UA36I Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Series 1: Bess Cherry

Description: Records created by and about Bess Fayne Cherry primarily personal correspondence with family and friends and arranged in chronological order. It contains news and information about her children, Josephine, Elizabeth and Henry Hardin, Jr. ("Hardin"); her recovery from a cracked bone suffered after a fall in the summer of 1936; her dissatisfaction with a Studebaker automobile she purchased in 1936; and the death of Henry Hardin Cherry on August 1, 1937. Correspondence from H. H. Cherry in 1934 tells news of their children, events on campus, his lobbying efforts in Frankfort, and his trouble with a broken toe. A letter from "Mary" (probably Mary A. Leiper) gives an account of her transport to Bowling Green of refugees from the 1937 Louisville flood. The collection also contains a speech and several monographs by Mrs. Cherry, as well as copies of a published short story, Parlance of Kentucky Backwoods, and an essay, "Motherhood Adrift." For further information, see the University Archives vertical files on the Cherry family, and photograph files.

Extent: 1 Box

Dates: 1910-1937

Biographical/Historical Note: Bess Lysle Fayne was born in Crab Orchard, Kentucky in 1877. She graduated from the Elliott Institute of Kirksville, Kentucky in 1895 and enrolled at the Southern Normal School that same year. She married Henry Hardin Cherry on April 3, 1896. In the early 1900s, she served part-time on the faculty of the Southern Normal School as “Director of Social Features of the Institution.” She was also a member of the board of The National School of Telegraphy, Civil Service, Railroading and Express, a department operated by the Southern Normal School. In 1927, she organized the Faculty Wives Club (now Western Kentucky University Women) and served as its first president. Bess Cherry died November 17, 1954.

Box 1

Folder 1 nd Inventory

Folder 2 1910 Women’s Music Club program

Folder 3 1932-34 Letters to publishers re: publication of Parlance of Kentucky
Backwoods and “Motherhood Adrift”

Folder 4 1933 Parlance of Kentucky Backwoods, with Christie Toomey;
advertising brochure with reviews

Folder 5 1933 Manuscript – “Motherhood Adrift”

Folder 6 nd, 1933, Essays, speech [to girls]: “Keep Your Social Standards High”
[1936]

Folder 7 1934-36 Elizabeth F. Cherry

Folder 8 1934-37 General correspondence (includes letter re: Louisville flood
refugees)

Folder 9 1936 Robert McKim (Stewart Dry Goods) re: disputed account

Folder 10 1936-37 Josephine Cherry Lowman

Folder 11 1934-37 Henry Hardin Cherry

Folder 12 1936-37 Henry Hardin Cherry, Jr.

Folder 13 1937 Dr. Cobb Pilcher, re: H. H. Cherry’s health; Shepherd
Lowman, Jr., re: H.H. Cherry’s death

Folder 14 1937 Condolence letters re: H. H. Cherry’s death

Subjects:

Authors, American - Kentucky
Cherry, Bess Fayne, 1877-1954
Cherry, Henry Hardin, 1864-1937
Lowman, Josephine Cherry, 1900-1983

Accession Information: These records were transferred to the University Archives upon its creation.

Access Restrictions: none

Copyright Notice:

Preferred Citation: UA36I Faculty/Staff Personal Papers, Series 1 Bess Cherry, WKU Archives, Kentucky Library & Museum, Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA.

Processing Information: Processed by Lynn Niedermeier