Harrison Family Added Papers, 1915-1954
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Harrison Family
Title: Added Papers, 1915-1954
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: 1 cubic foot
Locator Number: Mss./A/ H318a
Biographical Note
William B. Harrison (1889-1948) was mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1927 until 1933. He was elected to a two-year term as mayor after the Kentucky Court of Appeals threw out the election of Republican Arthur A. Will. When his term as mayor ended, Harrison became president of the Louisville Industrial Foundation. Harrison married Margaret W. Allis in 1912. Together they had five children: William H. Harrison (1913-1990), Winston P. Harrison (1914-1982), Margaret Harrison (1921- ), Penelope Harrison (1917-), and Dorothy Harrison (1925- ).
Thomas P. Taylor, Jr. (1890-1953) was son of the founder of the T.P. Taylor Co. chain of drug stores in Louisville, Kentucky. After a period of ownership by the Whelan Drug Co. of New York, T.P. Taylor, Jr. reincorporated the Taylor drug store chain in 1932.
William H. Harrison served in the U.S. Army during the Second World War. William H. “Bill” Harrison, a graduate of Princeton University, served as Battery Commander of Battery C of the 27 th Field Artillery Battalion. He was deployed to the European theatre in May of 1942, and achieved the rank of Captain while overseas. Harrison earned both a Silver Star for his bravery in battle at Oran, Tunisia and also a Distinguished Service Cross after having been captured in Tabouba, Tunisia and taken as a POW by the Italian government.
On December 6, 1942, Harrison and 33 other men were captured by the Germans near Tabouba, Tunisia. Harrison was taken to German prison camp #21 at Chieti, Italy. He escaped in the fall of 1943, as the Germans were moving prisoners to Germany. In May of 1945, Harrison was again sent overseas to India where he served through the remainder of the war.
William H. Harrison married Louise “Wege” Taylor with whom he had four children. Louise T. Harrison (1940- ), William H. Harrison, Jr. (1946- ), Phillip T. Harrison (1948- ), and David W. Harrison (1958- ).
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains military records of former Louisville mayor William B. Harrison (1889-1948), Thomas Pickett (T.P.) Taylor, Jr. (1890-1953), and William H. Harrison (1913-1990). The papers of William B. Harrison and Thomas P. Taylor, Jr., primarily correspondence copies of orders, cover their military service during World War I. The remainder of the collection consists of materials gathered by Louise “Wege” Taylor during her husband William H. Harrison’s military service during World War II. These papers are primarily made up of three disbound scrapbooks in which Mrs. Harrison gathered correspondence, photographs, clippings, ephemera, typescripts of radio programs detailing her husband’s service and capture in North Africa in December 1942 and his time as a prisoner of war in Cheti, Italy. Other materials in the collection include a small notebook of William H. Harrison’s notes from field artillery school, and a hand-drawn map of Italy presumably used during Mr. Harrison’s escape from the prison camp in 1943.
Folder List
Folder 1: William Benjamin Harrison (1889-1948), Military records, 1917-1934
Folder 2: Thomas Pickett Taylor, Jr. (1890-1953), Military records, 1918-1920
Folder 3: William Heyward Harrison, (1913-1990), Military records, 1943-1945
Folder 4: William H. Harrison, Correspondence and military records, 1945-1954
Folder 5: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 1-14
Folder 6: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 15-16
Folder 7: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 17-26
Folder 8: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 27-28
Folder 9: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 29-38
Folder 10: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 39-40
Folder 11: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 41-42
Folder 12: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 43-44
Folder 13: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 45-46
Folder 14: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 47-48
Folder 15: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 49-50
Folder 16: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 51-52
Folder 17: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 53-56
Folder 18: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 57-58
Folder 19: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 59-64
Folder 20: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 65-76
Folder 21: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 77-86
Folder 22: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 87-88
Folder 23: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 89-92
Folder 24: Scrapbook, volume 1, p. 93-100
Folder 25: Scrapbook, volume 2, p. 1-4
Folder 26: Scrapbook, volume 2, p. 5-9
Folder 27: Scrapbook, volume 2, p. 10-11
Folder 28: Scrapbook, volume 2, p. 12-14
Folder 29: Scrapbook, volume 2, p. 15-28
Folder 30: Scrapbook, volume 3, field notes and photocopied correspondence
Folder 31: Scrapbook, volume 3, correspondence
Folder 32: Scrapbook, volume 3, correspondence
Folder 33: Scrapbook, volume 3, clippings
Folder 34: Map (oversized)
Subject Headings
Families of military personnel – United States
Harrison family
Harrison, William B. (William Benjamin), 1889-1948
Harrison, William H. (William Heyward), 1913-1990
Military spouses – United States
Prisoner of war
World War, 1914-1918
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 – Campaigns & battles – Africa, North
World War, 1939-1945 – Maps
