Eudora Welty, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, lived in this house, now a National Historic Landmark, from 1925 until her death in 2001, and wrote all of her major works here, including the short stories that initially brought her acclaim and award-winning novels such as Delta Wedding, The Optimist's Daughter, and Losing Battles. The property includes a Tudor Revival-style house built by her father in 1925, a garage, and the surrounding grounds and garden. Born in Jackson in 1909, Welty was influenced as a child by her parents' love for books. In her writing career, which spanned five decades, Welty received the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Freedom, and the French Legion of Honor.
In 1936 when she was twenty-seven, Eudora Welty published her first short story. A Curtain of Green, a collection of stories, followed a few years later. During the 1940s she began to win major literary prizes, including two Guggenheim Fellowships, published two novels and two more collections of stories, and wrote many book reviews for the New York Times. During these years Welty traveled in England, France, and Italy. The 1950s saw a third novel and a fourth collection of stories. In 1964 she published a book for children.
During the late 1950s and '60s Welty balanced travel with work and caring for her mother—years that bore fruit in the early '70s with the novels Losing Battles and The Optimist's Daughter, the latter earning her the Pulitzer Prize. The collected essays, photographs, and memoirs of Welty's last decades were published to high acclaim, garnering large international audiences.
Eudora Welty died on July 23, 2001, at the age of 92.