Selected Archival Collections Related to Kentucky Women*

Braden, Anne, University of Louisville, Oral History Center.
Oral history.  1975.  1 tape.
Unpublished guide available.
In her interview, Anne Braden discusses her civil rights activities, family history, her education, and her impressions of how the US has changed since the 1950s and 1960s.  Her reminiscences deal with events dating from 1925 to 1975.

Breckinridge, Madeline (McDowell), University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1872-1920.  1003 items.
Chiefly pamphlets, broadsides, and other printed material reflecting Breckinridge’s interest in such issues as woman suffrage, child labor, tuberculosis, home rule, labor laws and strikes, civic improvements, and the Lincoln School.  Breckinridge attended the State College of Lexington and finished her education at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT.  She served on the board of trustees of the Fayette County Tuberculosis Sanitarium and of the Fayette County Associated Charities, served on the executive committee of the Lexington Civic League, and was vice-president of the Kentucky Child Labor Commission.  She married Desha Breckinridge in 1898.

Clay, Laura, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
Ca. 1882-1941.  Ca.  7000 items.
Correspondence, including letters from Anna Howard Shaw, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and Ohio suffrage leader Harriet (Taylor) Upton; diaries; photo albums; scrapbooks; and other papers, including minutes, addresses, and programs of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association; yearbooks of the Woman’s Club of Central Kentucky; ca. 1700 cards listing the membership of various suffrage groups; and pamphlets on woman suffrage, child welfare, civil service reform, peace, and temperance.

Clay, Mary Barr, The Filson Club, Louisville.
1888.  1 item.
Writing from Whitehall in Madison County, KY, Clay thanks E.F. Strickland, a minister, for including her in his list of renowned women and says she plans to continue working for women's rights.
Also see the collection of Cassius M. Clay, The Filson Club, which contains Mary Barr Clay’s correspondence including letters from Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone, Alice Stone, and others.

Derry, Laura Ellen, University of Louisville, University Archives and Records Center.
1883-1992.
Consists of eight series: Biographical, Correspondence, Literary, Clubs and Organizations, Stephen Derry/ Legal Reference Material, Financial/ Business, Reference/Scrapbook and Case Files.

See also Hart County, Women of.

Desha, Mary, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1868-1906.  920 items.
Correspondence, principally that with local DAR chapters regarding the group’s rules and regulations, prospective members, and organizational problems.

Fayette Equal Rights Association, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1917-1920.  10 pieces.  
Contains a minute book and correspondence of the Fayette Equal Rights Association.  The minute book begins in 1917, and its contents reflect the Association's lobbying activities with state and federal officials in the cause of woman suffrage.  There are records of other group involvements as well, particularly in "Home front" activities during World War I.

Flanery, Mary Elliot, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1883-1972.  4 boxes and 2 packages.
Correspondence, family papers, family scrapbook compiled by Flanery’s daughter Dawn (Flanery) Parker, poems by Dawn Parker, pamphlets, programs, political memorabilia, clippings, and other items.  Collection includes papers of the following Flanery children:  Merle [Mrs. Davis Monroe] Howerton, Dawn [Mrs. H. Leslie] Parker, Dew [Mrs. Whayne W.] Haffler, and John Elliot Flanery.  Merle Howerton was an active member of the Democratic Woman’s Club of Kentucky.

Fouse Family papers, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1914-1951.  
Papers of Elizabeth Beatrice Cooke Fouse and husband, Lexington's Dunbar High School principal William Henry House, the first black graduate of Otterbein College.  Letters and other literature regarding Mrs. Fouse's involvement with educational, religious and temperance groups: National Association of Colored Women, Kentucky Association of Colored Women (she was president), Phyllis Wheatley YWCA (she founded in 1920), Baptist Church, and National Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Frontier Nursing Service, 
 (1) Berea College Library.
1926-1976. 114 items.
Correspondence, reports, photos, articles, and clippings of FNS and of Mary Breckinridge.
 (2)Frontier Nursing Service Oral History Project, University of Kentucky Oral History Program, Division of Special Collections and Archives.
1978.
Interviews with nurse-midwives, administrators, doctors, fund raisers, and local residents involved in FNS.

Giles, Janice (Holt),  
  (1) Western Kentucky University, Kentucky Library.
1948-1973.  12 Hollinger boxes.
Descriptive inventory and card catalog.
Manuscript with author's revisions, galley proofs, short stories, articles, speeches, and material Giles used in writing books, including Hannah Fowler (1956), Land Beyond the Mountains (1958), Run Me a River (1964), G.I. Journal of Sergeant Giles (1965), Shady Grove (1968), Six Horse Hitch (1969), The Damned Engineers (1970), and The Kinta Years (1973).   Includes material regarding early Kentuckians, the Shakers at South Union, KY, and other topics.
  (2) The Filson Club.
1951.  1 p.
Letter from Giles to The Filson Club librarian requesting information on William Whitley and Benjamin Logan.

Hart County, Women of, Hart County Historical Society.
1900-
Includes articles, programs, clippings, and photos of various women of Hart County, including Laura Ellen Miller Derry and Sarah Richardson.

Hill, Patty Smith, The Filson Club.
1878-1942.  1245 items.
Correspondence; transcripts of speeches, articles, and lectures; papers on kindergarten, nursery schools, teacher education, and other topics; an autobiographical sketch; material about her professional trip to Russia in 1929, her honorary degree from Columbia University in 1929, the Patty Smith Hill Fund, the Utopia Children's House, Hilltop, the Patty Smith Hill Farm, and other plans to aid needy children during the depression; lists of books Hill co-authored and material she wrote about the work of Friedrich Froebel, Anna E. Bryan, Susan E. Blow, and Maria Montessori; scrapbooks; photos; clippings; and other material.  In her correspondence she discusses her move from Louisville to New York, speaking engagements, activities at Columbia, and establishment and direction of nursery schools.  Also contains biographical material about other members of Hill family and a paper by Pearl Allen Williams about the kindergarten movement in Louisville from 1881 to 1930.

Hindman Settlement School, Berea College Library.
1901-1977. 174 items.  
Correspondence, photos, pamphlets, articles, clippings.

James, Grace, M.D.  University of Louisville, University Archives and Records Center.
1942 to 1989.
The majority of this collection documents her medical career after her arrival in Louisville, as well as her interest in professional and civic organizations. Includes speeches and manuscripts, general correspondence, and financial papers.  Little genealogical information exists in this collection.

Because of the confidentiality of some information, one half-size manuscript box of papers is closed until the year 2070 or proof of death of the patient or employee documented is shown.

Kentucky Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Louisville Literature Club, The Filson Club.
158 pp. 
Minutes including the number of members present at meetings, works read, topics of papers presented.

Kidd, Representative Mae Street, Paul G. Blazer Library, Special Collections and Archives, Kentucky State University.

Lincoln, Mary (Todd), The Filson Club.
1856.  1 item.
Letter from Springfield, IL., of [Mrs. Abraham] Lincoln (1818-82) to Emilie Todd [Mrs. Ben Hardin].

Louisville Equal Rights Association, The Filson Club. 
1889-1895. 1 vol.
Minute book containing constitution and bylaws, minutes, and a membership list.

Marcum, Julia A., Kentucky History Center, Manuscripts Collections.
Mainly 1885-1926.  
Catalog card, unpublished inventory.
This collection contains two manuscripts, one written in 1918 and the other in 1926, of Julia Marcum's dramatic account of her Civil War battle with a Rebel soldier; her pension certificate, dated March 2, 1885; the November 8, 1984 issue of the Whitley Republican featuring a reprint of Julia Marcum's Civil War battle story, with an introduction by Judge Pleas Jones; a clipping from the Louisville Herald-Post, circa early 1936, showing a photograph of Julia Marcum on her 91st birthday, with a caption stating that "Aunt Julia" was seriously ill; and two photographs of Julia Marcum.  Two typewritten transcriptions of Marcum's 1926 manuscript are also included.  A letter concerning the group's provenance and donation is also present.

Morris, Lois.  University of Louisville, University Archives and Records Center.
1920-1988.  
Papers concerning Morris’ political activism, club movement membership, invitations, cards, business cards, church programs, political flyers, a scrapbook from the Morris’ annual Derby Eve party, receipt book.

Mother House Archives, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Mother House Archival Center. 
30 vols.
Annals and reports from academies, orphanages, and hospitals served by the sisters.

Neville, Linda, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1879-1959. Ca 35,500 items.
General and personal correspondence, including items regarding individual cases; biographical and autobiographical material about Neville; a genealogy; photos; pamphlets; articles; clippings; awards; and other material, including papers of Neville's mother Mary Payne Neville, her sister Mary Neville, and others.

Obenchain, Eliza Calvert, Western Kentucky University, Kentucky Library.
1775-1956.  11.5 Hollinger boxes.
Partially restricted.  
Correspondence, diaries, sermons, writings, business papers, genealogical data, weather records, and clippings of the family of Samuel Wilson Calvert (1796-1837), a Presbyterian minister; his son Thomas Calvert (1826-98); Thomas Calvert's wife Margaret (Younglove) Calvert (1829-1920); Thomas and Margaret Calvert's daughters Margaret (1860-1947), Josephine (1864-1956), and Lida (Calvert) Obenchain (1856-1935); and other relatives.  Lida Obenchain's papers include family correspondence, notes, abstract of a master's thesis about her, galley and page proofs of books, articles, and clippings.  Also contains material of the Younglove family and about Mary (Kendall) Jones (1806? -84), and educator who conducted a school for girls in Bowling Green and later one in St. Louis.  The Younglove material includes a diary kept by Jane Younglove (1831-61), sister of Margaret (Younglove) Calvert, during a visit to Bowling Green in 1857.

Pace, Pearl Carter, Western Kentucky University, Kentucky Library.
1902-1975.  23.5 Hollinger boxes.
Correspondence, speeches, sheriff's fee book, commission records, photos, clippings, printed material, and campaign mementos.  Consists chiefly of papers from the period when she served on the two presidential commissions.  Also includes papers of her children, particularly letter from or about her son Stanley while he was a prisoner of war in Europe. 

Pettit, Katherine, Berea College Library.
1899-1936. 86 items.
Correspondence, articles, and clippings of Pettit (1868-1936) pertain to the founding and activities of the Hindman and Pine Mountain Settlement schools and to Pettit's 40 years as a settlement worker in the Kentucky mountains.

Phillips, Lena Madesin, Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College.
Papers include personal and professional correspondence, news clippings, articles, speeches and photographs.

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Berea College Library.
1913-1975.  360 items.
Correspondence, reports, brochures, articles, and clippings concern the School's activities and the role of Katherine Pettit, Ethel de Long, and other women in rural settlement work.

Powers, Senator Georgia, Paul G. Blazer Library, Special Collections and Archives, Kentucky State University.
Personal correspondence, memorabilia, clippings, photos, speeches.

Semple, Ellen Churchill, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1900-1932.  74 packages, 4 vols., and 84 items.
Personal correspondence, notes on subjects connected with her writing, photos, scrapbook, reprints, clippings, academic hood and gown, and two medals.   The papers are devoted to anthrogeography, which is the study of the effect of geographic conditions on human history; her notes deal principally with her work on the Mediterranean region.

Shaker Journals, Harrodsburg Historical Society Library.
1842-1911.  10 vols.
Business, spiritual, and personal journals kept by members of the Shaker community at Pleasant Hill, KY, which was founded in 1805.  The Journals reflect events within the Shaker colony and in the world at large.  Included is the journal of Polly Harris for 1851 to 1858.  The Pleasant Hill community was an outgrowth of the original Shaker settlements in New York and New England.

Stewart, Cora (Wilson), University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1900-1940.  Ca. 40,000 items.
Correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, copies of her Moonlight Schools and her special readers for adults, statistics about adult illiteracy, records of Cora Stewart and Rowan County schools and of the Moonlight Schools, religious writing by Stewart, material for speeches, financial records, photos, scrapbooks, pamphlets, articles, clippings, and other material. 

Stovall, Thelma, University of Louisville, Oral History Center.
Oral history.  1976.  1 tape.
Interview discusses her personal history, her education, and her 25 years of service in public offices in Kentucky.  She also comments on her involvement in the women's movement and emphasizes the long struggle for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the state.

Thomas, Jean Bell, University of Louisville Library, School of Music.
1953-1966. 75 items.
Correspondence, literary manuscripts, audiotapes, videotapes, photos, scrapbooks, books, and memorabilia provide information about Appalachian people, as well as Thomas’ reception by people.

WAC Mothers Association.  The Filson Club.
1 box.
Constitution and by-laws, president’s messages, reports of annual conferences, lists of officers, quarterly and semi-annual reports, copies of the official prayer, form letters, and miscellaneous material of the national association, headquartered in Chicago.

The Wallace-Starling family diaries.  Kentucky Historical Society, Special Collections and Archives.
Two journals written by Ellen Kenton McGaughey Wallace between 1854 and 1865 and sixteen journals , plus loose pages, written by Annie Leslie McCarroll Starling between 1880 and 1932. Transcripts by James T. Killebrew of Hopkinsville, Kentucky accompany the collection and include additional diary accounts of Ellen Wallace from 1849 and those of Annie Starling from 1860 to 1880. As members of prominent Christian County families, both women provide a view of a privileged lifestyle in 19th century Kentucky, yet convey (particularly in Mrs. Wallace's case) the impacts of civil war, illness, and death upon their lives. Mrs. Wallace's diaries also provide some slave history, including an account of an 1856 slave uprising incident in Hopkinsville, names of her servants and births of their children, and slave reactions to the Emancipation Proclamation. Because of several mentions of births, deaths, and marriages, researchers may find the diaries helpful in genealogy searches.

Women’s Club of Richmond, Eastern Kentucky University Library, Townsend Room.
30 items.
Yearbooks include membership lists and the creed of the Club, which was formed in 1904 to help its members work for the best interests of their community.

Woman's Democratic Club of Fayette County.  University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1910-1945, 1920-1932 (ca. 1,000 pieces)  
Consists largely of the correspondence of Mary Shelby Wilson related to the development of the Woman's Democratic Club of Fayette County, during the 1920s.  Also included are bulletins, reports, newspaper clippings, and publications of other women's groups active in the 1920s.

*Much of the information included here is extracted from Women's History Sources: A Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States, edited by Andrea Hinding. New York: Bowker, 1979.

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