The University of Louisville's Archives and Special Collections has many collections that shed light on women's lives in Louisville through history. This guide highlights these materials, and provides a starting place for research.
Lilialyce Akers papers, 1973-1986
19.875 linear feet
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Lilialyce Akers was, among other things, an advocate for women's rights and a faculty member at the University of Louisville. This collection includes her papers, clippings, publications and other materials relating to social work and to women's rights, including the Equal Rights Amendment. It also contains information relating to a proposal for a joint University of Louisville/Spalding University social work program, as well as course-related material from Akers' teaching at U of L and Spalding. It contains a significant amount of material from the Kentucky Women's Political Caucus and the Kentucky Women's Agenda Coalition.
Altrusa International Relations Committee chapter records, 1967-1976
.25 linear feet
Correspondence and other records of the Louisville chapter of Altrusa International, a business and professional women's civic service organization. Altrusa International originated in 1917 in Nashville, Tennessee as the Altrusa Institute. The Louisville chapter was one of the first organized, although it is not clear that the relationship between that early group and the group represented in these materials is a linear one. These materials relate to the activities of the Louisville group, including their support for a school via the Christian Children's Fund, a Christmas tree exhibit, and other activities. In addition, there are some newsletters from the national organization, and photographs from the Christmas tree.
American Home Economics Association Records, 1950-1976
.25 linear feet
These are records of the University of Louisville student chapter of the American Home Economics Association. The group's goal was to "promote understanding between school and home." The club hoped to help female students learn more about their majors. The records include clippings, photographs, a ledger, and publications.
Gerta Bendl Papers, 1957-1987 (bulk 1970-1987)
15.5 linear feet
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Gerta Bendl was a neighborhood activist and politician. Bendl served as a Louisville, Kentucky, alderman from 1970 to 1975 and as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1975 to 1987. The collection's focus is on Bendl's political career and consists of a scrapbook, memorabilia, and research files.
Anne McCarty Braden Papers, 1920s-2006
153.375 linear feet
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Anne McCarty, born in 1924, grew up in Anniston, Alabama. A devout Episcopalian, she studied literature and journalism at a Virginia women's college, then worked as a newspaper reporter in postwar Alabama and later in Louisville. She met and in 1948 married fellow newspaperman and labor editor Carl Braden, a leftist trade unionist. The Bradens left mainstream journalism to write for the interracial left wing of Louisville's labor movement. They were propelled onto the national scene through their 1954 agreement to act as "fronts" for a black family to purchase a home in Louisville's segregated suburbs. The home was dynamited and the investigation shifted from segregationist violence to the alleged Communist Party affiliations of those who had supported this action. In October 1954 Anne and Carl Braden and five other whites were charged with sedition, and Carl was sentenced to 15 years in prison (the conviction was later overturned) while the bombers were never prosecuted. Blacklisted locally, the Bradens took jobs in 1957 as field organizers for the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF); for 16 years, Anne Braden edited SCEF's monthly newspaper, The Southern Patriot, as well as writing for other periodicals. The Bradens were lauded by young activists of the 1960s as civil libertarians who connected racism to war and poverty. After her husband's death in 1975, Anne Braden remained among the U.S.'s most outspoken white anti-racist activists and writers until her own death in 2006. She was instrumental in organizing across racial divides in the new environmental and anti-nuclear movements in the 1970s-1980s and she cautioned the women's liberation movement to act against racism. In the last decade of her life, she focused on the Louisville community, working with the Kentucky Alliance against Racist and Political Repression as well as teaching courses at the University of Louisville and Northern Kentucky University. [Adapted from a biography by Catherine Fosl.]
Emma Smith Ratterman Branch Papers, 1922-1928
.10 linear foot
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Republican Emma Smith Ratterman was the first female elected to the Louisville Board of Council. (From 1851 to 1929 Louisville was governed by a bicameral government consisting of the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Council.) She represented the First Ward from November of 1921 until the Council was disbanded in 1929. She also served as president of the Council from 1927 to 1929, the first woman to hold that position. Ratterman's first husband, Raymond G. Ratterman, who she married in 1915, died in 1932. She later married William Branch who also preceded her in death. This collection consists of a few pieces of correspondence, clippings, and printed material relating to the political career of Emma Smith Ratterman Branch.
Natalia Brodschi Papers within the George Brodschi Papers, 1928-1982 (bulk 1948-1958)
1.25 linear feet
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Natalia Brodschi and her husband, George, met in Romania as college students and immigrated to the United States in the 1940s. Natalia Brodschi's papers within the collection consist of some of her literary writings, legal papers, diplomas, birth certificates, academic records and naturalization records. Some of the papers are written in Romanian.
Evelyn and Edward Bush Papers, 1903-1972
.75 linear feet
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Evelyn Bush was an osteopath who entered her profession when she disagreed with doctors' prognosis for her son Edward, who was born with cerebral palsy. When her son's condition was declared hopeless, she enrolled in the School of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri, graduating in 1903. She moved to Kentucky upon graduation. The collection consists of Bush's obituary, and ninety-six lantern slides of osteopath cases used in her practice. Also included are her son's reminiscence of stories of his birth and his mother's reaction to his handicap.
Business and Professional Women of Kentucky records, 1921-2000
23.25 linear feet
Historical records of the Business and Professional Women of Kentucky, consisting of minutes, publications, financial and membership records of the state chapters, programs, songsheets, and correspondence. Accession 1992-065 added records for the University of Louisville chapter.
Floyd Smith Carpenter Papers, 1905-1961 (bulk 1913-1922)
1 linear feet
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Floyd Smith Carpenter was born around 1896. He grew up in Pewee Valley, Kentucky and graduated in 1917 from Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana. He then worked as an engineer for the Louisville Gas and Electric Company. The personal papers of Floyd Smith Carpenter contain approximately 600 letters to him from his family (most of the letters were from women) concerning events going on in the neighborhood, high school, and Rose Polytechnic Institute.
Virginia Chance Papers, 1958-1969
.75 linear feet
Virginia T. Chance was a pioneer in early childhood education as the founder and director of Mrs. Chance's Community PreSchool in Louisville, Kentucky. The collection includes three scrapbooks maintained by Chance and photographs, correspondence, brochures, clippings, and memorabilia from the school. There are also publications and correspondence relating to the Southern Association on Children Under Six, in which Chance was an active member.
Lillie Foell Clar Papers, 1890s-1940s (bulk 1900-1920)
3 linear feet
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Lillie Foell Clar taught penmanship in the Louisville, Kentucky, schools. Clar's papers describe her lifetime, especially her early years. Included are school notes and several of her early textbooks from the 1890s and early 1900s, postcards dating from the early 1900s to the early 1940s and some correspondence, photographs, and articles.
The Conference on Women's Health Care Issues, Louisville, Kentucky, 1983-1996
1.25 linear feet
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The Conference on Women's Health Care Issues, Inc. was organized in mid-1983 and incorporated in January 1984 as a completely volunteer organization to conduct conferences and otherwise educate the public about women's health care issues. Conferences on women's health issues were held in Louisville consecutively from 1983 to 1991 and covered a wide range of health issues and concerns. The conference organizers met for the last time in 1993 and the financial books were closed in 1996. This collection consists of all organizational papers, minutes, financial records, correspondence, mailing lists and conference programs of the Conference on Women's Health Care Issues, Inc., which existed from 1983 to 1993 for the purpose of presenting conferences and other educational forums on women's health care issues.
Craik-Lord-Stitzel Family (Elizabeth Lord Stitzel, Emma Stitzel, Emma Lou Wheeler, Julia Lord) Papers, 1818-1950 (bulk 1905-1932)
3 linear feet
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The papers of the Craik-Lord-Stitzel family document the personal lives of its women members. The domestic front activities of an active family are detailed in the correspondence. Some of the activities mentioned in the letters are Red Cross knitting, canteen work, and weekend dances for Camp Taylor soldiers during World War I.
Transcript of Mary Craik, et al. v. The Minnesota State University Board, et. al., United States District Court, District of Minnesota, Sixth Division, 1981
1.75 linear feet
Educational psychologist turned fiber artist Mary Craik was born in Louisville in 1924. In 1947 she left Louisville, and at age 27 returned to school, eventually earning a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Iowa in 1968. That same year she took a position at St. Cloud State University (Minnesota). In 1976 Craik was passed over for the position of chair of the Psychology Department after being considered the top candidate. She sued the university and others in U.S. District Court, alleging class-wide and individual sexual discrimination in employment. In 1981 the defendants were held to be not guilty of unlawful discrimination as to class or to individuals. Upon appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit in 1984, the lower court's decision was reversed in part. As a result of this successful lawsuit brought by Mary Craik, lump sum payments were ordered for female faculty members who were victims of discrimination and the university was under court supervision to rectify discriminatory practices against women faculty.
Returning to Louisville in 1990, Craik used her money from the settlement to set up a scholarship fund for women students with financial need at the University of Louisville, with preference given to single parents, full-time students, or women pursuing Women's and Gender Studies degrees. In 2006 Mary Craik donated a copy of the entire transcript of the 1981 trial to the University of Louisville Archives and Records Center. Although court decisions are fairly easy to find at law libraries, the entire transcript of a case is rare. In this instance, the transcript was used for research by the attorneys for other female faculty members in later class action suits.
Crescent Hill Women's Club Records, 1916-2012
22 linear feet
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These records document the entire existence of the Crescent Hill Woman’s Club, incorporated on March 14, 1919, by combining the Crescent Hill Civic League and the Crescent Hill Mothers’ Club club, from its earliest days until it disbanded in mid-2012, and include minutes, financial records, ephemera, scrapbooks, and publications. Publications include the Club’s bulletins (1915-2012) and yearbooks (1916-2012). The scrapbooks that constitute the president's records document the activities of the Club and its members through newspaper clippings and photographs as well as more ephemeral materials such as invitations and ticket stubs. The Younger Woman’s Club and the Club’s activities around the Kosair Hospital’s gift shop are documented in these records.
Agnes Snyder Crume Papers, 1938-1988 (bulk 1938-1946)
.575 linear feet
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Agnes Snyder Crume served as senior editor of the Louisville magazine in the mid-1980s. The papers primarily consist of letters dating from 1938 to 1946 between Agnes Snyder and John Crume, who she later married. Other materials include clippings of stories that Agnes Crume wrote as a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal, personal correspondence of the Crumes, and articles written by Agnes Crume for Louisville magazine.
Allene Curry, (1924-?) Diaries, 1937-1992
.2 linear feet, 2 reels
Allene Curry, a Taylor County, Kentucky, farmer and housewife, began writing in five-year diaries in 1937 at the age of thirteen. The collection consists of eleven volumes of five-year diaries on microfilm dating from 1937 to 1992. The diaries document Curry's interests and family life in rural Kentucky.
Laura Miller Derry, (1905-1993) Papers, 1883-1992 (bulk 1937-1988)
30.375 linear feet
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Laura Miller Derry, a Louisville attorney, was the first female to represent a client before a United States Army court-martial. Derry also compiled the Digest of Woman Lawyers and Judges (1949). She was an active member of the National Association of Women Lawyers. The collection documents Derry's personal life and law practice.
Eva Rice Gaunt Papers, 1890-1919
.25 linear feet
Eva Rice Gaunt attended Bryant and Stratton Business College in Louisville, Kentucky in 1901. The collection documents life in Louisville at the turn of the twentieth century. The collection consists of playbills, clippings, memorabilia, and some personal photographs.
Equal Rights, 1928-1954, bulk 1948-1954
.10 linear feet
Seven issues of Equal Rights, the magazine of the National Women's Party. This periodical covered the progress and support of the Equal Rights Amendment and other laws affecting women. In the 1920s the magazine was published weekly, but later was issued less frequently.
Ethel Wilson Ewen Papers, 1906-1981 (bulk 1906-1919)
.10 linear foot
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Ethel May Wilson was born in Owsley County, Kentucky in 1888 and graduated from the Berea College of Nursing in 1910 and for the next seven years she did private duty nursing. In spring 1918 she joined the Army Nurse Corps, reporting for duty in June at Base Hospital #59, Camp Upton, New York. The nurses from that unit sailed in early September, eventually arriving at the hospital center at Rimercourt, France. In November Wilson was sent to St. Dizier and assigned to #41 French hospital. Wilson was discharged from the Army Nurse Corps in August 1919. In October she married Edward T. Ewen, an Army medic who she met in France. Ewen worked at home caring for her children, then from 1933 to 1936 she practiced midwifery in rural Owsley County. In 1936 the Ewen family moved to Berea and Ethel worked at the Berea College Hospital. After the children were grown, she moved to Louisville, where she did private duty nursing and worked at the Jefferson County Children’s Home, Ormsby Village. Later she worked at Sts. Mary and Elizabeth and St. Joseph Hospitals, finally retiring at age 70. A stroke at age 82 incapacitated her and she died at age 91. This small collection consists of her school records from Berea College, her Army Nurse Corps paperwork, some other World War I memorabilia, and her copies of the Kentucky State Board of Health Certificate of Birth from when she practiced midwifery.
Hortense Flexner (King) Papers
5.75 linear feet
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Poet and writer Hortense Flexner King was born in 1885 in Louisville, one of five children of Jacob and Rosa Maas Flexner. Her family included well-known education reformer Abraham Flexner; pathologist and long-time director of the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, Simon Flexner; lawyer and philanthropist Bernard Flexner; and historian Eleanor Flexner. Hortense Flexner attended the Flexner School (founded by her uncle) in Louisville for her early education, then went to Bryn Mawr College, and graduated with an A.B. and M.A. from the University of Michigan. She worked as a reporter and then editor of the women's section at the Louisville Herald from 1912 to 1919. While there, Hortense Flexner met and married cartoonist Wyncie King. Hortense Flexner worked as a writer for Curtis Publishing from 1923 to 1929, while she established herself as an active and published poet. She also taught courses in freshman English and contemporary verse at Bryn Mawr and later, modern fiction and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College. The papers of poet and writer Hortense Flexner King (1885-1973) consist of four series: correspondence, legal/financial/medical paperwork, literary production, and scrapbook materials. The correspondence is mainly incoming, but a small amount of outgoing is also present. Additionally, there is some third party correspondence. The literary output includes drafts, manuscripts, published works, and related material plus the correspondence concerning the publication of the posthumous work, Selected Poems of Hortense Flexner. There are also reviews and other items related to other published works. Scrapbook items such as photographs, printed material, newspaper clippings, and her honorary Ph.D. from the University of Louisville, along with a program for that event, photographs, and news items comprise the last series.
Jennie S. Green and Ella Green in the Green Family Farm Records, 1831-1965 (bulk 1890-1965)
61 linear feet
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The Green family farm started as a homestead and developed into a major mercantile enterprise. The family was involved in farming, lumbering, milling, banking, general store keeping and stock breeding. In the 1940s Jennie S. Green inherited full ownership of the business when her three brothers died. Jennie Green ran the operations until her death in 1965. The collection includes correspondence between Jennie Green and family members, and the business records of the farm, store, and mill. There is also an extensive photographic collection that documents farm operations and family life in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century.
Green Street Baptist Church Records, 1844-1994
3 linear feet
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The Green Street Baptist Church, one of Kentucky's oldest black churches, was founded in 1844 by George Wells as an offshoot of the First Baptist Church and was originally named Second African Church, which was later changed to the Second Colored Church. The present name was adopted around 1860. The collection contains minutes documenting membership, policy changes and disciplinary methods; correspondence; newspaper clippings; photographs; the sesquicentennial celebration book and calendar, 1844-1994; and programs noting anniversaries in 1978, 1980, and 1981, and the celebration of Women's Day in 1978.
Christine Hesse Papers 1936-1966
.50 linear feet
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Native Louisvillian Christine Hesse was one of two daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Hesse. She joined Dun & Bradstreet as secretary upon graduating from Shawnee High School in 1939 and worked her way up to researcher before retiring. Hesse was active in her church and the community, including the Republican Women's Association, the American Business Women's Association, the American Bell Association, and the Order of the Eastern Star. Her hobbies included writing poetry and articles for small local and trade publications. Hesse never married, although the World War II correspondence reveals at least two quite interested suitors. After her father's death, Hesse cared for her mother and two aunts. Hesse died in Louisville in November 1995. This small collection includes samples of Hesse's poetry, her diaries and other personal writings, and her World War II correspondence with five different soldiers, at least two of who appeared to be serious beaux.
Tina Hester Papers, 1994-1999
.50 linear foot
Tina Hester was a feminist activist who lived in Louisville, Kentucky in the 1990s. The collection includes information from various feminist groups of which Hester was a member or involved; topical files of printed material, news clippings, correspondence, and notes on political topics or events; and campaign materials and information files on various candidates for local and state elected offices.
Allie Corbin Hixson papers, 1924-2005
24.375 linear feet
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Kentucky feminist leader Allie Corbin (1924-2007) grew up in a southern Kentucky farm family. At age 18 she came to Louisville, where she met and married William Forrest Hixson (Bill). Together they raised their three children, and she combined the careers of mothering, homemaking and teaching in the Louisville public schools while pursuing further education. She is believed to be the first woman to earn a PhD in English from the University of Louisville.
Hixson became involved in the national movement for women's equality at age 51, serving as co-organizer of the Kentucky Pro-ERA Alliance and the Kentucky Women's Agenda Coalition. She led the Kentucky delegation to the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston, serving as one of the vice-chairs. She helped to found the local chapter of the Older Women's League as well as being active in the American Association of University Women, Business and Professional Women, and Rural American Women. Together with Riane Eisler, she co-authored ERA Facts and Guide, (1986) which continues to be the definitive guide to the Equal Rights Amendment. The largest portion of the collection is contained in two series: Organizational Work and Topical and Reference. Due to Hixson's vast organizational work and feminist interests, this material frequently overlaps. The collection also includes personal and biographical material as well as her own writing on a variety of subjects.
Mariam Sidebottom Houchens Papers, 1938-1987
2.5 linear feet
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Mariam Sidebottom Houchens was married to longtime University of Louisville administrator John Houchens. She actively participated in the university community and was a longtime member of the University of Louisville Women's Club. The materials include genealogical information, clippings, unpublished and published writings, and materials relating to various clubs and organizations to which she belonged.
Anna Hubbard Papers, 16.75 linear feet in the 34.25 linear foot Harlan and Anna Hubbard Papers
34.25 linear feet
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Anna (Eikenhout) Hubbard, a librarian, married writer/artist Harlan Hubbard when he was forty-three and she was forty. Together they embarked on an unorthodox and simple "back-to-nature" lifestyle. They built a houseboat and floated down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Their travels were documented by Harlan in Harlan Hubbard Journals, 1929-1944, Shantyboat On The Bayous, Payne Hollow, and Shantyboat Journal. Upon their return to Kentucky, they built a remote homestead on the Ohio River, where they lived for the rest of their lives. The collection contains correspondence between Anna and Harlan, financial and legal documents, printed materials, photographs and ephemera. Also included are Anna Hubbard's papers created prior to their marriage, her personal educational records and notes, along with diaries and journals, her literary productions, and pre-1943 memorabilia.
Iota Phi Lambda Sorority. Sigma Chapter (Louisville, Ky.), 1982-1993
.25 linear feet
Membership lists, agendas, bylaws, newsletters, Journal (Summer 1988), and workbook (1982) of local chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc., an African American women's business and professional sorority.
Selma Jacob Papers, 1987-1996
1 linear foot
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Selma Jacob, author, businesswoman, and arts promoter, was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1905. She and her husband Hyman Jacob owned Chilton Jewelers on Fourth Street for many years. They later managed a jewelry concession at 14th and Jefferson streets. She operated the business on her own for four years following her husband's death in 1980. Jacob had a lifelong interest in the arts, but it was only after her retirement that she made a name for herself as a writer, motivational speaker, and founder and director of several writing and acting groups. She served as a catalyst and nurturer of other writers and actors. She established the Cherokee Roundtable in 1986 and wrote the group's monthly newsletter, as well as other newsletters for other arts groups. She was also a longtime supporter various theater groups in the area. Jacob wrote and produced several plays locally. In 1995 her first book, Once You're Over the Hill, You Begin to Pick Up Speed!, appeared. She was working on a second book when she died in 1996. The Selma Jacob Papers consist largely of the literary material from her later retirement years, concentrating in the years from 1987 to 1996. About .3 linear feet of the collection is personal information in the form of legal documents, printed material or memorabilia.
Helen Laird Papers, 1959-1977
Volume: 1 linear feet
Helen Laird served on the Board of Directors of the Family and Children's Agency from 1958 to 1977. The papers relate to the activities of the agency and included are reports, budget materials, minutes, and informational pamphlets.
League of Women Voters Records, 1920-1984 (bulk 1920-1980)
50.5 linear feet
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The League of Women Voters in Louisville was formed in November 1920, when the Woman Suffrage Association and School Election League merged. The records include administrative materials, audits, annual reports, publications, reference files, minutes, clippings, correspondence, and program files arranged by subject.
Louisville General Hospital School of Nursing Student Records, 1915-1977
1 linear foot
The Louisville Training School for Nurses, connected with the City Hospital was chartered through the efforts of Louisville philanthropist Jenny Casseday and opened in 1887, just fourteen years after the first training school for nurses in the United States was established. Following a disagreement with the school's board and closure of the school in 1894, the Louisville Board of Public Safety immediately opened a new school at the hospital. First-year students from the previous school finished at the new school. In 1942 Louisville and Jefferson County merged their public health services under the Louisville/Jefferson County Board of Health and took control of the hospital, now named Louisville General Hospital (LGH). The school's name was accordingly changed to the Louisville General Hospital School of Nursing (LGHSN). The school was racially integrated in 1954 and admitted its first male student in 1964. In 1958 it received national accreditation. In 1967, the LGHSN graduated its last class. This collection consists of over 1100 final grade reports for graduates of the LGHSN, dating from 1915 to 1967. There are also two grade books from the LGH Nurse Aid Training School, documenting over 650 students in that program from 1969 through 1977. All student records are restricted and require permission of the University Archivist for use.
Louisville Girls High School Alumnae Club Records (1903-1988, 1919)
1.6 linear feet
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The Louisville Girls High School was established part of the original charter creating the city of Louisville with "education of females" to be a responsibility of the city. The first Louisville Female High School opened in 1856 on Green Street (now Liberty) and shortly thereafter moved to the corner of Center and Walnut Streets. A new site on First Street was dedicated in 1864 and served as the Louisville Female High School until 1898 when the enrollment outgrew the old facilities. Combined with branch girls' schools of Eastern and Western and the Commercial High Schools, Louisville Female School then moved to Fifth and Hill Streets. The school formally changed its name in 1903 to the Louisville Girls High School and continued to grow rapidly. Other girls high schools opened in 1924 (J. M. Atherton High School for Girls) and 1929 (Shawnee Girls High School), but LGHS continued to grow. In 1934, the Reuben Post Halleck Hall was dedicated on nine acres at Second and Lee Streets. It served as Louisville Girls High School until the last class graduated in 1950; at that time, it became coeducational and changed names to DuPont Manual. This small collection (1.6 linear feet) features histories, mementos, yearbooks, photographs and newspaper clippings associated with the Louisville Girls High School and its Alumnae Club.
Louisville Woman-Church Records, 1970s-2000s
1.00 linear feet
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Louisville Women-Church began around 1981 as the Louisville Woman/Church Task Force, a gathering of men and women whose purpose was to study the role of women in the Catholic Church. The group, which included priests, women religious, and lay people, was committed to working for the embodiment of equality in church structures to include women in primary decision making. Louisville Women-Church was also a member of Women-Church Convergence, a national coalition of groups who share the vision of furthering feminist theology, equality in ministry, and peace and justice for all peoples. The group was particularly active in the 1980s and 1990s and their contributions included annual conferences, the New Vision quarterly newsletter, and organized liturgies. The bulk of the collection dates from 1982-1989. It includes meeting minutes and membership information as well as records of their activities, their own published material, and material published by other organizations that was of interest to Women-Church.
MacDowell Music Club Records, 1931-ongoing
9.10 linear feet
The MacDowell Music Club was founded in 1923 and named after the American composer Edward MacDowell. Though apparently not restricted to female membership, historically, the majority of its members have been women. The club sponsors scholarships and assists young people's attendance at music camps. The collection contains minutes, correspondence, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Margaret Merrick Papers, 1990-1997
.5 linear feet
Margaret T. Merrick lives in Louisville and is an active member of the Friends of the Louisville Free Public Library and the Friends of the Iroquois Branch Library. This collection of papers dating from 1990 through 1997 documents her participation in both organizations, including her term on the Board of Directors of the Friends from 1993 to 1998, serving as president from 1994 to 1995 and secretary from 1996 to 1998. She was also chair of the Friends of the Iroquois Branch from 1997 to 1999. The collection includes by-laws, minutes, financial reports, printed material, and correspondence. Some years there is material on the annual Author's Dinner and/or the semi-annual Book Sales.
Lois Morris (1919-1989) Papers, 1920-1988 (bulk 1955-1988)
10.75 linear feet
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Lois Morris was a former Louisville, Kentucky, alderman and a civil rights leader. Morris was a prominent member of Louisville African American society and served on the desegregation committee for the Jefferson County schools. Morris' papers are arranged in eight series: biographical; correspondence; political; financial; clubs/groups social civic; organizations political; reference; and scrapbook material.
National Organization for Women (NOW), Jefferson County Chapter Organizational records, circa 1986-2001
5.875 linear feet
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The National Organization for Women, Jefferson County Chapter was founded in the late 1960s and early 1970s working on issues such as equal pay, promotion and treatment on the job; rape prevention, medical and police treatment of rape victims, including counseling thereafter; and abortion availability and counseling. Many of the early meetings were held at the Jefferson Community College, but membership drew heavily from working women and faculty and students at nearby colleges. This collection includes organizational records (minutes, financial records, and correspondence) publications, reference files, chapter newsletters, meeting notice flyers and post cards, occasional agendas, articles and letters to editors regarding upcoming meetings, and memorabilia.
Oak Park Woman's Club Records, 1952-1998
4 linear feet
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The Oak Park Woman's Club was founded in 1953 as a neighborhood women's organization in Jeffersonville, Indiana, with the purpose of bringing together women of the community to help each other and promote the welfare of the local area. The members worked on civic and social issues, holding fundraisers such as rummage sales, card parties, and an annual Christmas bazaar and auction. Money raised was distributed to charitable organizations and used to fund scholarships in southern Indiana. It appears that the group disbanded in 1998. This collection includes copies of by-laws, financial records, minutes, correspondence, reports, and scrapbooks from 1952 through 1998 which document the activities of the Oak Park Women's Club.
Edith Oldham Papers, 1923-1995 (bulk 1975-1995)
1.75 linear feet
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Edith Oldham was a Jefferson County, Kentucky, school teacher. The collection contains genealogical information, photographs and Oldham's literary productions: poems, short stories, essays, and observations.
Joy Portugal Papers, 1966-1984
2.5 linear feet
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This collection contains materials related to various movement organizations in Louisville and around the South from 1966-1984, created and collected by Joy Portugal, an activist with some of these organizations.
Presbyterian Community Center Records, 1900 ca.-1960s
12 linear feet
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The original Presbyterian Colored Mission was started as a small Sunday School in 1898. The activities expanded over the years and included sewing classes, manual training, cooking classes, playgrounds and activities for old age groups. This collection includes annual reports, correspondence, photographs, minutes, reports of audits, programs, and scrapbooks of news clippings and printed materials.
Pro-Choice Coalition of Kentucky Records, 1989-2000
1.75 linear feet
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After coming together in 1989 as a direct result of the U.S. Supreme Court's Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services decision, the 28 member organization had strong and active participation from state affiliate groups. The Pro-Choice Coalition of Kentucky was an umbrella group which rallied to protect the reproductive rights of Kentucky women with help from groups such as the American Association of University Women, the American Civil Liberties Union, Business and Professional Women, and the League of Women Voters, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Organization for Women, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Planned Parenthood, and many others. The PCCK had active participation in the Kentucky legislation where the Coalition's member organizations provided volunteers who traveled to the capitol frequently to meet with legislators to discuss strategies. The Pro-Choice Coalition of Kentucky disbanded in 2005 due to organizational issues. This 1.75 linear foot collection consists mostly of financial records with a small amount of correspondence and published materials concerning the beliefs and bylaws of the organization.
Rebecca and Mary Shoppe Records, 1944-1947 (bulk 1944-1946)
.5 linear feet
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The Rebecca and Mary Shoppe was a women's apparel shop owned by two women, Rebecca Aldridge and Mary K. Shuster. The shop was located in the Brown Building at Fourth and Broadway in Louisville, Kentucky. The collection contains financial records for the shop, deposit slips, invoices, inventories, ledger books, licenses, tax forms, a lease, and petty cash records.
Cleda Ruddell Papers, 1864-1975
5 linear feet
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Cleda Ruddell, a native of Indiana, was an only child who never married. Her collection includes the correspondence of her mother, Estelle. One letter, dated in January 1864, was written by Cleda's uncle who was fighting against the Confederate Army in Tennessee. Also present in the collection are correspondence, diaries, financial records, photographs, and family Bibles.
Swagar Sherley Papers, 1880-1941
27 linear feet
Swagar Sherley was an attorney in Louisville and a United States congressman from 1903 to 1919. On a 1905 congressional party trip to the Orient (known as the Taft Party), he met Mignon Critten, a companion of Alice Roosevelt. They married in 1906. The Swagar Sherley papers include a diary kept by Mignon during the trip, correspondence and family memorabilia.
Patsie E. Sloan Scrapbook, 1922-1947
.25 linear feet
Patsie Sloan was an early Louisville policewoman, serving from 1929 to 1938. She was also a neighborhood leader in the South Louisville area, a student at Louisville Municipal College, and later a social worker. Her papers document her police service and her role as a PTA leader. They also include a report on the 1937 Ohio River flood and her 1937 student paper, "A Study of the Louisville Division of Police." A small portion of the collection relates to her children.
Smith Family Papers, 1897-1978
9.25 linear feet
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The Smith family were influential members of Louisville's black community. Verna Smith was a member of the National Housewives League and served the Democratic Party on the local and national level. She was the first black president of a local Democratic club and the first black woman to be a co-captain of a precinct. Charlotte Smith McGill was married to Hughes McGill, a member of the Kentucky legislature. At his death in 1970, Charlotte consented to serve out his unexpired term. In 1971 she was elected to the first of three full terms on her own. The collection contains correspondence, financial and legal documents, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Emilie Strong Smith Papers, 1953-1980
1.25
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Emilie Strong Smith was a supporter of the performing arts in Louisville. The collection document three of Smith's endeavors: the Chamber Music Society; the Lee Luvisi Fund, to support a prominent local pianist; and the Save the Playhouse campaign.
Eva Sesmer and Herbert Mitchell Snyder Papers, 1908-1978
1 linear feet
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Eva Sesmer Snyder of Louisville, Kentucky was a Russian emigre. She was a World War I Army nurse, teacher of United States citizenship and the Russian language, a relief nurse during the 1937 flood and author of several poems and articles. Her writings dealt largely with items of local interest, her husband's work as a local pharmacist, and patriotic themes. The papers include correspondence, photographs, financial documents, literary productions and memorabilia. See also collection at Kornhauser Health Sciences Library.
Alice Speed Stoll Papers (1914-1945, incomplete)
.25 linear feet
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This small collection of papers was found at an auction and then given to the University Archives. There was nothing to identify the papers as a whole, but most of the items have some reference to prominent Louisvillians Alice Speed Stoll or her husband Berry Stoll, including correspondence addressed to one or both of them. Alice Speed Stoll was the daughter of William S. Speed, president of the Louisville Cement Company and founder of the Louisville Collegiate School. Berry Stoll was the vice-president of Stoll Oil Refining Company and the son of its president, Charles C. Stoll. The Stolls were in the national news following the much-publicized kidnapping of Mrs. Stoll in October 1934, but nothing in this collection refers to the kidnapping. This incomplete collection dates from 1914-1945, with much of the material undated.
Jean Brandeis Tachau Papers, 1900-1976
.1 linear feet
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Jean Brandeis Tachau was a social worker for the Children's Protection Association in Louisville during the 1920s. In 1933 Tachau helped establish the Kentucky Birth Control League along with a clinic, the forerunner of Planned Parenthood in Louisville. Tachau was the niece of United States Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis. The collection consists of a seventy-one-page typescript reminiscence of visits to Louisville by her uncle, life on family farms in eastern Jefferson county, the growth of classical music in Louisville, and her role in social welfare activities, including the birth control movement.
Towle Family Papers, 1915-1954 (bulk 1939-1943)
.5 linear feet
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Ralph Towle was a real estate agent and a Republican alderman in the 1920s. The core of the collection is the papers of his daughter Virginia. Virginia's papers include her letters home from Sweet Briar College in Virginia, and descriptions of her efforts to join the WAVEs and her acceptance into the WACs during World War II. Also included is correspondence between Virginia and some of her friends.
United Service Organization, Louisville Service Club Inc. Records, 1942-1977
3.25 linear feet
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The United Service Organization provides wholesome entertainment for armed services men and women. While the organization is not limited to women, historically the majority of the volunteers have been female. The records include correspondence, USO publicity, minutes, audits, volunteer lists, attendance records and diary, financial records, and photographs.
Walls-Atkins Family Papers, 1866-1980 (bulk 1927-1965)
3.75 linear feet
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Murray B. Atkins Walls was a leader in the struggle for integrated facilities, open housing, and civil rights in Louisville, Kentucky, from the mid-1930s through the mid-1970s. The material consists of clippings, civic and personal correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, texts of speeches, newsletters, programs, and awards and citations. Some family genealogy and a small amount of papers of her husband, Dr. John H. Walls, is also included.
Inda Wangerin Papers, 1943-1953, bulk 1943-1947
1.625 linear feet
Born in Texas in 1922, Inda Mae Beasley lived with her great-grandparents in Montevallo, Missouri from infancy. She attended high school in Nevada, Missouri, where she was active in music and sports, graduating in 1939. After graduation she moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where she lived until 1953 and she worked in various defense plants during World War II. She married Lyle William Roland in May 1941, and he was declared missing in action in 1944. In 1948 she went to work for the Kansas City Philharmonic Association, where she met her future husband, Richard Henry Wangerin. They married in 1953 upon moving to Louisville where he became Executive Director of the Louisville Orchestra and she eventually became an accountant and managed a mutual fund for the The Sachs Company. Her interests include sports, music, horseback riding and ballroom dancing, in which she won the U.S. Ballroom Scholarship International Championships in 1998 and 1999. This collection consists mainly of correspondence and memorabilia from soldiers serving in the military during World War II, including from the donor's brother, half-brother, brother-in-law, and first husband.
Ruth Wareing Papers, 1951
.25 linear feet
Ruth Wareing graduated from the Louisville General Hospital School of Nursing in 1951. She later worked as a registered nurse at General Hospital and Humana Hospital. Wareing donated the nurse's pin issued by Louisville General Hospital School of Nursing in 1951.
Louise Weiller (1904-1996) Papers, 1897-1994
17.5 linear feet
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Louise Weiller was a radio personality, author and a founding member of the Louisville Ballet. Weiller hosted two radio programs, wrote numerous newspaper and newsletter columns, and was frequent speaker to various organizations. This collection documents the lives of Louise Weiller and her daughter Connie, particularly Louise's career, hobbies and interest in Eastern philosophy and religions.
Rebecca Westerfield (1950- ) Papers, 1964-1992
13.75 linear feet
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Rebecca Westerfield served as a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge from 1987 to 1992. She also co-chaired the Kentucky Task Force for Gender Fairness in the Courts. These papers primarily document her legal career and also include some material about professional and civic organizations to which she belonged.
Elizabeth Arterburn Wilson Papers, 1902-1998
1.75 linear feet
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This collection contains a diary, photograph albums, correspondence and other material that document the life and work of Elizabeth Wilson. Wilson participated in the establishment of the Louisville Service Club, one of the first U.S.O.'s in the country, and this colletion documents her work there. Her papers also reflect her involvement with community theater in Louisville, with the Neighborhoud House settlement house, and with the municipal recreation department. The collection also includes photograph albums that document her family's life and life at the University of Louisville in the 1910s and 1920s.
Women's Overseas Service League Records, circa 1917-1918
.25 linear feet
This collection contains pictures, news clippings, and other memorabilia concerning women who served overseas in World War I.
Young Women's Christian Association of Louisville Records, 1911-1979
54.25 linear feet
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The Young Women's Christian Association of Louisville was started in 1912 with programs focusing on religious studies, physical fitness and education. Over the years the programs grew to meet the changing times. Some examples include summer camps, a hostess house for Camp Taylor during World War I, special training programs during the 1930s, and teenage parenting programs and spouse abuse programs in the 1970s. The records include legal documents, constitution and bylaws, board of directors and various committee minutes, correspondence, printed and published material, photographs, and financial records.