THE GREEN TEAPOT CAFE, Urbana, IL The first in a series of posts highlighting the real places which make an appearance in Love and Conductivity. This little-remembered cafe existed on the 600 E block of Green street from 1919 until about 1928. At the time, there were few cafes and restaurants serving the University…
Thomas Erwin Phipps, or “Erwin”, as he was known to his friends and loved ones, was born on October 24, 1895, in Stony Point, Tennessee to Reverend Joshua “Jot” Phipps and Ann “Ro” Tadlock Phipps. He had five siblings, Pella “Peggy” Phipps, born 1881, Helen Phipps, born 1883, Foster Phipps, born 1887, Edgar Phipps, born…
Mary Eleanor Morgan, “Eleanor” to just about everyone, was born April 21, 1895 in Yokohama, Japan, where her father, Reverend Alexander Morgan, was doing missionary work. She had three siblings, Martha “Mattie” Morgan, born 1881, Neuel Morgan, born 1883, and Lawrence Morgan, born 189o. Her mother, Katherine Bryan Morgan, married her father after the death…
Over the course of 1918-1923, Erwin and Eleanor exchanged hundreds of letters. The novel depicts the start of the correspondence accurately; Erwin sent Eleanor a 1919 New Year card, to which Eleanor responded, but then thought better of the situation, and burned it before she left Norman in May of that year. The letter that…