Louise Pound and Willa Cather

Artist: Bradbrook, Frederick 1883 - 1906

Object Date: circa 1890

Full Collection: Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial Collection

Object Type: Photographs

Credit Line: PHO-4-W689-1163. Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial Collection. Willa Cather Foundation Collections and Archives at the National Willa Cather Center in Red Cloud, Nebraska.

Context:

Fred Bradbrook, circa 1893. In 1890, Willa Cather left Red Cloud to attend the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. There she met Louise Pound, a fellow UNL student and member of the Union Literary Society. Cather's letters to Pound in 1892 and 1893 indicate that Cather was infatuated with Pound; it is unclear to what extent Pound reciprocated Cather's feelings. Louise Pound visited Cather in Webster County during this period and the two had their portrait made at Bradbrook's Moon Block studio; though the photo is not marked by Bradbrook, the backdrop behind Louise Pound matches other Bradbrook images from that period. The two women later had a falling out over Cather's unflattering portrayal of Pound's brother Roscoe.

Inscriptions: Willa on the right