HISTORY TOPICS

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Overview

F. Scott Fitzgerald, author and icon of the Roaring '20s, was born on September 24, 1896 on Laurel Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Though Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda lived mainly in New York and Paris, St. Paul figured significantly in their lives.  F. Scott Fitzgerald spent his youth (1896-1899), his school days (1908-1911), and part of his married life (1921-1922) in St. Paul.

Fitzgerald developed his obsession with wealth and status, as well as his desire to belong among the elite, on the fringes of the most fashionable neighborhoods of St. Paul.  As a boy, he attended St. Paul Academy before continuing—but never completing—his education at Princeton University.  In their early married life, he and Zelda frequented the University Club in St. Paul and the magnificent lake homes and White Bear Yacht Club in Dellwood.  The collections of the Minnesota Historical Society hold many interesting and valuable resources to teach us more about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s contribution to Minnesota history and Minnesota’s contribution to Fitzgerald’s life.

 

Get Started With Secondary Sources

• The St. Paul Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Patricia Hampl & Dave Page.
  St. Paul, MN: Borealis Books, 2004.
  MHS call number: Reading Room S3511.I9 AC 2004
• A Guide to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s St. Paul: a Traveler’s Companion to His Homes & Haunts, by John J. Koblas.
  St. Paul, MN : Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2004.
  MHS call number: Reading Room PS3511.I9 Z673 2004
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s St. Paul : A Writer’s Use of Materials, by Patricia Kane.
  In Minnesota History, vol. 45, no. 4 (1976): pp. 141-148.
  MHS call number: Reading Room F601.5 .M66 v.45:4, or view an electronic version of the article (PDF).
• Scott Fitzgerald : A Biography, by Jeffrey Meyers.
  New York : HarperCollins, 1994.
  MHS call number: Reading Room PS3511.I9 Z687 1994
• Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, by Matthew J. Bruccoli.
  New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981.
  MHS call number: Reading Room PS3511.I9 Z566
• Still Home to Me: F. Scott Fitzgerald and St. Paul, Minnesota: An Illustrated Biography, by Lloyd C. Hackl.
  Cambridge, Minn. : Adventure Publications, 1996.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 Z6453 1996
• F. Scott Fitzgerald in Minnesota: Toward the Summit, by Dave Page.
  St. Cloud, Minn.: North Star Press of St. Cloud, 1996.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 Z768 1996
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Neighborhood, by Ann Melhus.
  Saint Paul, Minn. : [s.n.], 1996.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 Z673 1996
• University of Minnesota Conference on F. Scott Fitzgerald: St. Paul’s Native Son and Distinguished American Writer: 1982 St. Paul, MN
  Minneapolis, Minn. : s.n., 1982.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 A49 1982
• Fitzgerald: A Commemorative Publication: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
  [Minneapolis, MN: Primarius Limited Publishing, 1996].
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 Z6166 1996
• Candles and Carnival Lights: The Catholic Sensibility of F. Scott Fitzgerald, by Joan M. Allen.
  New York : New York University Press, 1978.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 Z5576

BibliographiES:

• F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Descriptive Bibliography, by Matthew J. Bruccoli.
  [Pittsburgh] University of Pittsburgh Press, 1972.
  MHS call number: PS 3511 .I9A1 .B66
• Supplement to F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Descriptive Bibliography, by Matthew J. Bruccoli.
  Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 A127 suppl.

Primary Resources

• James Taylor Dunn and Family Papers
  Robert R. Dunn, Jr. correspondence, miscellany, and photographs of F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1962-1982. Includes informal snapshots of F. Scott Fitzgerald and St. Paul friends, newspaper clippings, printed materials, and a photocopy of a letter written by Fitzgerald to Dunn shortly before his death (original in the Minnesota Historical Society Reserve Collections).
  MHS call number: 143.A.12F Box 2; See the green Manuscripts notebooks— filed alphabetically under Dunn, James Taylor— for a detailed list of boxes and locator numbers (there is 1 box of Fitzgerald material amongst 37 total boxes), or use an electronic version of the inventory.
• Correspondence with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Family and Fitzgerald Memorabilia
  Correspondence of Kalman, a St. Paul investment banker, with Scott (1931-1939) and Zelda (1940-1946) Fitzgerald. Letters from Scott discuss family news, his and Zelda’s health, and his finances. Zelda’s letters include friendly reminiscences, descriptions of Montgomery (Ala.), her daughter’s marriage, and her pessimistic observations on current affairs (largely World War II). Also included is some biographical information and memorabilia.
  MHS call number: P1417; See the green Manuscripts notebooks— filed under P1417— for a detailed list of boxes and locator numbers (there are 2 folders of materials).
• Letter to Dawson Lobuston, 1919 Sept. 30.
  The handwritten letter (2 p.) to Dawson Lobuston, presumably an employee at the St. Paul (Minn.) Public Library, briefly notes his published writings to date, which at the time consisted largely of a few magazine stories and poems.
  MHS call number: Res. 57. Please note: This item is on Reserve and requires librarian and/or curator permission to access.
• A life in letters: F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli.
  New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, c1994.
  A Life in Letters is the most comprehensive volume of Fitzgerald's letters - many of them appearing in print for the first time. The fullness of the selection and the chronological arrangement make this collection the closest thing to an autobiography Fitzgerald ever wrote.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 Z48 1994
• F. Scott Fitzgerald on Authorship, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli with Judith S. Baughman.
  Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, 1996.
  Assembling letters and notebook entries with articles and reviews written for publication, F. Scott Fitzgerald on Authorship provides Fitzgerald's public and private writings on his trade and craft. The forty-six selections in this volume construct an autobiographical account of Fitzgerald's twenty-year endeavor to maintain careers as a commercial writer and as a literary artist.
  MHS call number: PS3511.I9 Z464 1996
• Charles W. and Mary Lesley Ames Family Papers ( Norris Dean Jackson Album).
  Reflects Jackson’s years at Princeton, his WWI service, and his early fatherhood. Includes a few photographs of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
  MHS call number: 142.F.5.2F Box 21; See the green Manuscripts notebooks— filed alphabetically under Ames, Charles W.— for a detailed list of boxes and locator numbers (there is 1 album with Fitzgerald material amongst 22 total boxes), or use an electronic version of the inventory.
  

Newspapers

• Minneapolis: Star
• Minneapolis: Tribune
• St. Paul: Dispatch
• St. Paul: Pioneer Press

Visual Resources

• Use Collections Online to find more images relating to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

3D Objects

• Use Collections Online to find more 3D objects relating to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald.
• Collections Online can also be used to search for items related more generally to life in St. Paul in the early 1920s, such as 1920s evening wear.

Significant collections outside the MN Historical Society

• F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers Collection
  at Princeton University Manuscripts Division
  
• The Matthew J. & Arlyn Bruccoli Collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald
  at University of South Carolina Libraries' Rare Books & Special Collections

 

Learn More

• Check the library catalog for other materials.