Author

Processed by Janice Childers in November 2008 under the supervision of Deirdre A. Scaggs, University Archivist.; machine-readable finding aid created by Janice Childers

Title

Cecil Tarpley and Elizabeth Miller papers,

Date

1921-1993

Repository

University of Kentucky Libraries, Special Collections

Arrangement

This collection is arranged according to format.

Conditions Governing Access note

Collection is open to researchers by appointment.

Preferred Citation Note

2000ua076: [identification of item], Cecil Tarpley and Elizabeth Miller papers, University of Kentucky Archives.

Extent

0.35 cubic feet (1 box)

Abstract

The Cecil Tarpley and Elizabeth Miller papers include materials documenting their lives from 1921-1993. The bulk of the materials relate to Cecil Tarpley, and date from 1921-1926, the years in which he attended the University of Kentucky.

Biography/History

(Edward) Cecil Tarpley was born August 5, 1902 in Kettle Mills, Tennessee. The family moved to Shelbyville, Tennessee where he attended Dixon Academy, then to Franklin, Kentucky in 1911. In Franklin, Cecil's father, Edward, operated a buggy business which he later converted to a wholesale grocery business.

Tarpley attended the University of Kentucky from 1921-1926 and studied industrial chemistry (chemical engineering). He was active in R.O.T.C. and worked his way through school as a cashier at the university's cafeteria. He met Elizabeth Miller at U.K. and they married in 1927, after which he accepted a position in Pittsburgh conducting chemical testing for the Pennsylvania Railroads. He later worked for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Mines Mining Research Center until his retirement in 1967 and move to St. Petersburg, Florida.

Cecil Tarpley died at the age of 90 on January 29, 1993 in Auburn, Alabama.

Elizabeth Miller was born September 6, 1902 in Paducah, Kentucky. She worked at the salad counter in the same university cafeteria as Cecil Tarpley. She received her intermediate certificate through the College of Education in 1926, which entitled her to teach in Kentucky public schools. Tarpley and Miller had one child, Martha Ann. Elizabeth Miller died April 21, 1987 at the age of 84 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Scope and Content

The Cecil Tarpley and Elizabeth Miller papers include materials documenting their lives from 1921-1993. The bulk of the materials relate to Cecil Tarpley, and date from 1921-1926, the years in which he attended the University of Kentucky.

Included is correspondence relating to the 1937 flood which inundated Paducah and many other Ohio River towns, clippings of the 1937 flood, programs from U.K., a yearbook from Franklin County High School (1921), WWII ration books, and photographs. Tarpley's self-published autobiography details his experiences including seeing Halley's Comet, the Depression era, college life, work and family life, and retirement. All photographs were labeled by Tarpley's daughter, Martha Ann, based on descriptions in Tarpley's autobiography.

Subjects

• Tarpley, Edward Cecil.
• Miller, Elizabeth.
• Chemical engineering Study and teaching.
• Floods Kentucky Paducah 1937.
• University of Kentucky.
• Pittsburgh Experiment Station (United States. Bureau of Mines)
• Franklin (Ky.)
• Paducah (Ky.)
• Lexington (Ky.)
• Pittsburgh (Pa.)
• St. Petersburg (Fla.)
• Autobiography.
• Photographs.
• Portraits.

Collection Inventory