Alex Moffett Poetry Collection

Series

Alex Moffett Poetry Collection

• 1970-2009 (Creation)

Quantity: 1 – 10 x 12 blue-gray clamshell box
7 – blue- gray albums
1 – 5 x 12 document case

Arrangement: generally chronological

Background Note: Alex Moffett was born in China, where his father was a Presbyterian missionary, on September 17, 1905. Except for a family furlough of one year when he was six, he lived in China until he was 18, when he returned to the United States to attend Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He majored in English, but during his college years became increasingly interested in science and after graduation entered Vanderbilt University Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee.

In Nashville he met and married Virginia Billings. After completing his medical training, they went to China as missionaries in 1935, where he worked as a doctor. They returned to the United States on furlough in 1940, which coincided with the Japanese invasion of China. In 1947 they went back to China, but the Communist revolution forced them to return permanently to the United States in 1948.

Froom 1950 until his retirement in 1979 he worked as a general surgeon and primary caregiver in Taylorsville, North Carolina. As he neared retirement he developed his interests in poetry and watercolors, which he continued for the rest of his life. During retirement he remained active in the Presbyterian Church. He was one of the founders of the Mayflower Poets in Grinnell, Iowa. Alex died on May 24, 2009 in Grinnell.

The collection was collated and organized by Tom and Emily Moore and consists of background material, which was often the inspiration for the poetry, worksheets documenting the creative process, correspondence, and a complete edition of the poems.

Donated by: Tom & Emily Moore

Name of Preparer: D. Lalonde
Date of Preparation: 12/8/2015; 5/31/2019; 10/11/2019