Thomas Wolfe Memorial
An article appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch several weeks ago on the
reopening of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, the house that UNC graduate Thomas Wolfe
was raised in. The house has had other names at various times, My Old Kentucky
Home in 1906 when Thomas Wolfe's mother bought the house and operated it as a
boarding house and "Dixie" in the novel "Look Homeward, Angel, written in 1929.
In fact, the house played such a prominent role in "Look Homeward, Angel" that
some have referred to it as one of the characters in the book.
Reading the article brought back some pleasant memories for me because during
the period I was at UNC, and shortly thereafter, I became very interested in
Thomas Wolfe and spent a lot of time reading his works and studying the man.
I visited the house in the late 50's and was fortunate enough to meet and talk
at length with Mabel Wheaton who was Helen in Look Homeward, Angel. She happened
to be at the house on the day I visited, and apparently took a liking to me. She
took me up in the attic and showed me many items that were not on the display to
the public. I remember vividly seeing the sailor suit that Wolfe wore as a
child, and I could relate to it more than most people since my mother had made
me a sailor suit when I was small and paraded me around to show it and me off.
That was fashionable then and, may be, to some extent, today. It is much more
organized now with the pageants, and to my knowledge, is restricted to little
girls. There was no such distinction between boys and girls in the 30's. I never
heard of a contest for little boys in sailor suits.
The house, as I remember it, was not in particularly good shape when I visited
it, and I am delighted in its total restoration since a fire 6 years ago nearly
destroyed it. An arson fire did destroy approximately 25 % of the house and its
contents, but the community of Asheville and others have financed a 2.4 million
dollar restoration which isn't bad for a house that Eliza, Wolfe's mother paid
$6500 for in 1906. It has 29 rooms, 13 fireplaces, and a coat of light yellow
paint to match the original color of the house. Until the restoration, the house
was painted white, but the restorers wanted the house to look as much like the
original as possible, so the yellow paint was put back on the wooden structure.
I also remember setting up an appointment with Jonathan Daniels, the editor of
the Raleigh News and Observer at the time, to discuss Thomas Wolfe since Mr.
Daniels was at UNC during the time Wolfe was and knew him well. Daniels was
President Roosevelt's press secretary and a writer in his own right. It's fuzzy
now what was said it that interview, but it was thrill to talk to someone who
actually knew Thomas Wolfe.
I also remember going to the Riverside Cemetery in Asheville where I learned an
astonishing fact. Buried almost within a stone's throw of Wolfe's final resting
place is/was O'Henry's burial site. He was from Greensboro, and I think I can
remember his real name without conducting research on the matter. If I am wrong,
I'm sure someone will be nice enough to call it to my attention. It was William
Porter and his work that stands out most for me is "The Last Rose" which has
been portrayed on television at least once. The plot is that a very sick woman
fixates on a group of roses outside her window as she is dying and somehow
relates the living roses as being connected with her life. As long as they
lived, she thought she would live, but her caretaker ( I can't remember if it
was her husband or not ) picked up on this and knew the the last of the roses
would finally fall, so he painted a rose on the wall of the next door building
which was close to the roses in an attempt to keep her alive. I embarrassed to
say, I can't remember how the story ended, or if a realistic scenario played out
to the end in Porter's work or not. Obviously, the eternal life of the painted
rose could not be transferred to the dying woman, but Porter may have chosen not
to take the plot of the story to its ultimate conclusion.
One other thing I remember about Wolfe. I remember seeing many of his personal
possessions in the old rare book room of the library at UNC. Back then, it was
called just the library, but I think today it is called the Wilson Library. A
UNC student told me recently that there are now 12 libraries on the campus, so
the use of the term library is meaningless until an adjective is added to
identify which library the speaker is referring to. Back to the items. The
librarian opened the locked enclosure and let me examine up close the Wolfe
items on display. I distinctly remember a large pencil, the kind that Wolfe
always used when writing. He would stand while writing at a large shipping crate
standing on its end, and simply throw the pages on the floor when he ran out of
writing space. It was the typist's job to arrange the pages in the proper order.
The Wolfe home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 and since
1975 it has been operated as a State Historic Site. It is open to the public,
and there is a web site for those who want additional information. The address
is www.wolfememorial.com
At this time of the year, I can't help but try to imagine what it was like at
Christmas in the old house. I bet it was something. Lots of people and food on
the dining room table throughout the Christmas season covered by a tablecloth
for visitors to peek under, and then help themselves to whatever they saw that
they liked. Funny how little thing stand out with you as you try to recall
things from many years ago. You young readers haven't had this experience yet,
but give it time. It's both amusing and baffling. The one thing that I remember
most from reading Look Homeward, Angel several times is the Wolfe children and
children of neighbors chanting "Old Man Gant is Drunk Again" when Wolfe's father
would come by on Saturdays to visit the family. The Wolfe family was named Gant
in Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe's father spent more time living away from the
family than he did with them. He even worked for a while on the construction of
Central Prison in Raleigh since he was a stone man by trade, but, like many
people of the times, took whatever work they could get, often out of town. Least
that's what Look Homeward, Angel said.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas
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" The university early excited expectations which were unfortunately too
sanguine and premature to be realized. Though the attainment of knowledge may be
rendered comparatively easy, it is chimerical to propose that it shall be
universally, or totally, without expense."
Joseph Caldwell, Presiding Professor and
President of the Univ. of North Carolina, 1803