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By Sharon Brown McConnell
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The William Lee Keene Papers, consisting of one box containing speeches and writings of Mr Keene from 1928-1975, were donated to the Archives by Keene's daughters, Mrs. Kathryn Kearns and Mrs. Alice Garnache, in 1982. While the collection is small, it is representative of the material which Mr. Keene wrote or composed for speaking. All of these are fine examples of Mr. Keene's unique ability.
Biographical Note
William Lee Keene was a professor of English at Eastern Kentucky University from 1926 until his retirement in 1965. He was born on April 3, 1896 in Lafayette, Tennessee to Henry and Alice Branford Keene. He attended Middle Tennessee College in Murfreesboro for three years before going on to George Peabody Teachers College in Nashville. There he received both his bachelor of science and his master of arts degrees. He completed two years of additional study at Peabody and served in the armed forces from 1917-1919.
Mr. Keene was noted for his genteel public speaking and was sought after for his expertise in offering tributes to deserving individuals. An annual event to select an outstanding female orator at Eastern has been named in his honor,"The W.L. Keene Oratorical Contest." His skills in writing are not to be overlooked. While he did not actively seek publication, many items he wrote have appeared in print. One of his poems, "Our Unreturning," has been set to music by Mr. Dean Gatwood. It was first performed by the Richmond Choral Society in 1986. A bibliography of his published work is included in these papers.
Mr. Keene was a very creative, sensitive, modest man. While he was not a joiner, he was very active on campus and in the community. He frequently served as a speaker during the weekly assembly programs on campus and was often asked to read the scripture during public gatherings. He was a member of the First Christian Church and the Kiwanis Club. For a great number of years he was faculty advisor to the staff of the Eastern Progress.
He married Mae Powell of Garrard County in 1929. They had two daughters Kathryn Kearns and Alice Garnache. Mrs. Keene was a teacher in the Training School at Eastern before her marriage. Mr. Keene died on October 3, 1975 following a short illness and was buried in the Richmond Cemetery.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives
Acquisition Source:
Kearns, Kathryn
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[All]
- Box 1
- Barcode: 31234013798382
- Folder 1: Bibliography, 1962
- Folder 2: Biographical Sketch, 1962
- Folder 3: Correspondence, 1945-1975
- Folder 4: Photograph, ca. 1960
- Folder 5: Dedication Speeches, 1946-1971
- Item 1: Bert T. Combs Building, 1964
- Item 2: Keene Hall, 1969
- Item 3: Meditation Chapel, 1971
- Item 4: Roy B. Clark Room, 1971
- Item 5: Yearbook, 1946
- Folder 6: Speeches, 1950-1963
- Item 1: Continuity to Change, 1963
- Item 2: Founders Day Plegde, undated
- Item 3: Literature Speaking, ca. 1950
- Item 4: On Communism, ca. 1950
- Item 5: Only Yesterday, 1963
- Item 6: Queen of the Ball, 1954
- Item 7: The Right Word, ca. 1958
- Item 8: Tribute to Mother's Day, undated
- Item 9: The War Years, 1957
- Folder 7: Tributes
- Item 1: As We Remember Them, 1946
- Item 2: Mrs. Della Spears Turley, undated
- Item 3: Dorland Coates, ca. 1970
- Item 4: Greetings to a New President, 1960
- Item 5: Herman Lee Donovan, 1965
- Item 6: James E. Van Peursem, 1964
- Item 7: Names On A "Service Board", ca. 1942
- Item 8: President and Mrs. O'Donnell, 1960
- Item 9: Thomas J. Coates, 1965
- Item 10: To Graduating Seniors Of Any Year, undated
- Item 11: To Mrs. Maureen Bronson Todd, undated
- Folder 8: Dramatizations, 1938-1941
- Item 1: Books At Home, 1939
- Item 2: A Century of Public Education In Kentucky Pt. I & II, 1938
- Item 3: Pillars of Peabody, ca. 1941
- Folder 9: Essays, 1950
- Item 1: Campus Incident, ca. 1950
- Item 2: Carols At Assembly, ca. 1950
- Item 3: How To Live With A 14 Carat Brain, ca. 1950
- Item 4: The War Years, undated
- Folder 10: Miscellaneous Writings, 1940-1950
- Item 1: Boys On A Bus, ca. 1950
- Item 2: First Assembly of a New Home, 1947
- Item 3: Kid On The Street, 1940
- Item 4: Old Books, Old Wine, Old Friends, ca. 1950
- Item 5: The Play Begins, ca. 1950
- Item 6: Portrait, ca. 1950
- Item 7: Prayers, undated
- Item 8: Selective Service Men, ca. 1940
- Item 9: Telford Community House Stands There On A Hill, ca. 1955
- Item 10: Ten Years From Now, 1940
- Folder 11: Poems, 1928-1944
- Item 1: White Silence, 1928
- Item 2: De Profundis II, 1936
- Item 3: Our Unreturning, 1944
- Item 4: Untitled, undated
- Folder 12: Short Stories
- Item 1: Always Jeanne, undated
- Item 2: A Green Land, undated
- Item 3: Joe Mooney, undated
- Item 4: White Shirts, undated
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[All]
