Rash Family Photographs, ca. 1860s-1990s
Collection held by the Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky
Creator: Rash Family
Title: Photographs, ca. 1860s-1990s
Rights: For more information regarding literary and copyright interest for this collection, contact the Collections Department at gro.l1777440531aciro1777440531tsihn1777440531oslif1777440531@hcra1777440531eser1777440531.
Size of Collection: 0.87 cubic foot
Location Number: 025PC40
Finding aid created by: Lynn Pohl
Date finding aid created: 31 March 2026
Date finding aid last updated: 31 March 2026
Scope and Content Note
The collection relates to Maj. Gen. Dillman “Dill” Rash (1907-1998) and his family of Louisville, Kentucky. Photographs document the military service of Dillman Rash and his father Col. Frank Dillman Rash, ancestors, family life, and travel. Formats included are cartes-de-visite (CDVs), tintypes, cabinet cards, studio photographs, black-and-white and color prints, and negatives.
Folders 1-5 contain photos of Atkinson, Rash, Welch, and Batson family members from the ca. 1860s-1930s, including Dillman’s parents Frank Dillman Rash (1873-1946) and Susan Elizabeth Atkinson Rash (1880-1956), Frank’s parents James Rhea Rash (1853-1952) and Louise Dillman Rash (1853-1899), Susan’s parents George C. Atkinson (1852-1933) and Fannie Miller Atkinson (1856-1940), Dillman’s wife Nancy Phillips Batson Rash (1910-1984), and Nancy’s Batson and Welch relations.
Folders 6-8 contain photos ca. 1907-1930s from Dillman Rash’s childhood, a family trip on the Great Northern Railway to the Northwest and California, and Frank and Susan Rash’s travels in Europe.
Folders 9-14 contain military photographs of Frank and Dillman Rash, ca. 1910s-1960s, studio and individual photos of Dillman, ca. 1920s-1990s, and unidentified photos, likely of Dillman’s business associates, ca. 1950s.
Folders 15-23 hold ca. 1900s-1970s photos, many which are unidentified, of Rash family members and extended relations, houses, and travels. Included are candid photos of Dillman and Nancy Rash and their daughters Elizabeth “Peggy” Rash Brown (1932-2024), Marianne Rash Wood (1933-2024), and Nancy Rash Fabbri (1940-1995).
Related collections
Rash family papers, 1891-2014 (bulk: 1900s-1960s) [Mss. A R224]
Dillman Rash buttons [2025.25.01-.02]
Rash, Dillman. Papers, 1888-1979 [Mss. A R222]
Historical Note
Dillman “Dill” Rash (1907-1998) was born in Earlington, Hopkins County, Kentucky, to Susan Elizabeth Atkinson Rash (1880-1956) and Col. Frank Dillman Rash (1873-1946).
Susan Rash was born in Earlington to George C. Atkinson (1852-1933) of Burlington County, New Jersey, and Fannie Miller Atkinson (1856-1940) of Trigg County, Kentucky. George joined his brother John B. Atkinson at the St. Bernard Mining Company in Earlington. Susan Rash graduated from Swarthmore College in 1901 and was active in the Colonial Dames, the Louisville Country Club, and the Woman’s Club.
Frank Rash was the son of James Rhea Rash (1853-1952) and Louise Dillman Rash (1853-1899) of Madisonville, Kentucky. James’s second wife was Georgia Jones Rash (1871-1970). Frank graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1901 and joined the engineering department of the St. Bernard Mining Company; he was the company’s president before it was sold to West Kentucky Coal Company in 1924. He was active in industrial legislation, serving as the first vice president of the Kentucky Manufacturers’ and Shippers’ Association and the second president of the Kentucky Mining Institute of Mining Engineers. In 1940, he was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to head Kentucky’s Selective Service System.
In 1924, Frank Rash and his family moved to Louisville, where Dillman Rash graduated from Male High School and went on to receive his degree in economics from Princeton in 1930. Upon graduation, Dillman returned to Louisville, where he worked for J.J.B. Hilliard & Son as an investment banker.
During World War II, Dillman Rash entered the federal service in January 1941 as an officer with the Kentucky National Guard in the 38th Division. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel while serving as an instructor at the Command and General Staff School in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He advanced rapidly due to his leadership and was assigned to the G-4 (supply) section of the Headquarters, European Theater of Operations in Germany. He received the Bronze Star and the French Medaille de Reconnaissance before leaving active duty in 1946.
Dillman joined the 100th Airborne Division in 1949 and was promoted to major general and division commander in 1959, making him the top Army Reserve officer in Kentucky. During the Berlin crisis in 1961, Rash returned to active duty to command a training center at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. By the end of that year his unit had trained 30,000 soldiers. That earned Dillman a citation from President Kennedy and the Legion of Merit, the second-highest award given to peacetime soldiers. He retired in 1964.
Dillman Rash served on the boards of many corporations, including Brown-Forman Corp., Capital Holdings, Commonwealth Life Insurance, and First Kentucky National Corp. He was one of several business and community figures tapped in 1961 for a special mayor’s committee to work behind the scenes to promote racial desegregation in downtown Louisville. He assisted with getting hotels, movie theaters, and restaurants desegregated voluntarily.
Dillman Rash was married to Nancy Phillips Batson (1910-1984), the daughter of Judge Homer W. Batson (1874-1953) and Mary Welch Batson (1876-1949). Dillman and Nancy had three daughters: Elizabeth “Peggy” Rash Brown (1932-2024), Marianne Rash Wood (1933-2024), and Nancy Rash Fabbri (1940-1995). Peggy graduated from Louisville Collegiate School and Swarthmore College. She married Ralph Sawyer Brown of Massachusetts in 1953. Marianne graduated from Louisville Collegiate School and Vassar College. She married William Owen Roberts Wood Jr. in 1959. Nancy graduated from Louisville Collegiate School and Radcliffe College. She married Remo Fabbri Jr. of Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 1962.
Folder List
Box 1
Folder 1: Atkinson and Rash families, ca. 1860s-1930s
Includes mounted photos and CDV of Louise Dillman Rash with photographic imprint of W. A. McGill, Owensboro, Ky.; cabinet card of young men with photographic imprint of Clarence Anderson, Hopkinsville, Ky.; tintype of George C. Atkinson.; mounted photo likely of Susan Atkinson Rash in 1901, when she graduated from Swarthmore; photos of Fannie Miller Atkinson on her 81st birthday in 1937 and Susan Atkinson Rash in England.
Folder 2: Rash family and unidentified, ca. 1870s-1880s
Includes cabinet cards and mounted photos, likely of Frank Rash as a child, his mother Louise Rash, and other family members.
Folder 3: Welch and Batson families, ca. 1880s-1920s
Includes cabinet cards of “Mother at 14, Mary Lena Welch,” 1889, with photographic imprint of Johns, Lexington, Ky., and Mattie Welch Logan with photographic imprint J.L. Schlegel, Richmond, Ky.; and photos of Nancy Phillips Batson, “Aunt Peggy Welch,” Robert H. Batson, Mary L. Welch.
Folder 4: Unidentified family ancestors, ca. 1880s-1910s
Folder 5: Frank Rash, ca. 1900s-1940s
Includes photos of a man and a child, likely Frank and Dillman; a U.S. Army Signal Corps photo; “national Americanism Commission / The American Legion / January 11, 1928”; birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, 1939; studio photos of Frank Rash, some with him in military uniform; photo negative possibly of Frank and Susan Rash.
Folder 6: Dillman Rash – Childhood, ca. 1907-1910s
CAUTION: includes broken glass negative.
Folder 7: Rash family photograph album – Travel, Aug.-Sept. 1915
Photo album of Great Northern Railway trip of Frank, Susan, and Dillman Rash to Minnesota, Montana and Glacier Park Hotel, Washington, and California.
Folder 8: Frank and Susan Rash – Travel in Europe, ca. 1930s
Includes photos of travels in Europe, identified as England, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Scotland, Belgium, France, and home voyage on the Berengaria; Frank Rash’s notes on back of photos refer to “Sadie” and “Susie” [Susan Rash] and others.
Folder 9: Frank Rash and Dillman Rash – Military, ca. 1910s-1950s
Includes photos of “Picnic Hunt Lodge 11-6-43”; “H. H. Kilpatrick”; Ft. Campbell, 1951; headquarters U.S. Army military district, Louisville; and 5×4-inch photographs of unidentified male and female military personnel and officers, one is posed in front of a Hotel Majestic sign.
Folder 10: Dillman Rash – Military, 1961-1963
Includes photos of Maj. Gen. Dillman Rash, Col. Daniel M. House, Edward J. Pohlmann, and Capt. Dawson Y. Davis at the U.S. Army Reserve Center at Danville, Ky.; Dillman Rash with Commander Upton at the little Rock Air Force Base; and groups of women and groups of soldiers and officers, one features a sign for the U.S. Army headquarters for the 100th division training center.
Folder 11: Dillman Rash – Military, ca. 1960-1967
Includes a copy of note dated 27 Nov. 1967 and the Department of the Army envelope photos were stored in.
Folder 12: Dillman Rash – Military, 1950s-1960s
Includes individual photos of Dillman Rash in military uniform.
Folder 13: Dillman Rash – Individual, ca. 1920s-1990s
Includes studio and other individual photos of Dillman Rash.
Box 2
Folder 14: Dillman Rash – Unidentified, ca. 1950s
Includes photos of men (likely business associates) drinking and eating together, which were stored in an envelope addressed to Dillman Rash c/o J.J.B. Hilliard and Son from Charles F. Twomey of Chicago, Illinois.
Folder 15: Rash family and friends, ca. 1930s-1950s
Includes photos of Frank and Susan Rash; Dillman and Nancy Rash and their children Peggy, Marianne, and Nancy; Dillman and Nancy and Marianne at Churchill Downs; and photographic Christmas cards.
Folder 16: Rash family – Unidentified, ca. 1900s-1930s
Includes photographic postcards and photos of babies, children, adults, and groups of individuals; some are likely of Frank and Susan Rash.
Folder 17: Rash family – Unidentified, ca. 1900s-1930s
Includes photos of child with sled in snow; individuals in horse-pulled sleigh; a boy, possibly Dillman Rash, in a baseball uniform; vacations.
Folder 18: Rash family – Unidentified, ca. 1930s-1940s
Includes photos likely of Dillman and Nancy Rash; their children Peggy, Marianne, and Nancy; and other family members.
Folder 19: Rash family – Unidentified, ca. 1920s-1970s
Includes negatives, black-and-white photos, and color photos; some are likely of Dillman and Nancy Rash and James and Georgia Rash.
Folder 20: Houses, ca. 1910s-1960s
Includes photos of unidentified houses, except for one labeled “Mr. Mullin’s house.”
Folder 21: Travel, ca. 1910s-1950s
Includes photos of Colonia Dublán, Mexico; Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida; Susan and Dillman Rash “after the plunge in Lake McDonald 8/17/15”; dinner on the R.M.S. Queen Mary; Cologne, Germany; souvenir packets labeled “My Personal Souvenir from a Century of Progress,” Paris, with photos of Frank and Susan Rash and possibly also Dillman and Nancy Rash, ca. 1933.
Folder 22: Travel – Commercial photographs, ca. 1900s-1940s
Includes commercial photographs and photographic postcards of sites in England, Scotland, Atlantic City, and Venice.
Folder 23: Alford family, 1951
Includes copy of note dated 26 Sept. 1951 from Newell [Newell G. Alford Jr.] to Aunt Susan [Susan Atkinson Rash] and photos of family and a baby identified as 3-week-old Elizabeth.