History Burgoo

American Historical Association Conference

At the beginning of January 2012, we (Beth Van Allen and Jen Duplaga) went to the American Historical Association annual meeting in Chicago.  We went prepared with our snow shoes and mittens and were pleasantly surprised with some warm Chicago winter days. 

While there, we attended many digital-humanities sessions (which is just a fancy way of saying using digital tools for educational and research purposes).  It’s the first time AHA has had a digital-humanities focus.  We encountered a cornucopia of different digital tools and websites.  While all of them are interesting, we thought we would highlight a few of our favorites. 

One of our favorites is Zotero, which immediately brought to mind family historians.  The program was developed by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media  at George Mason University.   It allows researchers to gather citation information from books and collections.  But it does so much more than that!  You can share files, index pdfs and other files, add metadata to photographs, create your own datasets. . . In other words, family historians will find Zotero to be an exciting tool for organizing and analyzing their research.

Another jaw-dropping program was the UCLA Urban Simulation Team’s presentation on 3D modeling for the classroom.  They are using 3D and geospatial technology to recreate historic buildings and landscapes.  Sure it may sound boring, but check out their website, where you can walk down the streets of Cairo at the 1893 Columbian World Exposition in Chicago.  Check out what’s in the shops, see the first Ferris wheel and look out for the camels!!! 

For all of you who are interested in the Civil War, a number of exciting new websites that focus on the era are popping up all over the Internet.  The first major Civil War website project, the Valley of the Shadow, celebrated its 20^th anniversary in one major session on Sunday morning.  This website details the lives of one Northern and one Southern community, from John Brown’s raid to Reconstruction.  You can find a number of the next generation of Civil War website projects at the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond. Another couple of projects are worth noting: Civil War Washington, and Sherman’s March and America: Mapping Memory. KHS’s own Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition hopes to join this illustrious group in years to come.

We brought back lots of new ideas for KHS, ate some great, classic Chicago deep-dish pizza, and met lots of interesting people who share our passion for history.  

--Beth Van Allen and Jen Duplaga

 

Lunch conversation reveals unexpected oral history connection!

As a new staff member working with the oral history collections here at KHS, I recently got to experience an exciting coincidence that encapsulated Kentucky’s long-held commitment to documenting and preserving the stories of our commonwealth.

KHS director Kent Whitworth invited new staff and interns to join the executive board for their January board meeting lunch.  We were encouraged to mingle, and always being up for meeting new people, I sat down next to a friendly looking mustachioed man.  I introduced myself and asked his name and he told me he was Mike Mullins, executive director of the Hindman Settlement School.  Being a city girl (I live in Louisville) I only recently learned a bit about Hindman and asked Mr. Mullins if he knew James Still.  “Yeah, I knew him.  We had Thanksgiving dinner together every year for the last 32 years before he died.”   As we discussed his work at the historic settlement school one of the new interns, Jamie Holt, approached our table and asked if we minded if he sat down.  I had met Jamie a few days previously in the digital lab where we convert cassette tape recordings to digital files and I introduced the two.  As they chatted, they soon discovered they had something in common—oral history.

Jamie is finishing his degree from Alice Lloyd College with a semester-long Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU) internship with the Special Collections and Library team. Part of his work involves digitizing and uploading oral history interviews to the KHS digital collections website, as well as creating catalog records for some of our 9,000 interviews.   This task complements Jamie’s efforts in the library at Alice Lloyd where he and former AIKCU/KHS intern (and fellow Alice Lloyd student) Justin Maynard are working on the initial effort to digitize the nearly three thousand oral histories collected during the Appalachian Oral History Project (AOHP).  Founded in 1970, the AOHP ranks as the earliest large-scale oral history project conducted in Kentucky.  Sarah Milligan, administrator of the Kentucky Oral History Commission at KHS, has been advising Alice Lloyd on the digitization process and now supervises Jamie’s work with oral history during his time at KHS.   

Well, it turns out that prior to working as executive director at Hindman, Mr. Mullins taught classes at Alice Lloyd College and when Mr. Mullins heard about Jamie’s work on the AOHP he shared that he had actually recorded some of the original interviews and also directed his students in conducting interviews as part of their curriculum.  He told us about his favorite interviews from the project, those of Verna Mae Slone, quilter and doll maker among other things or as Mr. Mullins called her “Grandma Moses of the Mountains.”  Ms. Slone condensed her interviews into a book about her life in Appalachia called What I Want to Tell, a memoir she wrote for her family members, the first of six books she would write.  Mullins recounted the progression that Ms. Slone’s book took from hand-typed personal memories stapled together and passed out at family gatherings, to published work, and how proud he was when he opened up the newspaper on the beach one morning on vacation and saw Ms. Slone’s picture looking back at him.

As the desserts arrived, Mr. Mullins expressed appreciation to Jamie for the work he has done to preserve these invaluable histories of Kentucky’s heritage and I realized I was witnessing the progress of the oral history tradition in our commonwealth.  Mr. Mullins worked in the pioneering days to establish the value of oral history documentation and Jamie works today to help preserve and present these histories in the digital age.  I’m happy that digital technology has allowed me to capture and present this  auspicious meeting to you.

--Heather Fox, project archivist for Pass the Word: The Guide to Oral History in Kentucky

UPDATE: Mike Mullins unexpectedly passed away on February 19, 2012.  The Kentucky Historical Society has an interview with Mr. Mullins in the oral history collection and we asked Jamie Holt to digitize the interview and put it online.  The interview can be accessed through our digital collection website. Click on the audio links at the left of the screen to listen to the interview.

Are These YOUR Kentucky Ancestors? – New Blog Series Coming Soon!

If you’ve followed any of our recent posts about the winter season activities in the library, I’m sure you’ve noticed that we are not only covering ground fast, but are encountering some wonderful gems along the way! So, you might also wonder; "What is all this processing for? Don’t you already know what is in the library?" Of course we do, but as technology changed over the years, things were not always processed in a manner that made it easy for our catalog system to find items once we took things online - which means you, our patron, could not find them either without quite a bit of digging through paper finding aids, or spotty catalog search results! Tweaking our collection descriptions will allow the catalog to find more items related to your research and/or Family History!

 Ok, enough with the boring details – but what does all that MEAN?! The long and short of it is: we are re-discovering some amazing details about our collection that shed new light on Kentucky families. Many of you come to our research library with one purpose in mind – finding your family’s Kentucky history. As you conduct your research, I’m sure you’re familiar with the microfilm room, the vertical files and the published indexes/histories. When most of those records were printed or photographed for microfilm/publication, they were all gathered into one place – usually from local Court House collections – and filmed to create as complete a representation of that county’s history as was possible at the time. However, as we have all learned the hard way, those records can have all sorts of problems with them: Counties didn’t record some events in the early years, some counties had devastating fires that destroyed decades worth of records, and sometimes the quality of the paper/writing has deteriorated to a point of illegibility.

 This is where supplemental information can greatly enhance your research or fill in missing pieces! Your ancestors may have left a paper trail that extends beyond the scope of formal record keeping, in the form of photos, letters, personal transactions, organizational memberships, family Bibles or even store ledgers! Don’t forget, our ancestors were social beings just like us and were involved in groups, businesses and other social activities that produced letters and records. The key to finding these types of records for your research is by expanding your search to include special collections/archival records, which is mostly made up of “primary sources” and rare publications. These items, unless re-published at a later date, will not be found in the regular stacks of our library, nor even in the microfilm room. They can only be found by searching our online catalog and then requesting the items at our reference desk. Our staff will be more than happy to retrieve these unique pieces of history for you to explore here in the library.

 As we process more things this winter, we are bound to find more links to your Kentucky families, which can then be found by you as you explore our Collections Catalog. Remember, it is free for anyone to use from home – at any time of the year! We also have the Digital Collections and Objects Catalogs available that hold images of some of these unique items. After you have explored these three free catalogs for items relating to your family or research subject, keep checking back! We are busy adding more content to these catalogs and continue to enjoy these months of new discoveries as we open a new folder or box and meet someone new from Kentucky’s past!  

 As I wrap up this post, I would like to introduce you to a new blog series that can be found here regularly: Are These YOUR Kentucky Ancestors? Each Kentucky County has its own unique records, resources and original documents/photos that help to enrich its overall story. A few times each month, we will feature a new original source, publication, document, or photo from a different County that specifically mentions Kentucky families by name. Along with the wonderful re-discoveries from around our state, we hope to provide some background on the item presented or some tips on how to use this in your research. If any of the featured items add to your Kentucky Family’s story, let us know! Don’t forget! If you see something you want to explore in person, come visit our library when it is open to the public each 2^nd Saturday of the month, or during regular season hours when they resume on March 13^th! Stay tuned, you won’t want to miss what we find!

--Cheri Daniels

Confessions of a Costumed Interpreter

Historic Locust Grove is a Regency style home built around 1792 in Louisville, Kentucky. Home to the Croghan family, this National Historic Landmark welcomed three presidents, the famed members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and General George Rogers Clark. Owned by William Croghan (a surveyor and one of the wealthiest men in Kentucky) and his wife Lucy Clark Croghan (the sister of George
Rogers Clark and William Clark), Locust Grove was a major gathering place in Kentucky. Today, Historic Locust Grove hosts many events including: 18th Century Market Faire, Antique Fair, 18th Century Thunder Revolutionary War Encampment, patriotic picnics, lecture series, KJHS club, and an opportunity for visitors to tour the home and experience the magic of an 1800’s Christmas celebration.

On December 9-10, 2011 I participated in Candlelight Christmas at Locust Grove. Candlelight is a popular event at Locust Grove, during the second week of each December, where visitors connect with history through costumed interpreters (CI) like me! The house is decorated in Regency Style Christmas splendor while visitors participate through dancing, playing card games such as Whist, and conversing with the interpreters.

About three and a half years ago, my best friend introduced me to the world of costumed interpreting opportunities at Historic Locust Grove. To prepare for my CI role, I attend monthly meetings to learn from other interpreters and guest speakers. The group also learns current events of the early 1800’s, clothing styles, children’s activities, food preparation and presentation, day to day activities, and conversation points to use to engage visitors in enjoyable topics. Select members also participate in rehearsals of Regency period dances. Through the CI meetings I have made friends my age, and have met seasoned interpreters who have amazing storytelling talent and a passion for history.

When I began costumed interpreting I portrayed Eliza Croghan, the youngest daughter of William and Lucy Croghan of Locust Grove. However, she was only eight years old and I had recently turned 14 years old and grew six inches, which squashed the believability of me being a little girl. I was then given the character of Ann “Nany” Clark. Nany was the youngest daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Clark, the wealthiest family in Kentucky and the niece of George Rogers and William Clark.

To research my new character I discussed my “family” with the other interpreters, and researched and shared my new knowledge from the internet and meetings with local historians, on the CI blog. My favorite parts of the CI learning process are researching clothing styles and the dancing practices. Due to my recent growth spurt, a new dress was in order. I purchased authentic period fabric at the Jane Austen Festival (hosted annually at Locust Grove) and a friend sewed the dress for me in Regency style. To complete my transformation, my mom fixed my hair in “the latest Regency fashion,” and I wore my great-grandmother’s cameo necklace, which is almost a hundred years old, strung on a beautiful ribbon.

The final touches were placed around the grounds, the halls were “decked” with holly and greenery, the luminaries were lit, showing the way to the house, and the cold air urged the visitors toward the music and candlelight filled house. A large crowd of my family, friends, and members of my KJHS group arrived to enjoy an evening of history and treats from 1809. I spent most of the night dancing with short breaks to “introduce” myself to the guests. Both evenings went by so quickly and were full of music, dancing, and storytelling. Now, I can’t wait for next year!

Written by Clare Egan (KJHS Board Historian)

a.k.a. Nany Clark

For more information on Historic Locust Grove and costumed interpreting go to www.locustgrove.org or call (502)897-9845.

For more information on the Kentucky Junior Historical Society contact Cheryl Caskey at cheryl.caskey@ky.gov.