History Burgoo

Where Have all the Governors Gone?

 

Some of you might have heard that we are in the process of re-conceptualizing the Toyota Hall of Governors off of Commonwealth Hall in our building. If you have visited recently – say, last week when we reopened to the walk-in public after our 1st seasonal closing – then you would have noticed the walls are bare in that hall. Where have all of our governor’s portraits gone? We took them down to get ready for the redesign. They are currently in museum storage, some are being photographed and all are being checked over and just generally rested. The walls are currently being cleaned and prepped and the room itself looks VERY large and empty.

What now? The exhibits staff, with input from various advisors, is currently finishing up the exhibit script – yep, think of it like a play, all of the characters have lines – and finalizing images to include with the text and also, which oral history clips to help illustrate who these governors were and what their time in office meant for the state. A few big questions floating around is what does it mean to be a governor in Kentucky? How has that role changed over the last 200+ years? How does a governor get elected? How do they accomplish things once in office? How do party politics play into this whole process  and what are the individual legacies of specific governors? Every question that is discussed brings up 10 more to be answered. As with every exhibit, the information gathered way exceeds the space available to share. For every governor, we are looking at about 50 words to sum all of these questions up. Pretty big challenge, how would you do it?

As for my part, I have been working (along side our wonderful intern, Marcy Werner) on sorting through our oral history collections to attempt to find interviews that help illustrate (concisely) the points being made in the script. So, out of a 3 hour interview, I am looking for 30 second clips. Or, in the case of Governor Combs – out of something like 8 hours of video interview from the raw footage of a documentary, we are

2002OH02.1d - Bert Combs

looking for a 30 second clip. I have to say, both Marcy and I feel like we have had a crash course in the complexities of Kentucky politics. We have listened to legislators, special interest groups, state workers (the list goes on) all of which have opinions and experiences with these governors. For me, at least, it has really made these powerful folks (not just men, remember Martha Layne Collins! ) more real and definitely more human.

So, when you come to KHS for a visit, maybe even on Boone Day when the exhibit will first open, check out the text, examine the images of documents, artifacts and people and listen to the oral history clips. Then think about what else you might like to know about these individuals or their terms in office. Come up to the library and check out our books, check out our manuscript collections and definitely listen to more than 30 seconds of our oral histories. It is definitely worth your time.

 

--Sarah Milligan

Images, top left, KHS collection. 1904.2. Governor Thomas Metcalfe (1828-32) of Nicholas County. (I have to admit, one of my favorite portraits down there, completely for the hair-SM) above left, KHS collection. 1975.17. Governor Bert T. Combs (1959-63) of Clay County. above right, KHS collection. 1988.4.3. Governor Martha Layne (Hall) Collins (1983-87) of Shelby and Woodford Counties.

Neat Old Documents; or Why I Like My Job

One of the things I like the most about processing manuscript collections is the detective work it takes to figure out just what the document in my hands actually, well, documents.  When we started in on the first series of the Alexander Family Papers, we quickly determined that not only were these the largest (size-wise) items in that collection, but they were also the least likely to be in English.  I don’t know about you, but it has been years since I dusted off my Latin, and my Old English, Gaelic and Old French are pretty non-existent.  So just determining what each document is, is a bit of a problem.  And can we talk about 17^th century dates and abbreviations?

I am not sure which intrigues me more, the people or the documents.  For right now I will focus on the documents.  They are pretty cool!  The oldest we found in the collection is a document from 1509.  Yep, you read that right: the 16^th century!  It appears to be in Latin, so we are putting out the call to language scholars and enthusiasts:  Please help us translate it!

 

At a time when everyone takes Office Max for granted, I find the evidence of the way things were kind of intriguing.  Many of the 17^th century documents have a stamp in the upper left hand corner that says “Tenn penny quire.”  I had to go back to my library school texts to remind myself of this phrase.  A quire is a sheaf of 24 sheets of paper.  Apparently, this was how you purchased them and the stamp tells you the price.  Imagine buying 24 sheets at a time.

The signatures on these old documents are fantastic, with embellishments and curlicues and whatnot.  Interestingly, on the really long documents made up of multiple sheets of paper glued together, the signers also signed the seams.  This seems to be a sort of 17^th century security procedure to keep unscrupulous people from adding to contracts without the signer’s permission.

 

Well, I should probably get back to processing now.  As we complete these series, we are digitizing specific documents for inclusion in the Digital Collections, so stay tuned for when these amazing treasures go online!

 

 

 

Winter Months - Won't Stop Oral History Outreach

(Library staff processing and rehousing the Alexander Family Papers - AKA the Woodburn Farm Collection)

In anticipation of our public reopening on Saturday (March 12th, yep – this one), we have been diligently finishing up microfilm inventory (600 records in Mercer county), cataloging records and re-housing collections in order to make the library ready for use by patrons again.

All of the fluttering around the library to complete the season has made me think about what I have accomplished in the oral history office over the winter months. Not to even get into the paper pushing, but between January and February I travelled to 11 sites outside of Frankfort – practically one trip a week. I delivered digital workstations and equipment to be used for oral history digitization (EKU and Lindsey Wilson College), I visited with groups of teachers, visited a few college classes (Transylvania and Georgetown), participated in a high school program for Black History Month with the KHS Museum Theatre Dept. (1,100 Woodford County students, yikes!), moderated an OH archival evaluation (WKU), did some actual interviews and most recently spoke with an arts group looking to document their home county through oral history (Mt. Sterling).  While I haven’t been that far Southeast or West this season (mostly because of the unpredictability of the weather and planning trips that far – in advance and distance), I have been lucky enough to get out and around.

One of these visits has been recently renewed in my mind this week, so I thought I would share. My visit (turning into an annual one) to the Transylvania University Community Engagement Through the Arts class was unique in the fact that I spent as much time learning from the students there than trying to convey the knowledge I was asked to present. I am continually impressed by the nature of this class – not only is the purpose to get the college students interacting with the North Limestone community, the campus’ neighbor (and not one where students were traditionally encouraged to wander in), but to actively engage with the residents in that community, whether through storytelling, community crafting or just participating in neighborhood events. (this would be through the arts part). The students are really setting the class direction based on the framework set by the professors, Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova, a model that astounds me every time I experience it. I really enjoy watching the class move as a small swarm walking down North Limestone Ave from the manicured lawns of Transy to the back of whatever space they are meeting in this week (restaurants, furniture stores, graphic design studios etc…) In the spirit of self reflection – and part of the grading system, I am sure - the students all write a series of “This I Believe” essays, based on the resurged radio series on NPR and they are encouraged to reflect on what it is they believe and how that may or may not shift as the semester wears on.

This adventure has popped back up in my mind since I was recently contacted by the class to write my own “This I Believe” essay to add to the annual Community Engagements class publication of essays and projects - they continue to "engage". This year, I talked with (not so much at) the class about sense-of-place, tangible and intangible culture and meeting a community through listening to what people who live there value or dismiss. I really had to think about the question for myself long and hard….since I DO believe in this class, I would like to share.

In the mean time, you should see what the class is doing, you can visit their own blog – check out their photos of projects, read their essays, visit their sites – get inspired or at least maybe get some ideas for how this might work for something in your own community.

So, it is a bit self-gratifying to get to visit these sort of places – I tend to get as much out of it as my institution or the place I am visiting (or maybe more, who knows), especially on a non-existant travel budget. Anyone interested on details of any of my other outreach adventures? Let me know...

 

--Sarah Milligan

 

images: above right: photo from Greg Hardison, Sarah Milligan at the Woodford County High School

above left: Community Engagement Class, photo from Community Engagement blog

Spring Film Series Kicks Off March 17

Films have become an important part of programming at KHS since March 2010.  Since that time we have screened eight films, which have covered topics from stereotyping the "hillbilly image" to learning more about the "Narco" farm on Leestown Road in Fayette county to the terrible tragedy of the Prestonsburg school bus crash in the 1950's.  All of these films have given us an opportunity to explore Kentucky's culture and history that may not be found in other mediums.  We have also been fortunate to host a few directors for our screenings and this has given our audience an opportunity to talk with the filmmakers firsthand about their knowledge on the topic and their experience making the films.

This March 17 will begin the spring film series at KHS and will continue along the lines of the programming offered in 2010.  Again, we will be featuring independent films made by Kentuckians and about Kentucky topics.  We are also fortunate that we will have multiple directors on hand for the March and April films, a tradition we hope to continue throughout 2011.  Thanks to everyone for their support of this new program and we look forward to a great year of movie watching.

Our first set of screenings will be a group of short films by the youth filmmaking crew of the Appalachian Media Institute (AMI).  Many of these films address social and cultural issues that directly connect with Kentucky culture, from the stereotypes that go along with the eastern Kentucky accent to families coping with loved ones serving in the military overseas.  Provocative, insightful, and sometimes humorous these films are told from the perspective of the young people making them.  In addition to the films being shown, the directors will be in attendance and will participate in an informal question and answer session after the screenings. 

Above image from "Back Home," courtesy AMI.

AMI has been training youth in media literacy since 1988 and they help young people explore how media production skills can be used to ask, and begin to answer, critical questions of themselves and their communities.

In April, KHS will be screening another original documentary, this one on the life and times of former major league baseball player Steve Hamilton. Titled "The Father, The Pitcher, The Hero"  this film, made by several students from Morehead State University, chronicles the late baseball players life, pitching career, and involvement with the Major League Baseball's Players Association. 

      

Our third film, "To Save the Land and People" is a history of the early efforts to stop strip mining in Kentucky.  The documentary, directed by Anne Lewis, also discusses the impact that coal mining has on
Above image, screen shot from "To Save the Land and People," courtesy Appalshop, Inc.

the environment and the community in which it is found.  "To Save the Land and People" is an Appalshop film and more information can be learned from their website, www.appalshop.org. 

All films are free with admission to the Kentucky Historical Society campus and include film screening, entrance to Thomas D. Clark Center exhibitions, as well as free popcorn and soda.  For more information about the film series contact Mike Deetsch at mike.deetsch@ky.gov or 502-564-1792.

Women’s History Month and the KHS Pamphlet Collection

 

 

 KHS Collection. 378 L888 Pamphlet. Catalogue of the officers and students of the Louisville Female College for the year 1873-74, including the names of the students who have been connected with the institution between April, 1872, and April, 1873.

Women’s history thrives in the collections of the Kentucky Historical Society, with interesting treasures found in each of our collection areas, ranging from diaries and letters, to photographs and portraits, as well as oral histories, and material collections of clothing and artifacts.  My favorite nuggets are found in the rare books and pamphlets. We have several pamphlets from a variety of early female colleges and academies in Kentucky.  Family historians relish the lists of students and faculty that some of these pamphlets include, but these small volumes also reflect the character of women's education during their respective time periods.

As I mentioned in a blog from July 26, 2010, 
it is always a treat for us to recommend and retrieve pamphlets for library patrons; this is especially true for any of the school pamphlets.  These school catalogues and announcements allow us to visit the specific school at the time of the pamphlet’s publication, briefly becoming a part of its intended audience.

The Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Hocker Female College, Lexington, Kentucky, 1873-74, includes a two-page article about Hocker Female College, signed “Home and School, for July, 1872.”  This article gives insight into the school’s founder, James M. Hocker, as well as a thorough description of the physical make-up of the facility.

Another glimpse into women’s history can be found in the 1887 Annual Announcement and Catalogue of the Millersburg Female College, Millersburg, Bourbon Co., Kentucky. These pages show an example of a liberal arts curriculum that female students followed at the time.

The list of graduates and students found in pamphlets like the one from the Catalogue of Georgetown Female Seminary, Kentucky, 1887-1888, is often used by researchers to verify names or dates.

This online sampling from our pamphlets is a nice little treat, but it is much more satisfying to read them in our library.  We hope you can visit us after our seasonal hours end. We will return to our regular schedule on March 12, 2011.

Happy Trails,
Brenda Smith

 

 Images - Top Right. KHS Collection. 976.902 K37-4 Pamphlet. Live stock show and fair of the Latonia Agricultural Association. Top Left. KHS Collection. 378 H685 1873-74 Pamphlet. Annual catalogue of the officers and students of Hocker Female College, Lexington, Kentucky.  Above Right. KHS Collection. 976.902 B766-1 Pamphlet. 1887. Annual announcement and catalogue of the Millersburg Female College, Millersburg, Bourbon Co., Ky. Above left. KHS Collection. 378 G351 1887-88 Pamphlet. Catalogue of Georgetown Female Seminary, Kentucky.