Have met the author of the standard history of the XVIII Cent. Charleston stage, & will this afternoon inspect the interior of one of the typical old (1734) mansions.
H. P. Lovecraft to Richard Ely Morse, 29 Apr 1934, Letters to Hyman Bradofsky and Others 75
According to the 1860 census, Eola Willis was born in 1859 in South Carolina; the oldest of what would be six children. The year after she was born, South Carolina seceded from the Union, setting the stage for the American Civil War. Like many Southern men, her father would join the Confederate Army and he would be associated with running the blockade the Union established around Southern ports and coast. During her earliest childhood, the war was fought and lost; and young Eola would come to adulthood under Reconstruction, until that too came to an end.
Eola Willis distinguished herself as an artist, historian, antiquarian, and author, with an especial interest in the history of Charleston, S.C. Among her publications was The Charleston Stage in the XCIII Century, with Social Settings of the Time (1924). When she met H. P. Lovecraft in 1934, Eola Willis was 74 years old.
You certainly must see old Charleston some day. What a town! I’ve met one of the leading local antiquarians—an old lady named Willis, author of the standard history of the Charleston Stage in the 18th century—& picked up a good deal more of the regional traditions than I ever knew before.
H. P. Lovecraft to R. H. Barlow, 30 Apr 1934, O Fortunate Floridian 138
Lovecraft first visited Charleston, S.C. in 1930, as part of his gradually expanding series of travels to see more and more of the world. That visit resulted in a lengthy travelogue, “An Account of Charleston,” where he exults in the atmosphere of the Southern metropolis. While Lovecraft had long bought into the rose-colored vision of the antebellum South described by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other Lost Cause supporters, actually traveling to the South let Lovecraft appreciate the architecture and ways of the South in an entirely new way—from the elegant old houses to Jim Crow. In his letters, Lovecraft even suggested he would like to move there, someday…though that day never came…and on his subsequent trips down South, made a point of spending at least some time in Charleston.
On this visit I have met a highly interesting & erudite local antiquarian—an ancient gentlewoman named Miss Willis, author of the standard history of the 18th century Charleston stage. This venerable scholar, descended from the oldest Charleston stock & still inhabiting her well-preserved hereditary mansion (built 1730-34) in Tradd St., has furnished many side-lights on Charleston tradition with which I was previously unfamiliar. Her book is a genuine masterpiece of its kind, & ought to interest you because of its full account of the famous Sully family from which Thomas the artist (his artist-nephew who was Poe’s playmate in Richmond) sprang.
H. P. Lovecraft to Helen V. Sully, 30 Apr 1934, Letters to Wilfred B. Talman et al. 348-349
For Lovecraft, Eola Willis no doubt reminded him of his own aunts, who were both active in society, loved old things, and were painters of some skill. We can only speculate on how exactly they met, but it was undoubtedly a meeting of the minds. Lovecraft’s genuine enthusiasm for Charleston and its history were no doubt matched by Willis’ own affection for her city. From his letters, it seems she even invited him on a tour of her historic home at 72 Tradd St.
An interesting person whom I did meet in Charleston was Miss Eola Willis, Chairman of the local Art Commission & author of the standard history of the 18th century Charleston stage—a gentlewoman of ancient Carolina stock, aged about 70, who is not only an erudite historian & antiquarian, but a water-colour artist of great power, whose views of Carolina scenery are vivid & beautiful.
H. P. Lovecraft to Elizabeth Toldridge, 22 May 1934, Letters to Elizabeth Toldridge & Anne Tillery Renshaw 270-271
Many of Eola Willis’ paintings survive, such as those in the Johnson Collection. Papers and correspondence from her life are archived at the South Carolina Historical Society. Newspaper archives preserve her obituary and articles about her doings. These institutions preserve her legacy for future generations.
Her association with H. P. Lovecraft, however, has proven to be more ephemeral.
Did I mention meeting, in Charleston, an extremely gifted gentlewoman who is chairman of the Charleston Art Commission & author of the standard history of the Eighteenth century Charleston stage? A Miss Eola Willis, who dewells in her centuries hereditary mansion in Tradd street. Her book & anecdotes confirm my belief that the culture of Charleston is the finest that ever flowered in North America.
H. P. Lovecraft to James F. Morton, 19 Jul 1934, Letters to James F. Morton 355
This handful of quotes in Lovecraft’s letters from 1934 is essentially the sum total of his mentions of Eola Willis by name. No letters from Lovecraft to Willis or Eola to Howard have yet come to light. Yet in his 1937 diary, among the list of addresses of his correspondents, Lovecraft includes Eola Willis (Lovecraft Annual 6.176). This opens up at least the possibility that they were correspondents for a time. We can only speculate what they might have discussed, although their common antiquarian interests suggest that might have formed a possible basis for a few letters.
The correspondence between Eola Willis and H. P. Lovecraft must therefore be considered hypothetical, at least until some more definitive evidence emerges.
Bobby Derie is the author of Weird Talers: Essays on Robert E. Howard and Others and Sex and the Cthulhu Mythos.
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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein 