Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 571. Letters of James M. “Brandy” Durston, a Bowling Green, Kentucky chiropractor and later a resident of Southaven, Mississippi, with copious reminiscences of people and places in Bowling Green. Includes material relating primarily to Durston’s church in Memphis, Tennessee

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Western Kentucky UniversityTopSCHOLAR®MSS Finding Aids Manuscripts3-15-2016Durston, James Marion, 1920-2011 (MSS 571)Manuscripts & Folklife ArchivesWestern Kentucky University, mssfa@wku.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_mss_fin_aidPart of the United States History CommonsThis Finding Aid is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in MSS Finding Aids by anauthorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact todd.seguin@wku.edu.Recommended CitationFolklife Archives, Manuscripts &, "Durston, James Marion, 1920-2011 (MSS 571)" (2016). MSS Finding Aids. Paper 4139.http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_mss_fin_aid/41391  MSS 571 Manuscripts & Folklife Archives, Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University  Manuscripts & Folklife Archives Department of Library Special Collections Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY 42101-1092  Descriptive Inventory  MSS 571    DURSTON, James Marion, 1920-2011  1½ boxes.  19 folders.  192 items.  1945-2005.  Originals, photocopies, photographs.  2005.137.4   BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE    James Marion “Brandy” Durston, the son of Reginald Durston and Ernie V. (Scott) Durston, was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky on 27 February 1920.  He entered kindergarten at WKU’s Training School in 1925 and graduated from College High in 1938.  He then graduated from the Lincoln Chiropractic College, Indianapolis, Indiana.  In 1941, he married Luella Lord (1921-1989) and they were the parents of two sons, James “Dusty” Durston and Reginald “Reggie” Durston II. Durston practiced in Bowling Green for four months before being commissioned an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in March 1942.  He resumed his practice in 1945.  After 22 years treating patients from Bowling Green, Warren County and surrounding counties, Durston relocated his practice to Southaven, Mississippi.  A lifelong Episcopalian, he was a member of Bowling Green’s Christ Episcopal Church and of Holy Communion Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee.  Durston died in Southaven, Mississippi on 6 April 2011.   COLLECTION NOTE    This collection consists mostly of letters of “Brandy” Durston to his friends Cora Jane Spiller, Oakland, Kentucky, and/or her husband, Robert E. “Bob” Spiller.  Also included are miscellaneous written materials, principally Durston’s essays on religious- and health-related topics, and printed material from his church.  An inventory is in Box 1, Folder 1.  After Durston moved to Mississippi, Cora Jane regularly forwarded to him newspaper clippings, obituaries, and other items of interest relating to Bowling Green.  Durston’s replies (Box 1, Folders 2-12) evidence his encyclopedic memory for people, families, places and events as he responds to the mailings with anecdotes, gossip (sometimes scandalous) and reminiscences about his youth, education, World War II service, fellow citizens, College High alumni, and family and professional life in Bowling Green.  He also supplies current information about his two sons and their careers and families, and about his church, its leadership and activities.  Some of the letters include printouts of photographs.  Of interest in Box 1 are: a.  Durston’s remarks about treating, at the request of coach Frank Moxley, African American athletes from Bowling Green’s State Street High School, race relations in Bowling 2  MSS 571 Manuscripts & Folklife Archives, Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University  Green, and various African American residents and their businesses and entertainments (Folders 4, 6, 7, 11); b.  his references to some of the “low culture” of Bowling Green, such as gambling (Folders 5, 9) and a lady wrestling match (Folder 5); c.  his reminiscences about well-known Bowling Green madam Pauline Tabor Webster, who was also a patient of his (Folders 5, 6, 11); d.  his pride in his work with the Lions Club to build a school in Bowling Green for handicapped children (Folders 5, 9); e.  his story about an assistant postmaster in Bowling Green who stole from the mails, and the scheme he used to avoid detection (Folder 5); f.  his experience of joining the Masons (Folder 5); g.  his antipathy toward gays, arising from an incident of unwanted contact in his youth, and his fierce opposition to the 2004 consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly gay Episcopal priest, as Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire (Folders 4, 6, 8, 10); and h.  his devotion to his church, his interest in Christian history and mythology (Folders 3, 7, 8), and his explorations of extraterrestrialism (Folder 2), global warming (Folder 5), and “one-world” conspiracies (Folder 11).  Box 2 contains mostly printed matter (programs, newsletters, directories) relating to Durston’s church, Holy Communion Episcopal Church, and to St. Mary’s Cathedral, both in Memphis, Tennessee (Folders 4-7).  Also included is a photo essay on the reunion of College High’s Class of 1938 and Durston’s narrative of his years at the Training School and College High (Folder 1); a collection of recipes (Folder 2); a photograph of Durston during his World War II service (Folder 3); and an article about a patient of Durston’s, musician Billy Vaughn of the Hilltoppers Quartet (Folder 3).    SHELF LIST  BOX 1 James M. Durston       1994-2005 153 items  Folder 1 Inventory         1 item  Folder 2 Letters       1994-1997 4 items   Folder 3 Letters       1999  4 items  Folder 4 Letters       2000  11 items  Folder 5 Letters       2001  11 items  Folder 6 Letters       2002  12 items  Folder 7 Letters       Jan.-June 20 items           2003    3  MSS 571 Manuscripts & Folklife Archives, Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University  Folder 8 Letters       July-Dec. 19 items           2003  Folder 9 Letters       Jan.-June 20 items           2004  Folder 10 Letters       July-Dec.  17 items           2004  Folder 11 Letters       2005  26 items  Folder 12 Letters – Partial, undated     n.d.  8 items   BOX 2 James M. Durston      1945-2005 39 items  Folder 1 Training School/College High – Reminiscences , 1982-1998 2 items   reunion  Folder 2 Recipes       n.d.  6 items  Folder 3 Miscellaneous      1945, n.d. 2 items  Folder 4 Church of the Holy Communion – Memphis, Tenn. 2000-2005 7 items  Folder 5 Church of the Holy Communion – Memphis, Tenn. 2002-2004 9 items  Folder 6 Episcopal Church – Publications, etc.   2004, n.d. 6 items  Folder 7 St. Mary’s Cathedral – Memphis, Tenn.   2004  7 items   BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD  MSS DURSTON, James M.             1945-2005 571  1920-2011    Letters of James M. “Brandy” Durston, a  Bowling Green, Kentucky chiropractor and later a  resident of Southaven, Mississippi, with copious  reminiscences of people and places in Bowling Green.  Includes material relating primarily to Durston’s  church in Memphis, Tennessee.   1½  boxes.  19 folders.  192 items.  Originals, photocopies.   2005.137.4    4  MSS 571 Manuscripts & Folklife Archives, Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University  SUBJECT ANALYTICS  African Americans – Bowling Green – Relating to     B1,F7,11 Allen, Robert Gatewood, 1918-2003 – Relating to    B1,F7 Barkley, Alben William, 1877-1956 – Relating to     B1,F7 Boucher, Edwina (Tanksley), 1931-2015 – Relating to     B1,F5 Carson, William Oliver, 1909-2003 – Relating to     B1,F7 Cayce, Edgar, 1877-1945 – Relating to      B1,F5 Cheney, Reynolds S., II, b. 1936 – Relating to      B1,F5-9,11 Cherry, Henry Hardin, Jr., 1916-1980 – Relating to      B1,F4 Chiropractors Christianity – History       B1,F7,8,10 Civilization – Extraterrestrial influences        B1,F2,3 Davenport family – Relating to      B1,F9,12 Denes, Nicholas George “Nick,” 1906-1975 – Relating to      B1,F4,6 Diddle, Edgar Allen, 1895-1970 – Relating to     B1,F4 Dulaney family – Relating to       B1,F11,12 Durston, James Lord “Dusty” – Photographs       B1,F6-8,11 Durston, James Lord “Dusty” – Relating to      B1,F4,5,7,9,10,12 Durston, James Marion, 1920-2011 – Photographs      B1,F4,7-9 Durston, Luella (Lord), 1921-1989 – Photographs      B1,F7,8 Durston, Luella (Lord), 1921-1989 – Relating to    B1,F5,7-9,12 Durston, Reginald, II – Photographs      B1,F6,7,11 Durston, Reginald, II – Relating to     B1,F3,5-7,9,10 Durston, Stephanie, b. 1986        B1,F2-4 Durston, Stephanie, b. 1986 – Photograph     B1,F4 Durston, Stephanie, b. 1986 – Relating to     B1,F3,6,7,9,11 Episcopal Churches – Tennessee       B2,F4-7 Episcopalians Fitch family – Relating to     B1,F11 Floods – Louisville, 1937      B1,F10 Gambling – Bowling Green      B1,F5,9 Global warming       B1,F5 Hardy family – Relating to     B1,F8 Hilltoppers Quartet – Relating to      B1,F6; B2,F3 Homosexuality – Comments about, 2000-2004       B1,F4,6,8,10 Hurricane Katrina, 2005 – Memphis, Tennessee      B1,F11 Hurricanes – Florida, 2004       B1,F10 Jones, Zacharia Keele, 1883-1977 – Relating to     B1,F7 Kosovo War, 1998-1999 – Comments about, 1999     B1,F3 Lampkin, Clifton Wallace, 1884-1959 – Relating to       B1,F4 Lions Club – Bowling Green, 1952-1953       B1,F5,9 Maddox, Lester Garfield, Sr., 1915-2003 – Relating to     B1,F4 Marshall, Joseph Abraham, 1924-2010 – Relating to      B1,F5 Masons (Fraternal Organization) – Relating to     B1,F5 McGinnis, Tandy J., Jr., 1921-2000 – Relating to       B1,F4,12 5  MSS 571 Manuscripts & Folklife Archives, Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University  McGown, James Robert, 1920-2003 – Relating to     B1,F8 Moxley, Frank Otha, 1908-2004 – Relating to     B1,F6,7 Muslims – Comments about, 2002, 2005        B1,F6,11 Myers, Rodes Kirby, 1900-1960 – Relating to     B1,F5,7 Nicholls, Ora Calista (Spradlin), 1906-1996 – Relating to      B1,F6,12 Nunn family – Relating to      B1,F7 Osborne, William Harry “Bill,” 1919-2001 – Relating to     B1,F5 Pickens, Jim, 1927-1999 – Relating to      B1,F4 Postal service – Bowling Green – Relating to      B1,F5 Race relations – Bowling Green, 1960s        B1,F4,6,7 Recipes      B2,F2 Robinson, Vicky Gene, b. 1947 – Comments about, 2004      B1,F8,10 Siddens family – Relating to      B1,F8 Siddens, James E. “Jimmie,” 1906-1979 – Relating to      B1,F4 Spiller, Cora Jane (Morningstar), b. 1928 – Letters to      B1,F2-12 Spiller, Robert Ernest, b. 1928 – Letters to     B1,F2-12 Terrorism – United States – Comments about, 2003, 2004      B1,F7 Thesz, Aloysius Martin “Lou,” 1916-2002 – Relating to      B1,F11 Travelstead, Nelle (Gooch), 1888-1974 – Relating to       B1,F2 Vaughn, William Richard “Billy,” 1919-1991 – Relating to     B1,F6; B2,F3 Walker, David Cooper, d. 2002 – Relating to     B1,F6 Weather – Storms – Memphis, 2003       B1,F8 Webster, Pauline (Martin) Tabor, 1905-1992 – Relating to     B1,F5,6,11 Western Kentucky University – College High – Relating to       B1,F4; B2,F1 Western Kentucky University – Training School – Relating to      B2,F1 World War II, 1939-1945 – Military life, 1943-1945      B1,F9; B2,F3   SEE  or SEE ALSO  Durston, Brandy, 1920-2011  See    Durston, James Marion       Niedermeier/Jeffrey   03/15/2016 

Durston, James Marion, 1920-2011 (MSS 571)

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Durston, James Marion, 1920-2011 (MSS 571)

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