English
University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center
Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Myrtle Linn family letters
Linn, Myrtle Fern, 1890-1977
2009ms132.0266
2.7 Cubic Feet
6 boxes
1910-1966, undated
The Myrtle Linn family letters (dated 1910-1966, undated; 2.7 cubic feet; 6 boxes) comprise letters, cards, and notices that document the Linn family in and around Bucyrus, Ohio throughout the twentieth century.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, 2000.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged alphabetically by name. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Biographical note
Myrtle Fern Linn (1890-1977) was born in Bucyrus, Ohio to Charles Theodore Linn (1859-1940) and Elizabeth Ann Linn (1858-1937). She was the oldest of six children; Rollie Charles Linn (1892-1984), Bertha Ann Deerwester (1894-1979), Dewey E Linn (1898-1988), Nellie Mabel McLaughlin (1896-1999), and Mary May Beller (1900-1994). Myrtle's family were farmers in Ohio and her brother Dewey and her nephew Stanley McLaughlin both served in the military during the Second World War. Myrtle never married and lived in Ohio her entire life.
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.
Preferred Citation
2009ms132.0266: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Myrtle Linn family letters, 1910-1966, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Scope and Contents
The Myrtle Linn family letters (dated 1910-1966, undated; 2.7 cubic feet; 6 boxes) comprise letters, cards, and notices that document the Linn family in and around Bucyrus, Ohio throughout the twentieth century. The letters are primarily from Myrtle's sisters Bertha, Nellie, and Mary. Bertha Deerwester and Nellie McLaughlin wrote about sewing, decorating, housework, education, sunday school, gardening, the health of family members, and their travels to see friends and the other sisters. Mary May Beller, who worked as a typist for the Hadfield Penfield Steel Company, wrote about her work transcribing and also talked extensively about the effects of the Great Depression on her job including layoffs and cutting wages. Myrtle's friend Juanita Waitley writes about her father's antique shop and the effects of influenza around Ohio. Myrtle's brother Dewey Earl Linn and nephew Stanley McLaughlin both wrote about their time serving in World War II. Additionally, there are a few political advertisements and delivery notices and two one dollar silver certificates from 1939 and 1940.
The Myrtle Linn family 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.
Conditions Governing Use
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Bucyrus (Ohio).
Correspondence.
Depressions -- 1929 -- Ohio
Diseases.
Great Depression
Influenza.
Medical care
United States -- History -- World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
Beller, Mary Linn, 1900-1994
Deerwester, Bertha Linn, 1894-1979
Hall, Wade, 1934-
Linn, Myrtle Fern, 1890-1977
McLaughlin, Nellie Linn, 1896-1999
Linn family (Bucyrus, Ohio)
Letters from Harriet Bahl to Myrtle Linn1921, 192811Letters from Aunt Cella to Myrtle Linn1914-191613Letters from Aunt Cella to Myrtle Linn1920-192112Letters from Aunt Cella to Myrtle Linn1925-193414Letters from Correspondence Institute of America to Grover Deerwester191015Letter from Obed Ester to Grover Deerwester191916Letters from Captain F. Elliot to Grover Deerwester193117Letter from Elizabeth Linn to Myrtle Linn192618Letters from Ross Downing to Myrtle Linn193819Letters from Etta Failor to Myrtle Linn1914-1915110Letters from Etta Failor to Myrtle Linn1927111Letters from Etta Failor to Myrtle Linn1930-1939112Letters from Etta Failor to Myrte Linn1940-1946113Letters from Etta Failor to Myrtle Linn1947-1949114Letters from Etta to Myrtle Linn1950-1951115Letters from Clara Failor to Myrtle Linn1947116Letters to Catharine Gray from her parents1921-1928117Letter from L. Haigh to William J. Linn1931118Letters from Bertha Linn to Myrtle Linn1914-1918119-20Letters from Bertha Linn to Grover Deerwester191921Letters from Bertha (Linn) Deerwester to Myrtle Linn1913, 1919-192922Letter to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester from a friend193223Letters to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester from Captain G. Miller1932-193324Letter from Bertha (Linn) Deerwester to Nellie Linn192425Letters from Bertha (Linn) Deerwester to Myrtle Linn1930-193926-7Letter from Bertha (Linn) Deerwester to Charles T. Linn193928Letters from Bertha (Linn) Deerwester to Myrtle Linn1940-194529Letter from Bertha (Linn) Deerwester to Nellie (Linn) McLaughlin1953210Letters to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester from friends1953, 1960211Letters from Cora LeCrone to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester1960212Letter from Mrs. R. W. Atkinson to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester1934213Card from Charles T. Linn to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester1966214Letters to Myrtle Linn from Mrs. Charles T. Linn1921, 1929215Letters from Mrs. Charles T. Linn to Myrtle Linn1927-1932216Political Card to Charles T. Linn1936217Letters from Mrs. Charles T. Linn to Myrtle Linn1915-1917218Letter from Ida Miller to Charles T. Linn1937219Wedding announcement from Mrs. John P. Heiby to Charles T. Linn1939220Letter from North Central Electric Cooperative, Inc to Charles T. Linn1944221Letters from Evelyn Linn to Myrtle Linn1949-1951222Letters from Evelyn Linn to Myrtle Linn1947-1949223Letters from Goldie Linn to Myrtle Linn1950-1951224Letters from Marie Linn to Myrtle Linn1920, 192931Letters from Marie Linn to Myrtle Linn1939, 194432Letters from Mary May Linn to Myrtle Linn1913-191933Letters from Mary May Linn to Myrtle Linn192034Letter from Mary May Linn to Mrs. Charles T. Linn192135Letters from Mary May Linn to Myrtle Linn1920-192936Letters from Mary May Linn to Myrtle Linn1930-193937-1041-2Letters from Mary May Linn to Myrtle Linn1939-194543Letter from Anna Mae to Mary May Linn194144Letters from Mary May Linn to Myrtle Linn194845Letters from Mary May Linn to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester1953-1954, 196546Letters from Pvt. Minor Linn to Myrtle Linn1943-194447Letter from Myrtle Linn to Charles T. Linn191848Letters from Myrtle Linn to Martha Orwiler192049Letters from Myrtle Linn to Mrs. Charles T. Linn1936410Letters from Myrtle Linn to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester1953-1954411Letter from Myrtle Linn to Mrs. Charles T. Linnundated412Letter from Myrtle Linn to her parentsundated413Letters to Myrtle Linn from friends1913-1919414Letters to Myrtle Linn from her family1913-1919415Letters to Myrtle Linn from her family1914-191951-2Letters from the Orwiler family to Myrtle Linn1922-192553Letters to Myrtle Linn from friends1920-192954Letters to Myrtle Linn1921-193355Letters to Myrtle Linn from friends1932-193656Letters to Myrtle Linn from friends1942-194857Letters to Myrtle Linn from friends1948-195158Letters from Mary Helen to Myrtle Linn195259Unopened letters to Myrtle Linn1922, 1926510Unopened letters to Myrtle Linn1930-1935512Christmas cards to Myrtle Linn1928-1929511Holiday cards to Myrtle Linn from friends1930-1937513Christmas cards to Myrtle Linn1943514Holiday cards to Myrtle Linn1948-1949515Letters from Nellie Linn to Myrtle Linn1914-191961Letters from Nellie Linn to Myrtle Linn1920-192762Letters from Nellie Linn to Myrtle Linn1920-1921, 192963Letters from Nellie Linn to Myrtle Linn1930-193964Letters from Nellie (Linn) McLaughlin1940-194665Letters from Nellie (Linn) McLaughlin to Myrtle Linn1947-194866Letters from Nellie (Linn) McLaughlin to Myrtle Linn195167Letter from Nellie (Linn) McLaughlin to Bertha (Linn) Deerwester1953, 196168Letters from Edith Lust to Myrtle Linn1940-194969Letters from Aunt Lydia to Myrtle Linn1914-1919610Letters from Aunt Lydia to Myrtle Linn1938611Letters from Stanley McLaughlin to Myrtle Linn1931-1937612Letters from Stanley McLaughlin to Myrtle Linn1944-1946613Letters from Juanita Waitley to Myrtle Linn1920-1925614Letters from Juanita Waitley to Myrtle Linn1938615Delivery notice1916616General letters1931-1936617Letters to Myrtle Linn - 1 dollar silver certificate1939-19401