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Title: Lucien Beckner Papers, 1938-1947

Creator: Beckner, Lucien (1872-1963)

Extent: 2.0 Folders

Date Acquired: 07/27/2016

Languages: English [eng]

The Lucien Beckner papers include some handwritten and typewritten geological manuscripts that were written for publication, as well as geological publications and charts. The only dated item is a letter from R.E. Strouder discussing a geological project in Sleepy Hollow. The news clippings cover a wide variety of topics such as the contract for a cheese factory, fly control, Navy enlistment and advertisements to name just a few.

Lucien Beckner, geologist and longtime curator of the Louisville Free Public Library Museum, was born in Winchester, Kentucky, in 1872 to William Morgan and Elizabeth Taliaferro Beckner. He earned his education from multiple institutions, such as the Louisville Military Academy, Centre College, the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, and the University of Pennsylvania, but never earned a degree. Throughout his lifetime, he dabbled in a wide range of career paths, including lawyer, engineer, secretary, naturalist, auditor, historian, poet, artist, teacher, journalist, and mathematician. At one point, Beckner owned and edited the Winchester Sun and Clark County Republican newspapers, assisted in establishing the Lexington and Eastern branch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and helped build a railroad in Ecuador. Beckner died in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1963.

Physical Access Note: Some of Beckner's notes are written on highly acidic paper and are very fragile.

Acquisition Source: Found in Collections