The Eudora Welty Foundation was established in 1999 to assist the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) in achieving its goals of celebrating the legacy of Eudora Welty, enhancing appreciation of her work, and encouraging reading and the efforts of young writers.

The Foundation’s broad mission is to fund educational and research activities and to develop programs that will enhance Eudora Welty’s legacy and ensure that her work continues to be recognized as among the greatest in American literature.

Through on-going fundraising efforts, the Welty Foundation funds the Eudora Welty Lecture; supports the Welty Chair for Southern Literature at Millsaps College; develops teaching resources that will expand appreciation of Eudora’s writing and photography; encourages the study of her work; assists in preserving Eudora’s home and garden; and hosts seminars, competitions, and festivals for young writers, established authors, and the public.

To visitors from across America and around the world, the Welty Home provides a literary experience to enhance the understanding of Welty’s life and work. Welty’s fiction affirms that the imagination can be a powerful force to combat suffering, both physical and spiritual. Programming emphasizes Welty’s striking intellect and creative powers, her devotion to the humanities, the place of literature in our lives, and the role of the writer in our society.

The Eudora Welty Foundation Board of Directors meets four times a year and directs the policies and programs of the Foundation. The board provides leadership for the Foundation’s fundraising initiatives.

The Welty Foundation National Advisory Board, composed of distinguished friends and admirers of Eudora Welty from across the nation, meets annually and assists the Foundation in its programming and fundraising efforts.

The Eudora Welty Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code and welcomes contributions. Friends are asked to renew their support annually in the month of April.

PHOTOS FEATURE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS OF THE EUDORA WELTY FOUNDATION.

UPPER RIGHT: Eudora Welty with writer and broadcaster Jim Lehrer, who died January 23, 2020

BELOW LEFT: Broadcast journalists Roger Mudd, who passed away on March 9, 2021,  and  Randall Pinkston

BELOW CENTER: Literacy advocate, educator, and volunteer Gayle Wicker

BELOW RIGHT: Long-time Welty literary agent Tim Seldes, who died December 5, 2015, and Foundation chairman Holmes Adams