Flannery O'Connor Timeline

Novelist Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah and spent the first 15 years of her life here.  Her birthplace on Lafayette Square is a popular Savannah tourist attraction. This timeline of events from her life include her most notable accomplishments. If you would like to learn more, visit our page on Flannery O'Connor and her childhood home.

March 25, 1925

Birth

Flannery O'Connor is born in Savannah, Georgia to parents Edward Francis O'Connor and Regina Cline.

1940

The O'Connor Family Leaves Savannah

The family of of Flannery O'Connor moves from Savannah to live on Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville, Georgia

February 1, 1941

Death of Her Father

Edward Francis O'Connor dies from systemic lupus erythematosus, leaving young Flannery fatherless at the age of 16.

1942

High School Graduation

Young Flannery graduates from Peabody High School.

1945

College Graduation

Graduated from Georgia State College for Women with a B.A. in sociology and English literature.

1946

Study of Journalism

Gains acceptance into the Iowa Writer's Workshop, part of the University of Iowa. It is here that she begins to pursue journalism.

1948

Journalism Degree

Flannery earns a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) from Iowa State University. She would later trust one of her professers with the first draft of a novel that would become Wise Blood.

1949

Robert Fitzgerald

Accepts invitation to stay with American poet Robert Fitzgerald and his wife at their Connecticut home.

1950

Lupus Diagnosis

O'Connor is diagnosed with the same form of lupus that her father contractacted and eventually died from.

May 15, 1952

Wise Blood

The first novel written by Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood, is published. The 238 page southern gothic novel focuses on a World War II veteran who returns the U.S. to find his family gone.

1955

A Good Man is Hard to Find

A collection of ten short stories by O'Connor is published under the name "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Many violent scenes are featured in the novel.

1959

Ford Foundation Grant

The prestigious Ford Foundation grants Flannery $8,000.

1960

The Violent Bear it Away

O'Connor's 2nd (and last) novel to be published was released in 1960. Entitled, The Violent Bear it Away, it tells the story of a teenages trying to escape the life the awaits him.

August 3, 1964

Death

12 years after contracting lupus, O'Connor dies in Milledgeville, Georgia.

1965

Everything that Rises Must Converge

A posthumously collection of O'Connor's short stories is published in 1965.

1989

Foundation Purchases Childhood Home

The Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home Foundation purchases 207 E. Charlton Street, where Flannery was born and spent her early years.

2016

Savannah Women of Vision

Flannery O'Connor inducted into the Savannah Women of Vision which honors women of notable altruistic and intellectual achievement from Savannah, Georgia.

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