William Robert Hollingsworth, Jr., was born in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, on February 17, 1910. His father had married Willie Belle Van Zile, an artist who specialized in china painting and watercolors, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Hollingsworths later lived in Chicago, Illinois, where they had a daughter, Isabel. The couple moved to Jackson after William R. Hollingsworth, Sr., found employment as a realtor in 1898. Willie Belle Hollingsworth died ten months after the birth of her son. William R. Hollingsworth, Sr., died in 1943.

After spending much of his youth drawing and painting, William R. Hollingsworth, Jr., attended the University of Mississippi from 1928 to 1929. He next attended the Art Institute of Chicago, and he married fellow art student Celia Jane Oakley in 1932. After graduating in 1934, the Hollingsworths moved to Jackson where they lived with William R. Hollingsworth, Sr. While working for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration by day, William R. Hollingsworth, Jr., painted at night and on weekends. The Hollingsworths had one son, William (Billy) Robert Hollingsworth III.

William R. Hollingsworth, Jr., was known for his landscape paintings and portraits in oil and watercolor. He received numerous awards for his artwork, including a gold medal from the Mississippi Art Association in 1936 and the William Tuthill Prize from an international watercolor exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1937. Fellow Mississippi artist Karl Wolfe, who also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Jackson neighbor Lee Downing were among the lifelong friends Hollingsworth painted. He organized the art department at Millsaps College in Jackson in 1941, and he remained an art instructor at the college until 1943. Hollingsworth volunteered for the United States Navy in 1942, but he received a medical discharge because of poor eyesight. He committed suicide at his home in Jackson on August 1, 1944.

The University Press of Mississippi published Hollingsworth: The Man, the Artist, and His Work in 1981. Jane Hollingsworth edited the book, and O. C. McDavid wrote the introduction. The Jackson Municipal Art Gallery exhibited a number of Hollingsworth’s paintings in November of 1981 in conjunction with the publication of the book. Belhaven College also exhibited Hollingsworth’s paintings in December of 1981. Jane Hollingsworth died in April of 1986. She bequeathed three hundred of her husband’s paintings to the Mississippi Museum of Art. The museum mounted a retrospective exhibit of Hollingsworth’s work in June of 1987.

This collection includes transcriptions of William R. Hollingsworth’s original diary; correspondence, various types of proofs, and other materials related to the publication of Hollingsworth: The Man, the Artist, and His Work; and printed materials related to the Hollingsworth exhibit at the Jackson Municipal Art Gallery in 1981.

In compiling the Hollingsworth book, selected entries were transcribed from Hollingsworth’s original diary, and most entries were handwritten on note cards. There is also an annotated, typewritten summary of the transcriptions.

All of the correspondence concerns the publication of the Hollingsworth book and the exhibit at the Jackson Municipal Art Gallery. Editor Jane Hollingsworth received most of the letters from Hunter Cole and Barney McKee of the University Press of Mississippi. Included are several informational copies of letters concerning Mrs. Harry Haas, Elbert Hilliard, Julie Keller, and O. C. McDavid.

There are a variety of editorial materials concerning the publication of the Hollingsworth book, including photocopies of images from Hollingsworth’s original sketchbooks, notes on page layout, color proofs of images reproduced in the book, and publicity for the book. There are also two annotated drafts of O. C. McDavid’s introduction to the book.

There are two annotated typescripts; blueline and page proofs; and annotated galley and paste-up proofs (oversize) for the Hollingsworth book. Accompanying the paste-up proofs is a color proof for the front cover of the book.

Printed materials related to the Hollingsworth exhibit at the Jackson Municipal Art Gallery in 1981 include an invitation and two brochures. There is also an undated color transparency (oversize) used for printing exhibit brochures.

1. Diary Transcriptions. 1940-1944; n.d. 2 folders.

   Box 1

2. Correspondence. 1980-1981. 1 folder.

   Box 1

3. Editorial Materials. 1980-1981; n.d. 4 folders.

   Box 1

4. Proofs. n.d. 6 folders.

   Box 1: typescripts and page proofs. 3 folders.
   Box 2: galley and paste-up proofs. 2 folders.
   Box 3: blueline proofs. 1 folder.

5. Exhibit Materials. 1981; n.d. 2 folders.

   Box 1: printed materials. 1981. 1 folder.
   Box 2: color transparency (oversize). n.d. 1 folder.