Another dose of Other People's Letters!

MFA '09 fiction graduate Abby Wheetley has news of a production of Other People's Letters: 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Abigail Wheetley
Special Collections Research Center
Morris Library
Southern Illinois University
605 Agriculture Drive
Mailcode 6632
Carbondale, IL 62901

Phone: (618) 453-2516
Fax: (618) 453-3440 (for all staff)

http://www.lib.siu.edu/footer-portlets/collections/special-collections-research-center

 

Other People's Letters to Profile Local Family

Carbondale, Illinois, March 26, 20100

This year, Special Collections Research Center at Morris Library, is proud to present Other People's Letters: The Teeter Family Papers, an evening of family revelation, marriage, children, daily life, and unfortunate loss and struggle seen through the letters of this Carbondale family. Saturday, April 9^th 4:00-6:30 in the Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library. Free and open to the public.

Horace Hollister Teeter arrived in Southern Illinois in 1865 where he married Nancy Belle and had six children while establishing himself as an entrepreneur and businessman in Carbondale. His accomplishments include the development and marketing of an innovative coffee percolator, production of baking powder, and a production and sale of his own brand of furniture polish. Around 1900 he founded the Excelsior Paint Company which he managed until his death in 1924.

Horace and Nancy Teeter had six children, all raised in Carbondale. This reading will showcase correspondence between siblings Kate, Robert and Lillian Teeter, as well as their nephew Louis Teeter and his wife and son. Members of the staff and the community will take on the roles of the Teeters and will read their way through this collection adding voice to this family's history.

The Teeters provide an authentic view of family life in Carbondale and southern Illinois from the end of the 19th century to Lillian's death in 1977. The April 9^th reading will illustrate this family history as well as bringing insight into the love, intimacy, and humor expressed in this now almost forgotten art of letter writing