Author Archives: Jonathan Jeffrey

Alice Hegan Rice & Cale Young Rice

Dr. Charles & Mary Boewe recently donated a letter written by Alice Hegan Rice to Helen Keller to the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives unit of WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections. In the short 1905 missive, Rice extolls Keller’s recent autobiography The Story of My Life published two years earlier. She further notes its popularity with the girls that Rice met at a Japanese boarding school the previous summer. Rice quoted from one Japanese girl’s composition when she wrote Keller that despite her handicap “the eyes of [her] heart are open.” To see the letter in full-text and view the finding aid click here.

The Manuscripts & Folklife Archives unit owns a large collection of Alice Hegan Rice material donated by her brother-in-law, Laban Lacy Rice in 1943. That collection contains personal and business correspondence, literary manuscripts, research notes, reviews, poems and other material related to Alice Hegan Rice and her poet husband Cale Young Rice. Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice (1870-1942)  is best known for her first novel Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1901), but she wrote several other books as well as short stories and literary reviews. Forlorn after his wife’s death in 1942, Cale Young Rice committed suicide a year later. Mary Boewe was familiar with the Kentucky Building’s Rice Collection, since she used the material in preparing Alice’s biography Beyond the Cabbage Patch in 2010.

The Boewes donated the letter in memory of WKU’s distinguished history professor Carlton Jackson, who died earlier this year. The Boewes first met Jackson in the early-1970s when Dr. Boewe was director of the United States Educational Foundation in India. Dr. Jackson was there on a Fulbright grant teaching American history. Their friendship grew when Boewe, in a similar position in Pakistan, was requested to help organize an American Studies program at Quaid-i-Azam University. Boewe called on Jackson, who along with a colleague designed the curriculum, taught all the courses, and saw the first group of students through to their master’s degrees. Boewe and Jackson later collaborated in bringing a distinguished Pakistani professor to WKU on a Fulbright grant.

In making the gift, the Boewes noted:  “We believe this manuscript letter by Alice Rice to Helen Keller is a fitting memorial to historian Dr. Jackson and that it rightfully belongs among others by the same author on the campus of Western Kentucky University, where already there exists the largest single collection of Alice Hegan Rice manuscript materials.” To see a finding aid for the Rice Collection click here. To search for other Rice material in the collection or other literary papers, search TopSCHOLAR.

Jonathan Jeffrey, Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Coordinator in the Department of Library Special Collections met with members of the Cumberland Trace Chapter of the Daughters of American Colonists in the Kentucky Library Research Collections area to discuss local material available for genealogical research. He put particular emphasis on the Library’s family files and manuscript collections that contain genealogical materials, including the Mildred Eubank Collection which covers Simpson, Allen, and Logan Counties, the Drucilla Stovall Jones Collection that specializes in southern Logan County, and the Nora Young Ferguson and Lloyd M. Raymer collections which document northwestern Warren County and Butler County. He also discussed the usefulness of TopSCHOLAR for searching Warren County’s marriage records and equity court records. You too can search any of these finding aids by clicking on the links.

Determined to start a non-sectarian, non-political newspaper in Bowling Green, Kentucky, William B. Kilgore issued a broadside in late-1826 soliciting subscribers.  In the advertisement he declares “it almost unneccesary to say any thing of his political opinions”, because the paper was “not intended to be established for political purposes.”  Contrary to his stated resolve, Kilgore quickly  avers “himself in favor” of the Old Court, referencing a political imbroglio that devisively affected Kentucky politics for decades. 

Instead of political diatribe, Kilgore committed his paper to presenting “current news of the day, interspersed with poetical, moral and amusing pieces, as are common to impartial village journals.”  The veracity of his reporting was reflected in his paper’s motto:  “To speak of things as they are.”  Kilgore implored those interested in such a publication to “enroll their names without delay,” and if enough subscribers enlisted he promised he would deliver a newspaper “as soon as practicable.”  Subscribers could pay $2.50 in cash within the first six months of publication, or they could delay payment until the end of the year and pay the full subscription of $3.00.

Kilgore acquired enough subcribers to initiate his endeavor, for on Saturday, 25 November 1826, the first edition of his Spirit of the Times appeared.  Like most local papers of the era, it contains little  local news.  In a town of less than 800 people, everyone already knew each other’s business.  Still, advertisements for local businesses, governmental notices, political announcements, and lists of those having letters at the local post office are of great interest to local historians and genealogists.  The remainder of the newspaper was filled with serialized stories, old national and international news, poetry, and even less noteworthy filler.

One item of interest in the first issue related to the newspaper’s appearance.  “We regret to have occasion to apologize,” wrote Kilgore, “for our maiden sheet not appearing in as handsome dress as we intended in consequence of an unlucky oversight in those who furnished us with type not sending a sufficient quantity of the letter (w) which renders the balance of the fount [font] useless for a time. The deficiency we hope will be supplied in two or three weeks at farthest.”

This fascinating piece of Bowling Green history was discovered as the Lanier Family Papers were being processed in the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives unit within the Department of Library Special Collections.  Fortunately the Kentucky Library Research Collections owns what is believed to be a complete run of the newspaper, in both original copy and microfilm, from its maiden issue to November 1827.  To find other collections related to Bowling Green’s past or to the history of Kentucky journalism, search finding aids to our collections in TopSCHOLAR.

JFK riding in the Bowling Green motorcade, 1960. Donated by Gerald Givens.

Over the past two months approximately 100 people have submitted remembrances of John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) visit to Bowling Green in October 1960 or of his 1963 assassination in Dallas to the JFK Memory Project at WKU. Many of them have been quite touching. Eventually all the remembrances will be archived for posterity in the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives of the Special Collections Library. Besides remembrances, people have also donated memorabilia and photographs such as the one featured here that was given by Gerald Givens. Because of the good response, the deadline for remembrances to be submitted has been extended until Presidents Day, Monday, February 17, 2014.

Here are two brief, but memorable, local remembrances:

“The next day, I traveled to Bowling Green with my Dad and Granddad to see Western play Murray in the last regular season game of the year. Many games were cancelled across the country. Western was undefeated and went on to win that cold day….but what I remember most was that a lone bugler stuck his bugle out a window from the old fieldhouse….and in total silence the crowd stood while he played “Taps” in memory of the President.”  Bill Edwards, Bowling Green

“As I recall the autumn of 1963 was dry but towards the last of November a change in the weather was expected. My raincoat needed replacing so on November 22 I met my mother for lunch at the Dixie Café and then went to Norman’s to shop. Just as I was trying on a coat, a distraught Ruby Norman approached us to say the President had been shot. The three of us stood together, a trio of agonized disbelief. Soon I bought the coat and went in search of more news. As many others did, I saw and heard Walter Cronkite’s announcing Kennedy’s death. And the world was forever changed. As for the raincoat, I never wore it.” Ann Dickey, Bowling Green

To see more about the JFK Memory Project at WKU click here. To send a remembrance, simply type your thoughts in an e-mail to mssfa@wku.edu or send it as an attachment to the message.

To commemorate the life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the JFK Memory Project at WKU is collecting remembrances of Kennedy’s visit to Bowling Green on October 8, 1960 as a presidential candidate and or/memories of his assassination on November 22, 1963.

For more information about submitting a JFK remembrance, click here.  Search TopSCHOLAR for WKU collections that contain information about JFK.

Lloyd Monroe Raymer

Lloyd Monroe Raymer (1943-2012) was one of the chief users of WKU’s Special Collections Library.  As a professional genealogist, he used most of the Library’s resources:  books, microfilm, vertical files, family files, and manuscripts.  He was generous with his time–often assisting patrons after he overheard their queries–and resources, many times donating microfilm and books after he had completed his research projects.  His smiling face and pleasant demeanor will be missed, but he left behind a rich collection of genealogical reports that he created for clients.  They are now available for patron use.

Lloyd earned his professional certification in genealogy in the early-1980s.  He was able to turn his intense interest in history and genealogy into a part-time job, working for clients from around the country who were searching for ancestors in Warren County, Kentucky, particularly the northwestern section of the county.  Showing his support of local genealogical research, he eagerly joined the Southern Kentucky Genealogical Society when it was formed in 1976.

Most of the family files in the collection represent genealogical research conducted by Raymer between the late-1970s until his death in 2012, although the bulk of the work was done from the mid-1980s through 2010.  The families studied are not exclusively from Warren County, but that was Raymer’s specialty thus those surnames dominate the collection.  Butler County surnames would come in second, followed by Logan, Simpson and Allen counties in Kentucky.

The files are arranged alphabetically by surname.  Associated families have been indexed in the Subject Analytics at the end of the finding aid.  When processing the collection, Raymer’s report (generally typed) to his clients were kept, as well as his correspondence and some photocopies of original documents.  There are no original documents in the collection, so early dates on folders will indicate photocopies.

Raymer’s report nearly always include a title page that includes the major surname(s) researched and the date; it was generally accompanied by a cover letter explaining the research conducted and often raising new questions or avenues of research.  The report itself shows the research path Raymer typically covered:  census records, court records, military records, cemetery records, etc.  He meticulously recorded his sources, so the reports remain valuable to researchers even today.  His reports did not include genealogy charts, although the folders may occasionally contain such.  Correspondence with his clients, within the folders, also contains clues about the families.

To see a finding aid to the Raymer Collection, click here.  To search TopSCHOLAR for other genealogical collections housed in Manuscripts & Folklife Archives, click here.

Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia

Prison escapes make for good stories.  Stir in the additional aspects of the U.S. Civil War and the atrocious conditions of the famed Confederate Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, and you have all the makings of a great narrative.  One of the most stirring of all Civil War prison escapes involved a Kentuckian. Andrew Graff Hamilton (1833-1895), of Butler County, Kentucky, served in the 12th Kentucky Cavalry (Union) and worked his way up to the rank of Major.  He was captured at Jonesboro, Tennessee, in August 1863 and sent to Libby, the Confederacy’s sole prison for Union officers.

While at Libby, Hamilton met Colonel Thomas E. Rose, who shared his desire for freedom and a return to active service.  They formulated a daring scheme to escape.  By prying loose bricks from an old kitchen fireplace, they were able to access the prison’s basement known at “Rat Hell” because of its numerous rodent denizens.  From the basement, they determined to tunnel to a nearby open sewer and escape.

As the plan developed, more men were involved.  They took turns digging the tunnel, because lack of lighting and oxygen exhausted the men who were only working with a broken shovel and two knives.  After a tunnel to the open sewer failed, the men decided to burrow fifty feet eastward to a lightly-guarded adjacent warehouse.  On the night of 8 February 1864, the tunnel was completed.  The following night, 109 Union officers used the tunnel to escape.  Forty-eight were quickly re-captured, but the others reach freedom, including Hamilton.

Hamilton’s participation in this celebrated escape was known, but not properly documented until 28 years later, when the Libby Prison was effectively razed and reconstructed at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  At a reunion of the surviving participants in Chicago, Hamilton’s role as the project’s chief engineer was acknowledged.  Only two years later, Hamilton was murdered by two drunk youths right outside Morgantown.  The celebrated prison escapist was 62; he was buried at Reedyville.

On Saturday, 15 June 2013, a historical marker was erected to recognize Hamilton’s role in the Libby Prison escape.  Located on the courthouse lawn in Morgantown, the marker extols Hamilton as “a leader of one of the most incredible prison escapes of the Civil War.”

The Manuscripts & Folklife Archives unit of the Special Collections Library owns some original documents and numerous news clippings about Hamilton that were donated by his family.  To see a finding aid to this small collection click here.

Cross Section of Libby Prison Showing Escape Route

Viceroy butterflies painted by Nellie Meadows of Clay City.

Many Kentuckians purchase license plates that sport a colorful butterfly, but few can probably identify the fluttering beauty as the Commonwealth’s state insect, the Viceroy butterfly.  And even fewer would know that two Warren County women led the effort to obtain that designation from the Kentucky General Assembly.

In 1987 State Garden Club of Kentucky (GCK) president and Warren County resident, Jo Jean Scott, asked a fellow Warren Countian, Lillian Pace, to serve as the organization’s “Chairman of Conservation and Preservation of Butterflies.”  Within a year, Scott asked Pace for a nomination of a butterfly for the state insect to present for approval at GCK’s October board meeting.  Scott even suggested the Black Swallowtail.  By December 1988, after contacting several state offices about the matter, Pace and Scott–with the help of R.A Scheibner, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky–had selected the Viceroy as the best candidate.

By January 1989, the the GCK had approved the Viceroy nomination and local politicians advised Scott and Pace to contact Senate President Pro Tem John “Eck” Rose of Clark County to sponsor the legislation.  Pace finally made contact with Rose’s office and the legislation was drafted.  She also communicated with Powell County artist Nellie Meadows about painting the butterfly and then issuing a limited edition print.  She instructed Meadows:  “I see the Viceroy more often in late summer feeding on goldenrod (State Wildflower), butterfly weed, and other milkweeds.  Use your discretion as to the plants you wish the Viceroy to be on.  I would like to have at least two Viceroy Butterflies painted in the picture or more; with wings open and wings closed.”

The resulting print was praised for its beauty and sales were brisk.  Rose was also successful in guiding the legislation through the General Assembly.  Senate Bill 29 was signed into law by Governor Wallace Wilkinson on 16 Mary 1990.  Pace’s interest in butterflies never waned, and she continued to serve as the GCK’s state butterfly chairman for another decade.  She was pleased when the image of a Viceroy was selected to appear on Kentucky license plates in 2002.

The Manuscripts & Folklife Archives unit of the Special Collections Library is honored to house the Pace Family Papers which contain Lillian Pace’s collected information about butterflies.  The collection documents her other gardening organization activities and contains information about the family of her husband, Bowling Green dentist Dr. Robert N. Pace.  Click here for a finding aid to the Pace Family Papers.  To locate other finding aids for our collections, search TopSCHOLAR.