DR. JANE HASELDEN, 1903-1991

Jane Haselden, a Lancaster, Kentucky native, graduated from Transylvania University in 1926 with a degree in French.  As a graduation present her parents sent Haselden to study in Paris for a year.  

Following her return to the United States she became a teacher, first in Beattyville, Kentucky and subsequently in her hometown of Lancaster.  While in Beattyville, Haselden achieved some notoriety for coaching the boys' basketball team at the local high school.  

During summers Haselden worked toward a master's degree at Columbia University, a goal she achieved in 1932.  After serving as Dean of Women at both Transylvania University and Murray State Teachers College in Western Kentucky, Haselden completed a Ph.D. in Psychology at UK.

Haselden also held a pilot’s license.  She and Anna Mayrell Johnson jointly owned an airplane and were known to rush out to the local airport during their lunch breaks to fly their plane over Lexington.  One time Haselden even flew her plane over Stoll Field during a football game between Kentucky and Alabama.  

Haselden and Johnson actively participated in the Kentucky chapter of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots affiliated with the National Aeronautic Association in Washington D.C.  Haselden recalled that as the war began "casual flying" came to an end because the war changed things for everyone.   She was one of only three women who were members of the committee which drafted Kentucky's civil aviation regulations.

For additional information see:  

http://libguides.transy.edu/JaneHaselden  (Transylvania University)

Dean of Women Papers, Special Collections Research Center, UK Libraries

Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, UK Libraries
Interview with Jane Haselden, October 17, 1989
https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt7ksn012j09
Interview with Jane Haselden, October 27, 1989

https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt7z348gj469

CHIEF JUSTICE FRED M. VINSON

University of Kentucky Libraries officially accepted the collection of Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson at a dedication ceremony in 1977.  Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark, featured speaker at the ceremony, described Vinson as a man of deeds whose life and career could be summarized by noting his "dedication, common sense, and perseverance. He was led on by a continuous crusade to find the truth which he believed to be the only absolute."

Fred M. Vinson
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Jean Baker Henrich

Born near Louisa, Kentucky in 1890, Vinson graduated from Centre College in 1911. President Harry Truman appointed him Chief Justice in 1946.  Truman's choice of Vinson came as no big surprise but some still questioned the qualifications of the former city attorney, commonwealth's attorney, Member of Congress, Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, Secretary of the Treasury, and close friend of President Truman.

At the time of his nomination, the nation's highest court was being harshly criticized for the feuding among the justices and the perception of politics within the court.  In the midst of what many believed to be one of the low points in the court's history The New York Times editorialized:

         "The Supreme Court, like any human institution, has its bad moments.  It has
         lately had a good many such.  It does not stand as high in popular respect as it
         did.  Under Chief Justice Vinson it should have a chance to climb back on
         the high bench--the loftiest and most responsible judicial bench in the
         world--and resume its task of interpreting the Constitution.  Liberals and
         conservatives on the Court there will still be, but we may hope that the clash
         of their philosophies will now be dignified and fruitful.  Mr. Vinson has his     
         opportunity."

Vinson Court

The Supreme Court members at the beginning of the Brown case. Front row, left to right: Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, Fred Vinson, Stanley Reed, and William O. Douglas. Back row: Tom Clark, Robert Jackson, Harold Burton, and Sherman Minton. 

(Courtesy of Supreme Court of the United States) 

Vinson was unable to end all of the bickering on the court.  Moreover, his death in 1953 makes it impossible to know if Vinson could have led the court through the Brown decision in 1954,  At least one biographer argues that the unanimous decisions of the Vinson Court regarding race made the Brown decision possible.

The Fred Vinson Collection is comprised of over 400 boxes of correspondence and legal papers and over 200 photographs.  Twenty-four oral history interviews regarding Vinson's life and career are also available in the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History.

For further information see:

James E. St. Clair and Linda C Gugin, Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky: A Political Biography

Kentucky Encyclopedia

Helen Galvin King - UK's First Alumni Director

As the University of Kentucky prepares to begin a new era of leadership it is a good time to remember the Alumni Association's first director who devoted most of her adult life to the Association and to the University of Kentucky.

Helen Galvin King (1904-1985) became the first Director of the UK Alumni Association in 1946. She served the Association with distinction until her retirement in 1969.

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A 1925 graduate of UK in Journalism, King held positions in marketing, public relations, and with newspapers before directing the Alumni Association.  In 1959 she launched a fundraising drive to secure $335,000 to build and furnish the Alumni House at Euclid Avenue and Rose Street.  The building was later named the Helen King Alumni House in her honor.

King participated in an interview for the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in 1977 in which she discusses her student days at UK and her work with the UK Alumni Association.  The link to the interview is below:

https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/catalog/xt74mw289s88

Staff receive Dean's Awards for Outstanding Performance

UK Libraries will honor three staff members with the 2016 Dean's Awards for Outstanding Performance. Josh Monroe, Beth Reeder, and Kopana Terry will receive their awards during the annual UK Libraries Employee Celebration. This is the highest honor accorded to staff by UK Libraries.

Josh Monroe

Monroe is a Monograph Library Specialist at William T. Young Library. He is head of the monographs area, and provides support to all academic liaison librarians by sourcing print and electronic materials needed by UK faculty, staff, and students. He was nominated by Jen Bartlett, Head of Young Library Reference Services.

“I have frequently been amazed at the speed and efficiency with which Josh locates and orders materials,” said Bartlett. “Rarely has there been a situation in which Josh has been unable to find what faculty need, in whatever format; often he locates these materials at much cheaper cost than anticipated.”

Monroe is also active in UK Libraries committees and activities. He recently gave a presentation to LEX Week interns on the basics of acquisitions, and will be repeating the presentation for graduate assistant training. Every fall he volunteers to work at the welcome desk to greet new students in Young Library.

Beth Reeder

Reeder is a Library Technician Senior in the Agricultural Information Center. She manages the public service operations of the AIC, including student hiring and supervision. Valerie Perry, director of the AIC and head of Branch Libraries, nominated Reeder.

“Not only is Beth completely reliable and dependable, but she is also an excellent problem solver and innovator,” said Perry. “Beth gained significant extra responsibilities in the past two years, as she coordinated and planned two major facility renovations and upgrades. We are fortunate to have such a fine employee leading our public service efforts.”

Reeder has taken on projects that were ongoing when she arrived at UK Libraries, including migrating VHS holdings to DVDs and major review of the AIC reference collection. She also serves on UK Libraries committees, and participates in numeours library workshops, campus activities, webinars, and regional conferences.

Kopana Terry

Terry is an Oral History Archivist in the Special Collections Research Center Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History. She oversees the accessioning of new oral history interviews, the description of the existing collection, processing interviews, digitization and preservation of interviews, and preparation of interviews for reference requests. She also manages Nunn Center student employees. Terry was nominated by Nunn Center Director Dr. Doug Boyd.

“Last year we indexed a record number of interviews in a single year. Additionally, Kopana accessioned 624 new interviews in 2015 – also unprecedented,” said Boyd. “We have a very successful oral history archival operation. This is, in large part, thanks to Kopana’s determination, dedication, and – most importantly – her focused attention on implementation.”

According to Boyd, “the Nunn Center’s success depends heavily on the oral history archivist position, and this year Kopana Terry has taken her role to a new level.”

In addition to recognition at the Employee Celebration, the awardees will recognized during the UK Libraries Spring Gala on May 10, 2016. 

"Men of Note" concert creates harmony between archives and the arts

The "Men of Note" were a prominent fixture on the Lexington jazz scene for decades.

On March 31, 2016, at 7 p.m. in the Singletary Center on the University of Kentucky campus, the UK Jazz Ensemble led by Miles Osland and the UK Repertory Jazz Band led by Brad Kerns will play a concert from historical arrangements by the “Men of Note," a band that played a leading part in the Lexington jazz scene for many years. Special guest performers will be surviving members of Men of Note. The concert is free and open to the public.

UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center holds a rich archive of materials on the Men of Note. Archival materials include the band's book of arrangements, an historic collection of charts dating back to the early 1940s. In 2014 Dick Domek, professor emeritus in the UK School of Music and member of Men of Note, and Gail Kennedy of SCRC began recording oral histories with band members for the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History. The interviews focus on recollections of band members and the history of jazz music. The collections also include the personal memorabilia of Byron Romanowitz, noted Lexington architect and jazz musician who anchored the Men of Note beginning in the 1980s until the band's dissolution in 2009. 

SCRC offers "Archives Basics" for community record-keepers

Participants in the "Archives Basics" workshop represented 15 community organizations.

The UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center hosted 15 community archivists and genealogists for a three-hour “archives basics” workshop on March 9, 2016.  Central Kentucky non-profit organizations represented included: the African American Genealogical Group of Kentucky, Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Faulkner-Morgan Archive, First African Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Berea, Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum/Robert H. Williams Cultural Center, Lexington Community Land Trust, Lyric Theatre, Main Street Baptist Church, Mary Todd Lincoln House, The Plantory, and U I D yoU IDentify local African American Friends and Family Facebook page. Several of the participants who attended are active in multiple organizations.

Topics included the historical value of organizational records, selecting records for permanent retention, inventorying and storing physical and digital records, providing access to researchers, digitization methods and standards, and outreach and exhibits. A break and a tour of Special Collections offered networking and small group discussion opportunities, as well as the possibility of seeing archival work in action.

The workshop built on a successful workshop that Special Collections held last November for African American church clerks and secretaries. Demand for an archival basics workshop grew as a result.

SCRC staff presenting included: Ruth Bryan, director of Technical Services and University Archivist; Nancy DeMarcus, University Records manager; Sarah Dorpinghaus, digital archivist; Reinette Jones, oral history librarian and African American studies academic liaison; Matthew Strandmark, education archivist; and Stacie Williams, Learning Lab manager. 

 “The records of community organizations and of individual community members are of great value to all of us in helping us understand who we are and what we can achieve together. Reaching out to community members and providing support for preserving and sharing those records is an important role for the Special Collections Research Center. We look forward to continuing to work together with former and future workshop attendees to advance our common mission,” said workshop organizer Ruth Bryan.

Remembering civil rights icons through oral history and archives

Georgia Davis Powers (Photo by the Louisville Courier-Journal)

Two icons of the civil rights struggle in Kentucky died recently: Senator Georgia Davis Powers and Judge Ben Shobe. The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History had previously recorded interviews with both Senator Powers and Judge Shobe.

Senator Powers was both the first woman and the first African-American to serve in the Kentucky Senate from 1968 to 1989.  Senator Powers was also one of the organizers of the 1964 March for Freedom on the state capital in Frankfort.

Judge Ben Shobe, right, takes the oath of office
(Photo by the Louisville Courier-Journal)

An accomplished trial lawyer, Judge Shobe became one of the first African-American judges in Kentucky.  He previously worked with attorney and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall on the successful legal effort to admit Lyman Johnson to UK as the first African-American student.  

Nunn Center Director Dr. Doug Boyd spoke to WUKY about Powers on this week’s episode of “Saving Stories.” The audio is available online. You can find more information on the UK Libraries Notable Kentucky African-American Database. Photos of Powers from civil rights history in Kentucky also appear in the Jim Curtis photograph collection on ExploreUK.

UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is home to the papers of Georgia Davis Powers. The collection is approximately 10 cubic feet and dates from 1949-2011. It should be fully processed and available later in 2016. 

Included in the collection are scrapbooks, manuscript drafts, speeches, notebooks, research materials, correspondence, subject files, audio cassettes, photographs, and ephemera relating to her political career, social activism, and publications. The scrapbooks and scrapbook pages chronicle her time serving in the Kentucky state senate as well as her involvement in the civil rights movement.

The collection additionally contains documents relating to Senator Powers' political career and continued advocacy for equal rights, particularly through the Louisville Branch of the NAACP. Her writings and research materials relate primarily to her publications, Celia’s Land and The Adventures of the Book Revelation, A Bible Prophecy, as well as extensive biographical notes. Her notepads chronicle her daily activities and thoughts from 1995-2008 and her correspondence is of both a personal and professional nature.

The Nunn Center’s video interview with Judge Shobe is available in the Nunn Center’s SPOKEdB system.

Nunn Center shares collected "Wisdom'" via podcast series

By Jillian Waitkus

Last October the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History initiated a new podcast, The Wisdom Project. The series of history-related podcasts draw from carefully selected oral interviews and projects from the Nunn Center’s archives of over 10,000 interviews.

"With the surging popularity of podcasting, The Wisdom Project seemed to be a natural progression for the Nunn Center," said director Dr. Doug Boyd. Boyd and oral history archivist Kopana Terry have collaborated on this project to provide "a tremendous opportunity for people to experience to history in a format that is both educational as well as entertaining."

The Wisdom Project website will be updated frequently with additional podcast topics. The website currently has four episodes, each with its own intriguing story.

"Episode #001: Interviewing Jackie O.," is based on an interview conducted by Dean Terry Birdwhistell in 1981. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reminisces about her relationship with John Sherman Cooper, a long-time U.S. senator from Kentucky, and his wife, Lorraine. She also describes numerous social engagements she attended after the election of President John F. Kennedy in this very personal interview.

"Episode #002: Original Recipe for a Kentucky Startup" features a 1977 oral interview conducted by a UK undergraduate students with the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harland Sanders. The segment explores the early history KFC from its humble beginnings. The colonel also offers advice on the importance of hard work and integrity in the business world. Excerpts from interviews with John Y Brown, Jr. discuss the purchase of the franchise in 1964 and its transition into the global marketplace.

In the two interviews that make up "Episode #003: Veteran’s Stories: Remembering the D-Day Invasion," World War II veterans and Kentucky natives Louis Bowers and Jesse Beazley recall their participation in the  invasion of Normandy, France, in the summer of 1944. Bill Marshall, former director of Special Collections, conducted these interviews in 1985 and 1994.

Louis Bowers, a member of the Fourth Infantry Division that spearheaded the invasion, talks about the misconceptions of D-Day alongside the impressive tact and skill of German soldiers. Jesse Beazley remembers his hopelessness of ever returning home and his intentional disconnection from fellow soldiers in light of their impending deaths. These interviews add real voices to the tragedy and chaos World War II soldiers faced every day.

The most recent podcast features interviews with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The two civil rights leaders spoke separately with Kentucky-born writer Robert Penn Warren, but often referenced each other in their interviews.

"Quite frankly, we’re having a great time producing The Wisdom Project, so tune in for upcoming episodes," Boyd said.

All of the podcasts are preserved at the Louie B. Nunn Center in the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center. The podcasts can be found online at http://nunncenter.org/wisdomproject/ and are available on SoundCloud.

Adapted with permission from UKNow.

Exactly: a new tool for digital file acquisitions

Last week AVPreserve and the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History announced the release of a new tool for born-digital acquisition and delivery.

Building on work originally begun by the Gates Archive, the Nunn Center and AVPreserve developed Exactly to meet the growing need for archives to acquire born-digital content directly from donors and to begin the steps for establishing provenance and fixity early in the process of acquisition.

Read more about how the Nunn Center is using Exactly here.

Exactly is a simple and easy-to-use application for remotely and safely transferring any born-digital material from a sender to a recipient. Exactly utilizes the BagIt File Packaging Format, supports FTP transfer as well as standard network transfers, and integrates into desktop-based file sharing workflows such as Dropbox or Google Drive. Additionally, Exactly allows the recipient to create customized metadata templates for the sender to fill out before submission. Exactly can send email notifications with transfer data and manifests when files have been delivered to the archive.

For more on Exactly, read the news release from AVPreserve.

"The Wisdom Project" podcast debuts

The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History released the first episode of a new podcast, "The Wisdom Project", this week. Produced by Nunn Center director Dr. Doug Boyd, the first episode takes a look back at the 1981 Nunn Center interview with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, pulling back the curtain to see how oral history records are created. Dean Terry Birdwhistell reflects on his experience interviewing Ms. Onassis at her home in New York City.

Kopana Terry and associate dean for the Special Collections Research Center Deirdre Scaggs also appear in the podcast.

The Wisdom Project is available online via Soundcloud or through the iTunes store.

Dr. Doug Boyd visits Australia to speak on oral history

Dr. Doug Boyd
(Photo courtesy National Library of Australia.)

Dr. Doug Boyd, Director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, delivered the keynote address at the National Conference of Oral History Australia in Perth, Australia, on September 9, 2015.  Dr. Boyd spoke on “Play, Record, Pause: How Technology is Changing the Practice and Purpose of Oral History,” and highlighted the Nunn Center’s experience developing OHMS (the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer) to enhance access to online oral history. 

Also while in Australia, Dr. Boyd lectured at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, as well as for Oral History New South Wales in Sydney.