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John Wade Kidwell Family Papers, ca. 1920s-2013 A&M 3823

John Wade Kidwell Family Papers, ca. 1920s-2013 A&M 3823


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West Virginia and Regional History Center

1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
Business Number: 304-293-3536
wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com
URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

Staff of the West Virginia & Regional History Center

Repository
West Virginia and Regional History Center
Identification
A&M 3823
Title
John Wade Kidwell Family Papers ca. 1920s-2013 ca. 1940s-1995
URL:
https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/ark:/99999/196341
Quantity
5 Linear Feet, Summary: 5 ft. (2 record cartons, 15 in. each); (2 document cases, 2 1/2 in.); (4 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 1 1/2 in.); (1 flat storage box, 3 1/2 in.)
Location
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Language
English
Abstract
Papers of the John Wade Kidwell family of West Virginia. Includes funeral and estate records of John Wade and Dessie Christina Judy Kidwell (ca. 1980s-1990s). Also includes photographs (ca. 1920s-1980s), correspondence (ca. 1940s-1990s), artifacts (1950s-1980s), motion pictures (1950s-1970s), and blueprints of family home. Also includes records regarding the Kidwell's time in Alexandria, VA and Washington, D.C. (1941); John Wade's work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (1943-1946); and daughter Carol Jean Kidwell Mullenex (1939-1993). Addendum of 2013/07/08 includes additional records regarding Carol Jean Kidwell Mullennex. Addendum of 2013/08/02 includes records regarding two of John Wade and Dessie's children, David Lee and Neal (Keith O'Neal) Kidwell, and their families. Addendum of 2014/07/18 includes material regarding the assassination of President Kennedy; Chris Kidwell; and gospel music performances on recorded to VHS tapes. For more information, please see the Scope and Content note.

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

Special access restriction applies.

Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], John Wade Kidwell Family Papers, A&M 3823, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Scope and Contents

Papers of the John Wade Kidwell family of West Virginia. Includes funeral and estate records of John Wade and Dessie Christina Judy Kidwell (ca. 1980s-1990s). Also includes photographs, correspondence, artifacts, 8 mm motion picture film, VHS tapes, and blueprints. Photographs depict family vacations (1965-1988), family portraits (ca. 1920s-1980s), and Christmas (1954-1984). Correspondence includes holiday greeting cards (ca. 1940s-1990s). Artifacts include items which belonged to Dessie (ca. 1970s-1980s) and paintings (early 1950s - 1983). Motion picture film and VHS tapes depict family vacations and other events (1950s-1970s). Blueprints depict the family home built in 1978. Also includes binders of material regarding the Kidwell's time in Alexandria, VA and Washington, D.C. (1941); John Wade's work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (1943-1946); and of John Wade and Dessie's daughter, Carol Jean Kidwell Mullennex (1939-1993). Many items also have accompanying descriptive notes written by Chris Kidwell (ca. 2012).

Related Material

3823, 3945

Subjects and Indexing Terms

  • Christian vacation schools
  • Family vacations
  • Greeting cards
  • Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination
  • Kidwell family
  • Parsons (W. Va.)

Significant Places Associated With the Collection

  • Parsons (W. Va.)
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Container List

Mixed Materials Box: 1 Mixed Materials Box: 2
Boxes 1-2. Funeral and estate records of John Wade and Dessie Christina Judy Kidwell (ca. 1980s-1990s). (Records include a VHS tape of Dessie's final message to family (1989)--a DVD copy will be available for patron use). [Restricted until 2019]
ca. 1980s-1990s
Mixed Materials Box: 3
Box 3. Family vacation photos, brochures, and trip journals (1965-1988). Also includes typescript descriptions of the family vacations written by Chris Kidwell (ca. 2012)
1965-2012
Mixed Materials Box: 4
Box 4. Family portraits (ca. 1920s-1980s) and Christmas photos (1954-1984), as well as Kidwell family holiday cards (ca. 1950s-1990s) and school valentines (ca. 1940s and 1960s-1970s). (Most of the valentines belonged to Chris Kidwell, who attended Parsons Grade School in the 1960s-1970s. The earlier valentines belonged to uncles of the Judy family. A typescript description and photos of people related to Parsons Grade School are included.)
ca. 1920s-1990s
Mixed Materials Box: 5
Box 5. Kidwell photos, including a photo album documenting trips to Hawaii in 1971 and 1974, as well as a spiral notebook used by Chris Kidwell during his junior and senior years at Parsons High School (ca. 1977-1979). Also included are items belonging to Dessie Judy Kidwell: a Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union pin; a Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry 50th anniversary keychain; an Order of the Eastern Star emblem; and the book Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star: As Amended at the Triennial Assembly of the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star Held in Cleveland, Ohio, September 1976 (Washington, D.C.: General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, 1976)
1971-1979
Mixed Materials Box: 6
Box 6. 20 reels of Kidwell home movies on 8 mm film, and three 8 mm film reel boxes which serve as exemplars of photographica. (Some of the footage is of the Judy family. The following is a list of the contents of the motion picture reels, according to the information on their original boxes.)
1950s-1970s
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 1
    O'Neal and David Christmas
    1957-?
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 2
    Snow in Cannan, Chris and Dana tulip buds, Dick and Dall playing horseshoe
    1960
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 3
    Chris and O'Neal Winter Snow
    [ca. 1963?]
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 4
    Chris and O'Neal in Woods at Elk Lick,
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 5
    Earl's farewell party, and Chris and O'Neal swimming party, (our neighbors)
    1961
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 6
    Dess Kidwell
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 7
    No information given
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 8
    Kanenetha [?] Birthday
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 9
    "Sunday Dinner" at Grandma and Granddad (Dick Shanon), Dess and family
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 10
    Wade, O'Neal, and Chris at the Beach
    August 29, 1965
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 11
    O'Neal and Chris, age 9 and 6, at swimming pool motel?
    August 1965
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 12
    The Ocean (Storm Alma [Hurricane Alma?])
    1966
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 13
    Oregon Inlet fish
    August 29, 1965
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 14
    Boys at Beach
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 15
    Beach - Canada
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 16
    Canada
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 17
    Wyoming
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 18
    Wyoming
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 19
    Wyoming
    undated
  • Mixed Materials Box: 6 Reel: 20
    Hawaiian
    undated
Mixed Materials Box: 7
Box 7. Two paintings on wood depicting butterflies and flowers, made by Dessie (1983). Also included are photographs and blueprints of the "dream home" that Wade built for Dessie and family, located at 409 Jameson Avenue, Parsons, WV (ca. 1978)
ca. 1978, 1983
Mixed Materials Box: 8
Box 8. Four binders
ca. 1930s-2013
  • Mixed Materials Box: 8 Item: 1
    Correspondence (1941) and photographs (ca. 1930s, 1941) from the Kidwell family's brief time in Alexandria, VA. They lived there while Mr. Kidwell worked with eagles at the Washington Zoo
    ca. 1930s, 1941
  • Mixed Materials Box: 8 Item: 2
    Printed material, ephemera, correspondence, photographs, personnel records, and a newspaper (1938-1946; includes facsimiles) from the time when John Wade Kidwell worked as an Engineering Aide Trainee, a civilian job at Wright and/or Patterson Fields for which he trained at West Virginia Wesleyan College. He eventually moved the family to Dayton, OH, and became Property and Supply Officer during the war. The materials pertain to both his professional life and family life
    1938-1946
  • Mixed Materials Box: 8 Item: 3
    Papers of Carol Jean Kidwell Mullennex (March 5, 1939 - August 6, 1993), the oldest child of John Wade and Dessie Judy Kidwell. She reportedly suffered from mental illness, possibly paranoid schizophrenia. Her papers include material related to arrangements for her reinterment in Parsons City Cemetery (2011-2012), financial papers (1970s), and personal correspondence (1971-1980). Much of the correspondence is to Carol from her boyfriend Ed Matthews, and documents their troubled relationship
    March 5, 1939-2012
  • Mixed Materials Box: 8 Item: 4
    Addendum of 2013/07/08 containing records regarding Carol Jean Kidwell Mullennex (also went by Schilansky/Schelesky) and her daughter Dana. Includes a typescript biography of Carol, photographs of Carol and Dana, valentine greeting cards and other correspondence, baby booties, and school records. Also includes two WWII ration books
    ca. 1939-2013
Mixed Materials Box: 9
Box 9. Addendum of 2013/08/02, which includes records regarding the families of David Lee and Lisa Jon Schroeder Kidwell, and Neal and Phyllis Kidwell. David Lee Kidwell was the third child of John Wade and Dessie; Neal (Keith O'Neal) was their fourth child. Includes greeting cards, photographs, clippings, letters, computer printouts, and children's crafts
ca. 1947-2009
Mixed Materials Box: 10
Box 10. Addendum of 2014/07/18, which includes two items regarding the assassination of President Kennedy, a copy of LIFE Magazine from 29 November 1963, and a copy of the Parsons Advocate from 26 November 1963; programs and certificates regarding piano recitals and vacation bible schools attended by Chris Kidwell (1966-1969); and two VHS tapes of gospel music, one of the Shahan family performing in Parsons, West Virginia (1988) and one titled "Hagans Homecoming" featuring the Stephen Pyle family which includes a list of song titles (2001)
1963-2001
Mixed Materials unboxed
Box 11. An oil painting by Carol Jean Kidwell depicting a river scene (early 1950s); and an aerial painting of the family home at 409 Jameson Avenue (ca. 1978), which has both a photo of Wade and Dessie and a descriptive note about the home on the back
early 1950s-ca. 1978