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Original letters and manuscript copy of Paul E. Wilson's "Letters to Harriet"

 Collection
Call Number: RH MS 1073

Overview

"Letters to Harriet" was produced by Paul E. Wilson in 1990, incorporating the content of letters that he wrote as a World War II serviceman to his wife Harriet who was living at Lyndon, Kansas. In this collection are Wilson's original letters to his wife, parents, and daughter Betsy, written from Army training camps and from combat zones in New Guinea and the Philippines. With Wilson's letters is his handwritten manuscript for his 1990 compilation, including his introduction, conclusion, and interspersed pages of explanatory narrative regarding his military service.

Dates

  • Creation: 1942-1946; 1990

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Biography of Paul E. Wilson

Paul E. Wilson was born in 1915 near Quenemo in Osage County, Kansas. In 1937 and 1938, he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science from the University of Kansas. In 1941, he married Harriet Stephens, with whom he had four children. Wilson earned a law degree from Washburn University at Topeka in 1942, and from 1942 to 1946 served in the U.S. Army. During World War II, he saw active duty in New Guinea and the Philippines.

After the war, Wilson served two terms as County Attorney for Osage County. He represented Kansas as Assistant Attorney General in the landmark Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education segregation case, argued before the Supreme Court in 1954. Wilson joined the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Law in 1957, served on the Kansas Judicial Council, and became a nationally known authority on criminal law. He retired from the University in 1981. His memoir regarding the Brown case was published in 1995 in the book titled A Time to Lose. Wilson died at Lawrence, Kansas on April 22, 2001.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Physical Location

RH MS 1073

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, Paul E. Wilson, 1992

Related Materials

Wilson, Paul E., Letters to Harriet: Paul E. Wilson, Army of the United States, 1942-1946, Law Library Rice Room (no call #), University of Kansas.

Wilson, Paul E., Paul Wilson research materials,, RH MS 746, Kansas Collection, Spencer Library, University of Kansas.

Title
Guide to Paul E. Wilson's "Letters to Harriet"
Subtitle
Original letters and manuscript copy of Paul E. Wilson's "Letters to Harriet"
Author
Finding aid prepared by mh, 2007; Finding aid encoded by mh, 2007
Date
2007
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in <language encodinganalog="language">English.</language>
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/9829351594
Preferred citation
Wilson, Paul E, Letters to Harriet, Kansas Collection, RH MS 1073, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334