Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Colgan family letters
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Colgan family letters
- Date
- 1960-1973 (inclusive)
- Extent
- 0.35 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Children
- Correspondence.
- Courtship
- Family.
- Fraternities and sororities -- Kentucky -- Lexington.
- Publishers and publishing -- Kentucky.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged alphabetically by last name. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
- Preferred Citation
- 2009ms132.0170: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Colgan family letters, 1960-1973, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Robert Tilford Colgan (1911-1968) was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky to William Colgan (1871-1955), a salesman, and Claudia Tilford (1885-1973). He worked as an insurance agent and married Marie S. "Polly"Castleman (1913-1991) in 1938. Together the couple had three children, Robert Jr. (1939-2013), Polly C. (1941-1994), and Marie S. "Beicey" (b. 1946). Marie Castleman was the founder and owner of The Anchorage Press, now Anchorage Press Plays, a publisher of children's plays and books. Robert Jr. married Mary Alfreda Clark in 1960. Polly married Jay Paxton (b. 1942), and together they had three children, Laura, Lucy, and William. Marie attended the University of Kentucky between 1965 and 1968, joined the Delta Delta Delta sorority, and met her future husband, dental student Jay Cranford of Moultrie, Georgia.
- 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 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. The majority of the correspondence is sent to their parents, Robert Sr. and Marie Colgan, from their children and relatives. The letters sent specifically to Marie Colgan are from her friends and siblings; they discuss her publishing business The Anchorage Press, social visits, their daily lives, the birth of family members, and personal health. The letters from Marie "Beicey" discuss her time while a student at the University of Kentucky, participating in her sorority, Delta Delta Delta, her grades in classes, the dates she went on, and the visit to campus by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. The letters from Mary, Robert Jr., and Polly discuss their daily lives, the health of their children, seeing relatives, and the weather in the places they lived.
- The Colgan family 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.
