Log In | Contact Us| View Cart (0)
Browse: Collections Digital Content Subjects Creators Record Groups

Hanger Family Papers

Overview

Scope and Contents

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Box 1

Box 2

Box 3

Box 4

Box 5

Box 6

Box 7

Box 8



Contact us about this collection

Hanger Family Papers, 1881-1945 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Printer-friendly Printer-friendly | Email Us Contact Us About This Collection

Collection Overview

Title: Hanger Family Papers, 1881-1945Add to your cart.View associated digital content.

Extent: 3.84 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 04/01/1986

Subjects: Kentucky--Social life and customs--20th century.

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Hanger Family papers came to Eastern Kentucky University from the Hanger family ancestral home, Arlington, when the University acquired the property in the late 1960s. The collection documents the Hanger family of Richmond, KY and their activities. The activities of Elizabeth Arnold Hanger Elliot are especially well documented through her scrapbooks. The correspondence in the collection touches on social customs and financial interests of an elite Central Kentucky Family. The family traveled widely and the children all attended boarding schools in the East and there are numerous records documenting this. Some material originallly acquired from Arlington were transferred to the Mason and Hanger Records as they were clearly business records. The family papers still include some scattered materials that are likely business records. The collection was divided into four series -- correspondence, financial, photograph albums and scrapbooks, and publications.

Collection Historical Note

Harry Baylor Hanger of Virginia and Elizabeth Arnold of Richmond, Kentucky were married on January 18, 1893. They lived at Arlington, a gracious home owned by Mrs. Hanger's parents, William and Pauline Arnold. Arlington was named in honor of Robert E. Lee's ancestral home in Virginia. Mr. Hanger was born in Staunton, Virginia on November 1, 1864 and died of a heart attack on October 17, 1925. He was an engineer and joined a construction firm which he later headed: Mason-Hanger Company. Some of his achievements were construction work on the Lincoln Tunnel in New York City, Camp Zachary Taylor, Lake Charles Aviation Field, Old Hickory Powder Plant, Catskill Aqueduct, and various subways, terminals, and canals. He was also associated with the State Bank and Trust Company in Richmond, Kentucky from 1897 to 1925.

Elizabeth Arnold Hanger was born on January 18, 1870 and died on October 10, 1921 after having been mistress of Arlington for twenty-eight years. She was reared a devout Methodist and received the finest education and upbringing that a young woman of that time had available. She traveled extensively and spent a great deal of time in New York City and Florida. Harry Baylor Hanger, Jr., the first son, was born on February 21, 1894 and died on January 19, 1956. He married Martha Shelby who was a descendent of Governor Isaac Shelby. They had one daughter, Margaret. The second son, William Arnold Hanger, was born on February 5, 1896 and died on May 31, 1976. After his father's death, Arnold assumed many of his father's responsibilities. He and Hal Price Headly were the founders of Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, Kentucky. According to family friends, he was married briefly. It was he who gave the Arlington House to Eastern Kentucky University.

The youngest son, Paul T. Hanger, was born on March 31, 1897 and died tragically in a motorcycle accident July 18, 1916, at the age of nineteen. The only daughter of Harry and Elizabeth Hanger was named Elizabeth Arnold Hanger. She was born on April 16, 1905 and died on January 3, 1944. She, too, received the finest education possible. She traveled extensively abroad and had many friends. She was married first to John Marshall of Louisville, and their wedding was one of the most extravagant Richmond had ever witnessed. Her second husband was Shelby Elliott of New York City. They adopted a daughter, Shelby Elliott Roberts who now lives in New York City. Elizabeth Hanger Elliott's death was very sudden and tragic. At least two of the Hanger sons, Arnold and Paul, attended Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Elizabeth was educated at the Cathedral School of St. Mary in New York and National Park Seminary, Forest Glen, Maryland. All the members of the family are buried in the Richmond Cemetery. The Hanger Family name ended with the death of William Arnold Hanger in 1976.

Arlington serves as a social club for EKU alumni and associates. The grounds have been landscaped as a golf course. Much of the original decor of the house remains as it was when the Hanger family was in residence.

Information gleaned from these items, together with a sketch of Arlington by Thomas H. Tudor, Richmond Cemetery records, and certain clippings from printed sources were helpful in writing the biographical sketches of the family members.

Subject/Index Terms

Kentucky--Social life and customs--20th century.

Administrative Information

Repository: Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Acquisition Source: Hanger Family (via Arlington)

Acquisition Method: Donation

Other Note: Photographs were initially numbered with the accession number; however, a decision was made to change to collection number. The database was changed, but the numbers written on the images were not changed.


Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[All]

Box 4Add to your cart.
Barcode: 31234013798309
Folder 1: Assorted period advertisements and documentsAdd to your cart.
Contains persuasive literature on World War I and morality, game score sheets, concert programs, pamphlet advertisements, literature dealing with the "Committee of Mercy" and "Old Kentucky Home Commission", as well as several other forms of advertisement. Few are dated; most are from the early 1920's but some are from the 1910's, possibly even a few years earlier. Most are in plastic slips.
Folder 2: Calling Cards and postcardsAdd to your cart.
Includes the calling cards of several friends of both Mrs. and Miss Elizabeth Hanger, as well as business cards. Also contains postcards either written on or collected, invitations, and small advertisements of the same sizes. Also Christmas card from Hope and Arnold Hanger in 1931 with a photo of a couple riding a pair of oxen. In plastic slips.
Folder 3: Period Fashion Advertisements, 1920'sAdd to your cart.
Ads and order forms for women's fashions of the 1920's, mostly collected from Miss Elizabeth Hanger.
Folder 4: Dixie Highway via Rome, GA., ca. 1920'sAdd to your cart.
Collection of postcards from locations in Georgia along the Dixie Highway. Text (Box 5, f.01) describes towns and sites as well as the benefits brought by the highway. Postcards are of battlefields, towns, and the Dixie Highway itself. Front cover is included but the frontal postcard seems to be missing.
Folder 5: Lawrence School Calendar, 1915Add to your cart.
Contains photographs of various sports teams at Lawrence for the year 1915. Originally bound in cloth, the front cover has been retained.
Folder 6: Arlington Photograph AlbumAdd to your cart.
De-constructed scrapbook of interior and exterior photographs of Arlington residence. The original order has been preserved.
Folder 7: Photograph AlbumAdd to your cart.
Scrapbook presumed to be of family vacations. Photographs of varying sizes are mounted on black construction paper.
Folder 8: Obituary and correspondence regarding death of Harry B. Hanger Sr.Add to your cart.
Includes newspaper clippings and letters from sources whose significance is unknown.
Folder 9: Hanger vs. Hanger Court of Appeals, 1944Add to your cart.
Court case regarding the wills of Harry Baylor Hanger and his wife Elizabeth Arnold Hanger.
Folder 10: Photo AlbumAdd to your cart.
Apartment 7A, 155 East 72nd St., New York City Small photo album of apartment interior and furnishings. Presumably used for vacation or business.

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[All]


Page Generated in: 1 seconds (using 215 queries).
Using 7.09MB of memory. (Peak of 7.37MB.)

Powered by Archon Version 3.21 rev-3
Copyright ©2017 The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign