Rowe-Myers Family Papers, 1940-1970
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Rowe-Myers family
Title: Papers, 1940-1970 (bulk 1942-1946)
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: 4 cubic feet
Locator Number: Mss. A R878a
Scope and Content Note
The majority of the Rowe-Myers family papers are made up of correspondence between Jesse Myers, a sergeant on various American bases and in Guam during World War II, and his wife Wanda Rowe Myers, a secretary for the Girdler corporation in Louisville. Letters from Jesse to Wanda discuss the training he received on the various bases as well as the USO shows and films that he attended while stationed around the United States. After the war ended, Myers was sent to Guam for a few months. Letters during this period discuss the reconnaissance missions he participates in there as well as the discharge policies of the US Army after World War II. Wanda’s letters to Jesse detail events that occur in the Louisville area during the wartime period.
Other letters in the collection are correspondence to and from the Rowe brothers, Charles, Owen, and Skeeks. Letters to Besse Rowe (mother to Wanda and the brothers) are from her children. After the death of Owen, whose plane was shot down in Germany, she writes frequently to a Swedish family who cares for Owen’s grave in their country.
The collection also contained photographs of members of the Rowe-Myers family which have been transferred to the Filson’s photographic archives.
Biographical Note
Wanda Rowe Myers was born Grace Wanda Rowe on March 23, 1917 in Herrin, Illinois to parents Hetsley Rowe and Bessie Katharine Acton Rowe. She was the second of seven children. She married Jesse Burge Myers of Louisville, Kentucky on June 22, 1942, just five days after Jesse had enlisted into the Army Air Force during World War II. Her brothers, Albert Owen, Herbert “Skeeks” Oren, and Charles Everett also served in the military during World War II. At the time of her marriage to Jesse Myers, Wanda worked as a secretary for the Girdler Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1944, she left Louisville to join Jesse at his base on Long Beach, California, but returned six months later when Jesse was shipped to Guam. Jesse was relieved from duty in 1946 and returned to Louisville, where he had worked at LG&E prior to the war.
Folder List
Folder 1: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, June 1942
Folder 2: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, July 1942
Folder 3: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, August 1942
Folder 4: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, September 1942
Folder 5: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, October 1942
Folder 6: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, November 1942
Folder 7: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, December 1942
Folder 8: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, January 1943
Folder 9: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, February 1943
Folder 10: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, March 1943
Folder 11: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, April 1943
Folder 12: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, May 1943
Folder 13: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, June 1943
Folder 14: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, July 1943
Folder 15: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, August 1943
Folder 16: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, September 1943
Folder 17: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, October 1943
Folder 18: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, November 1943
Folder 19: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, December 1943
Folder 20: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, January 1944
Folder 21: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, February 1944
Folder 22: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, March 1944
Folder 23: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, April 1944
Folder 24: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, May 1944
Folder 25: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, June 1944
Folder 26: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, July 1944
Folder 27: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, August 1945
Folder 28: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, September 1945
Folder 29: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, October 1945
Folder 30: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, November 1945
Folder 31: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, December 1945
Folder 32: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, January 1946
Folder 33: Correspondence from Jesse Myers to Wanda Myers, February 1946 and misc.
Folder 34: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, June 1942
Folder 35: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, July 1942
Folder 36: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, August 1942
Folder 37: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, September 1942
Folder 38: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, October 1942
Folder 39: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, November 1942
Folder 40: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, December 1942
Folder 41: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, January 1943
Folder 42: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, February 1943
Folder 43: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, March 1943
Folder 44: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, April 1943
Folder 45: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, May 1943
Folder 46: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, June 1943
Folder 47: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, August 1943
Folder 48: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, November 1943
Folder 49: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, December 1943
Folder 50: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, January 1944
Folder 51: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, February 1944
Folder 52: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, March 1944
Folder 53: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, April 1944
Folder 54: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, May 1944
Folder 55: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, June 1944
Folder 56: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, July 1944
Folder 57: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, August 1944
Folder 58: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, October-December 1944
Folder 59: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, 1945
Folder 60: Correspondence from Wanda Myers to Jesse Myers, 1946 and Misc.
Folder 61: Miscellaneous Correspondence to Wanda Myers, 1940-1942
Folder 62: Miscellaneous Correspondence to Wanda Myers, Jan – July, 1943
Folder 63: Miscellaneous Correspondence to Wanda Myers, August – December 1943
Folder 64: Miscellaneous Correspondence to Wanda Myers, 1944
Folder 65: Miscellaneous Correspondence to Wanda Myers, 1945-1970
Folder 66: Christmas Cards to Wanda Myers
Folder 67: Birthday Cards to Wanda Myers
Folder 68: Greeting Cards to Jesse Myers
Folder 69: Correspondence to Charles Rowe
Folder 70: Correspondence to Albert Owen Rowe
Folder 71: Correspondence to H.O. “Skeeks” Rowe
Folder 72: Correspondence to Bessie Rowe
Folder 73: Newspaper Clippings
Folder 74: Genealogy
Folder 75: Jesse Myers, Diary
Folder 76: Miscellaneous
Folder 77: Miscellaneous Christmas Cards
Folder 78: Miscellaneous Easter Cards
Folder 79: Miscellaneous Greeting Cards
Folder 80: Empty Envelopes, June-July, 1943
Folder 81: Empty Envelopes, August – September, 1943
Folder 82: Empty Envelopes, October – December, 1943
Folder 83: Empty Envelopes, 1944
Folder 84: Empty Envelopes, 1946
Folder 85: Miscellaneous Empty Envelopes
Subject Headings
Boardinghouses – Kentucky – Louisville
Germany – History – 1945-1955
Kentucky Derby
Long Beach (Calif.)
Louisville (Ky.) – Social life and customs
Myers, Jesse
Myers, Wanda Rowe
New York (N.Y.) – Description and travel
United Service Organizations (U.S.)
United States. Army Air Forces
Women’s Army Corps Foundation
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 – Economic aspects
