Ann Byrne Haile letters and school papers

Content Description

Ann Byrne Haile's parents were John Byrne (1886-1955) and Hattie Louanne Tittle Byrne (1887-1996). Her siblings include Willie Franklyn Byrne Curtis (1910–1994), Marye Lee Byrne Jennings (1915–1980), Floy Byrne Wooten (1917–2001), and Ada Frances Byrne Hensley (1913-1934). This accession includes love letters and school papers from Ann Byrne Hail to her future husband. The love letters are written in 1942 during World War II, where Morris served for the United States Navy. Morris was employed by the Glenn L. Martin Company, an aviation company that made planes for the United States and its allies during WWII. Ann was a school teacher. She graduated from Gallatin High School in 1939 and Austin Peay Normal School in 1941. She has more siblings than are mentioned in public records. The World War II letters occur over a period of a few months, the letters transitioned from Ann not being sure Morris is her true love to planning their wedding, which took place on September 16, 1942. Ann writes to Morris about her friends and family and the ordeal of planning their wedding. She mentions that the War Department is going to be using her family farm for maneuvering exercises and that she felt sad for what was happening in Russia. The folder also contains a letter from a Cookeville, Tennessee man, Tom Brown Upchurch, who wrote to Morris about attending aircraft sheet and metal training and inquiring about the area and about how to get a job at Glenn L Martin. He later becomes a rural letter carrier. Morris is buried in Rob Draper Memorial Cemetery. There are three greeting cards that are representative of 1940s greeting cards. The Nashville Banner and the Examiner Tennessean are also briefly mentioned in regards to Ann being published as a letter writer in the paper. The school papers include programs for performances, Home Economics club pamphlets, writings (some about her sister Frances early death and unhappy marriage with a "drunkard" husband), papers about growing up and becoming a school teacher, sketches, resumes, letter regarding Austin Peay Normal School from Senator Almond N. Fuller, a dance card, graduation programs, correspondence from Albert Gore congratulating her on her schooling, report cards, and a story regarding her family from 1937.

Acquisition Type

Gift

Restrictions Apply

No