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Biography/History:
John Fraiser Robinson, son of Douglas and Maybelle Fraiser Robinson, was born in Sidon, LeFlore County, Mississippi, on March 9, 1909. Douglas Robinson, the stepson of United States Senator James Kimble Vardaman, moved his family to Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, about 1922. John Fraiser Robinson and his three siblings (Douglas, Jr., Will K., and Anna Belle) resided with their parents at 8 Park Avenue, across the street from Millsaps College. Robinson attended Jackson High School, graduating in 1924. Among his acquaintances at JHS was Eudora Welty, who was in the grade behind Robinson.
Robinson attended Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, for one year, returning to Jackson in 1933. By 1937, he was employed as an insurance adjuster based in New Orleans, Louisiana. On his frequent trips back to Jackson, he often visited Eudora Welty and the two became close friends. Robinson enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in mid-1942 and became a combat intelligence officer with a night-fighter squadron. Stationed in Salerno, Italy, he took part in the invasion of Sicily in 1943.
During this time, Welty asked him to assist her on a story she was writing, “Delta Cousins,” by sending him chapters for his review and editing. A second story set in the same location, “A Little Triumph,” was also sent to Robinson for his review. A later visit to Robinson's family afforded Welty the chance to read the diaries of Robinson's Great-grandmother, Nancy McDougal Robinson. Reading the diaries helped Welty shape the two stories into the novel, Delta Wedding.
On November 12, 1945, Robinson was discharged at Camp Shelby, Forrest County, Mississippi. Eudora Welty and Anna Belle Robinson brought him back to Jackson. By 1946, Robinson was working as an English teacher for the Berlitz School of Language in San Francisco, California. Between 1947 and 1950, Robinson worked in Mexico and New York.
While working in Mexico and New York, Robinson aspired to be a writer. Welty continued to encourage him in this pursuit by sending her drafts for him to read. She even asking her agent Diarmuid Russell to take Robinson on as a client. Welty sent his story “A Room in Algiers” to the New Yorker without Robinson's permission. The story was published by the magazine on October 19, 1946. In 1948 Robinson worked with Welty on a screenplay adaptation of The Robber Bridegroom. The two also worked on an anthology of fiction. Neither were ever published. Welty sent another of Robinson's stories out for consideration. “All This Juice and All This Joy” (formerly titled, “Rite of Spring”) was eventually published by Horizon magazine in 1948.
In January of 1950, Robison received a Fulbright scholarship to study Italian. He resided in Florence for several months as part of the scholarship. By late 1950, Robinson had begun a relationship with a young Italian, Enzo Rocchigiani. Robinson returned to New York at the completion of the Fulbright. In 1952 Robinson again left New York for Italy. From February of 1954 until at least January 7, 1960, Robinson was stationed in Heidelberg and then in Nuremberg, Germany, as an Army Educational Center coordinator. In October 1951, Welty wrote Robinson a letter of recommendation for the artists' colony at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York. Robinson subsequently received an invitation and stayed there from January to March of 1952. The story Robinson produced was not well-received by Welty, apparently ending their literary collaboration.
In the early 1960s, Robinson asked to be transferred to Italy. He and Enzo Rocchigiani lived in Verona before moving to Vicenza in 1962. In 1964, they bought land in Riparbella and built a house on the property. Robinson suffered his first heart attack in 1969 and retired from the Department of the Army on August 1, 1970.
Robinson occasionally entertained friends, including Welty, at his home in Riparbella. He returned to Jackson annually to visit Welty, family, and doctors. On one such visit in 1979, Robinson and Welty picnicked on the Pearl River. John Fraiser Robinson died of a heart attack at his home in Riparbella, Italy, on November 25, 1989. He was interred at Cimitero degli Allori in Florence, Italy. Enzo Rocchigiani (b. 1930) died on October 19, 2005, and was interred at Cimitero degli Allori.
Scope and Content:
This collection consists of the manuscripts, correspondence, and miscellaneous materials of John Fraiser Robinson. Please see the folder list for detailed information.
Series Identification:
This series contains typewritten and handwritten manuscript drafts, published stories, and notes for stories by Robinson. Letters from Eudora Welty accompany some of the drafts.
Box 1, folders 1-57
Box 2, folders 1-40
This series consists principally of incoming correspondence. It includes letters from Eudora Welty, Welty and Robinson's agent, Diarmuid Russell, and from various publishers. Also included are three letters from James K. Vardaman to his stepson Douglas Robinson, and drafts of outgoing correspondence of John F. Robinson.
Box 2, folders 41-77
This series contains two photographs of John Fraiser Robinson. One is attached to a 1971 United States Passport, the other is a photograph of a wedding party. Also included is a photograph of the Italian countryside.
Box 2, folder 78
This series is composed of a copy of an affidavit attesting to the birthplace and birthdate of John Fraiser Robinson; a three-page typescript of a story by an unknown author; a first British edition of Eudora Welty’s book, The Robber Bridegroom, inscribed by Welty to “Michael” (possibly Michael Robinson, John’s nephew); and a newsclipping featuring James K. Vardaman.
Box 2, folders 79-82