Allen County native receives Dr. Delroy & Patricia Hire Internship to preserve local history

Christopher Coe Campbell, the eldest son of Greg and Trudi Compton and the grandson of Nancy (Pruitt) Miller, has been named the Dr. Delroy & Patricia Hire Intern for 2018.

Campbell is a lifelong resident of Allen County, Ky., and a 2015 graduate of Allen County-Scottsville High School. He is currently a junior at WKU pursuing a degree in History with a minor in Agriculture.

The Dr. Delroy & Patricia Hire Internship was established in 2015 to provide students with professional experience working in a special collections library, specifically with material from Allen and Monroe counties in Kentucky and Macon County in Tennessee. Campbell is the third Hire Intern to date.

Campbell credits his interest and passion for history to the stories he used to hear from his grandmother about growing up in Allen County and the people who affected her life. He soon found himself completely engrossed in history and devoured every book he could find. Pursuing a degree in History just seemed natural.

“I hope to achieve a career in the geology/archival/special collections field so I can preserve history for future generations to learn and grow from,” said Campbell. “I am very appreciative and thankful for the opportunity this internship has given me to explore and preserve the history of the county my family has lived in for six and seven generations.”

Dr. Delroy Hire, the son of Osby Lee Hire and Lillian K. Garrison, was born and raised in Monroe County. He graduated from Tompkinsville High School in 1959.  Dr. Hire is a 1962 WKU graduate and a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He is board certified in anatomic, clinical and forensic pathology. After furthering his education, Dr. Hire went on duty as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy and served for more than 20 years. He retired as the Deputy Armed Forces Medical Examiner based out of Washington, D.C., and now lives in Pensacola, Fla.

“In the Department of Library Special Collections, we have unique collections that allow students to literally touch history,” said Jonathan Jeffrey, Department Head for Library Special Collections. “This is more than a magnanimous gesture from Dr. Hire, it is an investment both in our collections and future curators of similar collections. Christopher Campbell is a fine example of Dr. Hire’s investment, and we are thrilled to offer this opportunity to WKU students.” 

Campbell will work with a number of items related to the three counties in which Dr. Hire is interested. He will scan and upload approximately 21 industrial resources reports for those counties into TopSCHOLAR, the University Libraries’ digital repository. He will also catalog and scan photos and postcards related to the counties for inclusion in KenCat, the online catalog of non-book items found in the Kentucky Building. Finally, Campbell will complete two oral history interviews with Allen County residents to acquire more information about prominent Allen County attorney Douglas Keen, a former WKU Regent and the namesake of WKU’s Keen Hall.  Dr. Hire is related to Keen and wants to preserve information about the attorney for posterity.

Posted on: Feb. 21, 2018