Perkins, George (1917-2013) Papers, 1915-2007
Collection held by the Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky
Creator: Perkins, George, 1917-2013
Title: Papers, 1915-2007
Rights: For more information regarding literary and copyright interest for this collection, contact the Collections Department at gro.lacirotsihnoslif@hcraeser.
Size of Collection: 0.46 cu. ft. and 1 ovsz. wrapped vol.
Location Number: Mss. A P448
Finding aid created by: Lynn Pohl
Date finding aid created: 15 May 2026
Date finding aid last updated: 15 May 2026
Scope and Content Note
This collection documents the life of Dr. George Perkins, a metallurgical engineer, church leader, and social worker who lived in Anchorage, Kentucky. Materials include personal correspondence, daily journals, newspaper and magazine clippings, and a transcript of an oral interview. Perkins rose to a director position with Reynolds Metals Company in the post-World War II years, a career he left after fourteen years to become director of Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children. The papers provide information about his work, family life, community involvement, Presbyterian church activities, and religious faith.
Folders 1-2 hold correspondence and Christmas cards of George Perkins and his family from the 1920s-1980s, as well as an invitation for a tribute dinner for Dr. Perkins in 2001 and cards from friends for that dinner.
Folders 3-4 hold genealogical information about the Perkins family, a copy of a ca. 1915 photograph of Roy Perkins with other Perkins Dredge workers, George Perkins’s Purdue University graduation program, and his and Helen Matsko’s marriage certificate.
Folders 5-7 and volume 12 consist of George Perkins’s daily journals. Journals dating from the 1930s and 1954-1960 cover some of his years at Purdue University, the United States Department of Commerce as Director of the Aluminum-Magnesium Division of the Business and Defense Services Administration (BDSA), Reynolds Metals Company, and the Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children. Each entry in volume 12, dating from 1958-1961 and 1977-1978, consists of a Bible verse and Perkins’s personal reflections on the verse.
Folders 8-11 contain biographical information, a transcript of an interview with Perkins by the Virginia Historical Society, magazine and newspaper clippings, drawings of Perkins by family and friends, and miscellaneous papers.
Related collections
George Perkins photographs, 1857-1999 [007PC14]
Biographical Note
George Perkins (1917-2013) was born in La Grange, Indiana, to Roy and Opal (Lovett) Perkins. After his father died when Perkins was 11, his mother moved with him and his two brothers to Fort Wayne, where Perkins graduated from South Side High School.
In 1937, George Perkins graduated from Purdue University with a degree in metallurgical engineering, and he earned his Ph.D. there in 1940. Also in 1940, Perkins married Helen Matsko of West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. He worked for Alcoa, Standard Oil, and Bohn during the years of World War II.
In 1944, Perkins started working for the Reynolds Metals Company, first in Schenectady, New York, and then transferring in 1947 to Louisville, Kentucky. He worked closely with General Electric Company in developing new applications for aluminum. In 1954, Reynolds gave him a leave of absence to serve with the United States Department of Commerce as Director of the Aluminum-Magnesium Division of the Business and Defense Services Administration (BDSA). In 1955, Perkins became the General Director of Product Development for Reynolds Metals Company.
In 1958, Perkins left Reynolds Metals Company to become Director of Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children, which had opened in the mid-nineteenth century as an orphanage. By 1958, when Perkins became director, it was operated by the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky and cared for 60-70 dependent children.
For the first several years he served as director of Bellewood, Perkins continued to do consulting work for Reynolds. He started taking classes part-time at University of Louisville and graduated with a master’s degree in social work in 1964. He was a member of the Board of Education for the Anchorage School District, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Home for Senior Citizens in Louisville.
From 1968-1972, he served as Cabinet Director of Child Welfare for Kentucky under Governor Louie Nunn. After his tenure in Frankfort, Perkins worked for the River Region Mental Health Agency in Louisville. He created and developed Occupational Alcohol Services, a precursor to what was later known as Employee Assistance Programs (EAP). In his next career move, he started the Human Development Company, one of the first EAPs in the United States.
George and Helen Perkins had two children: George Gary Perkins (b. 1941) and Dr. Gay Helena Perkins (1948-2025).
Folder/Item/Box List
Box 1
Folder 1: Personal correspondence and notes, 1927-1985
Folder 2: Cards, notes, and invitation, 1961-1967, 2001
Folder 3: Perkins family genealogy and photograph, ca. 1915 and undated
Folder 4: Purdue University graduation program and marriage certificate, 1937 and 1940
Folder 5: Daily journal, ca. mid 1930s, 1954
Folder 6: Daily journal, 1957
Folder 7: Daily journal, 1958-1960
Folder 8: Interview and biographical information, 1958-2007
Folder 9: Newspaper and magazine clippings, 1952-1991
Folder 10: Drawings of George Perkins, ca. 1940s-1950s
Folder 11: Miscellaneous papers, 1964-1990
Volume 12 (wrapped): Daily journal of Bible verses and personal reflections, 1958-1961, 1977-1978
Subject Headings
For details on how the below subjects appear in this collection, search the subject in the manuscript database at https://filsonhistorical.org/collections/manuscript-database/.
Anchorage (Ky.)
Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children (Anchorage, Ky.)
Perkins family.
Presbyterian Church.
Purdue University.
Reynolds Metals Company.
United States. Business and Defense Services Administration.