Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Leonora Johnston family papers

Abstract

The Leonora Johnston family papers (dated 1888-1981, undated; 8.53 cubic feet; 25 boxes, 1 map folder) comprises letters, papers, journals, diaries, scripts, yearbooks, and photographs that document the life of Leonora Johnston and her family members in Louisville, Kentucky across the twentieth century.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Leonora Johnston family papers
Date
1888-1981, undated (inclusive)
Creator
Johnston, Leonora
Extent
8.53 Cubic Feet
Subjects
Letters.
Correspondence.
Notebooks.
Young women -- United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
Friendship.
Female friendship -- United States.
Health
Education
Women in education.
Teachers.
Gossip.
World War, 1914-1918.
Military life.
Domestic Life -- United States
Property -- Kentucky
Family.
School yearbooks -- Kentucky
Arrangement
Collection is arranged into six series: Leonora Johnston letters, Leonora Tomppert Lorentz letters, Papers, Diaries, Scripts, and Yearbooks. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Finding Aid Author
Sarah Coblentz
Preferred Citation
2009ms132.0728: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Leonora Johnston family papers, 1888-1981, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Repository
University of Kentucky

Collection Overview

Biography / History
Leonora Johnston (1892-1978) was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Thomas L. Johnston (1868-1938) and Eugenia Tomppert (1870-1950). She is the great-granddaughter of Philip Tomppert, the fifteenth and seventeenth mayor of Louisville, Kentucky. Leonora worked as an English teacher in Louisville and never married.
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 Leonora Johnston family papers (dated 1888-1981, undated; 8.53 cubic feet; 25 boxes, 1 map folder) comprises letters, papers, journals, diaries, scripts, yearbooks, and photographs that document the life of Leonora Johnston and her family members in Louisville, Kentucky across the twentieth century. The letters to Leonora Johnston come from her friends, with the majority coming from a young man named Ivan Heft. Ivan writes to Leonora about attending Princeton and Hamma Divinity School, studying for his classes, making friends, health issues, going out with friends, when he'll be returning home, and missing her. Other letters to Leonora Johnston discuss gossip, visits with friends and family, trips taken, serving in the military during World War I, going to school, and questions about her work as a teacher. Letters to Leonora (Tomppert) Lorentz come from her brother and his wife, discussing his financial hardships and requests for her to loan him money to stay afloat. His wife writes to Leonora more frequently after his death, discussing managing their properties, paying off loans taken out by her late husband, her personal health, and the effects of the 1937 flood on their properties. Other letters to Leonora Lorentz discuss memories of being a student in her class, trips taken, visits from friends and family, and personal health.
The papers include crochet designs, notes from letters, school notebooks, and property and money record books from both Leonora Johnston and Leonora Lorentz. The diaries are filled out by Leonora Johnston, and they detail her daily life over the course of seventy years. In the entries she describes spending time with friends, attending school, studying for classes and exams, trips taken, visits from family, participating in clubs and organizations, holidays, going on dates, and the local weather. The yearbooks include monthly and annual publications from schools Leonora Johnston attended and worked at over the course of her academic and teaching career. The photographs include portraits and photo albums of Leonora Johnston, her friends, and relatives.
The Leonora Johnston family papers collection is 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

Leonora Johnston letters, 1900-1981, undated

Ivan Heft to Leonora Johnston, 1911

  • Box 1, folder 1
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Ivan Heft to Leonora Johnston, 1912

  • Box 1, folder 2
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Ivan Heft to Leonora Johnston, 1913-1914

  • Box 1, folder 3
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Ivan Heft to Leonora Johnston, 1915-1916

  • Box 1, folder 4
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Ivan Heft to Leonora Johnston, 1917-1918

  • Box 1, folder 5
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Ivan Heft to Leonora Johnston, 1925, 1946

  • Box 1, folder 6
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Ivan Heft to Leonora Johnston, undated

  • Box 1, folder 7
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Harry Mueller to Leonora Johnston, 1910-1917, undated

  • Box 1, folder 8
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Frank Sacksteder to Leonora Johnston, 1915-1922

  • Box 1, folder 9
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Pat to Leonora Johnston, 1910-1922, undated

  • Box 1, folder 10
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Letters to Leonora Johnston, 1904-1966, undated

  • Box 2, folder 1
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Letter from Leonora Johnston, undated

  • Box 2, folder 2
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Letters to Robert Lawrence re: Leonora Johnston article, 1979

  • Box 2, folder 3
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Letter to Wade Hall re: Leonora Johnston, 1981

  • Box 2, folder 4
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Women teachers of the Senior High Schools of Louisville to the Board of Education re: salaries, 1935

  • Box 8, folder 11
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Leonora Tomppert Lorentz letters, 1921-1937

Edward Tomppert to Leonora Lorentz, 1925-1932

  • Box 2, folder 5
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Juanita Tomppert to Leonora Lorentz, 1931-1937

  • Box 2, folder 6
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Letters to Leonora Lorentz, 1921-1933

  • Box 2, folder 7
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Papers, 1888-1955, 1978, undated

"Anne of Old Salem" promotional materials, 1910

  • Box 6, folder 1
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Art instruction books, undated

  • Box 6, folder 2
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"The Author and Journalist" magazine, 1946-1947

  • Box 6, folder 3
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"Ballad of the Moron and the Teacher" poem, undated

  • Box 6, folder 4
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Christmas card verses, undated

  • Box 6, folder 5
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Class registration records, 1910, 1925

  • Box 6, folder 6
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Diplomas, 1910, 1914, 1929

  • Folder 1
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English journal, undated

  • Box 2, folder 9
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Essay on graduating class of Louisville Girl's High School, 1910

  • Box 6, folder 7
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Event programs, 1909, 1928-1957, undated

  • Box 6, folder 8
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Fiftieth Annual Report of the Girl's High School, 1906

  • Box 6, folder 9
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Handwriting instruction booklets, undated

  • Box 6, folder 10
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Happy Circle Club constitution, 1920

  • Box 6, folder 11
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Homework and notes from Leonora Johnston, undated

  • Box 6, folder 12
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Homework by students, 1915-1916

  • Box 6, folder 13
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Ivanhoe book summary, undated

  • Box 6, folder 14
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Johnston family property, bonds, and stock dividends record book, 1939-1949

  • Box 2, folder 10
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Leonora Johnston papers, 1900-1906, undated

  • Box 2, folder 8
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Leonora Johnston senior book, 1910

  • Box 11, item 1
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Leonora T. Johnston memorial service program, 1978

  • Box 6, folder 15
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Leonora Lorentz property sales and donations record book, 1928-1950, undated

  • Box 3, folder 1
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Letters from Leonora Johnston treasure box, 1903-1911, undated

  • Box 6, folder 16
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Loose pages from unknown memory book, 1908-1909

  • Box 6, folder 17
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Louisville Girl's High School commencement, 1910

  • Box 6, folder 18
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Newspaper clippings, 1910

  • Box 7, folder 1
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"Our Wedding Day" booklet (Leonora Tomppert wedding), undated

  • Box 7, folder 2
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Pamphlets for religious studies, 1908, undated

  • Box 7, folder 3
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Papers from Leonora Johnston treasure box, 1907-1911, undated

  • Box 7, folder 4
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Personal notebooks, 1925, undated

  • Box 7, folder 5
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Personal papers, 1888, 1907, 1955, undated

  • Box 7, folder 6
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Personal writings, undated

  • Box 7, folder 7
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Poetry notebooks, undated

  • Box 7, folder 8
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[A] Program in Observance of Kentucky Day, choric speaking of verse by Kentucky authors, undated

  • Box 7, folder 9
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Realia, 1906, undated

  • Box 12
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Report cards, 1899-1936, undated

  • Box 7, folder 10
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School certificates, 1901-1905, 1922

  • Box 7, folder 11
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School notebooks, undated

  • Box 7, folder 12
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Scrapbook pages, 1930-1938

  • Box 13, folder 3
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Sketches and drawings, undated

  • Box 7, folder 13
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Sketchbook, 1902-1903

  • Box 7, folder 14
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Student essays, 1915-1916, undated

  • Box 8, folder 1-2
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Student teacher lesson schedule, 1914-1915

  • Box 8, folder 3
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Theater playbills, 1909-1949, undated

  • Box 8, folder 4
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"The Timid Man" short story by Ola Brill, circa 1942

  • Box 8, folder 5
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"Trippingly on the Tongue" rhyme and speech games book, 1938

  • Box 8, folder 6
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University of Louisville Alumni Association certificate, 1914

  • Box 8, folder 7
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Void wills, 1902-1924, undated

  • Box 8, folder 8
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"Writer's Digest" magazine, 1944 September

  • Box 8, folder 9
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Writings booklet by Leonora Johnston, undated

  • Box 8, folder 10
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Diaries, 1907-1973

Leonora Johnston diaries, 1907-1910

  • Box 3, folder 2
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Leonora Johnston diaries, 1910-1911

  • Box 3, folder 3
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Leonora Johnston diary, 1911-1912

  • Box 3, folder 4
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Leonora Johnston diaries, 1912-1914

  • Box 3, folder 5
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Leonora Johnston diary, 1914-1918

  • Box 3, folder 6
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Leonora Johnston diary, 1918-1943

  • Box 4, folder 1
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Leonora Johnston diary, 1920

  • Box 4, folder 2
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Leonora Johnston diaries, 1929-1934

  • Box 4, folder 3
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Leonora Johnston diary, 1934-1938

  • Box 4, folder 4
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Leonora Johnston diaries, 1949-1958

  • Box 4, folder 5
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Leonora Johnston diaries, 1959-1968

  • Box 5, folder 1
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Leonora Johnston diary, 1969-1973

  • Box 5, folder 2
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Leonora Tomppert European travel diary, 1900 June - August

  • Box 9, folder 11
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Leonora Tomppert travel diary, 1911-1912

  • Box 9, folder 12
  • Box 10, folder 1-3
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Scripts, 1933-1943, undated

The Catalogue, undated

  • Box 8, folder 12
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Chinese Twilight, 1934

  • Box 8, folder 13
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Dessert, undated

  • Box 8, folder 14
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Fine Feathers, 1935

  • Box 8, folder 15
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The Fir-Tree Fairy, undated

  • Box 8, folder 16
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Immortal Dawn, undated

  • Box 8, folder 17
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A Little Inner Flame, 1943

  • Box 8, folder 18
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Presents from Her Children, undated

  • Box 9, folder 1
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Ripe Watermelons, undated

  • Box 9, folder 2
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The Stolen Bride, undated

  • Box 9, folder 3
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A Stroller Pauses, undated

  • Box 9, folder 4
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Through the French Windows script and excerpts, 1933

  • Box 9, folder 5
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Xmas Play, undated

  • Box 9, folder 6
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Script excerpts from untitled play, undated

  • Box 9, folder 7
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Script excerpts from various plays, undated

  • Box 9, folder 8
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Script of untitled play, undated

  • Box 9, folder 9
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Untitled script, undated

  • Box 9, folder 10
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Yearbooks, 1907-1959

"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1907 October - December

  • Box 19, folder 1
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1908 January - April

  • Box 19, folder 2
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1908 May

  • Box 19, folder 3
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1908 October - December

  • Box 19, folder 4
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1909 January - April

  • Box 19, folder 5
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1909 May

  • Box 19, folder 6
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1909 October - December

  • Box 19, folder 7
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1910 January - April

  • Box 20, folder 1
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1910 May

  • Box 20, folder 2
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1911 May

  • Box 20, folder 3
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1911 October - December

  • Box 20, folder 4
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1912 January - April

  • Box 20, folder 5
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1912 May

  • Box 20, folder 6
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1916 November - December

  • Box 20, folder 7
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1917 January - May

  • Box 21, folder 1
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1917 June - December

  • Box 21, folder 2
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1918 January - October

  • Box 21, folder 3
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1918 November - December

  • Box 21, folder 4
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1919 January - April

  • Box 21, folder 5
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1919 May - November

  • Box 22, folder 1
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1920 January - April

  • Box 22, folder 2
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1920 May - November

  • Box 22, folder 3
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1921 March - May

  • Box 22, folder 4
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"The Record" monthly publication of Louisville Girl's High School, 1922 April

  • Box 22, folder 5
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Louisville Girl's High School fiftieth anniversary list of graduates, 1908

  • Box 22, folder 6
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1931

  • Box 23, folder 1
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1932

  • Box 23, folder 2
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1933

  • Box 23, folder 3
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1934

  • Box 23, folder 4
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1938

  • Box 23, folder 5
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1941

  • Box 23, folder 6
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1942

  • Box 23, folder 7
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1944

  • Box 23, folder 8
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1945

  • Box 23, folder 9
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1946

  • Box 23, folder 10
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1947

  • Box 23, folder 11
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1948

  • Box 24, folder 1
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1949

  • Box 24, folder 2
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1950

  • Box 24, folder 3
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1952

  • Box 24, folder 4
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1953

  • Box 24, folder 5
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1954

  • Box 24, folder 6
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1955

  • Box 24, folder 7
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1957

  • Box 24, folder 8
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Shawnee High School yearbook, 1959

  • Box 25, folder 1
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duPont Manual Training High School yearbook, 1912

  • Box 25, folder 2
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"The Spectator" monthly publication of Louisville Male High School, 1910-1911

  • Box 25, folder 3
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"The Varsity" Tharp University School publication, 1911

  • Box 25, folder 4
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"The Lantern" publication of the Western High School for Girls, 1930-1931

  • Box 25, folder 5
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Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music yearbook, 1948

  • Box 25, folder 6
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Photographs, 1896-1935, undated

  • Box WH-68, item 1-10
  • Box 14, item 11-108
  • Box 15, item 109-124
  • Box 16, item 125-135
  • Box 17, item 136-200
  • Box 18, item 201-252
  • Box 13, folder 1-2
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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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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.