New Wade Hall Collection Guides on ExploreUK!

A new batch of over 100 collection guides, processed as a part of a National Endowment for the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grant, entitled “P.S. Write Again Soon”: Revealing 200 Years of the American Mosaic through the Wade Hall Collection of American Letters, has been added to ExploreUK! The collections cover over 200 years of American history and a variety of topics including everyday life, the effects of war, sexuality, mental health, race, and familial and romantic relationships. A selection of collection guides have been highlighted below. The full list of published Wade Hall Collection of American Letters guides can be found here!

2009ms132.0043: Briggs family papers - The Briggs family papers (dated 1847-1868; 0.22 cubic feet; 16 folders) comprise letters to William Briggs and his sister Mary, from extended relatives and friends that document life leading up to and during the Civil War.

Briggs family letter discussing the capture and death of John Wilkes Booth

2009ms132.0067: Chris Astle letters - The Chris Astle letters (dated 1951-1962; 0.05 cubic feet; 4 folders) comprise letters that document the experiences of an airman stationed at Wheeler Air Force Base in Tripoli, Libya during the early 1960s.

Announcement of Astle's promotion to Airman First Class

2009ms132.0089: Jenkins family letters - The Jenkins family letters (dated 1909-1945, bulk 1909-1911; 0.8 cubic feet; 2 boxes) comprise letters between June and Alleen Jenkins that document the intricacies of their courtship and relationship during the early twentieth century.

2009ms132.0097: Rowland Green Railey letters - The Rowland G. Railey letters (dated 1887-1938; 1.8 cubic feet; 4 boxes) comprise letters that document farming practices and responses to personal advertisements at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.

2009ms132.0099: Noel Trahern papers - The Noel Trahern papers (dated 1944-1966; 0.37 cubic feet; 14 folders) comprise diaries and materials that document the military service of his service during World War II and later in the Army and Air Force.

2009ms132.0126: Pettus-Speiden family papers - The Pettus-Speiden family papers (dated 1891-1928, bulk 1904-1917; 1.4 cubic feet; 4 boxes) comprise letters and short writings that document the experiences of an upper class family in Louisville, Kentucky during the last decade of the nineteenth century through World War I.

2009ms132.0128: Edna J. "Boots" Lemons Storts papers - The Edna J. "Boots" Lemons Storts papers (dated 1912-1943, bulk 1942-1943; 0.35 cubic feet; 1 box) comprise letters and papers documenting the experiences of soldiers in the Marine Corps, Army, and Navy stationed stateside and abroad during World War II.

Drawing of a picture of Edna that she received from a boyfriend