FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2012
Contact: Kanya Lyons | (512) 974-7379
Pore over O. Henry: A Short Story, the current exhibit on display at the Austin History Center, 810 Guadalupe St., in the Holt Gallery from May 8 through October 21, 2012. The life of O. Henry (1862-1910,) aka William Sydney Porter, unravels chronologically in a selection of photographs, letters and other items that offer a glimpse into his life as a writer and as an Austinite at the turn of the century.
Among other things, visitors can peruse an autographed book with a poem to his future wife Miss Athol Estes, a letter telling the story of his marriage, a photograph of the house where he was married and a table and chair from his favorite local bar, George Zerchausky's Bismark Saloon on the 800 block of Congress Ave. Brief illustrative excerpts from his short stories accompany many of the photographs in the exhibit. The short story excerpts end with a QR code that takes viewers to the full text of the short story as it originally appeared in one of the many magazines that O. Henry wrote for. These short stories are just a small number of the many stories that are digitized and available at the Portal to Texas History.
O. Henry: A Short Story commemorates the 150th anniversary of the birth of the famous short story writer. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Gallery is open Thursday through Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. and the exhibit is open during other hours when the Gallery is not in use. For more information please call 512-974-7480 or visit library.austintexas.gov.
PHOTO:
Hill City Quartet, 1886
Left to Right: R. H. Edmondson, W. S. Porter, H. H. Long, C. E. Hillyer
Though the smallest, Will Porter (O. Henry) nevertheless sang bass for the group
Austin History Center Image # C03374
