Use

Literary rights and copyrights to Elise Ayers Sanguinetti's published and unpublished writings have not been granted to The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections and remain the property of the author. They may be viewed but not photocopied.

Access to and use of materials that were created by Nelle Harper Lee in this collection require written permission from the Lee estate. University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections staff will not photocopy or digitize letters written by Nelle Harper Lee without written permission from the Lee estate. Patrons may not use cell phone cameras or any other recording devices when accessing restricted portions of thisthis collection. For information contact The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections staff at archives@ua.edu.

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections staff at archives@ua.edu with questions regarding specific manuscript collections. For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which The University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

The daughter of Harry Mell and Edel (Ytterboe) Ayers, Edel Elise Ayers Sanguinetti was born January 26, 1926, in Anniston, Alabama. She attended Ashley Hall, a boarding prepartory school in Charleston, South Carolina, before attending one year at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, followed by a summer session at the University of Oslo (Norway). She received her AB degree from The University of Alabama in 1946. In 1950 she married Phillip A. Sanguinetti, a chemical engineer from Norfolk, Virginia. They lived in Pennsylvania and Missouri before returning to Anniston.

Elise Sanguinetti's father, Harry Mell Ayers, was a very strong influence on her career as a writer. Harry Mell Ayers was the owner, editor, and publisher of the Anniston Star, and he believed that a newspaper should try to improve the community. He took an active interest in the Civil Rights movement and improving education. Sanguinetti's younger brother, Harry Brandt Ayers, eventually became editor of the Anniston Star.

Her literary career included working as a reporter and feature writer for the Anniston Star and completing several novels, including The Last of The Whitfields (1962), The New Girl (1964), The Dowager (1968), and McBee's Station (1971). She is best known for The Last of The Whitfields, which was an expansion of her first published short story, "To You, Frere Twig," published in Mademoiselle magazine (1960). She wrote Whitfields while living with her husband in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the early years of the Civil Rights movement. The New Girl, while not precisely a sequel to Whitfields, is a look at boarding schools and the trials and tribulations of being the "new girl" as told by Felicia Whitfield, who also narrated the story of The Last of The Whitfields.

Elise Ayers Sanguinetti died on November 17, 2014.

Extent

5.6 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of the correspondence, manuscripts, and galley proofs, as well as reviews and notices of Elise Ayers Sanguinetti, the Alabama author of The Last of the Whitfields (1962), The New Girl (1964), The Dowager (1968), and McBee's Station (1972).