Julia Peterkin (October 31, 1880 – August 10, 1961) was an American author from South Carolina. In 1929 she won the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

for Novel/Literature for her novel ''

Scarlet Sister Mary ''Scarlet Sister Mary'' is a 1928 novel by Julia Peterkin. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1929. The book was called obscene and banned at the public library in Gaffney, South Carolina. ''The Gaffney Ledger'' newspaper, however, s ...

.'' She wrote several novels about the plantation South, especially the Gullah people of the Lowcountry. She was one of the few white authors who wrote about the African-American experience.

Life and career

Julia Mood was born in Laurens County, South Carolina. Her father was a physician, and she was the third of his four children. Her mother died soon after her birth, and her father later married Janie Brogdon. Janie was the mother of Henry Ashleigh Mood, Julia's half-brother and her father's fourth child. He became a doctor. In 1896, at age 16, Julia Mood graduated from

Converse College Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits ...

in Spartanburg, South Carolina; she earned her master's degree there a year later. She taught at the public school in Fort Motte, South Carolina for a few years, then married William George Peterkin in 1903. He was a planter who owned Lang Syne, a cotton plantation near Fort Motte."Remembering_Julia_Peterkin,_who_brought_Gullah
_to_the_Masses",_''Cotton_Boll_Conspiracy''_blog,_May_18,_2015.html" ;"title="Gullah">"Remembering Julia Peterkin, who brought Gullah
to the Masses", ''Cotton Boll Conspiracy'' blog, May 18, 2015">Gullah">"Remembering Julia Peterkin, who brought Gullah
to the Masses", ''Cotton Boll Conspiracy'' blog, May 18, 2015/ref> She began writing short stories, inspired by the everyday life and management of the plantation. She was described as audacious as well as gracious by Robeson (1995). Peterkin sent highly assertive letters to people she did not know and had never met. For example, she wrote to authors Carl Sandburg and H.L. Mencken, and included samples of her writing about the Gullah culture of coastal South Carolina. Living chiefly on the plantation, she invited Sandburg, Mencken, and other prominent people to the plantation. Sandburg, who lived within a day's travel in Flat Rock, North Carolina, made a visit. Although Mencken did not visit, he became Peterkin's literary agent in her early career, a possible testament to her persuasive letters. Eventually, Mencken led her to Alfred Knopf, who published ''Green Thursday,'' her first book, in 1924. In addition to a number of subsequent novels, her short stories were published in magazines and newspaper throughout her career. Peterkin was among the few white authors to specialize in the African-American experience. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929 for her novel ''

.'' Dr. Richard S. Burton, the chairperson of Pulitzer's fiction-literature jury, recommended that the first prize go to the novel ''Victim and Victor'' by John Rathbone Oliver. The School of Journalism chose Peterkin's book. Burton resigned from the jury. The book aroused some controversy in the South. The public library in the small town of Gaffney, South Carolina classified it as obscene and banned it. However, ''The Gaffney Ledger'' published the complete book in serial form. Peterkin performed as an actress, playing the main character in

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''Hedda Gabler'' at the Town Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina, beginning in February 1932. In 1933, Peterkin was contacted by

Caroline Pafford Miller Caroline Pafford Miller (August 26, 1903 – July 12, 1992) was an American novelist. She gathered the folktales, stories, and archaic dialects of the rural communities she visited in her home state of Georgia in the late 1920s and early 1930s, ...

of Baxley, Georgia. Miller was seeking a publisher for her first novel ''

Lamb in His Bosom ''Lamb in His Bosom'' is a 1933 novel by Caroline Miller. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1934. It also won the Prix Femina in 1934 and became an immediate best-seller. Many names and historical parts of this book were contributed by ...

'', and hoped to enlist Peterkin's help. Peterkin forwarded Miller's name and manuscript to her publisher. In 1933,

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada *Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Illi ...

released ''Lamb in His Bosom''. Miller won the

for the novel in 1934.

Legacy

* In 1998, the Department of English and Creative Writing at her alma mater Converse College established The Julia Peterkin Award for poetry, open to everyone.

Works

* ''Green Thursday: Stories'', New York: Alfred Knopf, 1924. * ''Black April'', Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1927. * ''

'', Indianapolis:

Bobbs-Merrill The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Company history The company began in 1850 October 3 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. After his death in 1 ...

, 1928, awarded the

. It was adapted as a play of the same name, opening on Broadway in 1930, with

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regard ...

. * ''Bright Skin'', Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1932 * ''Roll, Jordan, Roll'', New York, R.O. Ballou, 1933, with photographic studies of the Gullah by

Doris Ulmann Doris Ulmann (May 29, 1882 – August 28, 1934) was an American photographer, best known for her portraits of the people of Appalachia, particularly craftsmen and musicians, made between 1928 and 1934. Life and career Doris Ulmann was a na ...

* ''A Plantation Christmas'', Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1934 Julia Peterkin used the

Gullah language Gullah (also called Gullah-English, Sea Island Creole English, and Geechee) is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people (also called "Geechees" within the community), an African-American population living in coastal regions of South Car ...

in many of her novels and stories. Writer and anthropologist

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on hoodoo. The most popular of her four n ...

used Negro dialect in her novels, contrary to the practice of the other writers in the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

. Some objected in print to such conventions. Hurston wrote that she had met Peterkin and began a correspondence,, but no letters between them have been found.

Awards

* 1925, O. Henry Award for Best Short Story, "Maum Lou" * 1929, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, ''Scarlet Sister Mary'' * 1930, O. Henry Award for Best Short Story, "The Diamond Ring"

Notes

References

* "Burton Quits Jury on Pulitzer Award", ''The New York Times'', May 17, 1929, p. 12. * "Julia Peterkin Wins Ovation as Actress; Novelist's Debut in Title Role of 'Hedda Gabler' Draws Record Advance Sale in Columbia, S.C.", ''The New York Times'', February 27, 1932, p. 22. * "Julia Peterkin, novelist, Was 80; Author of the Pulitzer Prize winning 'Scarlet Sister Mary' Dies", ''The New York Times'', August 11, 1961, p. 23. * Durham, Frank (1970). ''The Collected Short Stories of Julia Peterkin'', Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press. * Robeson, Elizabeth (November 1995). "The Ambiguity of Julia Peterkin", ''The Journal of Southern History'', vol. LXI, no. 4, pp. 761–786.

External links

* *
Dramatized audio version of ''The Merry-Go-Round'' (1921 short story by Peterkin)

First Edition of ''Scarlet Sister Mary'' (1929 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peterkin, Julia 1880 births 1961 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American women novelists Burials in South Carolina Charleston Renaissance Converse College alumni Daughters of the American Revolution people Novelists from South Carolina People from Laurens County, South Carolina Pulitzer Prize for the Novel winners