Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Edna Bernhardt letters
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Edna Bernhardt letters
- Date
- 1920-1929, undated (inclusive)
- Creator
- Bernhardt, Edna, 1910-1989
- Extent
- 1.35 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- College fraternity members.
- Education, Higher.
- Female friendship -- United States.
- Friendship.
- Greek letter societies.
- Hazing.
- Letters.
- Long-distance relationships.
- Love-letters
- Man-woman relationships -- United States -- 20th century
- Ohio
- Travel.
- Women -- employment
- Women in education.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged alphabetically by sender. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
- Preferred Citation
- 2009ms132.0341: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Edna Bernhardt letters, 1920-1929, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Edna E. Bernhardt (1910-1989) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Harry Bernhardt (1888-1959) and Amelia Rennert (1889-1951). Edna worked as a stenographer until her marriage in the mid-1930s to Edward R. Kuhlman (1906-1992). The couple had three daughters together, Carol Ann (1935-2016), Lova (b. 1944), and Eileen. Edward worked as a truck driver.
- 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 Edna Bernhardt letters collection (dated 1920-1929, undated; 1.35 cubic feet; 3 boxes) comprises letters that document the life of Edna in Hagerstown, Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio during the 1920s. The majority of the letters come from a boyfriend, Garber Brown, while he attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and while she finished high school and later worked. In the letters, Brown writes about his classes, pledging a fraternity, hazing rituals, his money concerns, going out with friends, leaving school to help his family financially, traveling for work, and dealing with their breakup. Edna also received letters from high school and college friends, many from girlfriends of hers, which discuss going on dates, Edna's habit of stepping out with people other than Brown, attending school, being with family, and general gossip about others and their hometown. Many of the people writing to Edna know each other and so their letters all discuss different sides of the events told in the contents of the letters, as well as giving her updates about the activities of the boys Edna has gone out with. Additionally, the collection includes some of Edna's report cards from her high school years, her confirmation booklet, and badges she earned while in Girl Scouts.
- The Edna Bernhardt 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
- 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.
