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Articles 1 - 30 of 50
Full-Text Articles in History
Tichenor Collection (Mss 678), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Tichenor Collection (Mss 678), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 678. Correspondence, papers and photographs of the Tichenor family of McLean County, Kentucky, and related families, especially Cherry, Short, and Hutchison. Much relates to the home front during World War II during the Navy service of high school teacher Thomas Cherry Tichenor.
Madden, Cornelius J., 1842-1903 (Sc 3494), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Madden, Cornelius J., 1842-1903 (Sc 3494), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescript of letter (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3494. Letter, 17 November 1862, to his mother from Cornelius Madden, serving with the 102nd Ohio Infantry at Bowling Green, Kentucky. He describes an increase in patrols and fortifications precipitated by rumors of guerrilla leader John Hunt Morgan’s presence in the area. Anticipating an encampment for the winter, he suggests his mother and other “widows” send a box of provisions, prepaid in order to save expense. He reports hearing nothing of his father, also in military service, who he believes to be at Nashville, Tennessee. …
Milem, Charles Arthur, 1893-1950 (Sc 3493), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Milem, Charles Arthur, 1893-1950 (Sc 3493), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3493. Letters, 28 March and 27 April 1919, of Arthur Milem to his future wife Bendola White in Covington, Kentucky. Writing from Verdun, France, where he is serving with the American Expeditionary Force, he reports on the weather, letters received from family and friends, and his uneventful military life. Noting that his is now the oldest company left at Verdun, he expresses hope that orders will arrive soon allowing them to embark for “the good old U.S.A.” Hearing that Bendola and his sister are planning a reception …
Dinwiddie, James Baker N., 1853-1873 (Sc 3492), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Dinwiddie, James Baker N., 1853-1873 (Sc 3492), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3492. Items related to attendance of James Baker N. Dinwiddie, Henry County, Tennessee, at the Kentucky Military Institute from 1869-1872. Includes a report card, tuition invoice and letters of receipt, copy of a photograph of Dinwiddie, two letters from his sister Pattie with news from home, and a 1985 letter regarding Dinwiddie’s record at KMI.
Gray, John H. (Sc 3483), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Gray, John H. (Sc 3483), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and full-text scan of typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3483. Letter, 15 October 1862, to his family from John H. Gray, serving with the 101st Indiana Infantry. He describes his experiences en route to Perryville, Kentucky in the wake of the recent battle there: the lack of rations that required improvisation when preparing meals, the prevalence of diarrhea (“the quick step”) among the troops, and his hospitalization at Perryville, where he sees the decaying body of a Confederate soldier, houses and hospitals full of suffering wounded, piles of spent ammunition, and destruction of …
Warr, Joseph W., 1836-1864 (Sc 3482), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Warr, Joseph W., 1836-1864 (Sc 3482), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescript (Click on “Additional Files” below for Manuscripts Small Collection 3482. Letter, 11 February 1862, to his mother and siblings from Joseph Warr, Company A, 2nd Minnesota Volunteers. From Somerset, Kentucky, he writes of troop movements toward Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he expects a victorious battle. He describes a recent encounter with Confederate forces crossing the Cumberland River and the severe wounds of those taken prisoner, but declares that the enemy would otherwise have shown no mercy. He notes the long knives of the Confederates (“Mississippi toothpicks”) and the homemade quality of their uniforms. He also urges …
Evans, Ray Estil, 1913-1981 (Sc 3469), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Evans, Ray Estil, 1913-1981 (Sc 3469), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid for Manuscripts Small Collection 3469. Military service records for Roy Estil "Sarge" Evans, a native of Warren County, Kentucky, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Included is a calendar from the "War Prisoner's Aid of the Young Men's Christian Association" in which he marked off the days he was imprisoned as a POW in a German stalag. (Click on "Additional Files" below for scan.) In pencil he wrote "Stalag Luft One Room Four" and marked off days in January - April of 1945. Also includes photocopies of two photographs in the Kentucky Library Research …
Harding, Aaron, 1805-1875 (Sc 3466), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Harding, Aaron, 1805-1875 (Sc 3466), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3466. Letter, 13 February 1863, of Aaron Harding, Washington, D.C., to Dr. Archibald S. Lewis, Greensburg, Kentucky. Serving in Congress as a representative from Kentucky, Harding reports on his efforts to obtain a promotion to brigadier general for Colonel Edward H. Hobson, including his appeal to President Abraham Lincoln in a “private interview.” He fears that Hobson’s nomination will nevertheless be passed over by the “radicals” in the U.S. Senate, who he criticizes for “sinking themselves and the country lower and lower.” He also refers to a …
Hardesty, Isaac Ellis, 1841-1917 (Sc 3464), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Hardesty, Isaac Ellis, 1841-1917 (Sc 3464), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3464. Letters, 11 September 1862 and 4 April 1863, to his family from Isaac Hardesty, serving with the 99th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. From camp near Covington, Kentucky, he reports on his health and his efforts to have his clothing shipped home; he also describes his fortified camp, the sounds of battle nearby, the dangers posed to pickets, and his pleasure at glimpsing his home state from the nearby hills. From Louisville, Kentucky, he writes of his painful arm and his longing to be at home, but without …
Adams, Marion Lee, 1930-2013 - Collector (Sc 3462), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Adams, Marion Lee, 1930-2013 - Collector (Sc 3462), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3462. Revolutionary War pension claim of Richard Wade, Cumberland County, Kentucky; and Civil War military service record of John Crittenden Bolin, Russell County, Kentucky.
Reppert, Charles Kramer, 1842-1921 (Sc 3456), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Reppert, Charles Kramer, 1842-1921 (Sc 3456), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3456. Letter, 24 July 1864, of Charles K. Reppert, Louisville, Kentucky, to his brother William E. Reppert, then serving with a Pennsylvania cavalry company at Nashville, Tennessee. He reports on the progress of their business making and marketing “Silver Pearl Soap,” the difficulty of trade in Kentucky without proof of loyalty to the Union, and his hopes to eventually sell the business. He also remarks on an upcoming military draft and that “the Negro Enlistments have cleared Kentucky.”
Obetz, Jeremiah H., 1843-1923 (Sc 3444), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Obetz, Jeremiah H., 1843-1923 (Sc 3444), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and full-text scan of transcriptions (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3444. Letters of Jeremiah H. Obetz, Manheim, Pennsylvania, to his former employer Henry C. Gingrich, written during his service with the 9th Pennsylvania (Lochiel) Cavalry at Camp Dunham near Bowling Green, Kentucky, and at Camp Andy Johnson near Jeffersonville, Indiana. Obetz describes the pursuit of Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan, the death of a comrade, camp life, and his confidence that England could not interfere successfully against the Union. He also reports on the strength of fortifications at recently recaptured Bowling Green. Suffering from …
Gibble, Harrison H., 1822-1898 (Sc 3443), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Gibble, Harrison H., 1822-1898 (Sc 3443), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Letter, 5 January 1862, of Harrison Gibble, 79th Pennsylvania Infantry, to his friend Henry Gingrich in Manheim, Pennsylvania. From Camp Wood, Munfordville, Kentucky, Gibble writes of the cold weather, the repair of a bridge across the Green River that had been destroyed by Confederates, the construction of floating bridges, and his company’s anticipated move to Cave City, Kentucky. He also relays reports of Confederate withdrawal toward Nashville and of 5,000 sick in hospital at Bowling Green. He mentions the names of other Manheim soldiers in his regiment, asks Gingrich to draw funds for his wife out of his next pay, …
Gray, John H. (Sc 3445), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Gray, John H. (Sc 3445), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3445. Letter, 17 October [1862], to his sister Jennie from John H. Gray, serving with the 101st Indiana Infantry. Recovering in hospital at Perryville, Kentucky after an arduous march, he describes conditions in the aftermath of the Battle of Perryville: property damage, unburied dead, Confederate prisoners of war, the suffering of the wounded, and shortages of food and water. He regrets being unable to recuperate without benefit of a furlough and, as he prepares to rejoin his regiment, refers sarcastically to the “lovely war.”
Buckberry, Ray B., Jr., B. 1934 (Sc 3446), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Buckberry, Ray B., Jr., B. 1934 (Sc 3446), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3446. “First Warren County Soldier to Die on D-Day,” a paper by Ray Buckberry describing known details of the death of Lieutenant James Lee Durham, Bowling Green, Kentucky on 6 June 1944 during the invasion of Normandy, France. A member of the 82nd Airborne Infantry Division, Durham participated in a nighttime parachute drop early on D-Day. Includes a photograph of Durham’s gravestone in Bowling Green’s Fairview Cemetery.
Newcomb, Horatio Dalton, 1809-1874 (Sc 3437), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Newcomb, Horatio Dalton, 1809-1874 (Sc 3437), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3437. Letter, 9 March 1863, from H. D. Newcomb, Louisville, Kentucky, to Sumner(?) Wells, Chicopee, Massachusetts, asking for help in locating a suitable house for his sister in nearby Springfield. Newcomb also offers his thoughts on the Civil War: his proximity to its “desolating influences” in contrast to New England; the disunion perpetrated by the “imbecile abolitionists” of the Lincoln Administration; the corruption of the government; the financial perils of the war; and the necessity for a negotiated peace with the Confederacy.
Johnson, Samuel F. (Sc 3442), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Johnson, Samuel F. (Sc 3442), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and full-text scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3442. Telegram, 17 October [1864], from Hopkinsville, Kentucky of Lieutenant Colonel Samuel F. Johnson to Colonel Cicero Maxwell in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He advises that Confederate General Hylan B. Lyon’s troops are in Providence, Kentucky “sweeping every horse mule & man in their course.” Johnson asks for mounted troops and a supply of ammunition to be sent to him at Russellville, Kentucky, failing which Lyon’s troops “will get out with their plunder & hundreds of recruits.”
Howell, Ray, 1893-1977 (Sc 3440), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Howell, Ray, 1893-1977 (Sc 3440), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3440. Personal papers of Ray Howell, Bowling Green, Kentucky: postcards sent during his military service in World War I and bearing his image; a 1931 certificate confirming his 1919 discharge from the U.S. Army; a certified copy of his birth certificate; a postcard from California advising of a death; and Howell’s funeral instructions. Also includes the 1919 reply of another “Ray Howell,” then serving in Germany, to whom Howell’s sister Maud’s letter was sent by mistake; he also encloses a postcard bearing his image.
Wittman, Dorothy M., 1917-2010 (Sc 3438), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Wittman, Dorothy M., 1917-2010 (Sc 3438), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3438. Materials related to 2nd Lieutenant Dorothy M. Wittman’s service as a U.S. Army nurse with the 32nd Station Hospital during World War II. Includes a letter to her parents in Canal Fulton, Ohio, from Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky describing a review of the 98th Infantry Division; photographs of her and fellow nurses; a nurses roster; meal tickets; and a whimsical “Dishonorable Discharge” from the Army. Also includes a medical history of the 32nd Station Hospital Unit written by Chief Nurse Helen W. Brammer.
Griffin, Lowell M. (Mss 669), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Griffin, Lowell M. (Mss 669), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 669. Civil War related material, chiefly recorded audio presentations to the Louisville Civil War Round Table of which Lowell Griffin was a member. Also includes some news clippings about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln as well as transcripts of several presentations on Civil War topics.
Todd, Theophilus Law, 1841-1963 (Sc 3435), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Todd, Theophilus Law, 1841-1963 (Sc 3435), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3435. Letter, 19-21 September 1862, from Theophilus L. Todd to his sister Agnes Jane Todd. Camped near Louisville, Kentucky while serving with the 93rd Ohio Infantry, Todd thanks her for a package of food and clothing. He describes his surroundings and camp life, including the friendly reception the troops received in Louisville and competition between the camp sutler and local women in the sale of foodstuffs. He also writes critically of the behavior of Brigadier General James S. Jackson during a lengthy and tiresome review of the brigade.
Mcbride, John Randolph, 1841-1912 (Sc 3433), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Mcbride, John Randolph, 1841-1912 (Sc 3433), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3433. Letter, 1 May 1862, of John R. McBride to Lucas F. Smith, Bluffton, Indiana. Serving with the 33rd Indiana Volunteers, McBride describes the march from Lexington, Kentucky to their present encampment near Cumberland Ford on the Cumberland River, and the current command structure. He asks about Bluffton’s young women and lightheartedly complains about the absence of eggs from his diet. He also recalls his fortunes after leaving Bluffton, which included a year of homesickness and then enlistment for service in order to return home “with a …
Daniel, Hannah (Lewis) Hawkins, 1833-1870 (Sc 3413), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Daniel, Hannah (Lewis) Hawkins, 1833-1870 (Sc 3413), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below" for Manuscripts Small Collection 3413. Letter, 31 October 1864, of Hannah Hawkins Daniel, Poplar Plains (Fleming County), Kentucky, to her brother Dr. Henry H. Lewis, Salt Lick (Bath County), Kentucky. She writes of a possible raid on Flemingsburg, and of the fate of a party of looters in the area. She also laments the difficulties of horse travel, reports hearing of conflict over the military draft from a correspondent in Iowa, and invites a member of Lewis’s household to visit “if there are no Rebs between here & there.”
Fleming, Peter F., B. 1842? (Sc 3392), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Fleming, Peter F., B. 1842? (Sc 3392), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3392. Letter, 7 December 1862, from Peter Fleming of the 96th Illinois Volunteers, Company E, to his friend Thomas Elliott. From Camp Beard at Danville, Kentucky, he writes of the cold weather, the good turnpike roads, the presence of troops in the vicinity, and the satisfactory food supply. He also mentions the names of several of his comrades in Company E.
Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3385), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3385), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid and full text transcript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3385. Letter, 14 December 1862, of George Messer, 107th Illinois Infantry, to his wife Lottie in Clinton, Illinois. He describes the march to camp near Munfordville, Kentucky, the layout of the camp, and nearby graves, the result of an earlier engagement. He outlines the position of other troops in the area and lists the names of several men who have deserted from his company. He makes some critical remarks about his father at home and expresses confidence in Lottie’s ability to manage his domestic affairs.
Clarke, Marcellus Jerome, 1844-1865 - Relating To (Sc 3393), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Clarke, Marcellus Jerome, 1844-1865 - Relating To (Sc 3393), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid for Manuscripts Small Collection 3393. Clippings, some typescripted from unidentified sources, and letters about the identity and exploits of Confederate guerrilla “Sue Mundy,” the alias of Simpson County, Kentucky native Jerome Clarke. Topics covered include his family, career, burial place, the origin of the name “Sue Mundy,” and the resulting confusion over whether “Sue” was actually a woman. Also includes an abstract of the U.S. War Department’s record of his court martial.
Clagett, John Henry, 1916-1970 (Sc 3388), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Clagett, John Henry, 1916-1970 (Sc 3388), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3388. Christmas cards to WKU faculty member Frances Richards from student John H. Clagett. The cards reflect Clagett’s service at the U.S. Naval Academy and at sea. Includes a notice for Clagett’s novel Buckskin Cavalier, clippings about his novels, and a copy of “The Lantern,” his short story published in Collier’s magazine.
Johnston, Joseph E., 1875-1970 (Sc 3382), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Johnston, Joseph E., 1875-1970 (Sc 3382), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3382. Letters of Joe E. Johnston, Pleasureville, Kentucky, to Mary Ellen Richards, Franklin, Kentucky. He discusses his activities, his book Life Begins at Eighty, and his father, Captain I. N. Johnston, an escapee from Virginia’s Libby Prison during the Civil War. Includes clippings about Johnston and his father.
Borrone, Bert Joseph, Jr., 1919-1995 (Sc 3368), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Borrone, Bert Joseph, Jr., 1919-1995 (Sc 3368), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3368. Prelude to Invasion,” two programs written by Sergeant Bert J. Borrone, Bowling Green, Kentucky, for the American Expeditionary Station News Bureau to be broadcast on 23 May and 30 May 1944. Borrone, then stationed in North Africa, details possible scenarios and tactical challenges for the highly anticipated Allied invasion of Europe, and expresses confidence in victory.
Civil War Collections In Manuscripts & Folklife Archives At Western Kentucky University, Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
Civil War Collections In Manuscripts & Folklife Archives At Western Kentucky University, Manuscripts & Folklife Archives
MSS Finding Aids
This is a list of collections in the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives holdings of WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections that relate to the Civil War. Included are letters and diaries of soldiers and civilians, military records and papers, and other, mostly unpublished material. Our collections are particularly strong on Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Civil War history and in documenting the experiences of Kentuckians or those who passed through Kentucky and surrounding states during the war.