Arrangement
The Yancey Altsheler papers consist of eight general series. These series cover the years from 1911 to 1975 and pertain primarily to the business aspects of his life.
Series I, Business and Financial 1943-1975, is divided into 5 folders. The majority of these folders contain tax information of Mr. Altsheler's various business holdings. However, the second folder pertains specifically to the sale of the Madrid Building located on 3rd and Guthrie Streets in Louisville from 1929 to the present. Mr. Altsheler sold the Madrid in 1967 to the Hillard Corporation and includes a historical and financial report on the property.
Series II includes boxes 2 and 3 and pertain to the Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, Kentucky. Mr. Altsheler was on the board of directors for this school for decades. Box 2 contains primarily Hindman tax information. The third box includes correspondence of all kinds concerning the Hindman School. Personal, business, social, and general information exchanged between Hindman board members covers the years 1967-1972. School status reports and minutes of meetings are also enclosed from 1953-1975. Mr. McLain, patriarch of the McLain Family Singers, was executive director of the Hindman School for several years.
Series III and IV are boxes 4 through 8, titled Louisville Public Schools and span 1923 to 1969. Boxes 4, 6, and 7 primarily contain miscellaneous Louisville School Board minutes from 1952 to 1963. The fifth and eighth boxes deal with manuals, reports, studies, and letters involving the issue of Louisville's public school integration controversy during the 1950's and 1960's. Also studies conducted on the feasibility of merging the Louisville and Jefferson County Public Schools during these same years are located in box 5.
Series V, "Organizations," are contained in boxes 9 and 10. They show Mr. Altsheler's religious, professional and social involvements in the Louisville area. While the ninth box is comprised of club manuals, brochures, and booklets,the tenth box is a little more defined. It contains personal letters and invitations to at least nine separate clubs as well as a smattering of pamphlets, newsletters, and annual reports similar to those in the eighth box.
Series VI includes Mr. Altsheler's research notes, papers, speeches, and correspondence from 1915 to 1974 and are in boxes 11 through 13. Box 11 primarily deals with religious themes in America mostly historical in content. Paul Revere is the main topic, on handwritten index cards, in box 12. Number 13 contains personal correspondence plus many notes on his personal research, late in life, of the "Negro in Africa and America."
Series VII, box 14 only, encompasses his public papers, lecture notes and oral history material. The school bond issue of the 1920's is explored here in great detail, financially, economically, and socially. Three folders also house the letters leading up to Mr. Altsheler's 1972 oral history interview with University of Louisville professor Dr. Ryant. Transcripts of the interview are held in folder 9.
Series VIII consists of magazines and newspaper clippings covering 1941-1974. Most of the clippings cover an assortment of topics such as education in Louisville, popular nationwide events, and his hobby interests.