English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians

Our Archives contains some fascinating volumes in its collection, and one of these is English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, edited by Cecil J. Sharp. Sharp traveled throughout the southern mountains from 1916 to 1918, collecting songs from numerous singers in North Carolina, Tennesse, Virginia, West Virginia, and, of course, Kentucky. His travels in this state included several counties -- Fayette and Madison, plus Lee, Breathitt, Clay, Knott, Perry, Leslie, Harlan, Knox, and Bell. There are ballads and songs, hymns and nursery song, jigs and play-party songs. Tunes and variants of tunes, texts and various texts, are found in the book. For anyone who delights in singing these songs, for scholars of English ballads, for researchers in Appalachian studies, this is a resource to treasure.

Major Family Papers

The Papers of the Major Family of Frankfort Now Open to Researchers!

The University Archives is pleased to announce that an important collection of 19th century material has been organized and arranged, and is open to researchers. The Major Family was a prominent Frankfort family in the mid-nineteenth century. The majority of the manuscripts and documents in this collection relate to Samuel Ire Monger Major II, who was the editor and publisher of the influential Kentucky Yeoman and a noted local politician (member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, mayor of Frankfort following the Civil War), civic leader, and entrepreneur. In addition, a number of documents relate to his: grandfather, Francis, a farmer and early settler of Franklin County; father, Samuel Ire Monger Major I, who was Clerk of the Penitentiary of Kentucky, a businessman, politician and noted local civic leader during the early days of Frankfort; brother, Dr. Patrick Major, who was a business partner and confidant, and whose correspondence reflects their close relationship; and son, Patrick Upshaw Major, a well-known attorney and judge.

A number of the Major family women are represented here as well, including: Margaret (Peggy) Porter who was married to Francis Major; Martha Hipkins Bohannon married to Samuel Major I, and known as Martha H. Major; and Mary Brown Scott who married Samuel Major II to become Mary B. Major. Unfortunately, there is very little biographical information regarding the Major Family women. But the extensive correspondence between the women, to and from their husbands, fathers and sons as well as with cousins and friends give more than a passing glimpse into their social background, daily lives, education, and some sense of their political and financial views.

There are personal documents that range from poetry to journals, business and financial papers that concern a wide range of endeavors, land and legal documentation such as deeds and land grants for holding in Kentucky and Virginia as well as other states, and political material that relates to campaigns and political beliefs.

Researchers and scholars will find this collection is rich in primary source material relating to the politics, events and repercussions of the Civil War as well as the business and personal aspects of American Slavery.

Jennie Jeffers Ashby

Several years ago we processed a small collection of papers from long-time teacher Jennie Jeffers Ashby, who received a Normal Life Diploma from Eastern Kentucky State Normal School in 1907.

Bill Ellis, retired EKU history faculty, wrote his August 2010 Kentucky Monthly column about Mrs. Ashby and her teaching career. Her memoirs offer a wonderful look at education in Kentucky during the first half of the 20th century.

Check out the article or better yet come in and look at the collection.

Central University

The President's Office just sent this great woodcut to archives. It was taken from a German edition of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in 1886. The caption under the University Building means Main Building and the other building is Memorial Hall.

Historic Madison County, KY Architecture

The University Archives recently collaborated with the Madison County Historical Society (MCHS) to make their out of print publication, Madison County Rediscovered : Selected Historic Architecture, by Lavinia Kubiak available online.

The MCHS provided funds for a graduating history student who had worked in the archives to process and scan the photos used in the book. On the placeography.org wiki site created by the Minnesota Historical Society, he created a page for each building using the text and photos from the book.

Placeography offers users the opportunity to upload additional images of the building, make notes on the building and record their memories of any building. At this time only buildings are included on the Madison County site, but structures, historic sites and tours can also be added.

There is more work to do to make the information more accessible, but play with it and add your memories.

Civil War Newspaper

EKU archives was lucky enough to find a Towanda, Pennsylvania newspaper, The Bradford Argus, dated September 3, 1862 on eBay recently. If you're a Civil War buff you might recognize that the date is right after the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky and they printed a really nice account of the battle.

Gold Star Men

The Gold Star Men collection was compiled to honor the Eastern men killed during World War II service. It consisted of three photo albums with photographs of each soldier and a card with information about his rank, hometown, attendance at Eastern and death. One volume was "Graduates and Faculty"; the other volumes were "Former Students Who Did Not Graduate".

The collection was just processed and digitized. The albums were disassembled and all photographs arranged in alphabetical order and sleeved with the card. The finding aid can be found here and the images can be seen on Flickr.