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Special Collections is open to students, staff, faculty, and alumni of Washington University, as well as community members and outside researchers. Open Monday through Friday, and closed on University Holidays. (Occasionally areas are closed for special events, please check with specific units for details).
General Questions or to schedule an appointment:
Phone: (314) 935-5495
Email: spec@wumail.wustl.edu
Researching Tennesee Williams
This guide features research materials about the famed playwright and former Washington University student Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams. Items are available to researchers from collections at University Archives, the Manuscripts Unit , and from the circulating books of Olin Library.
This guide focuses on Williams' connections to the St. Louis area, and is only a starting point for research into a complex topic.
Select Readings on Tennessee Williams' Connections to WashU and St. Louis
Blue Song by Call Number: PS3545.I5365 Z8334 2021ISBN: 0826222307Publication Date: 2021-06-24In 2011, the centennial of Tennessee Williams's birth, events were held around the world honoring America's greatest playwright. There were festivals, conferences, and exhibitions held in places closely associated with Williams's life and career--New Orleans held major celebrations, as did New York, Key West, and Provincetown. But absolutely nothing was done to celebrate Williams's life and extraordinary literary and theatrical career in the place that he lived in longest, and called home longer than any other--St. Louis, Missouri. The question of this paradox lies at the heart of this book, an attempt not so much to correct the record about Williams's well-chronicled dislike of the city, but rather to reveal how the city was absolutely indispensable to his formation and development both as a person and artist. Unlike the prevailing scholarly narrative that suggests that Williams discovered himself artistically and sexually in the deep South and New Orleans, Blue Song reveals that Williams remained emotionally tethered to St. Louis for a host of reasons for the rest of his life.
My Friend Tom by Call Number: PS3545.I5365 Z8355includes "Thomas Lanier Williams, Washington University: St. Louis, 1935-1940"
Tom by Call Number: PS3545 I5365 Z753The "story of the "unknown" years of the playwright's life, before Tom, the person, was eclipsed by Tennessee, the celebrated persona"
Literary St. Louis by Call Number: PS285.S2 L58 2000Includes "The Region of Good Manners (Tennessee Williams): Midtown" pp. 140 -143
Seeking St. Louis by Call Number: F474.S2 S38 2000Includes excerpt from Williams’ memoirs about St. Louis and an excerpt from his play, “A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur” (pp. 765-784)
Memoirs by Call Number: PS3545.I5365 Z46 1975ISBN: 0811216691Publication Date: 2006-10-15A revealing memoir that includes recollections of growing up in St. Louis. ISBN number and cover image are for the 2006 reprint. The call number is for the first edition in the WUSTL Libraries' holdings.
