Kirby, Emmett. Papers, 1923-96

Emmett Kirby (1914-2006) was a long-time resident of Champaign, Ill. Graduating from Urbana High School in 1933, he worked at the Rock Island Arsenal during World War II, and later worked in the Civil Engineering machine shop of the University of Illinois. A staunch Republican, he wrote many letters-to-the-editor of the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.

This collection contains two typed family histories written by Kirby and based on public records as well as his own reminiscences. "The Trickel Family in Motion" (30 pages) concerns the Trickel and Kirby families, who were early settlers in Champaign and Vermilion Counties. In "My Irish Grandmother" (13 pages) Kirby writes about his maternal grandmother, Mary Ann Tubberdy (Mrs. Brazilla Price), her ancestors, and her descendants. Also in the collection are a few family letters, including two written by Kirby's aunt, Emma Price Cole, in 1923.

Kirby donated the collection to the Illinois Historical Survey in 1977. Later, Bruce Hannon, of Champaign, added a copy of Kirby's paper in 1996 on "A Flooding Boneyard Creek Is Not an Urban Problem" (6 pages).