Digitized Audio and Film Added to ExploreUK

 The following audiovisual collections have been digitized and are now accessible online via ExploreUK.

Edward T. Ned Breathitt films (films 1.1, 2.1, 3, and 5)

The Edward T. Ned Breathitt films (dated 1963; 3 cubic feet; 22 items) comprise 16mm chemical moving image films that document rallies, speeches and campaign commercials created by and for Edward Breathitt's 1963 campaign for Governor of Kentucky.

Dunbar High School basketball films

The Dunbar High School basketball films (dated 1958-1964; 1 cubic feet; 19 items) comprise game footage of the Dunbar High School boy's basketball team against various opponents primarily on their home court.

The Louisville Free Public Library, WFPL, and WFPK Radio audio recordings

The Louisville Free Public Library, WFPL, and WFPK Radio audio recordings (dated 1954-1997; 21 cubic feet; 21 boxes) consists of audio recordings on 1/4 in. reel-to-reel audiotape and grooved audiodiscs from WFPL and WFPK Radio in Louisville, Ky.

Katherine Peden campaign film

The Katherine Peden campaign film (dated 1968 November; 1 cubic feet; 1 item) consists of a campaign film for Katherine Peden's run for Kentucky United States Senate in 1968.

New Digitized Wade Hall Collections on ExploreUK!

Want to learn more about how the J.B. Speed Art Museum came to be? How about the opinions of those working with and near former President Lyndon Johnson? Other collections document the YMCA, family life, military service, political machines, romance, and entertainment across the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These collections, along with many others, were digitized as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grant, entitled "P.S. Write Again Soon": Revealing 200 years of the American Mosaic through the Wade Hall Collection of American Letters. All digitized and published Wade Hall collections can be found on ExploreUK!



Robert N. Cook letters, 2009ms132.0422: The Robert N. Cook letters (dated 1937-1950; 0.02 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprise letters sent to Robert Cook from his parents and siblings that document the life of a poor family in Kentucky from the Great Depression to post-World War II.

Colgan family letters, 2009ms132.0170: The Colgan family letters (dated 1960-1973; 0.35 cubic feet; 1 box) comprise letters between the Colgan family members that document the growth of the family, daily lives, education, and business in Kentucky during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Colgan family members on a skiing holiday

Ralph Bowden letters, 2009ms132.0163: The Ralph Bowden letters (dated 1910-1912; 0.38 cubic feet; 2 boxes) comprise letters from Ralph Bowden to his mother, Jennie S. Bowden, sister, Beulah M. Bowden, and brother, Bright R. Bowden that documents his experience working for the YMCA in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the early twentieth century.

Robert C. Riggs letters, 2009ms132.0418: The Robert C. Riggs letters (dated 1926-1929, undated; 0.02 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprise letters to Robert from friends that document the education efforts and social lives of young doctors in Kentucky in the early twentieth century.

Letter concerning Robert C. Riggs having an internship at Walter Reed Memorial Hospital

Alexander P. Humphrey papers on J.B. Speed Art Museum, 2009ms132.0423: The Alexander P. Humphrey papers on J.B. Speed Art Museum collection (dated 1925, undated; 0.02 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprises correspondence, notes, legal papers, and a booklet that document the gifting and planning of the J.B. Speed Art Museum to the University of Louisville in 1925.

George T. Settle letters, 2009ms132.0412: The George T. Settle letters (dated 1913-1916; 0.02 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprise letters sent to and from George Settle that document his work as a librarian at the Louisville Free Public Library in the early twentieth century.

Bernard Flexer to George T. Settle, stating how pleased he is with Settle's work in the library

Frank William Major papers, 2009ms132.0378: The Frank William Major papers (dated 1835-1881, undated; 0.05 cubic feet; 5 folders) comprise letters and statements that document the efforts of Frank W. Major to be recognized and promoted for his duties as a commissary in the British Army in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Jeremiah P. O'Mahoney papers, 2009ms132.0377: The Jeremiah P. O'Mahoney papers (dated 1898-1926, 1980, undated; 0.04 cubic feet; 3 folders) comprise letters and newspaper clippings that document the interest of O'Mahoney in the life and work of Catholic priest Patrick A. Sheehan in the early twentieth century.

Robert A. Cochran, Jr. letters, 2009ms132.0157: The Robert A. Cochran, Jr. letters (dated 1877-1906, undated; 0.46 cubic feet; 13 folders) comprise letters that document the lives of the Cochran family in Maysville, Kentucky while their son Robert was attending college in Massachusetts in the 1870s.

T.B. Lyon letters, 2009ms132.0375: The T.B. Lyon letters (dated 1906-1909; 0.04 cubic feet; 3 folders) comprise letters that document the efforts of Lyon to sell tracts of land he owned in Kentucky in the early twentieth century.

Corinne Berg letters, 2009ms132.0176: The Corinne Berg letters (dated 1954-1955; 0.04 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprise eight letters that document the difficulties faced by Corinne Berg and her family with a sister who is mentally ill in Illinois in the mid-1950s.

Corinne Berg to Dr. Wolff concerning her sister's current and future capabilities

George B. Eckert letters, 2009ms132.0182: The George B. Eckert letters (dated 1912-1939; 0.23 cubic feet; 4 folders) comprise letters that document the members of the Eckert family personal and professional lives during and after World War I.

Mary Frances Cottom letters, 2009ms132.0171: The Mary Frances Cottom letters (dated 1907-1959, undated; 0.35 cubic feet; 8 folders) comprise letters that document the relationship between Frank Cottom and his wife and children in Montana and Ohio in the early twentieth century.

Stanley C. Roettinger papers, 2009ms132.0178: The Stanley C. Roettinger papers (dated 1920-1930; 0.07 cubic feet; 4 folders) comprise a biography and letters that document the professional and personal life of Stanley Roettinger in Ohio from 1920 to 1930.

Stanley C. Roettinger election campaign card

William P. Alcott travel diary, 2009ms132.0242: The William P. Alcott travel diary (dated 1859-1877, bulk 1877; 0.04 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprises one diary that documents the pilgrimage travels of Reverend William Alcott to the Middle East via England and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century.

Clarence Hodge letters, 2009ms132.0288: The Clarence Hodge letters (dated 1899-1901; 0.09 cubic feet; 3 folders) comprise letters from Clarence to his mother, Anna, and sister, Clara, while he was serving in the US Army in the Spanish-American War from 1899-1901.

Envelope of letter from Clarence to his mother while in Cuba

Jakie L. Pruett letters, 2009ms132.0324: The Jakie L. Pruett letters (dated 1974-1985, undated; 0.16 cubic feet; 6 folders) comprise letters that document the research conducted by Pruett on former President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the 1970s.

John Burns to Jakie L. Pruett on LBJ

Aldis and Jane Brainerd letters, 2009ms132.0348: The Aldis and Jane Brainerd letters (dated 1852-1862, undated; 0.03 cubic feet; 2 folders) comprise letters, a marriage license, and military service note that documents the life of Aldis and Jane Brainerd in Vermont during the Civil War.

William Henry Harrison Carpenter letters, 2009ms132.0349: The William Henry Harrison Carpenter letters (dated 1862, undated; 0.014 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprise letters to Carpenter's aunt, uncle, and sister that document his time serving in the Union Army during the Civil War in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

Ellen Kays letters, 2009ms132.0352: The Ellen Kays letters (dated 1860-1862; 0.014 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprise letters sent to Ellen Kays from Hugh McLaughlin and Nancy Fitzgerald that document the political and social life of Brooklyn, New York in the early 1860s.

G.W. Goulding letter, 2009ms132.0353: The G. W. Goulding letter (dated 1863; 0.014 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprises one letter from Goulding to his mother that documents New York City in the month following the Draft Riots on July 1863.

Edward R. Moore papers, 2009ms132.0357: The Edward R. Moore papers (dated 1861-1905, undated; 0.17 cubic feet; 12 folders) comprise certificates, correspondence, legal papers, receipts, and military orders that document the life of Edward Moore and his family in Kansas during and after the Civil War. 

Commission for Edward Moore as Justice of the Peace 

W.L. Perkins letters, 2009ms132.0359: The W.L. Perkins letters (dated 1862-1865; 0.03 cubic feet; 2 folders) comprise letters from Perkins to his parents that document his daily life as a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and as part of General Sherman's March to the Sea.

Jenkins family letters, 2009ms132.0089: The Jenkins family letters (dated 1909-1945, bulk 1909-1911; 0.8 cubic feet; 2 boxes) comprise letters between June and Alleen Jenkins that document the intricacies of their courtship and relationship during the early twentieth century.

Mack D. Ferguson papers, 2009ms132.0007: The Mack D. Ferguson papers (dated 1905-1939, undated; 0.39 cubic feet; 1 flat box and 2 folders) comprises one scrapbook and twenty-three letters primarily documenting the career of Mack D. Ferguson, vaudeville singer, actor, comedian, and manager.

Newspaper advertisement from Ferguson scrapbook for Burlesque show

Aspendale Colored Library

Branch of Manchester Street Library opened at Charles Young Community Center on East Third Street.  (from left to right) Mrs. H. H. Rowe, director of The Recreation Board; Mrs. Harietta Jackson, librarian, seated; Mrs. Henry Hornsby, volunteer in charge of setting up branch; Mrs. T.E. Van Meter, executive secretary of Manchester Street Library, and Carolyn Johnson. 1940 June 26

-John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs

2013 Black History Month exhibit by Reinette Jones

Sesquicentennial Stories: The Promise of UK #116

Margaret I. King, University of Kentucky’s first Librarian and the namesake of the King Building was a Lexington native, who lived her entire life at her childhood home, 225 South Limestone Street.  Her father's (Gilbert Hinds King) company, Lexington Hydraulics and Manufacturing Company, led the way for what became Lexington’s water works system.  King attended the University of Kentucky graduating with honors in 1898 earning her Bachelor of Arts from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky.  She began her career doing clerical work in the Lexington law firm of Allen and Bronston from 1899 to 1905.  In 1905, she began her long career at the University of Kentucky by serving as secretary to President James K. Patterson.  

Library Club, 1. ? 2. Minnie Neville 3. Margaret King 4. Dean A. J. Hamilton 5. Freda Lenon 6. Margaret Tuttle

She became involved with the library when President Patterson asked her to organize the University’s first library in 1909.  While putting the library in order, she continued as secretary to the president until she was named the University’s first librarian in 1912.  During her career as librarian of the University, King continued her education.  She performed some graduate work at the University of Michigan, and in 1929, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Librarianship from Columbia University.  Some of King’s professional activities included serving as a trustee for the Lexington Public Library for many years, and directing the survey of Kentucky libraries from 1936-1938 for the American Library Association’s Survey of Research Materials in Southern Libraries.  King’s development of library methods courses eventually led to the establishment of a department of library science at the University of Kentucky.

Interior of the Carnegie Library, the first library on UK's campus

King oversaw the development of a modern university library and her contributions to the library were vast.  She was a dedicated employee who worked hard to improve the quality of the collection and the quality of service.  Dr. Thomas D. Clark, a UK History professor in the 1930’s and later chair of the department, recalled that King’s “whole orientation toward library management was getting books to students, running a good loan desk, and building a good reference department……”  President Donovan described King this way:  “She has built the library up from one that could be housed in a single room to a library that now contains more than 400,000 volumes and is fourth or fifth in size among the libraries of the South.  It would be impossible to estimate the value of her contribution to the University of Kentucky.” 

Library exhibit

In addition to making books accessible to students and faculty, King also facilitated a lecture series, changing exhibitions, and extension programs.  She taught library science and English courses at the university and encouraged her staff to travel to conferences and to obtain Library degrees.
 

King Library under construction

Outside of her career at the University, King was an active member of Christ Church Episcopal, now Christ Church Cathedral, where she was a Sunday school teacher, the head of the Altar Guild, and the head of the Girl’s Friendly Society for many years. 

Margaret I. King at home, 1949

King retired in 1949, her career at UK spanned 39 years.  In 1948 the Board of Trustees named the library in her name.  Although she retired as librarian, she continued to perform some work for the library at the University of Kentucky.  She died in Lexington on April 13, 1966.