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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibrarySharon Defibaugh and Lily Davis
This collection is open for research use.
MSS 16077 Jan Karon papers, box #, folder #, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
The Jan Karon papers were given to the University of Virginia Library on October 2, 2014, by Jan Karon.
Jan Karon was born on March 14, 1937 in Lenoir, North Carolina, to Robert Cecil Wilson (1914-1977) and Wanda Lee Wilson (1921- ) and was named Janice Meredith after the title of a popular novel. She and her younger sister, Brenda, lived as children with her grandparents, Monroe Ivy Cloer and Fannie Bush Cloer, on their farm outside Hudson, North Carolina. Both sisters later moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to join their mother who had married Toby Setzer, the owner of a hosiery knitting business.
At fourteen, Karon married Robert Bryan Freeland (1932-1995) in Charlotte and had one daughter, Candace Rae Freeland, in 1952. Her advertising career began at the age of eighteen, at Walter J. Klein Company, one of the first advertising agencies in the region.
Karon's marriage to Robert Freeland ended in divorce and in her early twenties, Karon married a Duke Power chemist, Bill Orth, and became active in the Charlotte Little Theater, the Mint Museum Drama Guild, and in local social and political issues. She was one of four white women who marched in an early civil rights protest, led by the Reverend Sydney Freeman, along Charlotte's North Tyron Street.
During the late sixties, she and Orth divorced. Karon then married Arthur Karon, a clothing salesman who moved the family to Berkeley, California, where they lived for three years.
After their marriage ended, Karon returned to Charlotte, North Carolina, and begun working again in advertising. Her dismissal from a Charlotte TV production company in 1982 precipitated what she called the 'proverbial dark night of the soul.' Karon returned to the faith taught her as a child by her grandmother. She began attending Charlotte's interdenominational Calvary Church, and worked as a free-lance copywriter until her move to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1983, where she joined McKinney and Silver, an internationally renowned advertising firm.
She became an award- winning creative vice-president at McKinney, working on cruise line and airline accounts. There she won, with art director Michael Winslow, the coveted Steven E. Kelly Award, the print advertising equivalent of the Academy Award. Semi-finalists included British Airways, Harley-Davidson, and Waterford Crystal.
Her daughter, Candace Freeland, pursued photojournalism, winning numerous awards with the "Miami Herald" , the "Charlotte Observer" , and a stint in Central America for the "U.S. News and World Report" .
In order to pursue her dream of writing a novel, Karon left her advertising career and, at age fifty, bought a house in the small mountain town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, where she supported her dream with freelance advertising work.
Soon, she approached the editor of "The Blowing Rocket" with a couple of chapters featuring an Episcopal priest named Tim Kavanagh, which he urged her to run in "The Blowing Rocket" . The ensuing two years of writing the priest's story for "The Blowing Rocket" resulted in her first novel, "At Home in Mitford" , published in paper by a small publishing house in the Midwest. Twenty years after its initial release in paper, the novel appeared in its 85th printing, in a new, 20th anniversary hardcover edition, from Penguin-Random House, the world's largest trade publisher.
The second and third Mitford novels, "A Light in the Window" and "These High Green Hills" , were published by the same house, with limited marketing and distribution. Karon took the promotion of her books into her own hands, cold-selling them to bookstores and befriending bookstore owners. In Raleigh, bookseller Nancy Olson of Quail Ridge Books, was given a copy of "At Home in Mitford" by Mary Richardson, Karon's Raleigh neighbor and friend. Olson admired the work and in 1996 introduced Karon to literary agent Liz Darhansoff. Darhansoff showed the Karon books to Carolyn Carlson at Penguin, and a long and fruitful relationship began. At this writing (2016), Karon has published twenty-two works of fiction and non-fiction, with sales estimated at more than 40 million, not including foreign sales in nineteen countries. Karon is currently published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin-Random House; her editor is Christine Pepe.
Jan Karon has won much recognition for her work. Among these are three nominations by the American Booksellers Association of "At Home in Mitford" for Best Book of the Year for three consecutive years (1996-1998) – a one-time-only occurrence in the Association's history to date.
In 2013, "Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good" , which spent seventeen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, was given the Library of Virginia's Best Fiction of the Year award. In 2015, Karon received The Library of Virginia's Lifetime Achievement Award. And in 2016, "Come Rain or Come Shine" debuting at #1 on the "New York Times" list, was the recipient of the 2016 Christy Award. A further recognition is the designation of Jan Karon as a lay Canon for the Arts in the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy. For more information about honors and awards, see box 44 of this collection.
For more information about Jan Karon and her books, see the publicity – press files in boxes 55-56 of this collection, a long article in "The Charlotte Observer" , August 14, 2005, her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JanKaron/ and website http://www.mitfordbooks.com/ , as well as her Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Karon
The Jan Karon papers (66 cubic feet; 1918-2018) contain Mitford book typescripts and galleys; materials related to Ms. Karon's publishing career and her relationship with her agent and publisher; letters and fan mail from readers, arranged by month and year only; memorabilia; professional and personal correspondence; reviews and press publicity; research related to Karon's novels; files related to charitable organizations and boards; architectural drawings of Esmont Farm; files and journals related to the purchase, restoration, and running of historic Esmont Farm, Albemarle County, Virginia, by Karon; personal and family papers; files pertaining to Jan Karon's advertising career, particularly the North Carolina tourism campaign for McKinney and Silver; photographs; artifacts; audiovisual material; and born-digital material, including disks and hard drives.
The Jan Karon papers are organized into eight series. Series I consists of manuscripts and book related material, including illustrations, book jackets and covers, reviews, editorial files, radio plays, stage plays, page proofs, and galleys (Boxes 1-26 and Oversize boxes 1, 3). Series II consists of reader mail from fans (Boxes 27-43).
Series III contains the professional correspondence and papers of Jan Karon concerning the publication of her books, including files with publishers, arrangements and publicity for public appearances, press clippings, and interviews (Boxes 44-59, oversize folder 17 and oversize boxes 1 and 3).
Series IV consists of personal and family papers and is further separated into two subseries,subseries A: personal and family correspondence (Boxes 59-83), including greeting cards and invitations, with frequent correspondents having an individual folder and subseries B: personal papers of Jan Karon, including calendar diaries, journals, personal notes, and related material (Boxes 84-86 and Oversize box 3).
Series V includes materials relating to her advertising career, including the North Carolina tourism campaign (Boxes 87-90 and Oversize box 1).
Series VI contains topical files, including organizations, newsletters, travel files, Mitford general files, and research files Boxes 90-100).
Series VII consists of records about the purchase and restoration of her historic home "Esmont" in Ablemarle County, Virginia, including architectural drawings in Subseries A (Oversize folders 1-16 and Oversize boxes 2-3) and papers and photographs in Subseries B (Boxes 101-113).
Series VIII comprises the last series and consists of artifacts, miscellany, audiovisual and born-digital material (Boxes 114-120). This series is arranged in four subseries: Subseries A: Artifacts, chiefly concerning the Second International Mitford Homecoming; Subseries B: Albums and Volumes;Subseries C: Books Influential in the Life of Jan Karon; and Subseries D: Audiovisual and Born Digital Material.
There are two hard drives in this collection that are currently unavailable.
Please contact Special Collections via our online form, https://small.library.virginia.edu/services/reference-request/, to request access. Please allow for a minimum of two weeks to process this request.
These correspondents include Chelius Carter, Mary Ann Connell, Jean Ann Jones, Frances Gresham, Mary R. Minor, Maxine Moore, and Kathleen McMillan Lane; the correspondence with the Reverend Bruce McMillan has been filed with his folder in clergy correspondence.
Interviews can also be found in publicity files.
Agents include the Jeanne Drewsen Agency and Jennie Dunham. This folder is significant because it predates the Mitford series taking off and contains the advice of various editors and Jan's own musing about what to do.
These files chart the progress of the relationship between Jan Karon and her agent, from the beginning when Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, North Carolina, referred Karon to Darhansoff (December 15, 1994 and January 18, 1995) and reveal many details about her literary career, including the transition from Lion Publishing to Penguin.
This file includes a proposal for Father Tim and Cynthia mysteries and a discussion of the publication of a journal.
Other examples of publicity written by Jan Karon can be found in the editorial correspondence associated with individual books in series one or the correspondence with publishers in this series.
Writer in Residence pieces by Jan Karon as published in the magazine; typed drafts are included in the two previous Victoria Magazine files, 1997-1998.
File includes the article describing a white tea held by Jan Karon at her Esmont home in "Tea Time" and "A Room of Her Own" in "Victoria Magazine"
This correspondence documents the publishing career of Jan Karon with Viking-Penguin and reveals the level of her involvement in decisions about illustrations and covers, promotion, advertising, and a host of other details. They will be most useful used in conjunction with the editorial correspondence that accompanies most book files in series one.
Includes a sermon by Bishop Harvey, June 8, 2000.
Includes a sermon by him; McMillan assisted Jan Karon with questions about information used in Home to Holly Springs .
Correspondents include Phillip B. Bush II, Deanna Dickinson, Jennifer Gray, Sheridan Hill, Lisa Knaack, Gina Cloer Martin, Heather D. Rice, Taja Setzer, Cecil Wilson, and Lina White.
Correspondents include Phillip B. Bush II, Deanna Dickinson, Jennifer Gray, Sheridan Hill, Lisa Knaack, Gina Cloer Martin, Heather D. Rice, Taja Setzer, Cecil Wilson, and Lina White.
Includes a card featuring a watercolor of Esmont, October 30, 2003.
Note that some greeting card folders will also contain thank you cards and postcards from friends and family.
One letter in particular, April 22, 1981, describes Jan Karon's journey to the faith that is expressed throughout her books and personal appearances.
Includes Mitford sketches and two prints of Presidents Ronald Reagan (2002) and George W. Bush by Adair (2003).
All original Barbara Bush letters have been transferred to the vault but copies have been retained in the Jan Karon papers.
All original Barbara Bush letters have been tranferred to the vault but copies have been kept in the Jan Karon papers.
All original Laura Bush letters have been transferred to the vault but copies have been retained in the Jan Karon papers.
Correspondents include: Ann Baer, English author; Robin and Gerald Baliles (1940- ), former first lady and governor of Virginia; Rosalynn Carter (1927- ); Lynn A. Coffey, Appalachian folklorist; Kenneth Elzinga, professor and author (1942- ); North Carolina State Senator, Virginia Foxx (1943- ); Bill Gaither (1936- ) and Gloria Gaither (1942- ), singers and songwriters; Roxane Gilmore, professor and former first lady of Virginia; Renee Grisham, wife of John Grisham; U.S. Senator, Orrin G. Hatch (1934- ); Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady (1912-2007); Patricia Kluge (1948- ), former wife of John Kluge and vineyard owner; J.B. Lawrence, mayor of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and Lynn Lawrence; Bill Leslie, musician; Calder Loth, architectural historian; and Tricia Thompson Lott, wife of Senator Lott.
Correspondents include: Mark McEwen (1954- ), TV and radio personality; Martha S. McIntosh, editor of the Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader ; Ruth Moose, author; Edmund Morris, author; Leanne Payne (1932-2015), author; Rose Bampton Pelletier (1907-2007), opera singer; Condoleeza Rice (1954- ), Secretary of State; Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (1944- ), former first lady of Virgina; Mark D. Rodgers, chief of staff for Senator Rick Santorum; Martha Sundquist, former first lady of Tennessee; Steve Wasserman; Martha Williamson; Lauren Winner, author; Anne R. Worrell; and Marly Youmans, author.
Also includes a letter from Harry M. Jacobs, Jr., May 6, 2005, and his wife, Bobbi Jacobs, July 6, 2014, to Jan Karon.
Includes information about a meeting held at Once Upon a Time, a bookstore in Montrose, California, in 1997.
Pages marked in "At Home in Mitford" include pages 3, 4, 5, 47, 68, 77, 101, 104, 114, 162, 181, 182, 207, 227, 234, 241, 259, 264, 281, 293, 297, 328, 354, 368, 373, 403, and 405. Pages marked in "A Common Life" include page 6. Pages marked in "A New Song" include pages 1, 34, 40, 45, 51, 67, 74, 78, 89, 117, 125, 161, 195, 206, 208, 212, 231, 235, 247, 253, 262, 263, 266, 267, 269, 285, 296, 297, 300, 385, and 399. Pages marked in "In This Mountain" include pages 12, 41, 61, 80, 89, 91, 95, 97, 108, 124, 138, 139, 197, 240, 242, 262, 287, 302, 304, and 381. Pages marked in "Light from Heaven" include pages 8, 15, 28, 39, 79, 106, 114, 144, 153, 213, 215, 234, 277, 366, and 383. Pages marked in "Shepherds Abiding" include pages 18, 25, 88, 115, 127, 142, 164, and 245. Pages marked in "These High Green Hills" include pages 2, 50, 71, 98, 102, 109, 147, 154, 158, 167, 209, 247, 259, 270, and 308. Pages marked in "My Hometown Growing Up in Holly Springs, Mississippi" by Lois Swaney include pages 21, 46, 51, 59, 63, 67, 70, 88, 101, and 102. Also present is a folder of inserts removed from the research books, 2006-2007.
Accompanied by notes from Jan Karon, dated October 19, 2014, "These gloves were worn often by my grandmother, Miss Fannie, about whom I wrote the children's book Miss Fannie's Hat. Always wearing a smart hat and gloves, she was a faithful Methodist church-goer. She was also a faithful Democrat, though no hat was required."
Addition 3 was given to the University of Virginia Special Collections Library on October 17, 2017, by Jan Karon. Addition 4 was given to the University of Virginia Special Collections Library on November 8, 2018, by Jan Karon.
Additions 3 and 4 are arranged together in four subseries: Correspondence; Topical and Miscellany; Manuscripts and Related Material; and Audiovisual and Born-Digital Materials.
There are no use restrictions.
Includes the launch of Jan Karon's facebook page (February 2014) and some facebook entries. Also chronicles her change of publishers.
The born-digital items are numbered differently between the original gift and the Jan Karon additions 3 and 4, due to a change in past and current practice. Currently the numbering sequence is specific to the collection, so the various disks are numbered Disk 1-92 within this latest addition to the Jan Karon papers.
Preservation and Use copies have been created for these disks by the Accessioning Archivist.
These disks are part of Addition 5.
This addition to MSS 16077 Jan Karon Papers contains personal and professional correspondence, and greeting cards; files and other documentation concerning the appraisal, purchase, ownership, operations and restoration of the Esmont house and estate by Jan Karon; correspondence concerning Karon's editorship of the magazine "Response," including with Langston Hughes; event and memorial programs; photographs of Esmont, family and friends; invitations; fan mail; correspondence about donations and organizations; speeches or talks by Jan Karon; publicity and miscellany.
This addition to the Jan Karon papers has four subseries: Esmont papers; Correspondence, chiefly to Jan Karon; Family and Personal papers; and Restricted Files.
Addition five was given to the University of Virginia Special Collections Library on October 19, 2020.
MSS 16077 Jan Karon papers, box #, folder #, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
Three disks containing the appraisal for the artwork and antiques in the Esmont house were transferred and housed in Box 137 with other disks from earlier accessions.
This folder contains eight items, including Jan Orth Karon's note explaining that Langston Hughes was the cousin of "Response" Assistant Editor, George Love.
There are two postcards from Hughes to Jan Orth, as the editor of the magazine "Response" when she lived in Charlotte. Hughes expresses gladness that she is using his Chapel Hill piece, asks for six copies when it is published, sends her some photographs and biographical information, and mentions his cross-country tour (February 2, 1961). He thanks her for the copy of the magazine "Response / 4" and says it "looks most attractive, and the contents intriguing" (August 4, 1961).
Upon Hughes' return from California, in his letter of March 22, 1961, he thanks Orth for the six copies of "Response / 3" which he will then send to the institutions collecting his work. He describes the magazine issue as "very handsome (and interesting)" and says he likes "the variety and format" very much. He encloses a copy of "Grandma" (not present) for possible publication in a future issue.
Other Hughes items include: an undated photograph; a handbill for "Black Nativity Gospel on Broadway" by Langston Hughes with the typed note "Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy, June-July, 1962"; a reprint of a short story autographed by Hughes, "Sorrow for a Midget," published in "The Literary Review" and addressed "For Orth"; an undated advertisement for the record "Tambourines to Glory" with the word "play" circled and with his handwritten note "Goes into rehearsal this week - Theatre Guild. L.H."
Correspondents include Jonathan Williams, John Haynes Holmes, Harvey Swados, Ralph McGill (publisher of "The Atlanta Constitution"), and Sam Bradley.
The restricted files contain personally identifiable information and cannot be used by patrons.
The collection is open for research use.
This collection was a gift from Jan Karon to the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 23 February 2022.
MSS 16077, Jan Karon papers addition 6, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.
This addition to the Jan Karon papers (MSS 16077) primarily contains greeting cards and letters sent to the American novelist Jan Karon of Charlottesville, Virginia. The bulk of the cards present in this collection span the holiday seasons of 2020 and 2021.
In 2021, Karon founded The Mitford Museum in her former elementary school in Hudson, North Carolina. A number of the greeting cards and letters included in this collection discuss the formation of this museum and its collections as well as an opening speech given by Jan Karon, invitations to parties, author visits, and lectures.
Also included are condolence cards to Karon on the death of her daughter, Candance Freeland, in 2021.
In addition to the greeting cards, the collection includes a sketchbook with drawings of flowers and places dated 1975, personal planning calendars for 2020 and 2021, recipe notebooks, photographs of gatherings from the 1980s and 1990s, magazine features of Jan Karon, "Sanctuary of Beauty," an obituary for Candace Freeland and Jan Karon's step-father Barry Setzer, a poster highlighting the history of Esmont, which is a 100-acre estate in Albemarle County owned and restored by Karon, and a personal and beautifully illustrated book titled "Donna: Life, Art, Garden, and Home" about Donna Ernest.
Box ViU2022-0119_001 contains correspondence from 2020 to 2021 Box ViU2022-0119_002 contains correspondence from 2020 to 2022, notebooks, photographs, planners, sketchbooks and publications Oversize Folder ViU2022-0119_001 contains the poster of Esmont