Ernestine Bryant and Thomas Blakemore Correspondence

Collection

Identifier: MC 2040

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

This collection is comprised of correspondence, about 700 letters, primarily between Ernestine Grace Bryant and Thomas Lester Blakemore, as well as letters to and from family and friends.

Dates

1907-1918
Majority of material found within 1911-1915

Creator

Blakemore, Thomas Lester, 1884-1963 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Thomas Lester Blakemore, born on August 12, 1884, and Ernestine Grace Bryant, born on November 15, 1889, met while Ernestine, known as “Gracie,” was a patient at the Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium, located in Booneville (Logan County), Arkansas. Bryant and Blakemore conducted their courtship through near daily correspondence. In 1915 they married and had their first child, Thomas Lester Blakemore Jr. (1915-1994). The couple had a second child, Stephen Blakemore (1922-1923), who died in infancy.

Blakemore practiced law in Sapulpa, Oklahoma and Bryant was a school teacher. The couple lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Thomas Lester Blakemore died in February 1963, and Ernestine Grace Bryant died on January 2, 1973.

Extent

6 Linear Feet (6 boxes)

Additional Description

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Acquisition Information

The Bryant-Blakemore Correspondence was donated to Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, on June 21, 2015 by Sophia Estes of Fayetteville, Arkansas.