Military History Commons^™

Hebron, John L., 1842-1914 (Sc 3323), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript for Manuscripts Small Collection 3323. Letter, 20 February 1862, from John L. Hebron to his mother in Steubenville, Ohio. He reports his regiment’s arrival on the outskirts of Bowling Green, Kentucky, taken from Confederate forces “without firing a gun,” and describes attempting to cross a ruined bridge, his living quarters in a deserted house, and available food supplies. In a 25 February postscript from Nashville, Tennessee, he writes of the troops’ continued lack of success in crossing the river into Bowling Green, and mentions reports that the Confederates plan to “make a stand” south of Nashville. …

Minton, John Dean, Sr., 1921-2008 (Mss 660), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 660. Letters written by John D. Minton, Sr. to his brother, Layton Minton, while both were in military service during World War II. The collection also contains a small amount of Minton family correspondence and some vocational agriculture notebooks kept by the brothers while in high school.

Noel, Philip Jordan, Sr., 1874-1950 (Sc 3309), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3309. Image of Philip Jordan Noel, Sr. printed on paper (2 copies) and a ribbon worn at the 36th national encampment of the United Spanish War Veterans organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in August 1934. Also includes a page with some biographical information printed on it.

Ua1c2/6 Barracks Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of the barracks

Ua1c2/71 Schneider Hall Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of Florence Schneider Hall also known Gatton Academy of Mathematics & Science in Kentucky

Ua36/4/1 College Of Education & Behavioral Sciences Military Science Administration, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Correspondence to and from the department of Military Science.

Ua12/2/42 Student Mobilization Committee, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Student Mobilization Committee.

Ua37/30/4 Faculty Personal Papers Lowell Harrison, Sam Bruer, Bess Mchone, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Personal papers created by and about Lowell Harrison.

Ua12/2/59 Class Of 1946, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Class of 1946.

Ua1c2/19 Veterans Village Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of Veterans Village and individual trailers.

Ua1c4/8 Military Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of student military organizations.

Ua37/30/2 Faculty Personal Papers Lowell Harrison Wku Research, Wku Archives, Sam Bruer, Bess Mchone

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by Lowell Harrison while serving as University Historian and writing the 75th anniversary history "Western Kentucky University" as well as numerous articles about the university.

Ua94/6/4 Student / Alumni Wku Veterans, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Compilation of clippings, photographs and notes regarding WKU students, faculty and staff who participated in World War II. Occasional mention of veterans from other wars.

Ua1c2/25 Ft. Albert Sidney Johnston Photos, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Images of Fort Albert Sidney Johnston.

Ua12/2/32 Student Veterans Alliance, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Student Veterans Alliance.

Ua64/25/4/4 College Of Education & Behavioral Sciences Military Science Student Organizations Rotc, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Ua64/25/3 College Of Education & Behavioral Sciences Military Science Publications, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Publications created by and about the WKU Military Science department.

Halbert, William Clarence, 1856-1931 (Sc 3310), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3310. Certificate, 22 March 1900, of the appointment on 5 December 1899 of William C. Halbert as 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry, Kentucky State Guard. Signed by Governor William S. Taylor, who requested that a militia company be raised in anticipation of violence following the contested gubernatorial election of 1899.

Strahm Family Collection (Mss 655), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 655. Data, clippings and information about the Strahm family and related families. Most of the material relates to Franz J. Strahm, WKU music director from 1910-1941, and his son Victor H. Strahm’s career in military service. Includes photographs of Franz, Victor, and other family members.

Dennis, John, 1832?-1914 - Letter To (Sc 3300), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3300. Letter, 2 January 1862, to John Dennis and his parents, Richland County, Ohio from John’s brother. In camp near Bardstown, Kentucky with the 64th Regiment, Company B, Ohio Volunteers, he praises Kentucky’s farms, crops and springs, and refers to two men of his acquaintance: William Clark, who is serving with the Confederate Army, and Charles Clark, who he met in Louisville, Kentucky and who boasted of his regiment’s superior skills and African American servants. The envelope bears a pro-Union image.

Weir Family Collection (Mss 651), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 651. Letters and papers of the Weir family of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and related members of the Rumsey and Miller families. Well-to-do merchants and farmers, the Weirs were leading supporters of the Union during the Civil War, providing advocacy, financial support, and military service. Includes full-text scans of a letter from the brother of steamboat pioneer James Rumsey defending his legacy as an innovator; James Weir's journal; James Weir's will; the annotated recollections of Edward Weir, Sr.; and two letters from former Weir slaves recolonized in Liberia (Click on "Additional files" below).

Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3297), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3297. Letter, 10 August 1863, of George Messer to his wife Lottie Messer in DeWitt County, Illinois, written from camp southwest of Lebanon, Kentucky. He describes the forces gathering in the area and praises his current officers. Despite the amenities of his camp, he recounts the prevalence of illness and his struggle with chronic diarrhea, which he fears will prevent him and others from accompanying the regiment on a planned march to east Tennessee.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 94, No. 12, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Heicelbech, Evan & Rebeckah Alvey. Molded – Dormitories
• DeLetter, Emily & Nicole Ziege. 348 Minton Hall Residents Spend Weekend Relocating
• DeLetter, Emily. WKU to Continue Saudi Scholarship Between Countries
• DeLetter, Emily. ROTC Celebrates 100 Years at WKU, Honors Veterans
• Non-Binary: Proposal Disregards Science, Harms Non-binary Rights
• Allen, Ellie. Editorial Cartoon re: Gender Does Not Equal Sex
• Hanks, Michelle. Teaching Diversity
• Sisler, Julie. Review: Hair and the Call to Freedom & Expression – Theatre & Dance
• Holland, Kelley. In Formation – Marching Band
• Bryant, Maxis. Fresh …

Thompson, B. F. (Sc 3296), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3296. Letter, 27 July 1863, to his wife from B. F. Thompson, in camp with the Union Army near Danville, Kentucky. He details preparations for a march, including the issue of new guns and equipment and packing up old guns for return. He reports a rumor of Confederates crossing the Cumberland River but is uncertain of his regiment’s next movements.

Watson, Nancy Anne, 1924-2013 (Sc 3294), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3294. Letters, 9 and 15 June 1945, of Nancy Anne Watson, Louisville, Kentucky, to future husband A. Park Shaw, Jr. during his military service. She encloses her poem about the upcoming Kentucky Derby, and writes of her related social activities and wagers on the races. Her comments about a dinner with meat, and of using old clothes and cosmetics, allude to wartime shortages.

Hobson, William Edward, 1844-1909 - Relating To (Sc 3283), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3283. Certificate of Honorable Discharge, 23 January 1899, issued to William E. Hobson, Bowling Green, Kentucky, by Post No. 55, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Kentucky. The certificate includes data about Hobson’s service and the date he joined the Post.

Row, Jacob D., 1835-1910 (Sc 3281), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3281. Letter, 4 December 1864, of Jacob D. Row, 17th Indiana Infantry, to his wife Hannah in Lakeville, Indiana. Writing from Louisville, Kentucky, he tells of improving from an illness but complains of weakness and tremors. He advises her to “sell our corn for what you can get” prior to a trip to Ohio, as he will not be coming home on furlough.

Ligon, Lucy Ann (Parker) Robbins, 1833-1891 - Letters To (Sc 3278), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3278. Letters to Lucy Ann Robbins Ligon, the daughter of Fulton County, Kentucky judge Josiah Parker and his wife Lucy A. Parker, written while she lived in Crittenden County, Arkansas with her late husband’s brother, and in Hickman, Kentucky after her remarriage. Lucy’s parents relay news of her siblings and of pre-Civil War Hickman, and at the outbreak of war dramatically describe the division of loyalties, the townspeople’s fear and uncertainty as invasion threatens from the North, the enlistment of local men, two destructive fires, economic conditions, …

Ballew, William A., 1842-1915 (Sc 3277), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3277. Letter, 12 November 1864, from William A. Ballew to Thomas Hopkins, Clinton County, Kentucky. Writing from Spring Hill, Tennessee, where he is serving with the 12th Kentucky Infantry, Ballew notes his regiment’s support of presidential candidate George B. McClellan (“little mack”). Although they were not yet enfranchised, he cites a mock election held by African Americans in Nashville as evidence for President Abraham Lincoln’s likely reelection. He notes the good health of his fellow soldiers, including Hopkins’ two sons, Lewis and Shelby.

Fry, Samuel Van Buren, 1840-1903 (Sc 3276), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3276. Letter, 31 July 1864, of Samuel V. Fry, 16th Kentucky Infantry, to Ruth Jane Sapp. From Dalton, Georgia, he writes of engaging Confederate forces near Atlanta in a "big fight every day” and hopes to see her if he survives the war. He urges her not to “give me up for lost and take some other gentle man in my place.”