O. Henry’s Austin Home A Museum For Over 75 Years

16 December 2010

O. Henry's house in Austin, Texas

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson.

This week we answer a question about the life of magician Harry Houdini.

We also play music by some of this year’s biggest concert money-makers.

But first, we visit the former home of one of America’s best loved writers.

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O. Henry Museum

DOUG JOHNSON: One of America's best-loved writers of short stories was William Sydney Porter -- better known as O. Henry. Beginning in eighteen ninety-three he lived with his family in a house in Austin, Texas. It is now a museum. Katherine Cole has our story.

KATHERINE COLE: Visitors to central Austin will find many huge hotels and modern buildings. It would be easy to miss one very small, old house where one of America’s favorite writers once lived. It is now called the O. Henry Museum. It was saved from destruction, moved, and turned into a museum in nineteen thirty-four. The museum is a good way to learn about the interesting life of O. Henry.

William Porter rented this house in Austin and lived there with his wife Athol and daughter Margaret for about two years. Many objects in the museum belonged to the Porters. Others did not, but are in the house to recreate the way it looked during their lifetime. Our guide takes us into the living room.