John Fetterman Papers, 1940-1973 | Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog

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Collection Overview

Title: John Fetterman Papers, 1940-1973

Primary Creator: Fetterman, John.

Extent: 30.0 MS boxes

Arrangement:

Arrangement of the collection is by series:

Series 1: Personal / Biographical

Series 2: Pulitzer Prize Materials

Series 3: Published Writings

Series 4: Research Subject Files

Series 5: Stinking Creek

Series 6: Photographs

Subjects: Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)., Fetterman, John -- Archival rsources, Journalists -- United States -- Biography., Kentucky -- Economic conditions., Kentucky -- Social conditions., Newspapers -- History., Reporters and reporting--United States.

Languages: English

Abstract

Fetterman was a prolific writer on a wide variety of subjects that ranged from the whimsical to the tragic. He is probably best remembered for his stories about the impact on eastern Kentucky of strip mining, the War on Poverty, and Vietnam. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for his article, "PFC Gibson Comes Home," which dealt with the death of a young Knott County, Kentucky soldier in Vietnam and its impact on his family and community. Earlier, he had contributed to a Courier-Journal series on strip mining, which won a Pulitzer in 1967. Additional writings on Appalachian related topics include “The People of Cumberland Gap” for National Geographic (11-71) and his book, Stinking Creek (1967) that portrayed life in the Stinking Creek area of Knox County, Kentucky. The core of his writing success has been described as a penchant for simplifying the complex and capturing moods. Speaking of his approach to reporting, he once said “all I try to do is find out how ordinary people are touched by things going on around them and then tell the truth about it.”

Scope and Contents of the Materials

These are correspondence, research materials, writings, and photographs of Courier Journal-Louisville Times reporter and editor, John Fetterman (1920-1975). Fetterman, a Danville, Kentucky native, served three and half years in the U.S. Navy and then attended Murray State University under the G.I. bill, graduating in 1948. He worked for the Murray Ledger and Times and the Nashville Tennessean. He also tried his hand at high school teaching and did post-graduate work at the University of Kentucky before coming to the Louisville papers in 1957 as a staff writer and photographer. During his Louisville years, he also did free lance writing for such magazines as the Saturday Evening Post, Time, Life, and National Geographic.

Subject/Index Terms

Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.).
Fetterman, John -- Archival rsources
Journalists -- United States -- Biography.
Kentucky -- Economic conditions.
Kentucky -- Social conditions.
Newspapers -- History.
Reporters and reporting--United States.

Administrative Information

Repository: Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog

Access Restrictions: Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.

Use Restrictions:

Some items are restricted including several photographs made by Kentucky hospitals and police departments, a series of 17 medical x-ray films, and excerpts from medical and police records that include the names and locales of child abuse victims and their alleged attackers.

Note on Copyright: The Louisville Courier-Journal holds the copyright to photographs used by Fetterman to illustrate articles produced for the newspaper. Researchers must be granted permission from the Courier-Journal before photographs can be duplicated for publication or other use.

Preferred Citation: [Object identification], John Fetterman Collection, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, KY.

Finding Aid Revision History:

The finding aid was updated in January 2016 to reflect the addition in Series 5 (Box 15) of the following materials:

Folio: Manuscript, Stinking Creek

Folio: Stinking Creek Photographs

Other Note: BCA 0027 SAA 026

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Personal / Biographical],
[Series 2: Pulitzer Prize Material],
[Series 3: Published Writings],
[Series 4: Article Research Subject Files],
[Series 5: Stinking Creek],
[Series 6: Photographs],
[All]

Series 4: Article Research Subject Files

This series consists of written and typed notes and other material that Fetterman compiled in the course of story research. There is an especially extensive file on child abuse that includes an unpublished book manuscript. Other particularly extensive files include those for his National Geographic articles, “On the Road with an Old-Time Circus” and “The People of Cumberland Gap”.

Box 6

Folder 1: "Last Creek to Kill"
Folder 2: "Lilley's Wood"
Folder 3: "Louisville: Progressing with Ladylike Decorum"
Folder 4: "The Melungeons"
Folder 5: "Pfc. Gibson Comes Home,", 1968
Folder 6: "The Reunion", 1971
Folder 7: "Why Men go to Die in the Coal Mines", 1971
Folder 8: Antiques, Notes, Business Cards, n.d.
Folder 9: Danville, Kentucky, n.d.
Folder 10: Deitzisms (Memos from different Sunday Times Staffers), 1972
Folder 11: The Future
Folder 12: Hensley Settlement, n.d. (Cumberland Gap National Park)
Folder 13: Manuscript on Hotel Thievery
Folder 14: One-Room School Houses
Folder 15: Overcrowding
Folder 16: Paleolithic Archeology
Folder 17: Rolls-Royce-Notes and Correspondence

Box 7

Folder 1: Van Buren, Kentucky, and the Taylorsville Reservoir I, 1974
Folder 2: Van Buren, Kentucky, and the Taylorsville Reservoir II, 1974
Folder 3: Water Pollution
Folder 4: Miscellaneous Story Ideas
Folder 5: Miscellaneous Articles and Notes
Folder 6: Work and Research for Time / Life, 1971

Box 8

Folder 1: "Child Abuse", 1968
Folder 2: "Child Abuse", 1968-69
Folder 3: Child Abuse-Research Notes, Prologue and Acknowledgements, 1968-69
Folder 4: Child Abuse-Research and Notes, Chapter I, 1968-69
Folder 5: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter II, 1968-69
Folder 6: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter II, 1968-69
Folder 7: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter III, 1968-69
Folder 8: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter IV, 1968-69
Folder 9: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter IV, 1968-69

Box 9

Folder 1: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter V, Classic Cases (2 examples), 1968-69
Folder 2: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter VI, Medical x-rays, 1968-69
Folder 3: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter VI, Medical x-rays, 1968-69
Folder 4: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter VI, Medical x-rays, 1968-69

Box 10

Folder 1: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter VII, Police/Courts, 1968-69
Folder 2: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter VIII, Need Law-Model Law, 1968-69
Folder 3: Child Abuse-Research, Chapter VIII, Need Law-Model Law, 1968-69
Folder 4: Child Abuse-Research, Miscellaneous-Notes, 1968-69
Folder 5: Child Abuse-Manuscript Outline, 1968-9
Folder 6: Child Abuse-Miscellaneous Manuscripts: Drafts

Box 11

Folder 1: Child Abuse-Research, Miscellaneous-Articles (Journals and Magazine Papers, and Pamphlets
Folder 2: Child Abuse-Research, Miscellaneous-Newspaper Articles, 1968-69
Folder 3: Child Abuse-Research, Miscellaneous-Notes, 1968-69
Folder 4: Child Abuse-Research, Miscellaneous-Notes, 1968-69
Folder 5: Child Abuse-Manuscript Outline, 1968-69
Folder 6: Child Abuse-Miscellaneous Manuscripts: Drafts, 1968-69
Folder 7: Child Abuse-Manuscript Excerpts, 1968-69
Folder 8: Child Abuse-Manuscript, Chapter 1-"Ginny"
Folder 9: Child Abuse-Correspondence, 1968-69

Box 12

Folder 1: "On the Road with and Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 2: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 3: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 4: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 5: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 6: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 7: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 8: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,"
Folder 9: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 10: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 11: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72
Folder 12: "On the Road with an Old-time Circus,", 1971-72

Box 13

Folder 1: "The People of Cumberland Gap", 1970-71
Folder 2: "The People of Cumberland Gap", 1970-71
Folder 3: "The People of Cumberland Gap", 1970-71
Folder 4: "The People of Cumberland Gap", 1970-71
Folder 5: "The People of Cumberland Gap", 1970-71
Folder 6: "The People of Cumberland Gap", 1970-71
Folder 7: "The People of Cumberland Gap"
Folder 8: "The People of Cumberland Gap", 1970-71