• Tim Lee Carter, 1910 - 1987
• Civil War
• Courtney M. Ellis, 1888 - 1964
• Janice Holt Giles, 1905-1979
• Green Family, 1814 - 1971
• South Union Shakers
• 20th-Century Wars
• Underwood family

• Lynwood Montell, 1931 -
• Sarah Gertrude Knott, 1895 - 1984

Materials documenting Monroe County Republican physician Tim Lee Carter's 16-year congressional career, 1964 -1980, as a U.S. Representative from Kentucky's Fifth District. He was one of the first to advocate U.S. military withdrawal from Vietnam.

Diaries and letters document the activities of those serving in the Union and the Confederate Armies. A graphic description of the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, and participation in the final capture of John Hunt Morgan are found in the Lewis-Starling Collection.

A young broom-pusher on a stationary steamboat and an avid lifelong lover of steamboats and rivers, Ellis collected over three thousand photos of boats that plied the rivers, especially Kentucky's Green River. Associated photos and materials are in the collection.

Writer's manuscripts, galley proofs, and research materials depict the writing processes of noted Kentucky author Giles of Knifley in Adair County. Included also are World War II letters from her future husband Henry Giles, letters from her daughter, and correspondence with literary agents and publishers.

Business papers and letters on various subjects of different generations of the Green family, who settled and developed a small empire at Falls of Rough in Grayson County, Kentucky. The family had a beautiful house constructed and engaged in farming and lumbering on a large-scale basis. They also operated a grist mill, general store, and saw mills, as well as the post office.

Journals, diaries, account books, hymnals, and business records give an insight into the Shaker communal society gathered at South Union in Logan County, Kentucky, in 1807, and which disbanded in 1922. Although these materials do not document every day or every year of the Shakers' 115 years of existence, more documentation is available here than in any other repository.

Letters and memorabilia of armed forces' personnel engaged in wars of the twentieth century (from World War I through Desert Storm). Materials for World War II are especially rich in quality and quantity.

Correspondence, 1849-1853, which gives an insight into what life was like in Warren County, Kentucky, for urban-reared Elizabeth Cox Underwood as she coped with caring for the family, overseeing the farm operations, and keeping up with business transactions of her husband Joseph Rogers Underwood, 1803 - 1867, during his U.S. Senate term. Conversely, Underwood describes Washington and congressional happenings in his letters to his wife.

Through Dr. Montell's research and writings and that of his folk studies' students, many areas of folklife have been documented, particularly those pertaining to gospel singing, log structures, and major areas of folkways in selected geographical regions, especially in southcentral and near eastern Kentucky. Montell is a native of Monroe County and has been a WKU faculty member for several years. Additionally, housed in Manuscripts are Montell's professional correspondence, drafts, and galley proofs of his published works -- books and articles, with associated research materials.

Correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs assembled by Knott of Princeton, Kentucky, concerning the National Folk Festival Association. She organized the NFFA in 1934 and served as its president until 1970. There are incomplete drafts of a book Knott planned to write about the Association.