Penney, Kate Speake and Penney Family

Papers, 1891-1947

(AR 222)

Kate Mayhew Speake Penney was born on a plantation in Lawrence County, Alabama, in 1864. Penney spent her childhood in Huntsville, Alabama, and was educated at the Huntsville Female Seminary. She married James Edwin Penney in 1893 and the couple moved to Birmingham. In the course of her literary career, Penney published several novels, short stories, and poems. Her books include a temperance reform novel entitled A Common Lot (1898, republished in Canada in 1905 as A Woman's Problem); Land Poor, and Six Shorter Stories concerning Southern agricultural conditions (1928); Us dealing with the Spanish American War and the yellow fever epidemic (1934); Cross Currents, a novel about the Civil War (1938); and My Daughter (1946). Penney served as national vice-president of the League of American Pen Women and was one of the organizers of the Birmingham Chapter of League of American Pen Women. She was also an active member of the Birmingham Writers Club, the Quest Club, and the Alabama Writers Conclave. Penney died in Birmingham in August 1947. The bulk of this collection consists of letters, both incoming and outgoing, which document the lives of Penney family members. Among these letters, the largest percentage is either from or to Kate Speake Penney. The papers of this Birmingham family also include biographical information on Kate Penney and newspaper clippings and press releases concerning Penney's books A Common Lot and Land Poor.

Size: 1 box

Perkins, Ruth and Herbert W. Parker

Papers, 1939-1947

(AR 1915)

This collection contains letters written to Ruth Perkins, a young woman residing in the Birmingham, Alabama area in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Perkins, whose full name was Mildred Ruth, was born about 1922 and was the daughter of Oscar R. and Luine O. Perkins. The letters are typical of those written between family and friends of the time with discussions of school, holidays, friends and relatives. Five letters are from three servicemen, all from camps in the United States. All three young men seem to have been romantically involved with Ruth Perkins. The collection also contains World War II era military documents of Herbert W. Parker, a Birmingham area resident. At the time of this writing, the relationship between Perkins and Parker is unknown.

Size: 1 box

Plant. Agnes

“My Memories of School Days,” 1926

(AR 955)

Size: 1 volume

Ratliff, Mary

Diaries, 1935-1947

(AR 1437)

Size: 1 box

Ray, Louise Crenshaw

Scrapbook, 1925-1935

(AR 579)

Louise Crenshaw Ray was born near Greenville, Alabama and lived in Birmingham. Ray's poetry was published in many magazines, including Commonweal and the Sewanee Review. She was a member of several national organizations, a founder, president (1932-1934), and treasurer (1944-1945) of the Poetry Society of America, a member of the Birmingham Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, and a member of the Birmingham Writers Club (correspondence secretary 1928-1929). Among her published collections of poetry are Color of Steel (1932), Secret Shoes (1939), Strangers on the Stairs (1944), and Autumn Token (posthumously, 1957). Ray died on October 23, 1956, in Birmingham. This scrapbook was compiled by staff of the Birmingham Public Library. In addition to newspaper and magazine clippings, the scrapbook includes several of Ray's poems, copies of photographs published in the newspaper, and a biographical sketch of the poet.

Size: 1 volume

Riddle, Hallie Reed

Diary, 1887-1902, 1906

(AR 108)

Hallie Reed Riddle lived in the eastern section of Birmingham. The diaries document the experiences and activities of a middle-class white woman living in Birmingham at the turn of the 20th century, and include descriptions of picnics, religious revivals, and trips to the state fair.

Size: 1 reel microfilm

Roberson, Susie Cunningham

Papers, 1883-1967

(AR 86)

Little information is available on Susie Cunningham Roberson; her biography is mostly told through the information available on her father and husband. Her father, J. B. Cunningham was a member of the Jefferson County Board of Education (appointed in 1899) and served as principal of the Birmingham High School. Susie Cunningham married Moses Jones Roberson in 1915, and a son, Ben Roberson, was born in 1916. Moses Roberson was a vice-president of Cosby-Hodges Milling Company and traveled around the United States promoting its products. He belonged to both the United Brotherhood of Commercial Travelers and the Birmingham Kiwanis Club. Both he and his son Ben attended Auburn Polytechnic Institute. Ben Roberson died in 1936 from an accidental gunshot wound. This collection contains correspondence addressed to and from Susie C. Roberson and to other members of her family including her father, mother (Louise Cunningham), her husband, and her son. Also present is a group of miscellaneous items including J.B. Cunningham's composition book, an 1867 Marengo County cookbook, two newspapers from the South Highland School, one 1939 newspaper from the Cunningham School, and one photograph.

Size: 7 boxes

Robinson, Lillian

Diary, June 1917

(AR 774)

Size: 1 volume

Rogers, Lydia Eustis

File on American Red Cross Work, Camp Sheridan, World War I

(AR 869)

Size: 1 box

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Scrapbook, 1937

(AR 469)

This scrapbook contains newspaper clippings relating to Roosevelt’s 1937 visit to Birmingham.

Size: 1 reel microfilm

Ross, Dorothea

Papers, 1928-1930

(AR 1295)

Size: 1 box

Russell, Carol Mitchell

Papers, 1923-1925

(AR 233)

This collection contains 20 letters from Carol Mitchell Russell to her mother and father written while Mitchell was a student at the Loulie Compton Seminary school in Birmingham, Alabama, one report card and one photograph album.

Size: 1 box

Sample, Lillian

Papers, 1943-1978

(AR 173)

Size: 1 box

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