Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Gift, 2000.
Collection is arranged by subject. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Elizabeth Spalding (1818-1891) was born in Bardstown, Kentucky to James Spalding and Eleanor Gardiner (b. 1775). In 1842, she married James Hite (1818-1905), and together the couple had seven children: Mary (1843-1859), Alice (1845-1859), James (1847-1905), George (1850-1921), Thomas (1854-1942), Edward (1857-1935), and Adelaide (1862-1934).
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
2009ms132.0461: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Elizabeth Spalding memory book, 1838, 1953, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
The Elizabeth Spalding memory book (dated 1838, 1953; 0.09 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprises one memory book that documents the friendships of Elizabeth Spalding in 1838 and the genealogy research of her descendants in 1953. The messages to Elizabeth are written intermittently throughout the book by friends expressing well-wishes. In the beginning of the book, Elizabeth's grandson wrote down the research he completed on the Hite family, including birth, death, and marriage dates; locations they settled in, and familial relationships.
The Elizabeth Spalding memory book 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.