Slaton, Robert (1941-2022) Papers, 1963-2007
Collection held by the Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky
Creator: Slaton, Robert, 1941-2022
Title: Papers, 1963-2007
Rights: For more information regarding literary and copyright interest for this collection, contact the Collections Department at gro.lacirotsihnoslif@hcraeser.
Size of Collection: 2 cu. ft.
Location Number: Mss. A S631b
Finding aid created by: Lynn Pohl
Date finding aid created: 23 June 2026
Date finding aid last updated: 27 July 2026
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of the papers of Robert Slaton, documenting his career and public service in Kentucky as a state director of social services, state health commissioner, and health care consultant. Materials include correspondence and reports relating to the Kentucky Crime Commission in the early 1970s, mental health and developmental disabilities services in the 1960s-1970s, and health care issues and policy in the 1980s-1990s.
Folders 1-14 contain correspondence, notes, and reports from 1963-1972 relating to Slaton’s service on the Pennyrile Area Regional Crime Council and the Kentucky Crime Commission.
Folders 15-32 hold correspondence and reports from 1968-1979, when Slaton worked in various positions with the Kentucky Department for Human Resources and, after his appointment in 1978, as Commissioner of Health for Kentucky.
Folders 33-39 hold correspondence, proposals, and reports dating from 1981-1983, when Slaton worked as director of the Public Services Institute at Kentucky State University.
Folders 40-42 contain proposals and reports dating from 1984-1988, when Slaton worked as an external affairs administrator at the Trover Clinic in Madisonville.
Folders 43-53 contain manuscripts, published articles, reports, and other writings, most authored by Slaton during the 1970s-2000s.
Biographical Note
Born in Madisonville on 25 June 1941, Robert was the only son of L.R. “Rex” Slaton and Mary Ruth McGuyer Slaton. He earned a Master of Arts in Education from Western Kentucky University in 1966, a Master of Science in Social Work from University of Louisville in 1968, and a Doctorate in Educational Administration from University of Louisville in 1989.
In his career in public service and as a health care consultant, Robert worked to improve the health of Kentuckians. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he served on the Pennyrile Area Regional Crime Council and the Kentucky Crime Commission. He worked in various positions with the Kentucky Department for Human Resources, and in 1978 he was appointed the Commissioner of Health for Kentucky. In the 1980s-1990s, Robert held a series of positions: external affairs administrator for Trover Clinic, director for the Public Service Institute at Kentucky State University, health administrator at the University of Louisville, and special assistant to Governor Brereton Jones for health care reform. As executive director of the University of Louisville Primary Care Center, he expanded services for underserved populations. Robert was part of a small group that planned, developed, and implemented Passport Health Plan, a national model for Medicaid-managed care. In 2018, he was presented with the Russell E. Teague Award by the Kentucky Public Health Association.
Sources:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/kentucky/name/robert-slaton-obituary?id=38488708
Folder/Item/Box List
Box 1
Folder 1: Pennyrile Area Regional Crime Council correspondence and notes, 1969-1971
Folder 2: Kentucky Crime Commission correspondence, 1970
Folder 3: Kentucky Crime Commission correspondence, 1971
Folder 4: Kentucky Crime Commission correspondence, 1972
Folder 5: “A Study and Recommendation for the Kentucky Committee for Correctional Research,” 1963 and 1969
Folder 6: Pennyrile Area Regional Crime Council preliminary report, Nov. 1969
Folder 7: “Corrections as a community responsibility: A plan for local detention and rehabilitation centers in Kentucky,” ca. early 1970s
Folder 8: Existing law enforcement systems report, ca. 1970
Folder 9: KET “Kentucky criminal justice test” script and notes, ca. 1970
Folder 10: John Howard Association, “Adult Probation and Parole in Kentucky,” 1971
Folder 11: Kentucky Crime Commission probation and parole report, Dec. 1970
Folder 12: Kentucky Crime Commission probation and parole services reports, 1971
Folder 13: Kentucky Crime Commission probation and parole services reports, 1971
Folder 14: Kentucky Crime Commission parole board report, ca. 1972
Folder 15: Mental health and comprehensive care centers correspondence and reports, 1968-1969
Folder 16: Mental health and comprehensive care centers correspondence and reports, 1977-1978
Folder 17: Central State Hospital and comprehensive care centers correspondence, 1978
Folder 18: River Regional Mental Health Board correspondence, 1977-1978
Folder 19: Outwood Facility for Developmentally Disabled plans and correspondence, 1977-1978
Folder 20: Forensic psychiatry services correspondence, 1978-1979
Folder 21: Mental health task force records, 1979
Folder 22: Kentucky mental health programs reports, 1966 and 1979
Folder 23: Mental health and developmental disabilities reports, 1977-1979
Folder 24: Deposition of Robert Slaton in Kentucky Association for Retarded Citizens, et al., v. Peter Conn, et al., ca. 1979
Folder 25: Statewide Health Coordinating Council correspondence and presentation, 1977-1979
Folder 26: Northern Kentucky health service area redesignation correspondence, 1976-1979
Folder 27: WIC and child health services correspondence, 1977-1979
Folder 28: Health education plan and mainstreaming reports, ca. 1970s
Folder 29: Occupational alcoholism program memoranda, 1979
Box 2
Folder 30: Proposed office of medical services correspondence and reports, 1977-1978
Folder 31: Reorganization of the Department for Human Resources reports, 1978-1979
Folder 32: Emergency medical services memorandum and report, 1979
Folder 33: Kentucky State University correspondence, 1981-1983
Folder 34: “Report of Activities Directed toward the Implementation of KSU’s Mission,” 1981
Folder 35: “The Concept of Role and Its Relationship to Management,” 1981-1982
Folder 36: KSU policy conference on unemployment and inflation, April 1982
Folder 37: Kentucky’s district health department program review, 1982
Folder 38: New Neighbors Program review, 1982
Folder 39: Division of Maternal and Child Health review, 1983
Folder 40: Trover Clinic historical background, proposals, and reports, 1984-1987
Folder 41: Trover Clinic reports, 1985-1986
Folder 42: Trover Clinic proposal for Island Creek Corporation, 1988
Folder 43: Medicaid program review advisory committee correspondence and report, 1985
Folder 44: Health care and health care costs reports, 1981, 1993
Folder 45: Kentucky health care reform reports, 1992-1994
Folder 46: Presentation and article manuscripts, 1979-1980s
Folder 47: Presentation and article manuscripts, 1990s and undated
Folder 48: “The Development of an Indigent Health Care Policy by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce” dissertation, 1989
Folder 49: “Practice Sights: Primary Care Development Strategies for Kentucky,” 1992
Folder 50: Published articles, 1980s-1990s
Folder 51: “Health/Public Health Issues for Louisville Metro Government,” 2002
Folder 52: “Modernizing the Government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” 2009-2011
Folder 53: Memoirs, political writings, and curriculum vitae, 1997-2007
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/.
Criminal justice, Administration – Kentucky.
Criminology – Kentucky.
Health services administration – Kentucky.
Intellectual disability – Kentucky.
Kentucky State University.
Mental health facilities – Kentucky.
Politicians – Kentucky.
Trover Clinic (Madisonville, Ky.)