Louisville and the Second World War: Manuscript Collections

American War Mothers/Mattie Jenkins, 1918-1988, bulk 1955-1988
2.375 linear feet
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The American War Mothers organized in 1917 in response to a call from the national government for food conservation. By March of 1924, the AWM had 23,000 members. Congress granted the organization its national charter in 1925. Indiana and Kentucky have several branches of the national organization. The establishment of the Jefferson County Chapter in April 1919 came a month after that of the Kentucky State Chapter, organized in March 1919. The AWM sponsored many memorials around Kentucky to honor fallen veterans, including the bridge over the Kentucky River at Frankfort, the flagpole on the Jefferson County Courthouse lawn, the "Quiet Room" at the Veterans Hospital, and many other "memorial markers." This collection contains records of the organization, such as by-laws, minutes, financial reports and artifacts, as well as some personal papers of member Mattie Jenkins.

Kenneth Bott Scrapbooks,1926-1945
.325 linear feet
This collection consists of two scrapbooks that document Bott's childhood and young adulthood. Most of the clippings concern his athletic endeavors, both as a student athlete at the University of Louisville (1932) (basketball, baseball, football) and as an amateur. A small amount of material documents his military service in India during World War II. Bott was president of C&S Supply Company.

Harvey W. Carman World War II Scrapbook
.375 linear foot
A scrapbook created by Harvey W. Carman, a member of the 302nd Fighter Squadron (part of the Army Air Forces 332nd Fighter Group), documenting his experiences in the European Theatre. The 332nd Fighter Group, along with the 477th Bombardment Group, were segregated African American units, and were also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The 332nd Fighter Group was nicknamed the "Red Tails"; a brief typescript history of the 332nd Fighter Group is included with the scrapbook. The scrapbook includes well-identified photographs of military personnel as well as airplanes and scenery. Of particular interest is a photograph of a plane named "Strange Fruit." An image of a worship service highlights Carman's lifelong religious faith. Mr. Carman was orphaned, and was a resident student at the Lincoln Institute in Shelby County, Kentucky, graduating in 1937. Carman served in the Army from 1941 to 1945, rising to the rank of sergeant.

Agnes Snyder Crume Papers, 1938-1946
.575 linear feet
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This collection includes one folder of letters between Agnes Snyder and John Crume while he was overseas in Europe during World War II and articles written by Agnes Snyder about the role of Louisville area women in the war effort. There is also a small amount of World War II era postcards and memorabilia.

Richard L. Drye Papers, 1940-1986
.1 linear foot
Consists of items relating to Drye's service in World War II, including his military service record and the Official Journal of the Japanese Military Administration (1942), in Japanese and English.

Charles Embry Papers, 1945
.25 linear feet
This collect consists of material relating to Embry's service on the Battleship Missouri.

Christine Hesse Papers, 1936-1989
.375 linear feet
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This collection includes one folder of correspondence from five soldiers serving in World War II.

The Kentucky Irish American, 1898-1968 Microfilm
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This collection, on microfilm, consists of an almost complete run of the weekly paper, the Kentucky Irish American, from its first publication in 1898 to the last in 1968. During the war, Mike Barry (son of editor John Barry) changed his weekly sports column to a weekly letter from him in military service and by 1945 all five Barry sons were writing letters for the column which satirized military life.

Kimbrough Family Papers, 1918-1953
.75 linear feet
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This collection includes one folder of letters from Duke S. Kimbrough (1923-1979) to his parents while he served in the military during the war.

Arthur S. Kling (1895-1981) Papers, 1930s-1950s
2.375 linear feet
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Arthur S. Kling was an activist in the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union and the Americans for Democratic Action. His papers include some clipping files on issues concerning civil liberties during World War II.

Sara Landau Papers, 1893-1986, bulk 1910-1986
38 linear feet
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This large collection includes a small amount of material relating to Landau's service as an economist with government agencies during World War II.

Milk for Health, 1941-1947
.25 linear feet
Milk for Health was a collective of dairymen that owned generic milk bottles and leased them to member dairies. These records include the organization's by-laws and minutes. There is reference to federal wartime marketing controls in the records.

Cleda C. Ruddell, 1864-1975
5 linear feet
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The Ruddell family papers document the lives of a Louisville family with correspondence, financial and legal documents, journals, and scrapbooks. Included in the correspondence are letters sent to Ruddell's friends and family serving abroad during World War II.

Settle, James W., 1913- ,
The beanery: a village named Ormsby, James W. Settle's memoirs, concerns the author's early childhood as a charge of Ormsby Village Children's home, his schooling at the Kentucky Military Institute, his naval service during World War II, and his life since that time. The memoir also documents his participation in marching bands and his wartime service as a flight inspector for Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. Settle became a dentist after World War II and settled in California.

Snyder, Eva Sesmer and Herbert Mitchell, Papers, 1908-1978
1 linear foot
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This collection includes small amount of correspondence during the war and some photographs of Herbert Mitchell Snyder's service in the South Pacific during World War II.

Towle Family Papers, 1900-1950s
.5 linear feet
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This collection includes one folder of materials relating to Virginia Towle's fight to join the WAVES during the war and one folder of letters from Mr. Towles to Virginia after she joins the WACS.

U.S.S. Louisville Reunion Association records, 1939-1997 (bulk 1939-1943)
.25 linear feet
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The U.S.S. Louisville (CA-28) was the third of four ships to bear this name. It was launched from Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington state in 1930 and commissioned in January 1931. She participated in several World War II naval campaigns, most notably the Battle of Leyte Gulf. After suffering serious damage from three separate kamikaze attacks in 1945 the ship was decommissioned in 1946. This collection includes a few copies of the shipboard newsletter and an Allied military field newspaper along with correspondence, newsletters, programs, and printed materials from the cruiser's reunion association.

Victory News, 1943-1945
.25 linear feet
The Victory News was an informally produced neighborhood newsletter distributed worldwide during World War II to military personnel from the California and Parkland neighborhoods of Louisville, Kentucky, containing sports scores, excerpts and/or summaries of other soldiers' letters home, jokes, cartoons, neighborhood gossip and morale boosts. This collection has twenty-nine of the thirty-four issues produced between March 1943 and December 1945.