Creator: Wylie family.
Collection number: 5082-z
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Abstract: The marriage in June 1905 of African Americans Jessie Early and Thomas A. Wylie united the Early family of Peoria, Ill., and the Wylie family of Coulterville, Ill. Chiefly
family photographs taken in Illinois and Kentucky between 1893 and 1982, with most dating between 1900 and 1940. Early photographs document members of Jessie Early Wylie’s family in Peoria, Ill., and the family of her husband, Thomas A. Wylie, of Coulterville, Ill. Thomas’s sister, Mary Wylie Blakeley, is the most frequent subject. There are also many images of Jessie Early Wylie and Thomas A. Wylie’s children, especially Minnie Wylie Graves.Other extended family represented include Payne and Reed cousins. Some photographs are formal portraits; others are casual snapshots. Notable images depict Everett Wylie in his World War II uniform; Mary Wylie Blakeley’s restaurant in Paducah, Ky.; E. Payne Wylie, a Cherokee Indian who was Thomas A. Wylie’s cousin; and Bernice Wylie as a bridesmaid in a 1933 wedding party. Also included are copies of newspaper obituaries, an 1890 prayer card, a photocopy of an 1896 marriage license, and a postcard from the Union Depot in Coulterville, Ill.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: The Wylie family papers consist chiefly of family photographs taken between 1893 and 1982, with most dating between 1900 and 1940. The majority depict the African American family in Illinois and Kentucky in the first half of the 20th century. Notable images depict Everett Wylie in his World War II uniform; Mary Wylie Blakeley’s restaurant in Paducah, Ky.; E. Payne Wylie, a Cherokee Indian; and Bernice Wylie as a bridesmaid in a 1933 wedding party.