Gordon, Sarah. “Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964).” The New Georgia Encyclopedia. March 3, 2009. March 19, 2012. . 2.
Mary Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1925 into one of the oldest and most prominent Catholic families in Georgia. She was the only child of Edward, a real estate appraiser, and Regina O’Connor. The year after the family moved to Milledgeville in 1940, Flannery’s father contracted and died of lupus. She and her father had always had a close relationship, and 15-year-old Flannery was devastated (Gordon). Catholicism was always a huge aspect of life for the O’Connor family, living across the street from a cathedral and growing up in the Bible Belt (Liukkonen).
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. Warren, Barbara. "History of The Cherokee (tsa-la-gi) Language." Power Source. 9 June 2000.
Flannery O'Connor Flannery O’Connor and the Relationship Between Two of Her Stories Flannery O’Connor was born Mary Flannery O’Connor on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as the only child to Edward F. O’Connor, Jr., and Regina (Cline) O’Connor. Later in 1941, Flannery O’Connor’s father dies of lupus while O’Connor is in Milledgeville, Ga. After her father’s death, O’Connor rarely speaks of him and continues to be active in school projects such as drawing, reading, writing, and playing instraments. Further, in the summer of 1942, O’Connor graduates and enters Georgia State College for Women as a sociology and English major. Moreover, O’Connor took on the name Flannery O’Connor, dropping Mary from her signature. When O’Connor graduates from college, she leaves for Iowa City and applies for several college teaching positions while attending the University of Iowa.
Flannery O’Connor is a remarkable twentieth century American writer, who was influenced by her religion and her heritage, wrote awe-inspiring fiction with unique characters, and made considerable and relevant contributions to American literature. Flannery O’Connor’s writing was greatly influenced by a vital mentor during her college years, her Southern heritage, and her Catholic faith. After growing up with her family in Milledgeville, Georgia, O’Connor attended Georgia State College for Women, just one block from her home. After receiving her degree from the university, O’Connor met with Paul Engle, director of the University’s Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa , who was immediately impressed with her writing and encouraged her enrollment (Scott 45). O’Connor’s talent was greatly recognized here and was encouraged by both Engle and classmates.
She was Flannery’s biggest inspiration. In the early years of Flannery’s life, she attended Vincent Grammar school and Sacred Heart Parochial school for Girls. During this time, her father took a job with the Federal Housing Administration in Atlanta, Georgia. The family stayed in Atlanta for a while, but once her father was diagnosed with lupus in 1940, they moved to Milledgeville, Georgia. Mr. O’Connor later died in 1941-shortly after his diagnosis.
Her parents were Edward Francis O'Connor, a real estate broker, and Regina L. Cline O'Connor. (Garraty 581) Until 1938 O'Connor attended St. Vincent and Sacred Heart Parochial Schools. She was known as Mary in grade school but eventually dropped it and went by Flannery O'Connor. (Garraty 581) During grade school O'Connor claimed that her hobby was collecting rejection slips. Then the family moved to the Cline house in Milledgeville, Georgia when her father became sick with disseminated lupus.
Flannery O’Connor was born on March 5, 1925 in Savannah Georgia to Edward Francis and Regina (Cline) O’Connor. Flannery O’Conner’s parents were pioneers, and were devout Catholics. She subsequently moved with her family to Milledgeville, Georgia when she was 12 years old where she attended Peabody High School. In 1945, she graduated from Georgia State College for Women, and in 1948 absorbed creative writing at The University of Iowa. (CHENEY) Flannery O’Connor was a very prolific writer at a time when the establishment denied women and minorities’ rights and civil Liberties.
To keep her mind busy, she began a novel with characters based on the tales her father had told about his family. Although she began assimilating those tales after her mother’s death from cancer, she had not developed them into a coherent storyline. Her character, Will Tweedy, grew up in the same time period as did her father and would have experienced the major changes of that era such as the introduction of electricity and automobiles. Burns was sixty years old when she wrote the novel Cold Sassy Tree which was set in the same area of Georgia where she had been born. In her lifetime, she had experienced teenage emotions, the responsibilities of a wife and mother, and had dealt with the death of a parent.
New Georgia Encyclopedia. N.p., 26 Mar. 2005. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/revolutionary-war-georgia.