Ronald D Eller papers

Scope and Contents

Comprises administrative, financial, and professorial records from the Appalachian Center's director's office; reports, proposals, and evaluations of Appalachian Center projects; and Appalachian Center published research and data reports, newsletters, and conference proceedings that document Center activities and staff research interests. Director's office records include the briefcase of Harry Caudill with a signed letter from Caudill in which he bequeaths the briefcase to his successor. A facsimile of this letter was printed for the occasion of the donation of Eller's papers to UK at the Margaret I. King Library on November 8, 2013; limited edition print number 93 of 200 is maintained in this collection. Arranged in three subseries: Director's office records, Publications, and Research files.

Processing Information

Eller's labeling for Appalachian Center files has been mostly maintained, including the distinction between director's office files and Appalachian Center research files. Appalachian Center published reports that were originally located throughout the collection were grouped into the Publications subseries within the Appalachian Center records. Files that pre-dated Eller's time at the University of Kentucky and are addressed to or from Appalachian Center staff were separated into a subseries of the Director's office records: Inherited files from previous Appalachian Center staff.

Scope and Contents

Comprises drafts and research materials that document Eller's published book, Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2008). Drafts consist of working versions of Uneven Ground chapters, chapter outlines, photographs for the book, and correspondence related to editorial comments on both grammar and content. Research materials consist primarily of handwritten notes, published reports by various federal and Appalachian agencies, and news clippings on the poverty, economy, industry, development, and culture of the Appalachian region. Research materials also contain some drafted chapters, VHS videocassette tapes, audiocassette tapes and transcripts of oral history interviews, and an electronic copy of a scrapbook of newspaper clippings on Ollie "Widow" Combs and family. Arranged in two subseries, Drafts and Research. The Research subseries is further arranged into four subseries: Files for Uneven Ground chapters, Files by Subject Grouping, Ungrouped Subject Files, and Originally Unlabeled Subject Files.

Processing Information

Eller's original order and labeling for his research files has been mostly maintained, including those files that he grouped into subject categories, those files that had existing folder labels, and those files that were unlabeled. For the latter, the archivist assigned folder titles in line with Eller's folder labeling scheme. Some of the words in the existing folder titles have been rearranged in order to group like materials together to facilitate easier research access. Also, some folders of photocopies or other reproductions include two sets of dates. The first set refers to the dates of the content of the folder. The second set refers to the dates of the compilation of the folder.

Scope and Contents

Primarily comprises professional correspondence written by and to Eller related to his academic work at Mars Hill College (1977-1985) and at the University of Kentucky (1985-2013). Includes written invitations to lecture and serve as keynote speaker at regional colleges, invitations to publish scholarly articles and to review and evaluate manuscripts for historical accuracy, notes of appreciation for teaching and mentorship, and general communications with colleagues and friends. Also includes correspondence related to Eller's University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill dissertation under the direction of George Tindall, agreements for contracted positions, a typescript memorial speech by Eller in honor of John D. Whisman, letters from the University of Tennessee Press about his first book, Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers, and a controversial 2009 keynote speech at the East Kentucky Leadership Conference in which Eller called for the abolition of surface mining. Arranged in two subseries, Professional and Personal, and thereunder chronologically.

Processing Information

Eller's original labeling for correspondence has been maintained. Letters received and sent after Eller stepped down as the Director of UK's Appalachian Center in 2000 were labeled personal, although the majority appear to relate to professional and scholarly obligations. Folders include two sets of dates. The first set was taken from the original folder title. The second set refers to the dates of all of the materials within the folder. Contract agreements were maintained, with redactions made for sensitive personal information.

Scope and Contents

Comprises correspondence, reports, meeting materials, and agendas that document Eller's professional engagement, usually in leadership roles, in regional and national organizations with missions to improve conditions in Appalachia, especially the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community program, the Kentucky Appalachian Commission, the Kentucky Appalachian Task Force, and the Rural Community College Initiative. Also includes grant application materials and correspondence related to projects on which Eller consulted. Arranged in five subseries and thereunder alphabetically by organization name: Appalachian organization, Kentucky organizations, Universities and colleges, and Other organizations.