Kate Pickett Campbell papers, 1883-1938.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Housed in Small Collections Box 6.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Materials created or compiled by Kate Pickett Campbell with most items dating from 1883-1890 and 1920-1939. Collection includes two autograph books belonging to Kate Pickett before her marriage, with inscriptions from 1883-1890, and a few scattered entries from later dates through 1932. Most individuals signing the books indicate they are from Nashville, Tenn. or Bingham, Tenn. Both books are decorated with small chromolithograph "scraps".

Several decorative greeting cards sent to Kate from her daughter Ann in the 1930s are also part of the collection, and although not all cards have the occasion stated, most are from Christmas, Mother's Day, and Kate's birthday.

A small simple journal dating from approximately 1923 through 1937 relates to Kate's work at McQuiddy Printing in Nashville, Tenn. It is not known who created the journal, though it makes occasional mention of "Old Lady Kate." Portions of the journal are yearly entries of "What We Are Doing" consisting of lists of projects and tasks that a group of about ten or twelve women were working on at McQuiddy Printing, including folding, binding, sewing, and other duties. The journal also contains frequent observations about the weather, including very brief mentions of Cumberland River floods, the East Nashville fire and tornado, and more routine observations of wind, rain, snow, and heat. Some entries also mention weather and flooding in Louisville, Ky. Also contained in the journal are a few newsclippings about Louisville, weather, and a few scattered obituaries of McQuiddy Printing employees and other individuals.

Two individual pages, probably from a family Bible, provide birth and death information on the Ezra B. and Eliza (Hughes) White family of Davidson County, Tenn., and also include entries for the Campbell family, including Kate's husband, Charles H. Campbell, but do not include Kate or their daughter, Ann. Dates of entries run from circa 1812 to 1891. These two pages were originally folded and located in the plain journal.

Cite as: Kate Pickett Campbell Papers, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)

Bible record pages are extremely fragile and must be handled with great care.

Dewey L. Kilby;,Gift;,1998.,Acc. RT-143.

Related Materials: Housed separately is a pair of child's shoes, brown leather, dating from ca. 1891 and belonging to Ann Campbell Kilby when she was a child.

Kate Pickett was born in April 1861. It is unclear when she married Charles H. Campbell, but it is assumed that he is the same Charles H. Campbell which appears in the family Bible record as dying in 1891. Kate was a widow by the time of the 1900 census when she was living with her 9-year-old daughter Ann in the household of the James A. Childress family in Ward 15 of Nashville. City directories show Kate employed at McQuiddy from at least 1900 into the 1930s. Her name disappears from the city directories in 1938. It is not known when or where she died.

Ann Campbell, the daughter of Kate and Charles, was born around 1891. She was probably living in Nashville in the late 1930s.

In English

In possession of Dewey L. Kilby, step-son of Ann Campbell Kilby (daughter of Kate Pickett Campbell) at time of donation to the Nashville Public Library.

Rehouse,2008;,Linda Barnickel;,removed from Persons Ephemera Subject Files.

No further accruals are expected.