Finally, in June of 1936, Eudora WeltyвЂ™s career sparked with her first published short story, вЂњDeath of a Traveling Salesman,вЂќ which appeared in a small magazine called Manuscript. вЂњIt took me all over Mississippi, which was the most important thing to me, because IвЂ™d never seen it вЂ¦ was the real germ of my wanting to become a real writer, a true writerвЂќ (Gunton 459). In an interview with Jean Todd Freeman, Welty told how she enjoyed her job. WeltyвЂ™s job duties were writing newspaper copies and taking photographs of places after destruction, studying troubled juveniles, putting booths in county fairs, and interviewing various people. Next, she got a full-time job with the Works Progress Administration as a Junior Publicity Agent.

The first job she obtained was a part-time job with radio station WJDX. Welty soon began looking for jobs in advertising and publicity. His death was a great loss to her and her family. In 1931, the same year that she returned, her father suddenly passed away. Welty commented, вЂњFor somebody who had never, in a sustained manner, been to the theater or to the Metropolitan Museum, where I went every Sunday, it was just a cornucopiaвЂќВ ( Conversations with Eudora Welty, Gretlund 459).Д®udora Welty and Margaret Walker, Photo by Rick Guy/The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MSДuring the Depression, Welty returned to Jackson, MS. Indeed, Welty went dancing and attended the theater regularly. During the time Welty was in New York, she had a varied social life. Later, after she received her bachelor of arts degree in 1929, Eudora attended Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York and studied advertising. According to one source, she left MUW, and вЂњEncouraged by her parents, she transferred to the University of Wisconsin in 1927 where she became an English major and began a more serious and focused study of English literature under Ricardo Quintana and other professorsвЂќ (VandeKieft 4). After completing high school, Welty went to Mississippi State College for Women (now MUW) in Columbus, Mississippi, from 1925 to 1927. Welty attended Central High School in Jackson Mississippi, between 19. Perhaps the influence of her father, who came from Ohio, and her mother, who was a native of West Virginia, have made her a more universal-type writer. Although born in the South, some critics do not consider her to be a Southern writer. She also recalls reciting the alphabet along with crediting her father for giving her a strong meteorological sensibility at an early age. She explains, вЂњYou learned the alphabet like you learned your address and phone number in case you got lostвЂќ (DiConsiglio 4). In fact, says DiConsiglio, вЂњBooks were so valued that once when the house caught a fire, her mother threw out volumes of Dickens before getting herself to safety.вЂќ Welty also remembers the importance of knowing the alphabet. Eudora, the oldest and only daughter of the family, recalls in her autobiography One WriterвЂ™s Beginnings the importance of reading in her childhood home. The house WeltyвЂ™s family lived in was built by her father when he and his wife first moved to Jackson. Read photographer Mark WilkinsвЂ™s story of his day with Eudora Welty belowД®udora Alice Welty was born April 13, 1909, at the Welty estate on North Congress Street in Jackson, Mississippi, to Christian Webb and Chestina Andrew Welty.

вЂњA Curtain of Green,вЂќ with a preface by Katherine Anne Porter, Doubleday, 1941, re-published as A Curtain of Green, and Other Stories, (1964).

The Bride of the Innisfallen, and Other Stories (1955).

вЂњPlace in FictionвЂќ (lectures for conference on American Studies in Cambridge, England) (1957).

вЂњA Flock of Guinea Hens Seen from a CarвЂќ (poem) (1970).

One Time, One Place: MS in the Depression: A Snapshot Album (1971).

The Eye of the Story (selected essays and reviews) (1978).

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty (1980).

One WriterвЂ™s Beginnings (1984) (autobiography).

Morgana: Two Stories from вЂThe Golden ApplesвЂ™ (1988).

Photo of Eudora Welty by Mark Wilkins, used with permission

Eudora welty photography