Bush, Allen. Kinslow’s Shop of Flowers research collection, 2022-2023
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Bush, Allen
Title: Kinslow’s Shop of Flowers research collection, 2022-2023
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 102 digital files (.15 GB)
Location Number: Mss. A B978a
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of digital materials Allen Bush compiled and created on Kinslow’s Shop of Flowers to apply for a Kentucky Historical Marker. Documents include digitized newspaper clippings on the Kinslow family and the business from the Courier-Journal, Louisville Defender, and other publications. Notes, a photograph, and an audio recording from an interview with Murray’s and Mary Alice’s granddaughter Tara Kinslow document the family. Bush also took iPhone photographs of Tara Kinslow’s family photographs. The business and family homes are further documented by property records and maps. Correspondence, notes, and the unsuccessful application for a Kentucky Historical Marker provide a narrative history, information from other family members and people who interacted with the business, and context on Bush’s role in the research project.
The processing archivist ingested the files from the donor’s USB drive, weeded duplicates, grouped unfoldered files, and replaced unsupported punctuation in filenames. Dates in the folder list represent when the digital file was created or edited, not the original creation date of the digitized items, like the newspaper clippings and family photographs.
Related collections:
020PC23 Charlene Holloway Photograph Collection. Includes a photograph of Charles D. Whitlock and Charlene in the Whitlock Florist Shop, California neighborhood, Louisville, KY.
Conditions of Access and Use
This collection can be viewed using Filson library computers. Remote access may be granted on a case-by-case basis. Please speak to staff about how to access digital files.
Historical Note
On January 21, 1908, Murray Beverly Kinslow was born to Charles and Priscilla Murray Clay Kinslow in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Central High School and studied at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Mary Alice Kinslow was born on December 10, 1913, to Lewis and Eunice Taylor Birdsong in Pulaski, Tennessee. She grew up in Louisville and attended Dunbar Elementary School, Western Elementary School, Madison Junior High School, and Central High School. She loved music and was a member of West Chestnut Baptist Church.
Murray and Mary Alice Kinslow married by 1939 and lived in Louisville. Murray worked full-time with the United State Postal Service, and he and Mary Alice cared for the greenhouse they built at their home. They opened Kinslow’s Shop of Flowers in 1947 at 1148 South 34th Street. The couple relied on the labor of their children—Murylyn, Priscilla, Eric, Beverly—and employed floral designers Marie Bradford, Lilly Grinter, and Lonnie Gaines.
Murray’s poor health led him to retire from the postal service and the family business in 1966. He passed away in 1969. In 1982, Mary Alice died and her son Eric C. Kinslow took over the shop. The family closed the business in 1987.
Folder List
Folder 1: Newspaper clippings, 2022-2023
Folder 2: Tara Kinslow interview, 1 hour, 12 minutes, 49 seconds, 2022-2023
Folder 3: Family photographs, 2022-2023
Folder 4: Shop property records, 2022-2023
Folder 5: 3005 Blevins Gap Road records, 2022-2023
Folder 6: 3401 Virginia Avenue records, 2022-2023
Folder 7: Photographs of Abra Lee Kew and Allen Bush, 2023
Folder 8: Correspondence about the project, 2022-2023
Folder 9: Historical marker application, 2023
Folder 10: Draft essay and talk, 2023
Subject Headings
African American businesspeople – Kentucky – Louisville.
African American families – Kentucky – Louisville.
African Americans – Kentucky – Louisville.
Business enterprises – Kentucky – Louisville.
Horticulture – Kentucky – Louisville.
Kinslow’s Shop of Flowers (Louisville, Ky.)