Monroeville: The Literary Capital of Alabama
To say that Monroeville, Alabama, is off the beaten track would be an understatement. Much of Alabama is labeled as “rural,” but Monroeville embodies the ideal of small-town America to the fullest. Yet, this tiny city has managed to produce some of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. The most notable of those are Harper Lee and Truman Capote. For fans of To Kill a Mockingbird and In Cold Blood, Monroeville is worth the trek.
Truman Capote and Harper Lee. Photo from capoteweb.com.
Walking the beautiful square of downtown Monroeville is like taking a step back in time. One can almost envision Scout, Jim, and Dill, from Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, running through the streets to stop a lynching from taking place. Although Harper Lee’s novel is set in the fictional Maycomb during the 1930s, she clearly based her work on her own upbringing in Monroeville.
If visitors truly want to see Lee’s youthful avengers in action, then they should go in the spring, when the Monroe County Museum hosts its annual theatrical production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Schedules and ticket pricing can be found on the museum’s website. The first act of the play is outside behind the museum and includes automobiles racing across the set. The vehicles are authentic to the work’s time period. Act II takes place inside the historic courthouse, and one immediately recognizes the courtroom’s influence on the fictional set of the To Kill a Mockingbird movie.
Left: Monroe County Museum. Right: Courtroom inside the museum.
Although the residents of Monroeville are quite secretive about their most famous resident, Harper Lee, one section of the Monroe County Museum is devoted to Lee’s life and her great novel. Pictures of Lee and Gregory Peck, who played Atticus Finch in the movie adaptation, visiting Monroeville before filming started in the early 1960s figure prominently on the second floor of the museum.
Inside the Monroe County Museum, several displays chronicle Harper Lee’s life and times in Monroeville.
The museum also houses a nice collection of Truman Capote’s personal items. Capote and Lee were childhood friends; Lee even based her character Dill on Capote, and when he traveled to Kansas to cover the Clutter family murders that his book In Cold Blood would be based on, Lee accompanied him.
Capote’s troubled childhood is well-documented; his parents often left him with members of his mother’s family in Monroeville. Capote grew particularly close to an elderly relative named “Sook” Faulk, whom he immortalized in such stories as “A Thanksgiving Visitor” and “A Christmas Memory.” In those works, Capote vividly described the brightly colored, patchwork coat that “Sook” wore, which is on display at the museum. Visitors will also see Capote’s baby blanket, high chair, and a trunk, among other items.
Truman Capote’s baby blanket is on display in the Monroe County Museum.
Just down from the square on South Alabama Avenue, one will find a historical marker bearing Truman Capote’s name. The sign marks the former home of Capote’s Faulk relatives; it was in this home that Capote spent his summer vacations. The original house burned in 1940, and the second home was demolished in 1988. Only a few foundation walls remain.
Truman Capote spent summers with his Faulk relatives in Monroeville. Only foundation walls of the home remain today.
Back in the square, one will see a lovely mural depicting a scene from Lee’s novel. On the courthouse grounds is a bronze statue of three children reading from a book. Several of the quaint shops in the square sell To Kill a Mockingbird memorabilia, though the museum houses the largest selection.
The mural depicting a scene from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and a statue showing children reading are among the attractions in Monroeville square.
Both Harper Lee’s and Truman Capote’s impact can still be felt in Monroeville, which is known as the literary capital of Alabama. Their influence can be seen in the works of other authors from Monroeville, such as Mark Childress. Childress was born in Monroeville, and his works Crazy in Alabama, Georgia Bottoms, and One Mississippi have engaged modern readers in much the way Lee’s and Capote’s works did in their time. Truly, there must be something in the water in Monroeville to keep turning out such literary talent as the authors mentioned here.
Author Mark Childress with Bookkaholic staff writer Mollie Waters.
A little off the beaten track, but well worth the trip, Monroeville, Alabama is a must for lovers of great Southern literature.
Mollie Smith Waters
