1. His life and local haunts
F. Scott fitzgerald
His life and local haunts

2. The early years in St. Paul
Frances Scott Fitzgerald born in St. Paul, Minn. in 1896
With his mother in 1897 on Laurel Avenue

3. Fitzgerald’s Birthplace
This apartment building at Laurel Avenue is where Scott was born (10 lb. 6 oz!)
Named for his distant relative, Frances Scott Key
The building still stands today

4. Family
His maternal grandfather, Phillip McQuillan, was one of St. Paul’s wealthiest businessmen
His father, Edward Fitzgerald, failed
as a wicker salesman, and the family
moved to New York until Scott was
12, at which point they lived off his
mother, Mollie’s, inheritance.

5. Summit Avenue The most fashionable street in St. Paul
Populated by the rich and their grand homes
Influential in Fitzgerald’s perception of wealth
James J. Hill house on
Summit Avenue

6. Summit Avenue Homes
Most houses on this street were opulent homes of the wealthy.

7. Frequent moves for the Fitzgeralds
Over a span of three years, the Fitzgeralds lived in three different homes on Holly Avenue, several blocks from Summit Avenue

9. St. Paul’s Academy 1908-1911 While attending this preparatory school,
Scott published his first story in the school magazine—a detective tale. He later published three more stories and wrote four plays.
His grades were not impressive, in part because he had poor study habits and was more interested in extra-curricular activities.

11. Early Social Life
One of Scott’s long-standing friends was Marie Hersey, whose home is above. They took a dancing class together, at left. Later, Scott falls in love with Marie’s college roommate, Ginevra King.

12. College Years at Princeton
In 1913, Fitzgerald entered Princeton University
During holidays, he returned home to St. Paul, where he met Ginevra King in 1915
A rich girl from Lake Forest,
Illinois, Ginevra and Scott
carried on a romance mainly
through letters. When she finally
broke up with him in 1917, he
was devastated.

13. A move to Summit Avenue, and FAILURE
During Scott’s sophomore year, his parents moved into a three-story brownstone at 593 Summit Ave.

14. Scott did not apply himself to his studies at Princeton, so when he fell ill with a mild case of tuberculosis his junior year, it was a convenient excuse to drop out of school.
He moved home to live with parents, where he had a room on the third floor. He stayed there for eight months, then returned to Princeton for a short time until war was declared in 1917.
Scott enlisted in the military and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry.

15. Meeting Zelda Sayre
Scott was stationed at Camp Sheridan in Alabama, where he met Zelda Sayre, the 18-year old daughter of a State Supreme Court judge

16. Shortly before Scott was to be sent overseas to fight, the war ended.
Although Scott and Zelda were from different social classes, they fell in love and were soon engaged.
Shortly before Scott was to be sent overseas to fight, the war ended.
In 1919, after his discharge from the army, Scott moved to New York City to work in advertising and make his fortune so he could marry Zelda.
Unwilling to live on his meager salary, Zelda broke off the engagement.
Disheartened, Scott quit his job and moved back to St. Paul in July 1919.
Zelda at age 18

17. First novel: This Side of Paradise
For two months, Scott sequestered himself in a room on the third floor at 599 Summit Avenue, and rewrote a novel he’d tried to publish the year before
His book was accepted by Scribner’s in mid-September
He wrote a friend,
In a house below the average
On a street above the average
In a room below the roof
With a lot above the ears
I shall write Alida Bigelow…
Scribner has accepted my book. Ain’t I smart!

18. Zelda says yes
The publication of This Side of Paradise on March 26, 1920, made the twenty-four- year-old Fitzgerald famous almost overnight, and a week later he married Zelda Sayre in New York

19. Married life

20. Expanding the Family
While living in New York City, Scott wrote his second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned
1921: Zelda got pregnant and they return to St. Paul for the birth of their daughter, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald
A month before Scottie’s birth

21. While in St. Paul, Scott and Zelda frequented The University Club, a Summit Avenue fixture. Local legend holds that Fitzgerald carved his initials in the basement bar, but this is inaccurate.

22. Increasing Problems Fall 1922- family moves to Great Neck, Long Island
Scott’s play is a flop so he writes short stories to get out of debt
His drinking increases, but he is sober when he writes
Zelda drinks but is not an alcoholic
Domestic bouts are frequent

23. Going Abroad The Fitzgeralds escaped to France in 1924
They spent time on the Riviera, where Zelda had an affair with a French aviator
The Great Gatsby published in 1925 to critical acclaim but disappointing sales

24. Expatriate Writers in Paris
Scott and Zelda were part of the Expatriates, a group of young American writers such as Ernest Hemingway who lived in Europe in the 20s
Hemingway, then known only in literary circles, was friends with Fitzgerald
The Fitzgeralds remained in France until the end of 1926, when they moved back to the U.S.
Hemingway and friends in front of the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore

25. Unsuccessful screenwriting stint in Hollywood
1927- Rented a mansion in Delaware, where they lived for two years
Zelda begins ballet training
Spring return to France
April Zelda suffers first mental breakdown and is treated in Switzerland over the next year
The couple spent money faster that Scott earned it
Return to U.S. in 1931 to Montgomery, Alabama

26. Zelda’s Deterioration
Suffers relapse in February 1932
Remains either a resident or outpatient of “sanatoriums” for the rest of her life
While at mental patient at John Hopkins, Zelda writes her autobiography, Save Me The Waltz
Scott rents a house outside Baltimore and completes his fourth novel, Tender is the Night

27. The Crack-Up 1936-1937 Scott is sick, drunk, and in debt
Scottie left for boarding school at age 14
Scott tries to father her through advice in letters
She attended college at Vassar

28. Final Years in Hollywood
In 1937, Scott returned to Hollywood alone to work as a screenwriter
His alcoholism continued
Fell in love with movie columnist Sheilah Graham
Was halfway through a novel about Hollywood, The Love of the Last Tycoon, when he died of a heart attack at Graham’s apartment on December 21, 1940
He was only 44 years old

29. Final Resting Place Zelda died in a fire at the asylum in 1948
Both Scott and Zelda were buried in Rockville, Maryland, where Scott’s father was from
Fitzgerald’s grave is frequently visited