Collection Title: Thomas H. Stokes Photograph Album
Series Number: MS10-87
Processed and Cataloged by: Processed by Dieter C. Ullrich on August 13, 2010.
Date Listed: August 13, 2010
Date Span: 1922
Size of Collection: 1.0 linear ft.
Number of Boxes: 1 photograph storage case.
Type of Material: Photographs and correspondence.
Condition of Material: Fair with minor acidic damage to photographs caused by adhesives and dark scrapbook paper.
Arrangement: Organized by creator.
Biographical / Historical Information: Thomas H. Stokes was successful banker and mayor of Murray, Kentucky during the early half of the 20th Century. He was born near Lynn Grove in Calloway County, Kentucky on October 4, 1881. He was a graduate of Sedalia High School and attended Union University, Valparaiso University, Western Kentucky University and West Kentucky College in Mayfield. He taught at various schools in Calloway County before changing careers and going into banking. He held clerk and cashier positions at banks in Ooltewah and Cleveland, Tennessee before returning to Murray. In 1915, Stokes organized the First National Bank of Murray and later became the bank’s president. He also served as a city councilman and mayor of Murray during the 1920s and 1930s, was one of the founders of the State Normal School Commission and a member of the first Board of Regents of the Murray State Normal School.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of a scrapbook believed to have been developed by the State Normal School Commission to promote Murray, Kentucky as the location for a state normal school in western Kentucky. The collection contains photos of local landmarks, public buildings, businesses, churches and the residences of prominent individuals in Murray in 1922. Included with the scrapbook is correspondence promoting the location of a normal school at Murray, the names of individuals who contributed money for the construction of the normal school and research materials on the history of the State Normal School Commission.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Stokes, Thomas H., 1881-
State Normal School Commission (Murray, Ky.)
Murray State University – History.
Murray (Ky.) – Buildings.
Calloway County (Ky.) – History.
Bankers – Kentucky – Murray.
