Louise Kennedy Collection
Scope and Content
The Louise Kennedy Collection was deposited in the Wright State University Special Collections and Archive in February 1979. This collection is part of a larger collection of the papers of Katherine Kennedy Brown, the daughter of Louise Kennedy. The papers were donated by Grafton S. Kennedy, Jr., a nephew of Katherine Kennedy Brown.
Series I: Postcards
This series contains Postcard Corespondence from friends and family around the world. The postcards are addressed to four different people, Mrs. Grafton C. Kennedy, Mrs. Frances L. Achey, Mrs. Kleon Thaw Brown (Katherine Kennedy Brown) and one postcard addressed to Mr. Sherwood Kennedy. Also in this series is a file folder of Unused postcards. One is a Wright Brothers flight.
Series II: Family
This series contains a Telegraph for Katherine Kennedy Brown, as well as a number of items with family names on them such as programs form Reverend Brown's funeral, a business card, and a telegrams card. Other items in the folder are items from Nantucket and booklets form the Rotary Club.
Series III: Martha McClellan Brown This series contains two folders for Martha McClellan Brown. The information regards her last trip to Europe and her last public speech in 1911. During this trip she was about the Lusitania and some of her effects are from this part of her voyage. Still involved in World Affairs in 1914, she received Peace Council information. The second file consists of Society news and playbills from different theaters.
Series IV: Travel Souvenirs
This series consists of items collected by the family from visits to places all over the United States and the world. Maps and local histories as well as local tour guide books.
Series V: Religion
Series five contains church bulletins and pamphlets. The Westminster Presbyterian Church booklets date in the 1920's (these are not a complete set).
Series VI: Ephemera This series is a group of miscellaneous objects of ephemera from the late 1880's to the early 1900's.
Series VII: Politics
This series is the smallest consisting of only a couple G.O.P. advertisements and one invitation to a G.O.P function.
SeriesVIII: Photographs
This is the largest series covering two Hollinger Boxes and containing a wide variety of objects. Photographs contained in this series are a tintype, cabinet cards, glassplate negatives; some are identified but most are not. One glass plate negative is an early Wright Brothers flight photograph (print made by the staff of the Special Collections and Archives)
Dates
- Creation: 1870-1947
Creator
- Kennedy, Louise Achey, 1860-1945 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
There are no restrictions on accessing materials in this collection.
Restrictions on Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Biography of Louise Kennedy
Louise Achey Kennedy (1860-1945) was the only child of John Jacob Achey (1830-1934). She was a charter member of the Jonathan Dayton Chapter of the DAR and a genealogical researcher. She married Grafton Claggett Kennedy (1859-1909) an attorney in the Dayton law firm of Kennedy, Munger, and Kennedy. (The other partners were his half-brother, Eugene and Warren and Harry Munger.) Graften was a staunch Republican, who in 1882 organized the first Montgomery County Board of Elections.
The Kennedy's had two children Katherine Louise Kennedy Brown (1891-1988) (see MS-146) and Graften Sherwood "Duke" Kennedy (b.1893). The family home was a mansion called "Duncarrick" (Home of the Kenndedy's) located at Keowee and Webster streets. The Kennedy's were prominent in Dayton Society from the late 19th century well into the 20th century. Their friends included the Winters, Wrights, Barneys and Pattersons. As a wealthy and prominent family, the Kennedy's traveled extensively in Europe and spent their summers in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
On December 1, 1918 Graffon Sherwood "Duke" Kennedy married Lucille Glidden (b.1891) of Brooklyn, New York. They had three children Katherine "Kay" Kennedy Barney (b.1919), Frances Lucille "Lou" Kennedy Sharp (later Albert) (b.1922), and Grafton Sherwood Jr. "Terry" (b.1926).
On April 20, 1921 Katherine married Kleon Thaw Brown (b.1886) the son of Reverend William Kennedy Brown (1834-1915) and Martha Haight McClellan (1838-1916) aprominent figure in the late 19th century American Temperance movement, (MS-147 contains the papers of Martha McClellan and Reverend William Kennedy Brown). Kleon was the youngest of six children. Following his fathers death in 1915 his mother lived with him till her death in 1916.
Kleon was manager of ST&GA Gebhart Company of Cleveland form 1914-1919. In 1920, he became an executive in the sales department of NCR Corporation. Tragically, Katherine's marital happiness ended when the couple's only child died in infancy, then Kleon died suddenly on May 20, 1925. Katherine never remarried and moved back to Duncarrick to live with her mother. Katherine became involved in Politics and Dayton Society for over fifty years. Louise Kennedy's mother also spent time at the mansion after the death of her husband.
Extent
3 linear feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Louise Achey Kennedy was a prominent member in Dayton society during the late 19th and early 20th century. She was a charter member of the Jonathan Dayton Chapter of the DAR, and a genealogical researcher. The collection consists of personal correspondence, travel souvenirs, religious pamphlets, photographs, and miscellaneous ephemera from the late 1880s to the early 1900s.
Statement of Arrangement
The collection is arranged into eight series.
- Series I: Postcards
- Series II: Family
- Series III: Martha McClellan Brown
- Series IV: Travel Souvenirs
- Series V: Religion
- Series VI: Ephemera
- Series VII: Politics
- SeriesVIII: Photographs
Acquisition Information
The Louise Kennedy Collection was deposited in the Wright State University Special Collections and Archive in February 1979. This collection is part of a larger collection of the papers of Katherine Kennedy Brown, the daughter of Louise Kennedy. The papers were donated by Grafton S. Kennedy, Jr., a nephew of Katherine Kennedy Brown.
Subject
- Kennedy, Louise Achey, 1860-1945 (Person)
- Brown, Katharine Kennedy (Person)
- Kennedy, Grafton Sherwood, 1893-1974 (Person)
- Brown, Martha McClellan, 1838-1916 (Person)
Genre / Form
- Title
- Guide to the Louise Kennedy Collection (MS-281)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Baum
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092
library-archives@wright.edu
