September 30, 1924

Author, screenwriter and playwright Truman Capote was born in New Orleans. The son of two Alabamians, Capote spent a part of his childhood in Monroeville and formed a lifelong friendship with his neighbor and fellow writer, Harper Lee. Capote is best known for his flamboyant personality and celebrated works across a variety of media, including his novels “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood.” Many of his works were later adapted into films, and Capote himself is the subject of two biographical films, “Capote” and “Infamous.” He was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame in 2016, and the Monroe County Museum maintains a permanent exhibit on his life.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Historic ruins of Truman Capote’s boyhood home in Monroeville. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Portrait of Truman Capote, March 30, 1948. (Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.