HIS 499 - Gender, Sex, and Family in U.S. History - Spring 2024: Archival Collections

The Lucy Dupuy Craig Woolfolk diaries (dated 1863-1864; 0.1 cubic feet; 3 folders) consists of two diaries documenting the daily activities and observations of Woolfolk, a resident of Woodford county, Kentucky. The collection includes a typed transcript of the diary entries. In her diary entries, Lucy describes household tasks such as sewing clothes, knitting, cooking, nursing her baby (Mamie Woolfolk), and caring for her other children and husband (whom she refers to as "Mr. W"). Each entry typically includes a description of that day's weather. The later diary entries detail the process of purchasing and renovating their home, the Pope Villa.

Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Penrod-Bell family papers (1916-1962; 10.35 cubic feet; 1,500 letters) primarily consist of letters sent to Gladys Bell Penrod, of Indiana, Pennsylvania, from her mother, Emma Bell; sisters, Gayl Bell Harkleroad, Oda Bell, and Mildred Bell; brother, Kenneth Bell; sister-in-laws Doris W. Bell and Ruth Bell; and various friends. The letters document family life, including parent-child relationships, especially abusive situations; gender roles and relationships; women’s involvement in politics; and women’s friendship in the early- and mid-twentieth century. The letters are organized by month and date and comment on many transformative events, including the interwar, Great Depression, World War II, and post-war periods. The collection also includes letters from Harvey Reid Penrod detailing the weather in Niagara Township, Wisconsin.

The Madeline McDowell Breckinridge papers (dated 1867-1923, undated; 2.7 cubic feet; 6 boxes) mainly consists of pamphlets, broadsides, leaflets, and printed materials which reflect Madeline McDowell Breckinridge's wide range of interest in social and political concerns, including women's suffrage, tuberculosis, and childhood education. There are very few letters in the collection. The majority of the papers are devoted to women's suffrage issues. The materials are arranged by subject.

The Diane Naser Memorial Collection consists of materials relating to the women's movement in Lexington, Kentucky, particularly at the University of Kentucky, during the later 1960s and early 1970s. The collection contains the correspondence of Rebecca Westerfield, vice president of UK's student government; minutes and organizational notes for the Women's Political Caucus; government publications; university memoranda; and two scrapbooks of clippings from the Kentucky Kernel, UK's student newspaper. Issues covered in the collection include equal employment, daycare, women's health, and women's studies.

The Kentucky women's and feminist collection (dated 1970-1988, undated; 0.9 cubic feet; 2 document boxes) primarily comprises fliers, clippings, newsletters, and reports that document women's issues and feminist organizations in Kentucky in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Georgia Davis Powers papers (1949-2012, undated; 9.45 cubic feet; 14 document cases, 3 record storage carton, and 4 flat boxes) comprises scrapbooks, subject files, correspondence, speeches, notepads, manuscripts, photographs, audiocassettes, video tapes, and publications releating to Georgia Davis Powers' political career and social activism. The collection includes four large scrapbooks and loose scrapbook pages chronicling her political career and social advocacy in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as related documents related to her defense of civil rights, particularly through the Louisville Branch of the NAACP.

The Reel World String Band records (dated circa 1971-2016, undated; 8.14 cubic feet; 19 boxes, 2 oversize boxes; 44 GB, 884 digital files) primarily comprise promotional fliers, concert posters, contracts, programs, photographs, and articles that document the Kentucky women's band and its commitment to social justice advocacy from the band's founding in 1977 to the present. The Reel World String Band's activist efforts throughout Kentucky and Appalachia are reflected in programs and performance contracts for fundraisers on behalf of organizations such as the Cincinnati Urban Appalachia League and The Women's National Coal Miners Conference.

The Preston R. and Kathryn Smith letters (dated 1904-1910, bulk 1904-1905; 0.2 cubic feet; 3 folders) comprise letters between Kathryn and Preston that document their courtship and early marriage just after the turn of the twentieth century. The majority of the letters are from Kathryn to Preston and they discuss her various trips with her mother and family, gifts and flowers she received from Preston, news about friends, marriage plans, and health concerns. Some of the letters contain well-preserved pressed flowers and pristine examples of stationery from historic hotels such as The Potter (Santa Barbara, CA), Congress Hotel (Chicago, Illinois), and the Hotel St. Francis (San Francisco, CA).

The Margaret Burgraff letters (dated 1897-1957; 0.23 cubic feet; 7 folders) comprise letters from friends and family that discuss marital issues and military life in the early twentieth century. The letters are primarily from sister-in-law Maud Carter and the letters focus on her husband's drinking problems (Don), domestic roles, and the support she receives from Margaret. There are also two letters from a cousin, John Carson Adams, who served during World War I, working in a supply depot.