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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 350 items) |
| Abstract | Otis Ratchford (1909-1970), who worked for the United States Coal and Coke Company, and Louvenia Ratchford (1919-1987), a homemaker, raised their children, Jerome, Jacquelyn, Cynthia, and Jeffrey, in the African American Appalachian coal-mining community of Lynch, Ky. The collection documents the education, military service, and social life of three generations of the Ratchford family. Materials include school and military records, photographs, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and artifact keepsakes, including the family bible, a high school football jersey, family reunion t-shirt, and kitchenware that has been passed down through generations. The family has been active participants in the Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project. |
| Creator | Ratchford, Otis, 1909-1970.
Ratchford, Louvenia, 1919-1987. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Processing Information
Processed by: Nancy Kaiser, Sonoe Nakasone, Chaitra Powell, and Christian Edwards, September 2019
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, September 2019
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
The Ratchford family is an African American family that lived in the southeastern Kentucky town of Lynch (founded 1920). Patriarch, Otis Ratchford, migrated from Jefferson, Alabama in the late 1920s, following his father, Columbus "Lum" Ratchford, who had migrated there earlier to work in the coal mines. Otis married Louvenia Myles, matriarch, in 1941. They raised four children in Lynch: Jerome (b. 25 August 1943), Jacquelyn (b. 24 July 1945), Cynthia (b. 9 October 1949), and Jeffrey (b. 18 April 1956). From 1948 to September 1956, the three oldest children attended Lynch Colored School, the segregated, historically black school, grades 1-12, whose name was changed to Lynch West Main in September 1956 in anticipation of desegregation. Lynch East Main, the school where only whites attended, desegregated in 1963-1964. The oldest two Ratchford children graduated from Lynch West Main and the two youngest from Lynch East Main, known simply as Lynch High School by the time the youngest graduated. Each eventually moved away from Lynch.
Louvenia was born 10 February 1919 in Bogalusa, Louisiana. She dropped out of high school late, due to her mother's illness, and moved to Lynch thereafter. In addition to being a housewife, who lovingly took care of her children and the Ratchford household in Lynch, she had several hobbies and interests. She bought vinyl records, listened to music on the radio and sang in the First Baptist Church choir. She was a caretaker of others in the community, especially those who were ignored and overlooked. She regularly socialized with friends and family and liked shopping, especially for pretty clothes and home goods in the catalogues of the day. Her oldest child, Jerome, went to college as a first generation matriculant, solely due to her foresight and direction. After Otis's passing and the children moving away, Louvenia left Lynch and, ultimately, relocated to San Jose, California, with her daughters, where she lived until her transition (d. 29 January 1987).
Otis was born in Talladega, Alabama (b. 26 November 1907). He worked in the coal mines for United States Steel until 1961 when he was downsized. Upon arriving in Lynch and before becoming a coal miner, he developed outstanding cooking skills while working as a cook in the one prominent hotel where important administrators and managers of the United States Steel Company resided while visiting Lynch in the early years. Later, while working as a coal miner, he was occasionally asked to prepare certain holiday meats for residents who knew about his cooking prowess. Otis was the consummate father and provider whose daily work shift was approximately 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm during his children’s school days, which relegated him to interacting with them only on weekends and holidays. He delighted in being able to take his family on short sight-seeing ventures and longer out-of-state trips when he could.
Otis was personally and socially active and engaged in the Lynch community. His interests included playing cards, and listening to and later watching baseball, especially the Brooklyn Dodgers. He loved to watch tv shows like Gunsmoke and Highway Patrol. He was a Mason and held a leadership position in the prominent Black organization in the community called "The 20th Century Club." Otis was very good with mathematics and annually completed his own short income tax form, invested in U.S. Savings Bonds and was actively involved in union and local politics of the time. He transitioned from illness complicated by silicosis (d. 2 December 1970).
Jerome "Ronnie" Ratchford, the oldest child, attended Lynch Colored School and graduated from Lynch West Main in the class of 1960. As a youth, he was actively involved in the Boy Scouts and was a junior deacon at his church, First Baptist. He played football, participated in plays, presentations and projects sponsored by his class. As a graduating member of the Lynch West Main class of 1960, Ronnie was a member of the first Black cohort to attend a desegregated educational institution in Harlan County, Kentucky (Southeast Center, an extension of the University of Kentucky) that opened in 1960. Ronnie graduated in 1965 from the University of Kentucky in Lexington with his degree in history and political science. His successful college matriculation helped to establish the foundation for many other Black students from the mountains to follow.
Ronnie continued his education, receiving his Master's Degree in Counseling from Indiana University in 1968, and his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership in 1978 from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. He has worked in various administrative capacities in higher education, received numerous awards, and retired in 2015 as Vice-president of Student Affairs, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia. He has been married to Dr. Cynthia Weston Ratchford since 1977; he has two children, grandchildren and several great grandchildren.
Jacquelyn "Jackie" Garner is the second Ratchford child who attended Lynch Colored School and graduated from Lynch West Main. She often assumed leadership roles and participated in projects, performances and presentations sponsored by her class. Her popularity and attractiveness led to her being chosen Miss Freshman, 1959-60, for Lynch West Main’s Homecoming and coronation. Jackie's academic achievements won her the position of valedictorian for her class of 1963, which was the last segregated and graduating class for Lynch West Main. She delivered the graduation speech which was titled "Preparation is the Key to Success," written in collaboration with her big brother, Ronnie. She chose not to attend college but, instead, to attend the Florence UTT Business School in Chicago. She moved to San Jose, California, 1965, to marry her high school sweetheart from Lynch, Otis, "Jimmy" Garner (d. 1993). There, Jackie worked in telecommunications for forty years and ascended to second-level management positions with Pacific Bell. In 2008, she earned a Master of Divinity degree from Meru Theological Seminary in San Jose, California.
Cynthia Ratchford is the third eldest child and younger daughter of Otis and Louvenia. She graduated from Lynch East Main High School in 1967. In school, Cynthia was an active member of the student body. On one occasion, she led friends and classmates in a petition to the school to allow an African-American cheerleader onto the squad. After graduation, Cynthia obtained an Associate Degree from Southeast Community College, then a B.A. from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Cynthia moved to California in 1972 and worked for Pacific Bell and as a teacher, dedicating her free time to teaching Sunday school. She has one son and two grandchildren.
Jeffrey Ratchford is the youngest child and son of Otis and Louvenia Ratchford. He attended Lynch High School (also known as Lynch East Main High School) from 1971 to 1974, where he lettered in athletics including football, basketball, and baseball, was a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club, and served as Freshman and Senior class president. After graduation, he attended Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, later transferring to the University of North Florida, where he earned a B.A. in psychology in 1978. While living in Jacksonville, he worked as a Behavioral Specialist, Group Home Counselor, and Program Evaluator before joining the Army in the summer of 1984. Following six years of military service with duty assignments in Arizona, Georgia, Korea and finally Maryland, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia in April of 1990 where he worked in telecommunications for Sprint. Before retiring in 2015, Jeffrey earned his M.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Leadership and Coaching in 2008 from Richmont Graduate University. He married the former Vorice Williams-Jarrell of Jacksonville, Florida on 6 August 1994. They have three children and two grandchildren from this covenant union.
The Ratchford family authored this biographical note, with editorial assistance from the curatorial staff of the Southern Historical Collection.
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Scope and Content
The collection documents the education, military service, and social life of three generations of the Ratchford family in the Appalachian coal-mining community of Lynch, Ky. The Ratchfords include Otis, who worked for the United States Coal and Coke Company, and Louvenia, a homemaker, and their children, Jerome, Jacquelyn, Cynthia, and Jeffrey. Materials include school and military records, photographs, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and artifact keepsakes, including the family bible, a high school football jersey, family reunion t-shirt, and kitchenware that has been passed down through generations. The family has been active participants in the Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project.
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Otis Ratchford and Louvenia Ratchford Collection, 1935-1990s.
Arrangement: as received.
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Items Separated