Charles A. Thomas Collection
For twenty years, Charles A. Thomas took thousands of photos of Danville and Boyle County, Kentucky. He had a sharp eye for the subjects in these photos that cover a wide range of activities, people, and places. Preserved here are the memories of life in the bluegrass as it was from the 1960s through the 1980s.
He graduated from the Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD) in 1927. He would later return to teach Graphic Arts for 36 years, retiring in 1972. At the same time that he was teaching, he was also taking photographs for the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, The Advocate-Messenger in Danville, Kentucky, and Centre College.
He was the first deaf person to receive a Gold Membership Life Card in the National Press Photographers Association. Active in civic affairs, he was recognized with a Kentucky Public Personnel Award from the Kentucky Commission on Employment of the Handicapped. He was instrumental in re-establishing the KSD Alumni Association. In 1974, KSD named the new Physical Education Building on the KSD campus after him. Stating: “To serve, as he has served, to remind our children of the significant achievements made by him.”
Images are available for free but must be attributed.
Contact library@boylepublib.org
Charles A. Thomas Collection negatives are available through a generous donation by Edith Dot Stallard.
Special thanks to Mary Girard, Digital Scholarship Librarian, Centre College for consultation on this project.
Charles A. Thomas Collection
Graciously donated by Edith Dot Stallard. Photos taken during Thomas' career at The Advocate-Messenger, Centre College, and Kentucky School for...