Finding aid prepared by Laura A. Hess
Otto Arthur Rothert letters
1946-1956
University of Kentucky Special Collections
Collection is arranged chronologically.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
73M25: [Identification of item], Otto Arthur Rothert letters, 1946-1956, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
0.23 Cubic feet
1 box
Otto Rothert, the youngest of five children born to German immigrant parents, graduated from Notre Dame University in 1892. After completing his education, he spent several years working odd jobs as he traveled around the West and Mexico writing a newspaper column and completing his book, History of Muhlenberg County (1913), which received much acclaim upon its publication. In 1917, Rothert was elected secretary of the Filson Club in Louisville, a nonsalary position that he held until his health forced him to retire in 1945. Uncle Otto, as he was affectionately known, became an institution at the Filson Club and was instrumental, along with R. C. Ballard Thruston and Ludie J. Kinkead, in bringing about its resurrection.
The Otto Arthur Rothert letters consist of communications from Rothert to Holman Hamilton, and other friends, between 1946-1956. The correspondence pertains to personal matters; historical events; the works and lives of friends, such as Hambleton Tapp, J. Winston Coleman, and Thomas D. Clark; and the two Lexington, Kentucky, discussion clubs to which he belonged: Judge Samuel M. Wilson's Ye Cakes and Ale Club and the Book Thieves. The Filson Club is frequently mentioned. The collection also contains newspaper clippings; some are included in letters sent by Rothert, while others report on Rothert and his career, specifically his book History of Muhlenberg County.