Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Katherine H. Gowdy papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Katherine H. Gowdy papers
- Date
- 1909-1968, undated (inclusive)
- Creator
- Gowdy, Katherine Hill, 1889-1981
- Extent
- 0.9 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- African Americans -- Kentucky
- African American women.
- Farm life
- Female friendship -- United States.
- Journals (notebooks)
- Notebooks.
- Public welfare.
- Rural health -- Kentucky -- History.
- Speeches, addresses, etc.
- Welfare recipients -- United States
- Women in church work.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged alphabetically. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
- Preferred Citation
- 2009ms132.0246: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Katherine H. Gowdy papers, 1909-1968, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Katherine Hill Gowdy (1889-1981) was an African-American woman who lived in Springfield, Kentucky.
- 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 Katherine H. Gowdy papers (dated 1909-1968, undated; 0.9 cubic feet; 2 boxes) comprise letters, notebooks, diaries, photographs, short stories, and speeches that document the life of Katherine Gowdy, an African-American woman, in Springfield, Kentucky in the first half of the twentieth century. The letters discuss daily life of friends and family, making payments on taxes, requests for support from prisoners, as well as two letters to Louis Goatley who worked on Gowdy's farm from a spurned lover. The notebooks include account books, farm ledgers, and school work from Gowdy and people in the community she supported. The diaries in the collection detail the last decade of Gowdy's life, with entries describing visits from friends and family, receiving meals from welfare, her personal health, the daily weather, and her thoughts on events happening around her. The photographs document Gowdy and most likely family and friends living in the area around Springfield. The short stories are about Gowdy's childhood, and the experiences she had that either taught her a lesson or stayed with her throughout her life. The speeches are from conferences and organizations she was invited to speak at.
- The Katherine H. Gowdy papers 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
Account and memo books, 1967-1968, undated
Advertisements and pamphlets, 1931, 1951, 1968, undated
Childhood stories for book, 1934, 1942, undated
Conference and trip diary, 1943
Diary, 1968-1972
Diary, 1973
Diary, 1977-1978
Farm ledger, 1937-1947, 1972
Farm ledger, 1943-1948, 1968-1970
Katherine H. Gowdy letters, 1927-1939
Katherine H. Gowdy letters, 1941-1949
Katherine H. Gowdy letters, 1951-1960, 1968
Legal documents, 1933, 1968-1979
Letters to Louis Goatley, 1909-1911
Newspaper clippings, 1968, undated
Notebooks, 1945-1972, undated
Notes and receipts, 1947-1948, undated
Photographs, 1909-1910, 1941-1945, undated
- Box 270, folder 9
Tintype of unidentified baby, undated
[L to R]: Mary B. Thornton, Richard Thornton, and Eliza Steward, undated
[L to R]: May Bell and Aunt Helen Thornton, undated
Portrait of Katherine H. Gowdy, note on back reads: "I am deep in debt, no friends but I am happy", 1945
Katherine riding Dandy, a horse, 1941 May 10
Mr. and Mrs. Lizzie Ford, undated
Negative of children playing in a field, undated
Portrait of unidentified African-American boy and girl, undated
Portrait of unidentified African-American couple [man is possibly Joe Goatley], undated
Tintype portrait of unidentified African-American woman, undated
Portrait of two unidentified African-American women, undated
Tintype portrait of unidentified African-American man, undated
Portrait of unidentified African-American woman, undated
Portrait of Dr. Winston [L] and Peet Thornton [R], 1909
Portrait of Mary Bell Thornton as an infant, undated
Portrait of John Taylor, undated
Portrait of an unidentified African-American woman, undated
Portrait of an unidentified African-American woman, undated
Portrait of two unidentified African-American people in a horse-drawn buggy in front of an unknown house with two unidentified African-American people in the yard, 1910 September 15
School notebooks, 1937-1938
Short stories, undated
Speeches, 1947
Thresher's record book, 1918
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.
