Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Bernice Rush papers
The Bernice Rush papers (dated 1923-1945, undated; 1.04 cubic feet; 2 boxes, 4 folders, 27 photographs) comprises papers, letters, photographs and newspaper clippings that document the dramatic life of Bernice Rush in Kentucky, Mexico, and Illinois.
1923-1945, undated (inclusive)
Rush, Bernice, 1896-1975
1.04 Cubic Feet
Letters.
Postcards.
Notebooks.
Courts -- Records and correspondence; Records of court.
Lawyers.
Spouse abuse
Marriage proposals.
Marriage -- United States
Small business -- Ownership.
Banks and banking
Collection is arranged into three series: Letters, Papers, and Photographs. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Finding Aid Author
Hanna Rumbarger
2009ms132.0811: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Bernice Rush papers, 1923-1945, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Biography / History
Bernice Rush (1896-1975) was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Around 1910, Bernice moved to New York and started a dressmaking business. In 1915, she was awarded 5,000 dollars as a settlement for a trolley accident. With the money, Bernice moved to Mexico City and opened her dress business there. She was a well-known dress maker in Mexico City, Mexico and involved with a young man named Genare Benavente. On December 23rd, 1929, Bernice was attacked by Genare and his mistress, thus leading to Bernice shooting Genare five times in self-defense, leading to his death. She is arrested for his murder and incaracerated at Belen Jail in Mexico City. Her trial for murder opened on November 13th, 1930. The case drew a large following in both the United States and Mexico, as no other American woman had been tried in the capital. Bernice Rush was acquitted of murder by at 6 to 3 jury decision after only one hour of deliberation. In 1931, Bernice left Mexico and moved back to the New York and eventually re-opened her dressmaking business. By 1932, she was living in Chicago, Illinois where she met a new man, Otto A. Brinner, and within a week was engaged to him. In 1933, she sued him for Breach of Promise to Marry. At some point she moved to California as the California Death Index recorded her death on July 13th, 1975. It is unknown if she ever married or had children.
American Letters collector Wade Hall (1934-2015) was a native of Union Springs, Alabama. Starting in 1962, he lived in Louisville, where he taught English and chaired the English and Humanities/Arts programs at Kentucky Southern College and Bellarmine University. He also taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida. He held degrees from Troy State University (B.S.), the University of Alabama (M.A.), and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.). He served for two years in the U.S. Army in the mid-fifties. Dr. Hall was the author of books, monographs, articles, plays, and reviews relating to Kentucky, Alabama, and Southern history and literature. His most recent books include A Visit with Harlan Hubbard; High Upon a Hill: A History of Bellarmine College; A Song in Native Pastures: Randy Atcher's Life in Country Music; and Waters of Life from Conecuh Ridge.
The Bernice Rush papers (dated 1923-1945, undated; 1.04 cubic feet; 2 boxes, 4 folders, 27 photographs) comprises papers, letters, photographs and newspaper clippings that document the dramatic life of Bernice Rush in Kentucky, Mexico, and Illinois. This collection contains personal and professional letters belonging to Bernice Rush. Included in the personal documents are love letters, postcards, diaries, court transcripts, photographs and a personal memoir. Bernice documents in detail all the dramatic details of her life such as; love, murder, pregnancy, jail, attempted rape, a miscarriage, abuse and scams. Transcripts from her murder trial, a memoir documenting her experience during the trial, and papers from her lawyer are included in the collection. She also writes and receives letters from friends during and after the trial, discussing her hardships, having friends hold on to her belongings, financial assistance, and requests for assistance from the United States government while incarcerated. After returning to the United States, she becomes involved with a new man and receives numerous letters from him, many cryptic and vague, and some in Spanish. Bernice writes in a diary about her time with him, detailing their unconventional relationship and his abusive action towards her. There are court documents in the collection detailing Bernice's attempts to sue him for Breach of Promise to Marry.
The last part of this collection features the various professional papers and documents belonging to Bernice. She receives letters from different banks, suppliers, and customers of her dress business. Multiple business cards and addresses were kept by Bernice. Sometime in the mid 1930s, Bernice started to sell pharmacy items such as; bandages, antiseptic spray, topical treatments and other pharmaceutical necessities. There are twenty-seven photographs included in this collection, and they are mainly of Bernice and the proceedings of her trial. Also included are photos from friends and family members. Bernice and a young named named Antonio Guerro decided to walk from Mexico City to New York City in 1930, and two of their autographed promotional postcards are stored in this collection as well.
The Bernice Rush papers collection is part of the Wade Hall Collection of American letters, which includes correspondence and diaries from all over North America covering the time period of the Civil to Korean Wars. The materials were collected by Wade Hall and document everyday men and women.
Restrictions on Access and Use
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Letters, 1928-1933, undated
Bernice Rush to President Hoover, 1929
Box 1, folder 4
Federico Sodi to Bernice Rush, 1930
Letters to Bernice Rush, 1929-1934, undated
Box 1, folder 11
Mexican Officials to Bernice Rush, 1928-1930
Otto A. Brinner to Bernice Rush, 1932-1933, undated
Postcards, 1932-1933, undated
Papers, 1923-1945, undated
Addresses, undated
Belen Jail papers, 1929, undated
Bernice Rush memoir, undated
Bernice Rush murder case timeline article, 1929
Bernice Rush newspaper clippings, 1930
Box WH-50, folder 8
Bernice Rush versus Otto A. Brinner court case, 1933, undated
Business cards, undated
Composition notebooks, 1933-1934, undated
Court transcripts and media coverage, 1929-1930, undated
Cross country walk papers, 1930
Diary, 1933
El Universal newspaper clippings, 1930
Financial papers, 1923, 1933-1934, undated
Jose Antonio Reyes papers, undated
Mexican newspaper clippings, 1930
Mexican passports and license, 1925, 1930
Notes, 1928, undated
Pamphlets and flyers, 1934, undated
Pharmacy records, 1932, undated
Pocket notebooks, 1933-1934, undated
Professional papers, 1930-1945, undated
Sunday newspaper clipping on Bernice Rush, 1930
Photographs, 1929-1930, undated
Promotional postcard of Bernice Rush and Antonia Guerrero's cross-country walk, 1930
Box WH-68, item 1
Portrait of Carolina Appel, 1930
Portrait of Bernice Rush, undated
Portrait of "Magdalenna", 1929
Portrait of unidentified man in traditional clothing, 1930
Bernice Rush laying down inside her jail cell, 1929
Friends of Bernice Rush standing outside the courthouse, 1929
Bernice Rush [seated] in front of judge and jury at her trial, 1929
Unidentified members of the jury for the trial of Bernice Rush, 1929
Box WH-70, item 10
Female prisoners being sprayed with a water hose in the Belen jail yard, 1929
Unidentified crowd standing in the town square where Bernice Rush shot Genare Benavente, 1930
The defense, prosecution, and judge with Bernice Rush inside the courtroom, 1930
Bernice Rush being escorted out of Mexico City courtroom, 1930
Judge and two councilmen presiding over Bernice Rush's trial, undated
Bernice Rush behind bars talking with her two lawyers, Reyes and Sodi, undated
Portrait of Miss Appel, undated
Two unidentified women posing for a portrait, undated
Portrait of an unidentified woman, undated
Portrait of Bernice Rush wearing a fur wrap, undated
Window display at Bernice Rush's dress store in Mexico City, 1920
Woman in the front window of Bernice Rush's dress store in Mexico City, 1920
View of the courtroom during the trial of Bernice Rush in Mexico City, 1929
Large crowd watching the trial of Bernice Rush, 1929
Portrait of an unidentified woman, note on back written in Spanish, 1929
Portrait of Virginia Disney, undated
Portrait of an unidentified child, undated
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