Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Daniels family papers

Abstract

The Daniels family papers (dated 1865-1960, bulk 1933-1945; 1.58 cubic feet; 6 boxes) comprise letters, diaries, and photographs that document the Daniels family of Louisville, Kentucky from the 1860s to the 1960s.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Daniels family papers
Date
1865-1960 (inclusive)
1933-1945 (bulk)
Extent
1.58 Cubic Feet
Subjects
African American churches -- Kentucky.
African Americans -- Education.
African Americans -- Religion.
African American soldiers.
African American women -- Kentucky
Letters.
Racism
Women in church work -- Kentucky.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged by format. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Finding Aid Author
Sarah Coblentz
Preferred Citation
2009ms132.0103: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Daniels family papers, 1865-1960, bulk 1933-1945, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Repository
University of Kentucky

Collection Overview

Biography / History
The Daniels family is an African-American family who were based primarily in the Louisville, Kentucky area from the mid-1800s to the 1960s. Hattie M Daniels (b. 1888), her brother William Everett Daniels (b. 1890), and his two children, John Everett Daniels III (b. 1918) and Betty Elizabeth Daniels (b. 1920) are the focus of the collection. Hattie Daniels was a school teacher and very active with the Quinn Chapel Church in Louisville for many years. She was also an active businesswoman; she owned not only her own home in Louisville, but also rental property in the early to mid-1900s.
William Daniels worked primarily as a salesman, selling everything from insurance to refrigerators to shirts in the Kentucky region. He was married to Katura Daniels until their divorce in 1929, and later corresponded with Alma B. Dil who became his paramour. His son, John, was a writer, poet, painter and graphic artist; he attended art schools in Los Angeles and Chicago in the 1930s, served in the Army in World War II, and later settled with his own family in New York City in the 1940s. Betty Daniels, William's daughter, attended schools in both Los Angeles and Chicago like her brother, and later lived in New York City with John's family, supporting herself with a series of office jobs and factory shift work.
American Letters collector Wade Hall (1934-2015) was a native of Union Springs, Alabama. Starting in 1962, he lived in Louisville, where he taught English and chaired the English and Humanities/Arts programs at Kentucky Southern College and Bellarmine University. He also taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida. He held degrees from Troy State University (B.S.), the University of Alabama (M.A.), and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.). He served for two years in the U.S. Army in the mid-fifties. Dr. Hall was the author of books, monographs, articles, plays, and reviews relating to Kentucky, Alabama, and Southern history and literature. His most recent books include A Visit with Harlan Hubbard; High Upon a Hill: A History of Bellarmine College; A Song in Native Pastures: Randy Atcher's Life in Country Music; and Waters of Life from Conecuh Ridge.
Scope and Content
The Daniels family papers (dated 1865-1960, bulk 1933-1945; 1.58 cubic feet) comprises letters, diaries, and photographs that document the Daniels family of Louisville, Kentucky from the 1860s to the 1960s. The majority of the letters are between William Everett and his children, and the letters discuss financial hardships, family news, war news, and health problems; there are also several letters to Everett from Alma B. Dil of Arkansas who would later become a paramour of Everett's. Many letters discuss Hattie's church activities as well as her business dealings, and other letters between family members discuss the floods of Louisville (1937) and Los Angeles (1939), a flu epidemic in Louisville in 1920, family news, and current events. Photographs in this collection date from the late 1890s through the early 1900s. Additionally, there are many documents included in the collection that showcase different flyers and programs for church and community activities, local elections, receipts for Hattie Daniels' rental properties, and many graduation ceremony programs from various African American high schools and colleges in the Kentucky region from the early part of the twentieth century.
The Daniels family papers are of the Wade Hall Collection of American letters, which includes correspondence and diaries from all over North America covering the time period of the Civil to Korean Wars. The materials were collected by Wade Hall and document everyday men and women.

Restrictions on Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Use Restrictions
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.

Contents of the Collection

Autograph book, 1936-1938

  • Box 66, folder 1
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Board minutes - Quinn Chapel Church, 1940-1944

  • Box 66, folder 2-3
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Books and pamphlets, 1875-1944

  • Box 66, folder 4
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Correspondence, 1887-1958, undated

Daniels family letters, 1887 May 17-1914 November 24

  • Box 66, folder 5
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Daniels family letters, 1915 March 21-1921 June 29

  • Box 66, folder 6
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Daniels family letters, 1922 August 6-1934 December 3

  • Box 67, folder 1
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Daniels family letters, 1935 March 22-1936 December 12

  • Box 67, folder 2
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Daniels family letters, 1937 February 9-1938 June 21

  • Box 67, folder 3
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Daniels family letters, 1939 January 25-1944 May 25

  • Box 67, folder 4
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Daniels family letters, 1944 June 2- December 31

  • Box 67, folder 5
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Daniels family letters, 1945 January 7- December 10

  • Box 67, folder 6
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Daniels family letters, 1946 January 14-April 24

  • Box 67, folder 7
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Daniels family letters, 1946 May 2-1958 March 19

  • Box 68, folder 1
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Daniels family letters, undated

  • Box 68, folder 2
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Deeds, death policies and relief certificate, 1876-1945

  • Box 69
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Diary, 1936-1937

  • Box 68, folder 3
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Daniels family papers, 1866-1960, undated

  • Box 68, folder 4-6
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Receipts and invoices, 1865-1913

  • Box 68, folder 7
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Photographs, 1897, 1908-1918, 1943-1948, undated

Photo postcard of girl holding pitbull puppy. Addressed to R. R. Stanton, undated

  • Box 70, item 1
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Image of Sam Daniel, broken matting, undated

  • Box 70, item 2
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African American soldier, WWI uniform, circa 1914-1918

  • Box 70, item 3
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Samuel Daniel, 1908 Jauary 22-1918

  • Box 70, item 4
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Two African American women, circa 1918

  • Box 70, item 5
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"Mr. Daniel." Image of Samuel Daniel, circa 1918

  • Box 70, item 6
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African American woman in dark dress, undated

  • Box 70, item 7
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African American woman in dark dress no.2, undated

  • Box 70, item 8
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African American woman in white dress, sitting. "Sept-1917", circa 1917

  • Box 70, item 9
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African American boy and girl posed on a wicker chair. "Rudolf and Virginia [undecipherable]", undated

  • Box 70, item 10
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African American boy and girl, note reads: "Greetings", undated

  • Box 70, item 11
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African American woman in white dress, standing note reads "Sept-1917", circa 1917

  • Box 70, item 12
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Man in suit standing by high-backed chair, undated

  • Box 70, item 13
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Woman reclining on couch, undated

  • Box 70, item 14
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Woman sitting at piano, undated

  • Box 70, item 15
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Woman and man standing on front porch of a house, undated

  • Box 70, item 16
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Image of Samuel Daniels, circa 1918

  • Box 70, item 17
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Woman in chair wearing white polka-dot dress, undated

  • Box 70, item 18
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Young African American woman in graduation robe, undated

  • Box 70, item 19
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Elderly African American woman with a toddler, undated

  • Box 70, item 20
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John Everett Daniels, III, Seattle, Washington, 1918

  • Box 70, item 21
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African American woman with white scarf, undated

  • Box 70, item 22
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Image of infant John E. Daniels, III,, circa 1918

  • Box 70, item 23
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"Lillian Oliver", undated

  • Box 70, item 24
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"To Papa July 7th, 1918" John E. Daniels, III, Seattle, Washington, 1918

  • Box 70, item 25
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Graduation portrait of Howard D. Daniel, undated

  • Box 70, item 26
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"The American Christian Ashram, Freelake, Wis. [Wisconsin]", 1948 August 2-12

  • Box 70, item 27
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Elderly African American woman and boy [possibly John E. Daniels, III] sitting on bench, undated

  • Box 70, item 28
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African American woman and girl with hairbow, undated

  • Box 70, item 29
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"A. Matthews to S. C. [Sam] Daniel", undated

  • Box 71, item 1
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Image of woman wearing a white peaked cap in a tree, undated

  • Box 71, item 2
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Woman standing on a porch; measles quarantine sign visible over left shoulder, undated

  • Box 71, item 3
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[L to R] Hattie Daniel, Howard, Margaret Bradish, undated

  • Box 71, item 4
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"Photograph to accompany application of Marion A. Martin, age 29, Ht. 5'11". A. B. University of Illinois '29", undated

  • Box 71, item 5
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Woman with long hair sitting in a doorway., undated

  • Box 71, item 6
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Young African American woman, undated

  • Box 71, item 7
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"Maggie H. Helms to S. c. Daniel [indecipherable]. Kentucky ", undated

  • Box 71, item 8
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Two women standing in a river, undated

  • Box 71, item 9
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Two young African American girls, undated

  • Box 71, item 10
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Young African American girl in a dark dress, undated

  • Box 71, item 11
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Autograph of Louis Jordan, note reads "Best Wishes, Louis Jordan", undated

  • Box 71, item 12
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Group photo on porch of home, undated

  • Box 71, item 13
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"1897 S. C. Daniel" Image of Samuel Daniels., 1897

  • Box 71, item 14
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Two women sitting on a log in a river, undated

  • Box 71, item 15
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Woman holding infant, sitting in swing, border collie in foreground, undated

  • Box 71, item 17
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"1897 S. C. Daniel" Image of Samuel Daniels., 1897

  • Box 71, item 18
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Woman in white blouse on sidewalk., undated

  • Box 71, item 19
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"Jamie M. Brown to S. C. Daniel, [indecipherable] Lewisport, Kentucky", undated

  • Box 71, item 20
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"1897 S. C. Daniel" Image of Samuel Daniel, 1897

  • Box 71, item 21
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"B Company, 562 Quartermaster Corps Battalion, Camp Campbell, KY", 1943 June 30

  • Folder 1
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.

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Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.

You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.

If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.

UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.

Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.

Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.

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You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.

If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.