Richard Alexander Edwards was born January 16, 1884, in Graves County, Kentucky. He taught in Graves County rural schools from 1902 to 1906. After receiving his Bachelors of Arts from the University of Kentucky in 1910, he worked as principal of Trimble County High School until 1914. From 1914 to 1918 he served as superintendent of Morganfield City Schools in Union County. He was employed by Eastern Kentucky State Normal School on September 1, 1918, as the director of the Training School. After winning the General Education Board Scholarship he studied at Columbia University, receiving his Master of Arts in 1925. The Richard Alexander Edwards Collection contains documents from Mr. Edwards, and early documents of the Cook/Gatewood families, of which Pauline Cook, Edwards's wife, is a descendant. In addition to these family documents dating back to the early 19th century, there are scrapbooks of farm records and daily life. R.A. Edwards added to the scrapbook collection with notes on bee-keeping. Edwards saved many notes and compositions from his school days that are included in this collection. He also left teaching materials from his time teaching in rural schools, as well as at Eastern Kentucky State College. Finally, this collection contains memorabilia--certificates, diplomas, invitations, Christmas cards and various other remembrances that have been placed in a box of miscellaneous papers. The collection is not only useful for historical research, but also for a look at the life of a Kentucky student and educator in the early 20th century. Also in this series is a collection of letters pertaining to Edwards's work.
Only a portion of this collection has been digitized. See the
Finding Aid for a description of the entire collection.
