Henry Hardin Cherry

Biography

Henry Hardin Cherry and his brother, Thomas Crittenden Cherry, were students at the Southern Normal School and Business College. Both later taught in rural schools for six years and Henry also taught a few classes at the Southern Normal. In 1892, the Cherry brothers acquired the school. Henry was manager, recruiter, and head of the business department, while Thomas taught the normal curriculum. The school grew and moved into new facilities in 1900. Thomas eventually sold his share to his brother and became superintendent of the Bowling Green public schools.

Henry Hardin Cherry was active in the campaign for the establishment of state-supported teacher training schools. In 1906, the impetus to create a new normal school was strong, with two towns actively seeking the institution. The General Assembly decided to authorize two normal schools, placing one in Bowling Green and one in Richmond with each given an assigned recruitment area. The Southern Normal School was converted into the Western Kentucky State Normal School and Henry Hardin Cherry became its first president. After several years of steady growth, the institution moved to its new location on "the Hill" in 1911.

Cherry used his political skills and contacts, including two unsuccessful candidacies for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination (1915 and 1919), to boost Western. The school was renamed twice during his administration, first as Western Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College and then as Western Kentucky State Teachers College. Emphasis shifted to baccalaureate degrees, as programs to educate students not intending to teach were added. Dr. Cherry served as president of Western until his death on August 1, 1937.

Collection

The collection documents the career of Cherry, the founder and first president of (what is now) Western Kentucky University. Present are Cherry's general and special correspondence, faculty applications, contract letters, and superintendents' reports about Western alumni teaching in county school systems. Mailing lists of prospective students, recommendations for students written by Dr. Cherry and the faculty, placement records, building and maintenance records, and departmental reports are present also. Other papers concern Cherry's gubernatorial races, his activities with the Kentucky Education Association, the fund to commission a statue of Dr. Cherry, and Western's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration in 1931. The collection also has personal correspondence, speeches, obituary notices, and scrapbooks (37 vols.) relating to Dr. Cherry.

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Volume

61 cubic feet