William Hume and Genevieve Johnston Clay Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: 2023A003

William Hume and Genevieve Johnston Clay Family Papers

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Scope and Contents

The William Hume and Genevieve Johnston Clay Family Papers are a collection of personal papers from both the Clay and Johnston families. This collection is separated into 2 series. William Hume Clay is from Winchester, Kentucky and became a tenured professor in the EKU Social Science Department. Genevieve Johnston Clay was born in Tennessee but spent most of her life in Kentucky where she worked in the EKU Library. Her family is from South Carolina and includes several Presbyterian preachers. The first series includes the personal correspodence of William Hume Clay along with several unidentified photos of his family. The second series contains documents from the Pearson family, who were ancestors of Genevieve Clay. There are sermons and personal letters to members of the Pearson family. There are also multiple legal documents from the state of South Carolina including a summons for a law suit and a property deed.

Dates

Creation: 1790-1980
Acquisition: 2022-02-01

Biographical or Historical Information

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Dr. William Wilson Hume Clay was born in Winchester, Kentucky on October 1, 1940. He graduated from Clark County High School in 1957 and graduated from Eastern Kentucky State College in the early 1960s. He then went to the University of Kentucky where he recieved his masters and doctorate degrees. He began teaching at EKU in the Social Sciences department in the fall of 1966. It was here that he met his wife, Genevieve Johnston Clay. He retired in the 1980s and died April 11, 2013. Genevieve Johnston Clay was born in Kingsport Tennessee on February 5, 1940. She spent much of her childhood moving from town to town because of her father's career as a Presbyterian preacher. Many of Genevieve's ancestors lived and preached in South Carolina.The family eventually settled in Kentucky where she graduated from Henry Clay High School in 1958. She then attended Southwestern-at-Memphis (now Rhodes College) in 1962 with a BA in Bible. She started working in the EKU Library in the Fall of 1966. She married Dr. William Hume Clay on December 22, 1975. She retired from the EKU Library in 2002 as librarian emeritus. She died in January 17, 2022.

Note written by Jenna Roberts