Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Gift, 2000.
Collection is arranged chronologically. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Warder Ray Harrison (b. 1933) was born in Winchester, Kentucky to Clarence Harrison (1907-197) and Mildred Stickrod (b. 1909). In 1952, Harrison enlisted in the air force and served during the Korean War, deploying to Korea in 1953. He was discharged in 1956, and moved to California the following year. Between 1957 and 1980, he was married and divorced to an unknown woman. In 1981, he returned to Kentucky and married his second wife, Linda Lane (b. 1944), however the couple divorced in 1983. No other biographical information available.
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
2009ms132.0844: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Warder Harrison letters, 1950-1956, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
The Warder Harrison letters (dated 1950-1956, undated; 0.31 cubic feet; 10 folders, 3 photographs) comprises letters and photographs that document the experience of Warder Harrison serving in the air force during the Korean War in the 1950s. Warder writes to his mother and step-father, describing life in the air force, moving to different bases, making friends in each location, struggles with religion, saving money, efforts to get leave to go home, and when he will be deployed. Once in Korea, he writes about duties he has, traveling to different cities on leave, how meeting new people has made him better, thoughts about attending college when he returns, gossiping about their family members and relatives, his research efforts on his mother's family, and items he purchased while in Asia. The three photographs in the collection depict Warder while he was stationed in Wyoming around his nineteenth birthday.
The Warder Harrison letters 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.
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.