OH130 Emily Wilson Wolfson Oral History
Collection Title
Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Lifestyles
Series Number
OH130
Interviewee
Wolfson, Emily Wilson
Interviewer
Anderson, Margaret R.
Date Interviewed
October 20th, 1988
Processed by
Tara Marcum
Date Processed
August 15th, 2011
Description
2 sound discs (82 minutes)
Abstract
Emily Wilson Wolfson, a native of Henderson County, Kentucky, discusses her experiences on a poultry farm during the 1920s. During the Great Depression, her father sold the family farm and ventured into business of insurance while her mother taught in public schools. She describes high school, church events and social activities in rural western Kentucky during the 1930s and 1940s. She mentions her academic career at Murray State University and Indiana University during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s and her career as an artist in the 1970s and 1980s.
Biographical/Historical Note
Emily Wilson Wolfson was born at Wilson Station, Kentucky in 1915. As a child, she attended a one-room schoolhouse in Henderson County, Kentucky. Her father was a poultry farmer and an insurance agent and her mother a public school teacher. She received a scholarship at the Newcomb School of Art in Louisiana, where she received an undergraduate degree in Art. She later attended the Art School at Louisiana State University. After receiving her master's degree in 1941, she was hired as an art instructor at Murray State Teachers College. She taught at Murray State for three years before accepting a position as the Art Director at the Evansville Art Museum. She also taught at Indiana University for ten years. She returned to Murray State in 1958 as faculty member in the Art Department. She retired in 1967. She was a member of the Murray Art Guild, the president of the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen and a representative on the American Crafts Council. She was awarded the Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts and the Rude Osolnik Award.
General Information
No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings/Descriptors
Wolfson, Emily Wilson, 1915-
Wilson Station (Ky.)
Henderson County (Ky.)
Murray State University – History.
Indiana University.
Evansville Art Museum (Evansville, Ind.)
Artists – Kentucky.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Margaret R., "OH130 Emily Wilson Wolfson Oral History" (2025). Lifestyles. 47.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/oh-lifestyles/47
Audio Transcript
