Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Mary Elizabeth Burgoon letters
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Mary Elizabeth Burgoon letters
- Date
- 1915-1963 (inclusive)
- 1915-1950 (bulk)
- Creator
- Burgoon, Mary Elizabeth, 1898-
- Extent
- 1.75 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Family.
- Great Depression
- Letters.
- Nurses -- Employment -- United States
- Nurse practitioners.
- Pennsylvania
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged chronologically. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
- Preferred Citation
- 2009ms132.0118: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Mary Elizabeth Burgoon letters, 1915-1963, bulk 1915-1963, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Mary Elizabeth Burgoon (b. 1898) was born in Brookville, Pennsylvania to Charles P. Burgoon (1869-1962) and Elizabeth Heller (1867-1958). She was the oldest of seven children, four brothers (Joe, Charles, Vernon, and Philip) and one sister (Agnes). She did not go by her first name, but preferred to be called Elizabeth or Betty. Elizabeth worked as a nurse, receiving her training at St. Vincent's Hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania and graduating in 1919. From graduation to the mid-1940s Elizabeth worked as an itinerant nurse in various hospitals and as a private nurse in Jamestown, Pennsylvania; Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; and Miami Beach and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. In addition to nursing, she owned a few houses which she rented out, and played the stock market and ponies to supplement her income. In the 1940s, she left nursing and opened a flower shop in Ft. Lauderdale that was quite successful, despite being damaged during multiple hurricanes.
- 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 Mary Elizabeth Burgoon letters (dated 1915-1963, bulk 1915-1963; 1.75 cubic feet; 5 boxes) comprise letters from Burgoon's friends and family that document medical practices, travel, and family life in Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and Virginia during the first half of the twentieth century. The majority of the letters are from nursing friends across the country as well as her family, particularly her mother and brother. The letters discuss life as an itinerant nurse, economic conditions, dealing with patients, opening practices, leaving medicine, and current events. Some letters discuss the arrest of actor Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle for rape and murder in 1921, and the health of the stock market in the 1920s and 1930s.
- The Mary Elizabeth Burgoon letters are part 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
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.
Table of Contents
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.
Requests
No items have been requested.
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.
