This property marks the site of Truman Capote’s childhood home in Monroe County, Alabama.
The exhibit at the Monroe County Museum, A Childhood in Monroeville is built around an extensive collection of photographs, letters and postcards donated to the museum by Capote’s first cousin. The exhibit focuses on Capote’s childhood in Monroeville, spent with his Faulk cousins, and how these early years are reflected in some of his most popular writings.
The exhibit weaves photos, letters and memorabilia together to paint a fascinating portrait of Capote’s early life in Monroeville. Jennings Faulk Carter donated the collection to the museum in 2005. The collection includes 12 handwritten letters (1940s-1960s) from Capote to his favorite aunt, Mary Ida Faulk Carter (Jennings’ mother). The collection was assembled by Jennings Faulk Carter over his lifetime, and many of the items belonged to his mother and Virginia Hurd Faulk, Carter’s cousin with whom Capote lived as a child. When asked in an interview if he regretted being an only child, Capote replied, “I had so many cousins and we all lived together and were all the same age. They were just like brothers and sisters, it really was no difference.”
