The Walt Whitman Archive
Life & Letters
Correspondence
About this Item
Title: Walt Whitman to Ellen M. O'Connor, 21 December 1888
Date: December 21, 1888
Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00614
Source: The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 4:252. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Alex Ashland, Stefan Schöberlein, Caterina Bernardini, and Stephanie Blalock
Camden1
Evn'g
Dec: 21 '88
Thanks for your good letter rec'd this forenoon—I sympathize with William2 as my brother in affliction, besides in soul—so wish I could show it practically—Very little by little & slowly, I seem to be improving—Ab't the worst is the forced confinement (now seven months) to in-doors & the sick room
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
Ellen M. "Nelly" O'Connor was the
wife of William D. O'Connor (1832–1889), one of Whitman's staunchest
defenders. Before marrying William, Ellen Tarr was active in the antislavery and
women's rights movements as a contributor to the Liberator and to a women's rights newspaper Una. Whitman dined with the O'Connors frequently during his Washington
years. Though Whitman and William O'Connor would temporarily break off their
friendship in late 1872 over Reconstruction policies with regard to emancipated
black citizens, Ellen would remain friendly with Whitman. The correspondence
between Whitman and Ellen is almost as voluminous as the poet's correspondence
with William. For more on Whitman's relationship with the O'Connors, see Dashae
E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas [1832–1889]," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes:
1. This postal card is addressed: Mrs: O'Connor | 1015 O Street NW | Washington D C. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Dec 21 | 8 PM | 88; Washington, Rec'd. | Dec 22 | 7 AM | 88 | 1. [back]
2. William Douglas O'Connor (1832–1889) was the author of the grand and grandiloquent Whitman pamphlet "The Good Gray Poet," published in 1866 (a digital version of the pamphlet is available at "The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication"). For more on Whitman's relationship with O'Connor, see Deshae E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas (1832–1889)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]