Carrollton in Carroll County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)

Elizabeth Spencer

— Mississippi Writers Trail —

Photographed By Mark Hilton, April 5, 2021

1. Elizabeth Spencer Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Born in Carrollton in 1921, Elizabeth Spencer aspired to be a writer early on. After receiving encouragement from writer Eudora Welty, whom she met while attending Belhaven College in Jackson, Spencer obtained a master's degree from Vanderbilt University and began a long career of teaching and writing award-winning fiction. Despite its graphic depiction of racial strife, her third novel, The Voice at the Back Door, set in Mississippi, was well received. Although she would continue “to draw on Southern sources of family and history," she was no longer tied to them and chose to set her next work, The Light in the Piazza, in Italy, It became a popular movie and a highly acclaimed musical and opera. Yet her enduring fondness for her native Carrollton is evident in her 1998 memoir, Landscapes of the Heart. Spencer's works are collected in the distinguished Library of America Series.

Erected 2019 by Mississippi Writers Trail.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. A significant historical year for this entry is 1921.

Location. 33°

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30.446′ N, 89° 55.16′ W. Marker is in Carrollton, Mississippi, in Carroll County. Marker is on Jackson Street east of Lexington Street (State Route 17), on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 106 Jackson St, Carrollton MS 38917, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Namour & Smith (here, next to this marker); Carrollton Lodge No. 36 (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Carroll County Tabernacle (approx. half a mile away); Malmaison (approx. 0.7 miles away); Carrollton (approx. 0.7 miles away); Ensign William Devotie Billingsley (approx. 10.1 miles away); Winona Confederate Monument (approx. 10.3 miles away); Roebuck "Pops" Staples (approx. 10.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Carrollton.

Also see . . . Wikipedia article on Elizabeth Spencer. (Submitted on April 6, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

Elizabeth Spencer Marker at the Merrill Museum. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mark Hilton, April 5, 2021

2. Elizabeth Spencer Marker at the Merrill Museum.

View of marker with the Carroll County Courthouse in background. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mark Hilton, April 5, 2021

3. View of marker with the Carroll County Courthouse in background.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 6, 2021. It was originally submitted on April 6, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 127 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 6, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.