Grant Cochran Knight papers

Abstract

The Grant Cochran Knight papers (dated 1908-1961, undated; 5 cubic feet; 7 boxes, 4 volumes) contain manuscripts, printed articles, correspondence, and photographs that document the life and work of Grant Cochran Knight.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Grant Cochran Knight papers
Creator
Knight, Grant Cochran, 1893-1956.
Extent
5 Cubic Feet
Subjects
English literature.
Poetry.
College students.
Correspondence.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by format.
Finding Aid Author
Amanda M. Reeve and Ida Sell
Preferred Citation
64m77 : [identification of item], Grant Cochran Knight papers, 1908-1961, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Repository
University of Kentucky

Collection Overview

Biography / History
Grant Cochran Knight was born April 15, 1893, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Knight graduated from Albright College and received his MA from Gettysburg College. After graduation he joined the University of Kentucky in 1923. He worked in the English department and remained there for the rest of his life. In 1945, the College of Arts and Sciences began recognizing individual faculty members with the Distinguished Professor Award, the first to receive this award was Grant Knight of the English Department. In 1951 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Albright. His published works include James Lane Allen and the Genteel Tradition, The Critical Period in American Literature, 1890-1900, and The Strenuous Age in American Literature, 1900-1910. He died in 1956 while writing another book on American Literature.
Scope and Content
The Grant Cochran Knight papers (dated 1908-1961, undated; 5 cubic feet; 7 boxes, 4 volumes) contain manuscripts, printed articles, correspondence, and photographs that document the life and work of Grant Cochran Knight. The photograph and scrapbook albums show Knight's college days at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania and his fervor for literature. The manuscripts and articles included display Knight's intellectual work with literature to his more creative literary pursuits, including his poetry and short stories. Two proofs from books Knight had published are included as well as many typescripts that are untitled. The correspondence included in the collection deals mostly with the publication of his books, and his position as Literature professor at the University of Kentucky. The Letters to Grant Cochran Knight scrapbooks contain correspondence dating from 1924 to 1949, from some of the prominent American authors of the twentieth century, including Van Wyck Brooks, Bennett Cerf, Norman Cousins, Thoedore Dreiser, Max Eastman, Hamlin Garland, Elizabeth Hardwick, Helen Keller, Christopher Morley, Olive Dargan, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, and Robert Penn Warren.

Restrictions on Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Use Restrictions
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.

Contents of the Collection

Correspondence, 1916-1961

The correspondence series covers Cochran's writing career and his work with the University of Kentucky. Letters between Mr. Knight and potential publishers is what makes up the bulk of the correspondence. Personal letters and letters from faculty and students of the University of Kentucky can also be found.

1916-1939

  • Box 1, folder 1
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1943-1949

  • Box 1, folder 2
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1950-1954

  • Box 1, folder 3
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1955-1957

  • Box 1, folder 4
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Correspondence regarding James Lane Allen, 1929-1935

  • Box 1, folder 5
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Letters to Grant Cochran Knight scrapbook, Volume One: A-C, 1924-1949

  • Item 9
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Letters to Grant Cochran Knight scrapbook, Volume One: D-K, 1924-1949

  • Item 10
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Letters to Grant Cochran Knight scrapbook, Volume One: L-W, 1924-1949

  • Item 11
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Olive Tilford Dargan letters to Mr. and Mrs. Grant C. Knight, 1935-1961

  • Box 7, folder 7
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Literature Journals, 1928-1956

The Literature Journals series contains literary journals that Mr. Knight collected. Many of the journals contain articles that Knight wrote. The journal include Letters published by the University of Kentucky, The Saturday Review of Literature, and and American Literature.

1928-1945

  • Box 1, folder 6
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1945-1951

  • Box 1, folder 7
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1951-1953

  • Box 1, folder 8
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1953-1955

  • Box 2, folder 1
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1955-1956

  • Box 2, folder 2
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Manuscripts, 1920-1954, undated

The Manuscripts series includes a great variety of material published by Cochran.

American Literature and the Will to Power , undated

  • Box 2, folder 3
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American Writers Reject Pro Patria, 1920-1940

  • Box 3, folder 8
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Article on Lewis Sinclar, undated

  • Box 3, folder 9
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Chapter I Introduction, undated

  • Box 3, folder 1
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Chapter V The Hard Boiled School: Objective Realism, undated

  • Box 3, folder 2
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Chapter VII The Proletarian School: Instrumentalism, undated

  • Box 3, folder 3
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The Critical Period in American Literature proofs, 1951

  • Box 7, folder 3
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The Deep Heart , undated

  • Box 2, folder 4-5
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The Strenuous Age in American Literature proofs, 1954

  • Box 7, folder 1-2
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The Strenuous Age in American Literature , 1954

  • Box 2, folder 6-7
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Untitled typescript, undated

  • Box 3, folder 4-7
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Articles, 1944

  • Box 3, folder 10
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Poems, undated

  • Box 4, folder 2
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Short stories, undated

  • Box 4, folder 3
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Untitled short stories, undated

  • Box 4, folder 4
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Twist of the Root , undated

  • Box 4, folder 10
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The Critical Period in American Literature manuscript proof, undated

  • Box 7, folder 4
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The Critical Period in American Literature draft, undated

  • Box 7, folder 5-6
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The Critical Period in American Literature, undated

  • Box 7, folder 8
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Notes and other documents, 1909-1950

The Notes series documents his school days and professional work. They include classes he attended, literature, vocabulary notes he kept, and notes he made on manuscript he read.

Literature notes, undated

  • Box 3, folder 11
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Notes on the Hungry Heart, 1909

  • Box 3, folder 12
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NYU Graduate School course, 1950

  • Box 4, folder 1
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German mother certificate with Hitler seal, 1939 October 1

  • Box 4, folder 9
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Photograph albums, 1910-1918, undated

The photo albums series contains three volumes which document Grant Cochran Knight's early life. Subjects include trips to Massachusetts and Philadelphia, and photographs of several schools he attended.

Photograph album, volume I., 1914-1917, undated

This photo album subseries contains the contents of an album assembled by Grant Cochran Knight. It consists of picture from his school days and class mates he socialized and lived with. The photos were removed from Grant Cochran Knight's photo album Volume I for preservation reasons but the location of those photographs within the album has been preserved. The location of the photograph within the scrapbook is indicated by the page number. The descriptions were handwritten in the scrapbook presumably by Knight.

Page 1, photograph 1: Freshman year my roomy Benjamin Griffin Hoffman. Now a Rev. (also a Benedict.), 1914-1915

  • Box 5, item 1
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Page 1, photograph 2: While John D. made money. - the oil pumping station near Myerstown. B.G. Hoffman, G. Knight, E. Crumbling, E. Baumeister, 1914-1915

  • Box 5, item 2
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Page 1, photograph 3: A friend in any need. Harry Merwin Buck, 1914-1915

  • Box 5, item 3
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Page 2, photograph 1: A site for my statue, undated

  • Box 5, item 4
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Page 2, photograph 2: Spoiling the vista. Church and I, undated

  • Box 5, item 5
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Page 2, photograph 3: untitled, 1916 November 19

  • Box 5, item 6
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Page 3, photograph 1: Worth Hearing. Maude Adams in The Little Minister Lebanon, 1916 October 4

  • Box 5, item 7
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Page 3, photograph 2: Worth Hearing. Minnie Maddern Fiske in Estwhile Susan Lebanon, 1917 February 2

  • Box 5, item 8
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Page 3, photograph 3: Worth Hearing. Fritz Kreisler, Reading, 1916 December 14

  • Box 5, item 9
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Page 4, photograph 1: Disciples of art. Edith Smith, Franklin Willits, Edith, undated

  • Box 5, item 10
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Page 4, photograph 2: My chum. Miss Edith Littley, a senior, undated

  • Box 5, item 11
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Page 4, photograph 3: Out of school. Miss Emily Rigney and Edith, undated

  • Box 5, item 12
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Page 5, photograph 1: Summer Vacation. The Silver Wedding - 30 June. Roses, undated

  • Box 5, item 13
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Page 5, photograph 2: Summer Vacation. The Silver Wedding - 30 June. After twenty-five years, undated

  • Box 5, item 14
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Page 5, photograph 3: Summer Vacation. The Silver Wedding - 30 June. Memories, undated

  • Box 5, item 15
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Photograph album, volume II., undated

The photo album II subseries was put together by Grant Cochran Knight. It contains photographs from a trip Knight took to Massachusetts, as well as photos of building at the school he attended. The photos were removed from Grant Cochran Knight's photo album Volume II. The first page of this photo album reads "Volume Two of photographic biography. Beginning with summer vacation - August, 1917. Below a photograph has been glued down and was later ripped out. Below were the photograph once was reads "I take a look at myself."

Photograph 1: Grant Cochran Knight, Dorthea Alzina Knight, undated

  • Box 6, item 1
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Page 2, photograph 1: The White Mountains. From this point I could view the Green Mountains, the Blue Mountains, the White Mountains, undated

  • Box 5, item 16
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Page 2, photograph 2: The White Mountains. From this point I could view the Green Mountains, the Blue Mountains, the White Mountains, undated

  • Box 5, item 17
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Page 2, photograph 3: The White Mountains. the Presidential Range, undated

  • Box 5, item 18
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Page 2, photograph 4: The White Mountains. On the state highway, undated

  • Box 5, item 19
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Page 3, photograph 1: Sunapee comes from the Indian Soo-Nupi, meaning Wild Goose Water, undated

  • Box 5, item 20
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Page 3, photograph 2: I learn to canoe, undated

  • Box 5, item 21
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Page 3, photo 3: A steamer leaves a trail of smoke, undated

  • Box 5, item 22
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Page 3, photograph 4: Loon Island Lighthouse in background, undated

  • Box 5, item 23
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Page 4, photograph 1: New York's famous skyline, undated

  • Box 5, item 24
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Page 5, photograph 1: Salem Massachusetts. The House of Seven Gables, undated

  • Box 5, item 25
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Page 5, photograph 2: Salem, Massachusetts. Tourists from state of Washington, undated

  • Box 5, item 26
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Page 5, photograph 3: Salem, Massachusetts. They liked to tell what they knew, undated

  • Box 5, item 27
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Page 5, photograph 4: Salem, Massachusetts. Hawthorne's view of Salem Harbor, undated

  • Box 5, item 28
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Page 6, photograph 1: Cambridge, Massachusetts - Harvard University, undated

  • Box 5, item 29
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Page 6, photograph 2: Cambridge, Massachusetts - Harvard University, undated

  • Box 5, item 30
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Page 6, photograph 3: Cambridge, Massachusetts - Harvard University, undated

  • Box 5, item 31
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Page 7, photograph 1: Longfellow's home. Used as headquarters by George Washington. From the gate, undated

  • Box 5, item 32
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Page 7, photograph 2: Longfellow's home. Used as headquarters by George Washington. From the lawn, undated

  • Box 5, item 33
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Page 7, photograph 3: Longfellow's home. Used as headquarters by George Washington. Under the spreading chestnut tree--, undated

  • Box 5, item 34
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Page 8, photograph 1: Concord, Massachusetts. The parish church, where the first Continental Congress met, 1774, undated

  • Box 5, item 35
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Page 8, photograph 2: Concord, Massachusetts. Emerson's house, undated

  • Box 5, item 36
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Page 8, photograph 3: Concord, Massachusetts. Here the great writer died, undated

  • Box 5, item 37
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Page 9, photograph 1: The Old North Bridge. Passage over this bridge was disputed by minute men, undated

  • Box 5, item 38
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Page 9, photograph 2: Where Emerson wrote Nature and most of his work. Within sight of the battlefield, undated

  • Box 5, item 39
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Page 9, photograph 3: The Minute Man, undated

  • Box 5, item 40
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Page 10, photograph 1: A typical slate gravestone. At Concord. I lost my life in the ranging Sea's; A sovereign God does as he please. The Kittery friends they did appear, And my remains they buried here. Inscription on tombstone of Margaret Hills, consort of Oliver Hills, died October 31st 1803 Aet. 28. Kittery Cemetery, Maine, undated

  • Box 5, item 41
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Page 11, photograph 1: Back again at Boston. Bunker Hill Monument, undated

  • Box 5, item 42
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Page 11, photograph 2: Back again at Boston. The Prescott Monument, undated

  • Box 5, item 43
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Page 12, photograph 1: Leaving Boston Harbor on the Belfast. 5 P.M., undated

  • Box 5, item 44
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Page 12, photograph 2: Leaving Boston Harbor on the Belfast. En route for the Cod Canal, undated

  • Box 5, item 45
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Page 12, photograph 3: Leaving Boston Harbor on the Belfast. The skyline at New York 8:30 A.M., undated

  • Box 5, item 46
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Page 13, photograph 1: I teach in Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, undated

  • Box 5, item 47
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Page 14, photograph 1: The entrance, undated

  • Box 5, item 48
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Page 14, photograph 2: McKnight Hall, undated

  • Box 5, item 49
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Page 14, photograph 2: A glimpse of the chapel, undated

  • Box 5, item 50
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Page 15, photograph 1: Chemical Lab, undated

  • Box 5, item 51
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Page 15, photograph 1: Pennsylvania Hall, undated

  • Box 5, item 52
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Page 15, photograph 3: The gym, undated

  • Box 5, item 53
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Page 15, photograph 4: Gadfelter Hall, undated

  • Box 5, item 54
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Page 16, photograph 1: A few of the houses. Sigma Chi, undated

  • Box 5, item 55
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Page 16, photograph 2: A few of the houses. Sigma Chi, undated

  • Box 5, item 56
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Page 16, photograph 3: A few of the houses. A.T.O., undated

  • Box 5, item 57
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Photograph album, volume III., 1910-1918, undated

This photo album series was put together by Grant Cochran Knight. It consists of picture from his school days, class mates he socialized and lived with, and a trip he took to Philadelphia. The items were removed from Grant Cochran Knight's scrapbook Volume III.

Page 2: photograph 1: My freshman year at Albright. John Francis Dunlap, A.M., D.D., President of Albright in my freshman year, 1914-1915

  • Box 6, item 2
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Page 2, photograph 2: My freshman year at Albright. Haps Benfer - star athlete who welcomed me to school, 1914-1915

  • Box 5, item 58
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Page 3, photograph 1: Beginning the 22 September I played tennis at every opportunity. Herman Flick, of Craley, is here shown behind me, undated

  • Box 5, item 59
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Page 4, photograph 1: The Skylight Freshman Sextette. Probably the beginning of the Albright Band. All six roomed on the 4th floor and this photo was taken on the roof. Back row left to right: Hussler, Knight, Burg. Front row left to right: B. Hoffman, Church, Kilpatrick, undated

  • Box 5, item 60
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Page 4, photograph 2: A scene in Lebanon quite familiar to Ben and me, 1914

  • Box 6, item 3
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Page 5: My first chemistry experiment, undated

  • Box 4, folder 8
This material was removed from Scrapbook Volume III, pages 5-6.
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Page 6, photograph 1: On the tennis court - 28 September Left to right: Knight, B. Hoffman, Flick, Hassler, Baumerster, Kast, undated

  • Box 5, item 61
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Page 7, photograph 1: A trip to the Zor at Philadelphia 3 October. Six freshman and one prep in the party. Where we didn't arrive, although I have been in this, undated

  • Box 6, item 4
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Page 7, photograph 2: We easily recognized the University of Pennsylvania campus and buildings, 1910

  • Box 6, item 5
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Page 8, photograph 1: This we observed from the trolley, 1910

  • Box 6, item 6
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Page 8, photograph 2: Where we went after dinner at the Baltimore Dairy Lunch and a hurried inspection of the Museum of Fine Arts. Here our crowd separated and 'Bishop' Heishley and I crossed the Delaware into Cambridge, 1913

  • Box 6, item 7
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Page 9, photograph 1: It was my first visit to Independence Hall and I was keenly interested in everything, 1913

  • Box 6, item 8
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Page 9, photograph 2: We stood with bared heads before this venerable relic, undated

  • Box 6, item 9
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Page 10, photograph 1: Heishley and I were lost in the maze of this wonderful building. We were especially attracted to the book department. Arrived home and suffered by contrasts, undated

  • Box 6, item 10
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Page 10, item 2: A flavored antiseptic toothpick, from Donough and Snavely, Lebanon, undated

  • Box 5, item 62
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Page 11, item 1: On the night of 6 October was fought the Battle of Newmanstown, undated

  • Box 5, item 63
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Page 11, photograph 2: Here is where we attended Sunday school and church, undated

  • Box 6, item 11
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Page 12, photograph 1: A day in Reading. Here we spent part of the morning. this is a Carnegie Library and a very fine Library, 1912

  • Box 6, item 12
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Page 14, item 1: Col. Roosevelt held this paper in his hand while making his famous Reading speech, undated

  • Box 5, item 64
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Page 16, photograph 1: We walked across this viaduct and later attended performance of The Shepherd of the Hills presented at the Academy of Music, undated

  • Box 6, item 13
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Page 16, photograph 2: untitled, undated

  • Box 6, item 14
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Page 17, photograph 1: We voted Reading a nice busy place. Saw movies at the 'Empire' and returned home on 9:14 , undated

  • Box 6, item 15
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Page 17, item 2: The key to the situation - used by me during freshman year, undated

  • Box 5, item 65
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Page 18: Banquet program, 1918

  • Box 4, folder 9
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Page 19, photograph 1: The winning combination - B.G. Hoffman and I in our apartments, room No. 70. We are sitting on his bed, undated

  • Box 5, item 66
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Page 19, photograph 2: Roy Dick and Lester ('Bishop') Heishley, undated

  • Box 6, item 16
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Page 20: School play advertisment. Ben Aucker, Crumbling and I walk to Lebanon. 14 November, undated

  • Box 4, folder 7
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Scrapbook, 1908-1955

This scrapbook was put together by Grant Cochran Knight and contains newspaper clippings, programs, and letters about his professional career. The photos from Scrapbook Volume IV were removed and stored with the rest of the photographs from this collection.

Mr. Levi Knight family, 1908 December 12

  • Box 4, folder 8
Mr. and Mrs. Levi Knight and son Grant, 12 December 1908. On verso of original there is a note by Grant Cochran Knight: "My father, L.R. Knight, is about 51 in this photograph; my mother is about 36; I am 15. I rather like this boy."
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Grant C. Knight On the edge of the Pacific, 1947 August

  • Box 6, item 17
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Scrapbook, 1925-1955

  • Item 8
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Researchers are encouraged to request collections at least 48 business hours in advance for retrieval. Questions? Contact us at https://libraries.uky.edu/ContactSCRC.