History Commons^™

Calendar Club - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 757), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 757. Minutes, 1889-1984, of the Calendar Club, a men’s literary club in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Includes two programs commemorating the Club’s fiftieth and seventy-fifth anniversaries (Click on "Additional Files" below for scans).

Pate Family Correspondence (Sc 3697), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scans and typescripts of selected letters (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3697. Correspondence of the Pate family of Cloverport and “Brooks Bottom” in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, and of their relatives in the Ramsey and Brackin families (Ohio County), Butler family (Sumner County, Tennessee) and Benton family (Louisville, Kentucky). George L. Pate writes daughter Mary Jane (Pate) Ramsey of conflict with his son Samuel; of his grief over the death of another son in infancy; of the accidental shooting of a young man by his bride-to-be in 1863; and, in 1864, of an attack on …

Whittle, Joseph Merle, B. 1933 (Mss 756), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 756. Correspondence and papers of Joseph M. Whittle, a Grayson County attorney who served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky from 1986-1993.

Taylor Family Houses - Warren County, Kentucky (Sc 3268), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3268. Collection of genealogical and historic research on four Taylor family houses located in Warren County, Kentucky. Includes data on original owners and residents, deeds, and photographs.

Thurman, Frederick Anthony "Tony," B. 1966 (Sc 3695), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3695. Correspondence, clippings and other material relating to the childhood of Tony Thurman, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and principally to his involvement in the Boy Scouts, his awards, merit badges and other certifications, and his achievement of Eagle Scout status. Also includes a childhood letter to President Gerald Ford, items related to Thurman’s BB gun shooting competitions, and a Christmas greeting on a phonograph record.

Pearley, Lamont Jack, B. 1974 (Fa 1426), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1426. Audio interviews by WKU student Lamont Pearley of the husband-and-wife proprietors of Need More Acres Farm in Scottsville, Kentucky. They discuss their lives as farmers, agricultural practices, and sustainable farming. One interview includes a transcript and the other includes an index/log.

Smith, Justin, Jr., B. 2000 (Fa 1423), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1423. Audio interviews by WKU student Justin Smith, Jr. of two informants who discuss the African-American experience at Western Kentucky University during the 1970s. Includes transcripts and indexes/logs; also includes Smith’s brief summary and reflections on the project.

Hines, James Richard, 1903-1995 (Mss 765), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans of selected items (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 765. Primarily letters and statements of James R. Hines, an Evansville, Indiana, native who was owner and legal counsel to several bargeline businesses, advocating for improved navigation and flood control on the Green River in Kentucky. Also includes historical data and narratives on Hines’s steamboating family, especially his grandfather Richard T. Williams.

James Parks Wilson Family Collection (Mss 755), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscript Collection 755. Primarily genealogical research on the descendants of James Parks Wilson of Hart County, Kentucky. Includes biographical data and papers regarding the military service of his grandson, James Admiral Wilson.

Pike Tobacco Warehouse - Louisville, Kentucky (Sc 3691), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3691. Trade card of James Kelly, with the Pike Tobacco Warehouse, Louisville, Kentucky.

Green Store - Falls Of Rough, Kentucky (Mss 754), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 754. Day book (1831-1832) and ledger (1829-1832) of the Green store, Falls of Rough, Kentucky; a paper analyzing the contents of the volumes; and miscellaneous Green family papers.

Hobson, William Edward, 1844-1909 (Sc 3684), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3684. Treasury Department and Post Office Department correspondence and appointments relating to William E. Hobson’s service as a Claims Agent, Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Third Collection District of Kentucky, and Postmaster at Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Elmwood Cemetery - Owensboro, Kentucky (Sc 3683), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below for Manuscripts Small Collection 3683. Listing of graves in Elmwood Cemetery, Owensboro, Kentucky. Data consists of name, dates, and in some cases a brief description of the grave monument and/or its maker.

Spurlock, John Howard, 1939-2023 (Sc 3680), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3680. Notes of an interview, 6 December 1986, by WKU professor John H. Spurlock with James Stuart, the brother of author Jesse Stuart. They discuss Jesse Stuart’s columns for the Greenup (Ky.) News and his editorship of the Greenup County Citizen; local and school board politics; and a physical attack on Jesse Stuart following his criticism of the local member of Congress.

Smith Family Papers (Sc 3679), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scans and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3679. Two items relating to the Smith family of Warren County, Kentucky: a letter, 18 November 1852, from Amanda M. F. Withers, Dripping Spring, Edmonson County, Kentucky, to Sarah Hampton in Warren County; having recently moved, she describes her labors setting up housekeeping, gives regards to her friends and Sarah’s family, advises Sarah to be careful in choosing a husband, and asks to be sent some plant cuttings. Also, a codicil to the will of Sarah’s future father-in-law Daniel C. Smith, 1868.

Farmer, Eugenia (Berniaud), 1835-1924 (Sc 3677), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3677. Biographical data on Eugenia B. Farmer, who worked for woman suffrage in Covington, Kentucky before moving to St. Paul, Minnesota. Includes Farmer’s address, “A Voice from the Civil War,” read at the 1918 Minnesota Woman Suffrage Convention; clippings from St. Paul newspapers; and a 2016 article from the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Also includes death certificates for Farmer and her husband.

Hodge, James H., 1843?-1924 (Sc 3675), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scans and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3675. Letters (3), written by James Hodge to his mother in Warren County, Kentucky, while serving with the 11th Kentucky Infantry, U.S.A. Writing from Tennessee just before the Battle of Bean’s Station, and from Kentucky and Georgia, he tells of engaging the enemy at Knoxville, of enduring "hard times" and reduced rations, and of his wish to return home to see her. Includes his 1924 obituary.

Kirby Family Papers (Mss 749), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 749. Papers of the Kirby family of Warren County, Kentucky, especially Sarah Jane “Jennie” Kirby, her son Percy Warren Kirby, and his grandson Joseph W. Harris. Includes some genealogical data collected by Jennie.

Unions - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Sc 3673), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3673. By-Laws and Trade Rules of Union Local No. 2156, Bowling Green, Kentucky, of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

Kirby, Sarah Jane "Jennie" (Whalen), 1863-1918 (Sc 3674), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3674. Memoranda by Jennie Kirby, Warren County, Kentucky, of local deaths from 1899-1916. Using a blank Poll Book, she inscribes names, date of death, and in most cases the cause of death. African Americans and whites are included. Records of births, 1910-1911, are at the back of the book.

Ingram, James Maurice, 1905-1976 (Sc 3672), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3672. Photographs (black & white, one color) of churches, schools, a library, a residence, and a business complex, presumably all designed by Louisville, Kentucky architect James Maurice Ingram. The residence and some of the church photographs are unidentified.

Graven Family Papers (Sc 3671), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3671. Records relating to the Boyd, Upton, Graven and Leslie families of Hart, Larue, and Monroe counties in Kentucky. Includes church minutes, tax receipts, marriage bond, family reminiscences, clippings, and a genealogy tracing the Upton family back to the Powhatan Nation of Virginia. Also includes photographs of the dedication of a new grave marker for War of 1812 veteran James Boyd.

Covid-19 (Sc 3669), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3669. Miscellaneous communications issued via U.S. mail, e-mail and internet regarding closures, operational changes and mitigation measures during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Includes instructions on mask making, press releases from Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s office, information on financial and mental health management, and the White House’s letter enclosing an Economic Impact Payment. Also includes some communications from Bowling Green, Kentucky churches, businesses and banks.

Bluegrass Backstory: Connecting People To Local History Through Podcasting, David Hunter Hartlage

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Kentucky has a rich cultural identity, built upon a storied local history. Unfortunately, certain aspects of local cultural history, such as the origins of Kentucky vernacular music or how the bourbon industry has promoted growth in Kentucky’s communities, are not readily apparent. The increasing popularity and accessibility of podcasting offers local historians an opportunity to address this problem.

The goal of this project was to create a podcast program which makes information regarding the history, culture, and identity of Kentucky accessible to all in a scholarly—but engaging—way. I researched podcasting equipment and how to use it, then purchased that equipment …

Taken: Slavery, Forced Migration, And Environment In The Early United States, Christopher L. Leadingham

Theses and Dissertations--History

This work examines the development and collapse of the slave trade in Kentucky. It pushes readers to think about the slave trade in an environmental context. The development of the slave trade in the state depended on the violent acquisition of Indigenous lands. The networks of credit and capital that settler colonists established—wealth concentrated in land, stock, crops, and people—fueled the development of a slave system west of the southern mountains. That system increasingly relied on the forced movement of enslaved people in and through Kentucky. The state’s legal system and other institutions worked to support slave trading companies especially …

Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company - Louisville, Kentucky (Sc 3666), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3666. Magazine-style supplement to the Louisville Courier-Journal, 13 March 1966, profiling the personnel and operations of the Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company. The well-illustrated publication highlights the company’s new home office building, the Lincoln Tower, designed by Taliesin Associated Architects, and includes a color rendering of the building on the cover.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald: A Place To Call Home, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Magazine issue of the College Heights Herald for the period October 24 - November 27, 2022.

• Downtown Bowling Green – Restaurants
• Homecoming 2022
• Stone, Damon. WK Liquors Rebuilds After Tornado
• Reed, Bailey. The Making of an SGA President – Cole Bornefeld
• Fountain Row Creates a New Atmosphere Downtown
• Renovated Apartments Offer Home-like Feel – Campus Flats
• Richardson, La’Quan. Kappa Alpha Psi Sponsor Comes Home After 53 Years – Craig Taylor
• Turner, B. Life Continues for Ukrainian Student in the Bluegrass – Mariia Novoselia
• Collins, Michael. Family 5,730 Miles in the Making – Frank Aryee, Immigration, Naturalization

Mammoth Cave National Park - Relating To (Sc 3663), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3663. Deeds relating to lands of the Vanmeter family (tract #37) in Edmonson County, Kentucky, which were conveyed to the Kentucky National Park Commission as part of the creation of Mammoth Cave National Park. Also includes a list of former owners of 575 tracts of land acquired for the park, and sketch maps of the tracts.

Fry, Ulysses S., 1865-1907 (Sc 3659), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3659. “In Loving Remembrance of Ulysses S. Fry,” a memorial notice with details on the life and death of Fry, of Hardin County, Kentucky, and a description of his funeral.

Leopold Family Collection (Mss 747), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 747. Papers of the Leopold family of Louisville and Smiths Grove, Kentucky, primarily business records of William J. Leopold.