Bullitt Family Papers – Oxmoor Collection, Additional Papers, 1920-1968
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Bullitt Family
Title: Papers-Oxmoor Collection additional papers, 1920-1968
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/B937d
Biographical Note
William Marshall Bullitt was the son of Thomas and Annie Logan Bullitt. He too was a successful lawyer. In 1912 President Taft appointed Bullitt Solicitor General of the United States. He held the position for less than a year, as Taft was not re-elected. In 1914 he made a run for one of Kentucky’s senate seat but lost. That ended Bullitt’s political career. Bullitt turned his attention to his law career and made his law firm one of the most successful and largest firms in the state. In 1918 he accepted a position with the Red Cross as deputy commissioner and traveled through Europe immediately after the war. Bullitt became an influential figure in Louisville. He sat on many bank, insurance, and company boards. He was also a member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Nora Iasigi Bullitt was the daughter of Oscar and Amy Iasigi and was born in Massachusetts in 1881. Before her marriage to William Marshall Bullitt in 1913 she wrote several articles that were published, and was an avid sculptor. She and Marshall had three children together. She became active in local groups, including the Historic Homes Foundation and was an extensive traveler her entire life.
Thomas W. Bullitt was the son of William and Nora Iasigi Bullitt. He was born in Massachusetts in 1914. He attended prep schools in England and Massachusetts before entering Harvard University and Harvard Law School. After his graduation in 1941 he briefly joined his father’s law firm. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Bullitt joined the army and was eventually sent to England to assist Field Marshal Montgomery. Bullitt’s military career lasted until 1946 when he returned to Louisville and began practicing law again with his father in the firms Bullitt & Middleton and Bullitt, Dawson & Tarrant. After his father’s death in 1957, Bullitt was left the bulk of the Oxmoor estate and he began right away thinking of developing some of the property. Bullitt completed the building of the Oxmoor shopping center in the 1970s and drew up a master plan of development for the rest of the estate after his death. Bullitt was an avid horseman and established the Oxmoor steeplechase. Bullitt had no children so upon his death in 1991 the estate went into trust. Sixty acres, including the main house and all the outbuildings have been preserved through a preservation easement.
Nora Bullitt Leake was the daughter of William and Nora Iasigi Bullitt. She was born in Louisville in 1916. She attended boarding schools in Massachusetts and briefly attended Bryn Mawr College. She married Eugene Leake in 1939 and they lived in Connecticut, Kentucky, and Maryland as they followed Leake’s career opportunities as an artist. They had two daughters together. She died in 1980.
Barbara Bullitt Watkins Christian was the daughter of William and Nora Iasigi Bullitt. She was born in Louisville in 1919. She attended boarding schools in Pennsylvania. She married Lowry Watkins in 1942 and together they had 3 children together. After their divorce in 1960 she married Virgil Christian. Barbara was active in the Republican Party and an avid horsewoman. She died in 2000.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of letters dated 1920-1968 written by Thomas, Nora, and Barbara Bullitt to their parents William Marshall and Nora Iasigi Bullitt. The letters dated 1920-1938 were written by the children while they were away at boarding schools and mostly concern their education, family life, and social life. The letters dated 1939-1968 were written after the Bullitt children began their careers or married and concern current events, social events, and descriptions of family life. There were several letters from the Bullitt grandchildren as well.
Folder Listing
Folder 1: Correspondence, 1920-1922
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1923-1924
Folder 3: Correspondence, 1925
Folder 4: Correspondence, 1926
Folder 5: Correspondence, 1927
Folder 6: Correspondence, 1928-1929
Folder 7: Correspondence, January-August 1931
Folder 8: Correspondence, September-December 1931
Folder 9: Correspondence, January-February 1932
Folder 10: Correspondence, March-April 1932
Folder 11: Correspondence, May-September 1932
Folder 12: Correspondence, October-December 1932
Folder 13: Correspondence, January-March 1933
Folder 14: Correspondence, April-September 1933
Folder 15: Correspondence, October-December 1933
Folder 16: Correspondence, January-March 1934
Folder 17: Correspondence, April-August 1934
Folder 18: Correspondence, September-December 1934
Folder 19: Correspondence, January-March 1935
Folder 20: Correspondence, April-August 1935
Folder 21: Correspondence, September-December 1935
Folder 22: Correspondence, January-March 1936
Folder 23: Correspondence, April-June 1936
Folder 24: Correspondence, July-December 1936
Folder 25: Correspondence, January-February 1937
Folder 26: Correspondence, March-August 1937
Folder 27: Correspondence, September-December 1937
Folder 28: Correspondence, January-February 1938
Folder 29: Correspondence, March-April 1938
Folder 30: Correspondence, May-June 1938
Folder 31: Correspondence, July-December 1938
Folder 32: Correspondence, January-February 1939
Folder 33: Correspondence, March-July 1939
Folder 34: Correspondence, August-October 1939
Folder 35: Correspondence, November-December 1939
Folder 36: Correspondence, January-February 1940
Folder 37: Correspondence, March-June 1940
Folder 38: Correspondence, July-December 1940
Folder 39: Correspondence, January-March 1941
Folder 40: Correspondence, April-July 1941
Folder 41: Correspondence, August-December 1941
Folder 42: Correspondence, January-May 1942
Folder 43: Correspondence, June-September 1942
Folder 44: Correspondence, October-December 1942
Folder 45: Correspondence, January-March 1943
Folder 46: Correspondence, April-May 1943
Folder 47: Correspondence, June-September 1943
Folder 48: Correspondence, October-December 1943
Folder 49: Correspondence, January-February 1944
Folder 50: Correspondence, March-May 1944
Folder 51: Correspondence, June-December 1944
Folder 52: Correspondence, 1945-1946
Folder 53: Correspondence, January-June 1947
Folder 54: Correspondence, July-December 1947
Folder 55: Correspondence, 1948
Folder 56: Correspondence, 1949
Folder 57: Correspondence, 1950-1952
Folder 58: Correspondence, 1953
Folder 59: Correspondence, January-August 1954
Folder 60: Correspondence, September-December 1954
Folder 61: Correspondence, 1955-1957
Folder 62: Correspondence, 1958
Folder 63: Correspondence, 1959
Folder 64: Correspondence, 1960
Folder 65: Correspondence, January-May 1961
Folder 66: Correspondence, June-December 1961
Folder 67: Correspondence, January-May 1962
Folder 68: Correspondence, June-December 1962
Folder 69: Correspondence, January-May 1963
Folder 70: Correspondence, June-December 1963
Folder 71: Correspondence, 1964
Folder 72: Correspondence, January-April 1965
Folder 73: Correspondence, May-December 1965
Folder 74: Correspondence, 1966-1968
Folder 75: Correspondence, undated.
Subject Headings
Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971
Antisemitism – United States
Apthorp, Octavia Iasigi, 1857-1944
Atherton, Cornelia Anderson, 1886-
Bermuda – Description and travel
Bingham, Mary Caperton, 1904-
Bingham, Robert Worth, 1871-1937
Brandeis, Louis Dembitz, 1856-1941
Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965
Bullitt, A. Scott (Alexander Scott), 1877-1932
Bullitt, James Bell, 1874-1964
Bullitt, Nora Iasigi, 1881-1976
Bullitt, Priscilla Keator Pillsbury, 1915-
Bullitt, Thomas Walker, 1914-1991
Bullitt, William C. (William Christian), 1891-1967
Bullitt, Wm. Marshall (William Marshall), b.1873
Cameron, Nora Leake, 1942-
Camp Pickett (Va.)
Children – Correspondence
Children’s art
Christian, Barbara Bullitt Watkins, 1919-2000
Crowninshield, Louise Du Pont, 1877-1958
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Depressions – 1929
Dewey, Thomas E. (Thomas Edmund), 1902-1971
Dow, Joy Wheeler, b.ca.1909
Education
Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-
England – Description and travel
Europe – Description and travel
Family life
Floods – Kentucky – Louisville
Fort Campbell (Ky. and Tenn.)
Fort Knox (Ky.)
Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965
Frontier Nursing Service, inc.
Goldwater, Barry, 1938-
Grabisch, Agatha Bullitt, 1875-1948
Graham, Martha
Greeting cards
Harvard University
Hindenburg (Airship)
Hungary – Description and travel
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Korean War, 1950-1953
Leake, Eugene, 1911-
Leake, Nora Bullitt, 1916-1980
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1902-
Louisville (Ky.) – Social life and customs
Loving, Emma, 1874-1952
Massachusetts – Social life and customs
Miller, Neville, 1894-1977
Morton, Rogers Clark Ballard, 1914-1979
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-
Oxmoor Steeplechase
Presidents – United States – Election – 1936
Presidents – United States – Election – 1944
Presidents – United States – Election – 1964
Radcliffe College
Religion – United States
Richardson, Nina Leake, 1944-
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1914-1988
Santa Claus
Scarlatina
Social service – Kentucky
Stoll, Alice Speed, 1906-1996
Strikes and lockouts – Coal mining
Suicide
United States – Relations – Japan
Vallely, Barbara Porter Watkins, 1943-
Varé, Daniele, 1880-1956
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975
Watkins, Lowry Rush, ca.1897-1981
Watkins, Lowry Rush, 1946-
Watkins, Marshall Bullitt, 1955-1996
Willkie, Wendell L. (Wendell Lewis), 1892-1944
Women in politics
World War, 1939-1945
Wyatt, Wilson W. (Wilson Watkins), 1905-1996
