INTRODUCTION

Ferd Morton was a great communicator, a master of the verbal narrative, as the Library of Congress recordings attest, but he was also a consistent and excellent letter-writer. Throughout his life, he wrote regularly to family, friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, his family indicated that they did not keep his many letters, and none of the early letters to friends and acquaintances, quite often mentioned in the Indianapolis Freeman and the Chicago Defender, have yet been discovered.

Nevertheless, there are almost 250 letters and other communications, from the mid 1930s to a few days before his death in July 1941, which have been preserved either in autograph or in transcription. This body of correspondence is important to our knowledge and understanding of the man and the musician. We have compiled a chronological list of the surviving Morton correspondence, in what is probably the first comprehensive attempt to establish a readily searchable reference to these documents.

© 2004 Peter Hanley

SURVIVING CORRESPONDENCE

Date of Letter (undated) 1934 12 May (probably 1936) 4 January 1937 15 February 1937 16 March 1937 15 December 1937 30 March 1938 31 March 1938 13 May 1938 6 July 1938 8 July 1938 5 September 1938 (undated) 1938 25 December 1938 28 December 1938 2 January 1939 3 January 1939 5 January 1939 5 January 1939 10 January 1939 12 January 1939 14 January 1939 15 January 1939 18 January 1939 21 January 1939 22 January 1939 28 January 1939 28 January 1939 30 January 1939 2 February 1939 5 February 1939 7 February 1939 12 February 1939 17 February 1939 18 February 1939 26 February 1939 11 March 1939 12 March 1939 16 March 1939 19 March 1939 21 March 1939 23 March 1939 26 March 1939 30 March 1939 5 April 1939 9 April 1939 17 April 1939 20 April 1939 27 April 1939 8 May 1939 9 May 1939 10 May 1939 16 May 1939 18 May 1939 19 May 1939 26 May 1939 30 May 1939 6 June 1939 13 June 1939 15 June 1939 22 June 1939 25 June 1939 27 June 1939 4 July 1939 10 July 1939 12 July 1939 13 July 1939 15 July 1939 17 July 1939 20 July 1939 23 July 1939 25 July 1939 27 July 1939 1 August 1939 1 August 1939 4 August 1939 8 August 1939 16 August 1939 21 August 1939 25 August 1939 26 August 1939 29 August 1939 5 September 1939 10 September 1939 15 September 1939 16 September 1939 19 September 1939 21 September 1939 22 September 1939 27 September 1939 29 September 1939 7 October 1939 10 October 1939 11 October 1939 14 October 1939 18 October 1939 23 October 1939 31 October 1939 6 November 1939 8 November 1939 16 November 1939 23 November 1939 24 November 1939 25 November 1939 30 November 1939 7 December 1939 10 December 1939 12 December 1939 18 December 1939 23 December 1939 30 December 1939 6 January 1940 10 January 1940 18 January 1940 19 January 1940 24 January 1940 25 January 1940 1 February 1940 6 February 1940 9 February 1940 15 February 1940 18 February 1940 26 February 1940 29 February 1940 29 February 1940 4 March 1940 10 March 1940 13 March 1940 16 March 1940 30 March 1940 4 April 1940 6 April 1940 16 April 1940 17 April 1940 22 April 1940 28 April 1940 30 April 1940 2 May 1940 5 May 1940 12 May 1940 15 May 1940 16 May 1940 27 May 1940 30 May 1940 8 June 1940 10 June 1940 17 June 1940 20 June 1940 23 June 1940 24 June 1940 26 June 1940 2 July 1940 2 July 1940 3 July 1940 3 July 1940 4 July 1940 10 July 1940 16 July 1940 24 July 1940 2 August 1940 6 August 1940 11 August 1940 12 August 1940 13 August 1940 14 August 1940 Early August 1940 21 August 1940 22 August 1940 25 August 1940 4 September 1940 5 September 1940 10 September 1940 15 September 1940 18 September 1940 19 September 1940 25 September 1940 29 September 1940 6 October 1940 7 October 1940 8 October 1940 27 October 1940 4 November 1940 9 November 1940 13 November 1940 13 November 1940 16 November 1940 17 November 1940 20 November 1940 21 November 1940 23 November 1940 27 November 1940 28 November 1940 30 November 1940 30 November 1940 28 December 1940 2 January 1941 6 January 1941 6 January 1941 8 January 1941 14 January 1941 16 January 1941 20 January 1941 26 January 1941 28 January 1941 28 January 1941 9 February 1941 13 February 1941 18 February 1941 22 February 1941 2 March 1941 16 March 1941 25 March 1941 2 April 1941 5 April 1941 14 April 1941 27 April 1941 28 April 1941 11 May 1941 13 May 1941 18 May 1941 29 May 1941 2 June 1941 15 June 1941 20 June 1941 21 June 1941 23 June 1941 24 June 1941 25 June 1941 2 July 1941 9 July 1941	Writer JRM (questionnaire) J. 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© 2004 Peter Hanley

KUDOS