Yaddo? What in the world is a Yaddo? Surprisingly I knew the answer, but then my mother had known someone who worked there. Read below and learn for yourself what Yaddo is. (Hint: it has something to do with artists.)
Yaddo: Making American Culture, edited by Micki McGee (over sized TPB, 2008, $2)
Spencer Trask made his fortune in railroads, electricity and The New York Times. It was his wife, Katrina Trask, who developed Yaddo, the salons for artists, writers and composers. To get to stay at Yaddo you had to be invited. Most of the guests were never famous, but some were. Saul Bellow, Leonard Bernstein, Truman Copote, Flannery O'Connor, Aaron Copland, Sylvia Plath, Philip Roth, and William Carlos Williams lived and worked at Yaddo. So did Langston Hughes and James Baldwin after Yaddo integrated admissions, a controversial decision in 1941. (Henry Miller refused to come, and "Beats" were not even invited.)
When you came to Yaddo you left your financial worries behind. (Even during the Great Depression the Trasks were massively rich, because even a fraction of $1.1 billion is still a lot of money.) There were some downsides. You had to leave your family at home. You had to be very quiet during the hours of 9 to 4. You were also encouraged to collaborate with your fellow guests. If you did not follow the rules, you were quickly (and it may be assumed quietly) taken to the train station.
The New York Public Library was lucky enough to receive the Yaddo's archives of 1870 to 1980.This book is the result. Look for it on the new non-fiction table. Enjoy!
