Luella Cotton oral history
Collection
Identifier: OH071
Scope and Contents
This collection contains a typed transcript and two audiocassettes with two recorded oral history interviews with Luella Cotton, conducted by F. Gerald Handfield for the Indiana State Library in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, on December 20, 1978 and January 2, 1979, regarding her childhood, education, marriage, political career, and family.
The transcripts were initially generated on July 10 and 29, 2026 using Otter.ai and editing was completed by Brittany Kropf on July 31, 2026.
There is also an Indiana House of Representatives chamber map and members list, circa 1954-1955.
The transcripts were initially generated on July 10 and 29, 2026 using Otter.ai and editing was completed by Brittany Kropf on July 31, 2026.
There is also an Indiana House of Representatives chamber map and members list, circa 1954-1955.
Dates
- circa 1954-1955; 1978/12/20; 1979/01/02
Creator
- Indiana State Library (Interviewer, Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Biographical / Historical
Luella Fay Goodhart was born March 31, 1903 in Orrville, Ohio to Ulysses and Orinda Jane (Shoup) Goodhart. She met and married Rev. James Harry Cotton (1898-1982) while attending Wooster College in Ohio and they had two daughters, Margaret Jane and Anne. Luella Cotton was active in the Democratic Party while living in Crawfordsville, Indiana in the 1950s-1961 and was the first woman in the state to serve as county chair for the party. Cotton was also the first woman to serve as principal clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives and she also served as secretary of the Indiana Senate. The Cottons moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1961 where Rev. Cotton taught at Harvard University, but Luella Cotton continued her political work in Indiana, serving as vice-chairman of the Indiana Democratic State Central Committee in 1961 and chairman of the Women's Division. The Cottons lived in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania (1973-1983), where Rev. Cotton died in 1982. Luella Cotton then moved to Duarte, California, living there until 1991 when she relocated to Rydal Park in Ablington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She died at the age of 91 on November 1, 1994, in Pennsylvania and is buried in Wooster Cemetery in Wooster, Ohio.
Sources:
Items in the collection.
Drill, Herb, and Bill Price. "Louella G. Cotton, Active in Politics." Philly.com. Last modified November 10, 1994. Accessed September 10, 2015. http://articles.philly.com/1994-11-10/news/25867904_1_lansdowne-polio-patients-nursing.
Findagrave.com. "Luella Fay Goodhart Cotton." Find a Grave Memorial. Accessed December 5, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198347276/luella-fay-cotton.
"Luella Cotton." Crawfordsville Journal Review, November 4, 1994, 2A.
"Welsh Bestows 'Sagamore' Title on Louella Cotton." Crawfordsville Journal Review, December 17, 1964.
Sources:
Items in the collection.
Drill, Herb, and Bill Price. "Louella G. Cotton, Active in Politics." Philly.com. Last modified November 10, 1994. Accessed September 10, 2015. http://articles.philly.com/1994-11-10/news/25867904_1_lansdowne-polio-patients-nursing.
Findagrave.com. "Luella Fay Goodhart Cotton." Find a Grave Memorial. Accessed December 5, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198347276/luella-fay-cotton.
"Luella Cotton." Crawfordsville Journal Review, November 4, 1994, 2A.
"Welsh Bestows 'Sagamore' Title on Louella Cotton." Crawfordsville Journal Review, December 17, 1964.
Extent
0.03 Cubic Feet (2 audio cassette tapes, 1 transcript, 1 folder)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged by format.
Custodial History
This collection was created by the Indiana State Library Oral History Project in 1978-1979.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 2020/02/28 by Brittany Kropf. EAD finding aid created 2026/07/31 by Brittany Kropf.
- Audiocassettes
- Bayh, Birch Evans, 1928-2019
- Carter, Jimmy, 1924-2024
- Chicago (Ill.)
- Clergy
- Clergy -- Indiana
- College of Wooster
- Columbus (Ohio)
- Crawfordsville (Ind.)
- Crecelius, Owen Laughlin
- Democratic Party (Ind.)
- Democratic Party (Ind.) State Convention
- Democratic Party (U.S.)
- Education
- Elections -- Indiana
- Equal rights amendments
- Family life
- Handley, Harold W. (Harold Willis), 1909-1972
- Indiana -- Politics and government
- Indiana -- Politics and government -- 20th century
- Indiana. General Assembly
- Indiana. General Assembly. Senate
- Indianapolis (Ind.)
- Inflation (Finance)
- Massachusetts
- Montgomery County (Ind.)
- National League of Women Voters (U.S.)
- Oral history interviews
- Orrville (Ohio)
- Parker, Crawford Fairbanks, 1906-1986
- Peabody, Endicott, 1920-1997
- Political campaigns -- 20th century
- Politicians -- Indiana
- Politics and government
- Rock, Robert L. (Robert Lee), 1927-2013
- Slenker, Glenn Raymond
- Teachers
- United States -- Politics and government - 20th century
- Wabash College
- Welsh, Matthew E. (Matthew Empson), 1912-1995
- Women politicians
Creator
- Indiana State Library (Interviewer, Organization)
- Cotton, Luella, 1903-1994 (Interviewee, Person)
- Title
- Luella Cotton oral history
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository
Contact:
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671
