Williams Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: 2023A014

Williams Family Papers

Go to file

Scope and Contents

This collection includes photographs of the Eastern campus, students and commencement taken around 1913. It also includes ephemera and publications from Eastern such as programs for certificate class commencements, field day and a commencement play and The Student and Eastern Kentucky Review. Teaching certificates for both Eli Williams and his wife Erie are also included.

Dates

Creation: 1908 - 1929
Acquisition: 2023-05-12

Biographical or Historical Information

See more See less

Eli W. and Erie Williams were long-time teachers in Morgan County Kentucky. Born in 1872 and 1883 in Johnson County, Mr. Williams first attained his teacher certificate in 1895 in Morgan County, while Mrs. Williams earned hers at Owsley County in 1912. Mr. Williams attended Eastern Kentucky State Normal School from 1910 to 1913, then a primary-education teachers college where he earned his advanced degree. While at Eastern, Mr. Williams was involved in an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, where he plays Lane, Algernon's butler. Mr. Williams' senior motto, "A Divine Spirit can see beauty in the humblest plant of God's creation," perhaps best exemplifies his and Mrs. Williams' decades of teaching in Eastern Kentucky. Eli W. Williams passed away in 1959 in Scott County at 86. Erie Williams had survived her husband by 15 years when she died in 1974 in Lexington. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are buried with each other in Georgetown cemetery.

Note written by