History Burgoo

Transforming students’ lives through the power of history!

On April 26 and 27, roughly 1,000 students from across the Commonwealth will meet at the University of Louisville for the 51st annual Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference and Kentucky History Day. 

During their time in the Kentucky Junior Historical Society, KJHS students conduct research individually and in groups, cultivating skills of communication, collaboration and creativity and critical thinking.

Students presenting a project to judges during the 2012 conference.

 

Working in-depth on a personally-chosen project, participants collect oral histories, restore local landmarks, create dramatic interpretations of historical events and develop websites, competing to be one of the top students who will take their project to the University of Maryland in a bid for national honors.

The culmination of a year of work may lead up to just one day, but the impact can transform a student's life.

Take Emma, for example. "This has made a huge impact on Emma’s life," writes her mother, Rebecca. As a young child, Emma had a pronounced speech impediment affecting her confidence speaking in a public setting. Through years of speech therapy and small class settings she was able to present to her classmates, but it was her involvement with Kentucky History Day that changed everything.

"Kentucky History Day gave Emma an opportunity to become an expert in her topic of choice, which in turn, made her feel like she could speak with academic authority. The issue wasn’t about public speaking anymore; it was about sharing her expertise."

To ensure that any qualifying student has the opportunity to compete on the national level, the Kentucky Historical Society subsidizes the cost of each student's trip to Washington D.C. and the University of Maryland.

Donors are the people who make this dream a reality – state funding isn't available to send one single student to National History day.

Join Rebecca, Emma and other supporters of history education on April 24^th as the KHS Foundation, in partnership with the Kentucky Nonprofit Network, participates in Kentucky Gives Day, a special 24-hour day of giving.

During this one-day event you can make a tax-deductible donation to the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation, instantly making Kentucky History Day a reality for more students like Emma!

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KJHS is administered by the Kentucky Historical Society, which is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. KHS is committed to helping people understand, cherish and share Kentucky's history by providing connections to the past, perspective on the present and inspiration for the future. For more about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit www.history.ky.gov.

Now Available in the Library!

A Joyous Easter

Check out the new collections available this month at the Kentucky Historical Society’s Martin F. Schmidt Library!

Genealogical chart of the family of Robert E. Lee, FF2.33

Surnames include: Lee, Romnoy, Bondy, Corbin, Fitzhugh, Custis, Ludwell, Steptoe, Robinson, Bland, Grymes, Carter, Edwards, Childe, Washington. Places include: England; Westmoreland County, VA; New York; Mexico; Jefferson Barracks, MO; Camp Cooper, TX; Lexington, VA; Alexandria, VA. Genealogical Chart of the Family of Robert E. Lee: Family Tree. Created by Karl Smith of Charlotte, NC, 1949. Heavily illustrated chart that outlinesLee's prominent Lee family line plus details of his major accomplishments before, during and after the Civil War. Drawings include his former residences, place of burial, Washington & Lee University, battle snippets and famous Civil War soldiers he served alongside. Background includes a map of partial sections of the following states: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.  Find out more!

Frazier family photographs, MSS 143

This collection contains photographs of the Robert E. and Mary Louisa (Lula) Frazier family of Greenville, Kentucky, including images of their children and some of their grandchildren. Photographs were identified by the donor.  Robert E. Frazier and Mary Louisa (Lula) Taylor Frazier lived in Greenville, Kentucky. Mary Louisa was the daughter of Samuel Taylor of Richwood, Kentucky. The couple had five children: James, Lewis, Elijah, Frank, and Annabelle.  Find out more!

Charles Sumner Oddfellows Lodge collection, MSS 185

This collection consists of ledgers, receipts, lists of members, and miscellaneous notes concerning the Charles Sumner Lodge, No. 1780 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The ledgers are "Promise-to-Pay" pledges made by the members of the order. A separate ledger contains a list of members and notes taken during meetings. Additionally, there are scraps of paper making references to members who had fallen on hard times or suffered a loss in the family. The Charles Sumner Lodge was an African-American fraternal organization of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The lodge was located in Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky. Some members lived in Hyattsville, also in Garrard County.  Find out more!

Waller Overton Pardon, FF1.255

Pardon for Waller Overton from President Andrew Johnson and signed by Secretary of State William H. Seward, dated 31 July 1865. The pardon is contingent upon Waller taking the oath of allegiance to the United States and could be voided if he was ever found to own slaves.  Find out more!

 

For over 100 years, the Martin F. Schmidt Library and Special Collections has collected research materials which document the people, places and events in Kentucky’s history. The library’s resources include manuscripts, microfilm, county records, maps, published genealogies, oral histories, photographs, land records and rare books. Discover more about our collections by checking out our Digital Collections and Library Catalogs! The Kentucky Historical Society is open to the public Wednesdays 10-4; Thursdays 10-8; Fridays 10-5; Saturdays 10-5.

 

Intern delves deeper into Davis Political Collection

Earlier this fall, I wrote a post about the Drexell R. Davis Political Collection focused on two of the campaign posters from that impressive group of political memorabilia (for some background, read my earlier post here). As my internship in the Museum Collections and Exhibitions department continues, I gain more and more insight into American political parties, candidates, elections and the souvenirs associated with them. I’d like to share a few more objects from the Davis Collection now.

When thinking about the emblems and mascots of political parties images of flags, donkeys, elephants, Uncle Sam, stars and stripes, etc. come to mind immediately. But during the election of 1888 a new emblem joined these traditional symbols: a red bandana. The story of the red bandana is attached to the vice presidential candidate in that election, Allen Thurman. Thurman was running with incumbent President Grover Cleveland against Republicans Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton (who would win the election). Thurman was often seen in public with a red handkerchief or bandana in his coat pocket, frequently taking the bandana out to mop his brow during interviews or debates.

In her book, “The American Bandanna: Culture on Cloth from George Washington to Elvis,” author Hillary Weiss writes that, “one night at a Democratic rally, vice-presidential nominee Allen Thurman pulled a red bandana from his pocket, complaining it would have been cheaper without the import tariff. He was dubbed ‘Old Pockethandkercheif,’ ... and the bandanna itself became the Democrats’ 1888 symbol of consumer rights.” One result of this event was that red campaign bandanas began to crop up everywhere alongside traditional posters, buttons, and other souvenirs. Not only was image of a red 
bandana made into a political symbol of consumer rights - much like eagles and flags were used to symbolize patriotism on other campaign souvenirs - the symbol was made real by printing political messages and images onto actual cotton or silk handkerchiefs.

Handkerchief, 1986.88.28

This bandana from the KHS Collection (1986.88.28) is one of these campaign handkerchiefs. The cream colored flags at the corners of this piece have black text which spells out some of the Democrats’ platform: “Tariff Reform” and “Low Taxes.” Allen Thurman is in the oval frame on the right and in his breast pocket is the famous red bandana.

Another, similar handkerchief in our collection shows Thurman and his red bandana more clearly (1939.822). I thought these objects were particularly interesting because they are, essentially, a symbol within a symbol; Thurman’s red bandana symbolizing economic reform printed onto a real handkerchief for supporters to wave at rallies and other events.

Handkerchif, 1939.822

According to an article from the New York Times published in June of 1912, the bandana was also used by Thurman as a covert signal between him and his close friend, Senator Edmunds of Vermont, during his time as a United States Senator from Ohio. The article says that “if the proceedings became dull, Thurman would draw his bandana from his pocket and flourish it without ostentation. At the signal Senator Edmunds would surrender the chair to a substitute, and the two estimable statesmen would seek rest and reasonable refreshment in company.” This article illustrates that Thurman’s habit of wearing a red bandana was well established before the election in 1888.

Be sure to check out the KHS Objects Catalog online at www.history.ky.gov/objects to browse through more of KHS’s political objects, and keep checking this blog for more updates on the Drexell R. Davis Collection!

--Beth Sylak, collections intern, museum collections and exhibitions team

 

 

Summer intern delves into KHS special collections

My summer internship here at the Kentucky Historical Society has taught me a great deal. I have both improved and vastly increased my skills and also had the chance to work on some spectacular collections. Currently, I'm working towards a Master of Library and Information Science. The degree is necessary in order to find a job in a library or archive, but I knew that I needed to garner practical experience to set myself apart. The internship here at KHS appealed to me because of the variety of experiences offered in it. While here in Frankfort, I have been able to participate in every aspect of the wide spectrum of skills necessary for librarians and archivists. I was able to process, catalog, store, and digitize many different materials. I have learned about many of the programs and processes used by librarians and archivists to preserve, store, and provide access to records.

My work was split between two aspects of the KHS Special Collections and Library -- oral history and manuscripts -- and I thought I would mention two of the collections, one from each aspect, that really impressed me.

The collections of the Kentucky Oral History Commission at KHS is by far the largest I have seen, and I feel lucky to have briefly been a part of it. One collection that I had a hand in processing and cataloging was "Living with Difference: Oral Histories of Life and Disability in Kentucky." The project is a joint effort between KHS, acting as the repository, and Eastern Kentucky University, where students and faculty perform the interviews. Since I was mostly dealing with cataloging and digitizing the collection, I didn't have too much time to delve deeply into its contents. But in the small exposure I had, I found that the interviews were done with a wide variety of individuals dealing with issues that society has deemed as disabilities. As I listened to and skimmed transcripts of some of the interviews, I found the attitudes that many "disabled" individuals had toward their "disability" quite interesting. All of them acknowledged their condition, but many didn't consider it a disability nor did they feel that it impeded their life. The surprising thing was that the people interviewed had disabilities ranging from depression and arthritis to paraplegia and multiple sclerosis. The collection is quite impressive in its content and its aims to offer a voice to members of society suffering from disabilities. And this is just one of many collections held at KHS that offer insight into the culture and history of the commonwealth.

As for the manuscript collections, I was able to process and catalog a large amount of material from the Civil War era. One of the items that I found most interesting was a small notebook used to record the locations of graves of Kentucky Confederate dead throughout the South. It is called the "Atlanta Association for the Reinterment of the Kentucky Confederate Dead record book" (long name, I know). Notes were kept by Charlie Herbst on the individuals and their units, the location of the graves, and the efforts made to reinter some of the fallen soldiers. The notebook is a valuable resource in genealogy and Civil War history, and I think it will also interest the mildly curious. 

---Tyson Thorpe is pursing a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at San Jose State Univeristy in San Jose, California.

Arab and Jewish Women in KY

A new addition to the University Press of Kentucky Oral History Series, Arab and Jewish Women in Kentucky: Stories of Accomodation and Audacity reflects the not-so-hiddent diversity in the state, and also illustrates the power of oral history to document the human story. This project was proudly supported in part through a Kentucky Oral History Commission project grant. Author Rosie Moosnick shares this blog post as an enticement for her recent publication:

 

Arabs, Jews. Kentucky? Strong images surface when thinking about Arabs, Jews, and their religions and lands. Kentucky is not normally a state that comes to mind when talking about Arabs and Jews. It’s not New York or Michigan. The book, Arab and Jewish Women in Kentucky: Stories of Accommodation and Audacity, seeks to challenge misconceptions and to overcome neglect of Arabs and Jews in out of the way places in America by imparting the stories of ten Arab and Jewish women in Kentucky. The intention is to confound simplistic notions of Kentucky that offend and belittle and to reveal likenesses between Arabs and Jews.

Arabs and Jews have been largely discounted as residents of the region even though, as business owners, they have provided goods for residents across the State. Their stories are ones of immigrants who supply daily lives and have done so for several generations, the people who provide(d) movie entertainment, clothes, meats, fine furnishings, shoes, and cell phones among other items. Vibrant communities exist(ed) in Kentucky. According to the Arab American Institute, for instance, Kentucky’s Arab population “is among the fastest growing Arab populations in the country.”

Placing KY Arab and Jewish women side by side, moreover, shows intricate lives. Lives like those of the Myer sisters, who never married or had children in Hopkinsville, Kentucky from the 1930s to the 1980s but were movers and shakers in the community and in their elegant women’s dress shop, Arnold’s. These unlikely Jewish Kentuckians also longed for New York. “Don’t bury me in Hopkinsville, don’t bury me in Hopkinsville” was a refrain they repeated to their only nephew.

Or take the life of Teresa Isaac. She is a contemporary Arab American politician who was mayor of Lexington, the second largest city in Kentucky, from 2002-2006. In some ways she is like any other politician today, raising funds and shaking countless people’s hands. Unlike other politicians, however, she claims an Arab American identity, and unlike other Arab American Christians with long roots in this country, she does not shun  Muslim Arabs, but instead reaches out to them publicly. She also owns her roots in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky. “I identify very much with the mountains, very much with the mountains, and always when I meet somebody else from the mountains, it’s like there is an automatic connection.

Somebody tells me they’re from a county in Harlan, around Harlan, it will feel like an immediate connection even if I may not have ever met them before. I feel like an immediate bond, same way as I would feel if somebody came up and said that they were Lebanese, it’s the same feeling if they told me they were from the mountains.”

In a political environment where tensions are high between Arabs and Jews, even in America, women’s stories have the potential to bring the two groups together and to promote a deeper understanding of Arabs and Jews who have settled outside of the Middle East and urban locations in this country.

--Rosie Moosnick 

(Author Nora Rose Moosnick is a visiting scholar in the department of sociology at the University of Kentucky. She is the author of Adopting Maternity: White Women Who Adopt Transracially or Transnationally and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.)

(Images: Top, book cover. Middle, Arnolds Store in Hopkinsville, KY. Bottom, Teresa Isaac while visiting Pakistan - courtesy R. Moosnick)

The Birth of a Special Issue (of the Register)

            On November 8, 2009, some KHS editorial staff from the Research and Interpretation team were attending the annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association in Louisville. We went to a panel session on “African American History in Kentucky: A Tribute to George C. Wright,” presided over by John A. Hardin of Western Kentucky University. We were all very impressed with the quality of the presentations in honor of a pioneering African American historian of Kentucky African American history. And suddenly it came to all of us simultaneously: we have the possibility of a great special issue of the Register!

            The idea was one thing. That was November 2009. This is February 2012. The issue, if all goes as it should, will be in the mail by end of March. The interval is an indication of the effort involved in producing the special “Exploring Kentucky’s African American Past” issue. Two of the three papers presented at the meeting formed the nucleus of the project. J. Blaine Hudson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville, discussed free blacks in antebellum Louisville and Gerald L. Smith, of the University of Kentucky history department, dealt with civil rights in twentieth-century Kentucky. We approached other scholars for contributions; new topics were explored and slowly the issue began to take shape.

            Eventually, three other essays were added. John A. Hardin contributed an essay on desegregating Kentucky higher education. Contributions of two University of Kentucky doctoral students increased the number of essays to five. Sallie L. Powell presents the career of Brenda Hughes, a pioneering female African American high school basketball referee. Joshua D. Farrington explores the issue of public accommodations and politics in Louisville in 1960-61.

            A key factor to ensuring the success of this special issue was securing the services of a guest editor to help with the many details. Gerald L. Smith has filled this role in an admirable way. In addition to helping to recruit,  guide, and encourage the authors, he also wrote one of the articles and contributed a perceptive introduction which sets the stage for the articles themselves. This issue also contains a foreword by George C. Wright himself. Dr. Wright is now the president of Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas. His foreword is an insightful reflection on his career in the field of Kentucky African American history.

            It has taken some considerable time to produce this African American issue of the Register. We hope that you will agree that it has been worth the wait!

-Nelson L. Dawson, editor of the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

For more about this special issue, read Tom Eblen’s recent article on Kentucky.com

 

Come visit the KHS Library for Thursday night programs!

In September, we started some new Thursday night programs to go along with our “Getting to Know the Library” session which is offered the first Thursday of each month at 5:30.  Now that October is here, we wanted to remind everyone of these opportunities to learn more about the library and research materials that are available.  Registration is not required for any of these programs, so you’re welcome to just show up at the Library at 5:30 on Thursdays.

 

Here’s the rundown on our programs:

•  1^st Thursday of each month, 5:30-6:30 – “Getting to Know the Library”

A Library staff member will lead interested patrons on a tour of the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library and answer questions about the resources we have available.

•  2^nd Thursday of each month, 5:30-6:30 – Fold3 Users Group

Interested in learning more about using Fold3 (which was formerly known as Footnote)?  Or are you a frequent user of Fold3 that can share your experiences and knowledge with others?  Beginners, experts, and everyone in between are welcome!

•  3^rd Thursday of each month, 5:30-6:30 – Ancestry and Heritage Quest Users Group

We’ve all heard of Ancestry.com, but what’s the best way to use it?  How do you navigate the thousands of databases they have available?  When do you have to leave the computer and go to the original records?  And what exactly is Heritage Quest?  How can it help with genealogy research?  Both of these sites can be valuable to both beginning and advanced researchers, so come to our Users Group to learn more about using these resources or offer your advice to others!

•  4^th Thursday of each month, 5:30-6:30 – RootsMagic Users Group

Do you use the genealogy software RootsMagic to organize your family tree?  Come to the library to meet fellow RootsMagic users, discuss features of the program and strategies for making the most of this software.

(Use a different genealogy software program?  Contact us at KHSRefdesk@ky.gov about forming additional user groups!)

 

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday nights in the Library!

 

ScanFest is coming to the Library!

Earlier this year, the KHS Library purchased a Bookeye 4 overhead scanner.  Since you may be wondering what that is, I’m going to rely on the old “a picture is worth a thousand words” adage.

 

Basically the Bookeye has the ability to create digital images of our collections by using an overhead camera.  We love this machine, because we can now take digital images of our collections that would be damaged using a traditional flatbed scanner.  Many thanks to the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation and the Kentucky Genealogical Society for providing funding to purchase the Bookeye.

So what is ScanFest?  On two Saturdays in October (Oct . 1 and Oct. 29) we are letting patrons bring in their fragile books (family bibles, diaries, scrapbooks, etc.), along with a USB (flash/thumb) drive and we will provide digital images of their materials -- for free!!

Customers can sign up for 20 minutes sessions by contacting the Library Reference Desk at KHSRefdesk@ky.gov.  To ensure the highest quality scans, there will be a 5 page scan limit per session, but you can sign up for more than one session.  Customers can choose  scan resolutions and formats (JPEG, PDF, TIFF).  Digital images will be in color, and black & white photocopies will also be available for 25 cents each.

Okay, a wrap-up:

• ScanFest will be held on Sat. Oct. 1 and Sat. Oct. 29, from 10 am - 5 pm
• Registration is required for a guaranteed time slot.  Walk-ins will be accommodated as time allows.
• Scanning sessions are limited to 20 minutes & 5 pages of material.  Patrons can sign up for multiple sessions.
• Don’t forget a USB drive!  (We recommend at least 4 GB to make sure that all files will fit on the drive)
• Recommended materials for scanning are fragile and tightly bound books such as family Bibles and scrapbooks.  Manuscripts and photographs are not recommended.

Email us at KHSRefdesk@ky.gov with any questions and to reserve your spot!

Exploring the KJHS Archives (conclusion)

While exploring the KJHS archives I have come across every sort of document, photograph, and artifact but there is one last untapped resource I had yet to explore: oral history.

During the last few weeks of my internship, I had the pleasure of interviewing a past KJHS member, Sarah “Suzie” (Orrahood) Hall who, in 1971, was the second female president of KYHA (Kentucky Young Historians Association - it wasn’t known as the Kentucky Junior Historical Society until 1976). Sarah was very active during high school in her Owensboro KYHA chapter, organizing projects to clean up local cemeteries and entering projects into the essay contest at the state convention.

Campaigning for state office was always one of Sarah’s favorite activities in KYHA. She campaigned very hard in high school to be elected state historian, then state secretary, until finally she became state president in 1971 in the twelfth grade.  Sarah’s campaign slogan was “A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits.” Becoming president was one of Sarah’s fondest memories, and one of her greatest achievements.

After leaving KYHA, Sarah continued to be active in the organization by mentoring women that also wanted to become state president. Sarah continued her interest in the past by majoring in history at Western Kentucky University and eventually practicing law. Sarah said that she became a lawyer because the campaigning in KYHA inspired her to pursue that profession. In the 90’s Sarah would return to the Kentucky Historical Society to provide legal council.

I asked Sarah why she thought it is important for today’s students to participate in KJHS. Her answer helped to put me to put history into a better perspective. “History is cyclical,” and “only with an understanding of global events in history can children understand what is going on in the nation.” Sarah is a substitute history teacher in Lexington and she is worried that current students might not be able to connect the past events of history with the present.

Sarah is currently organizing a walking tour of an African-American cemetery in Lexington and an outreach program for young African-American school children to visit historic sites. Programs such as this give children a chance to view history in their community.

Interviews help to prove that history isn’t simply just an event—it’s an ongoing process involving the entire community. While interviewing Sarah I remembered a book I read in graduate school called Presence of the Past by Roy Rosenweig. In the book, Rosenweig explains that there are two types of history; History (national and global events that effect us all, that are recorded) and history (events that shape all of our lives, though on a much more local or mundane aspect of life, that aren’t necessarily recorded). For me the connection came when I realized that everything we do is history. The events, documents and organizations that we create as a society may not make the history books, but they are just as important because they shape the lives of future generations of people in our community. Organizations such as KJHS and the Kentucky Historical Society, though created years ago, still continue to influence members of the community through their actions.  

In the case with Sarah Hall, her passion for history still influences the community today. It is this passion that will continue to serve the community, and also inspire other children to pursue their interest in history.

--Derrick Ranostaj

 

Images:

1.) KYHS chapter outside building in Hodgenville, ca. 1963.

2.) 1974 Harrodsburg High School Yearbook of KYHS chapter.

What YOU Can Discover at the Kentucky Historical Society

 

When I first got the phone call that I had been accepted as an intern at the Kentucky Historical Society, I was thrilled.  I knew that working at a historical society was something that I had always wanted to experience, starting from my days as a history major at Western Kentucky University. I would spend countless hours in the library stacks and special collections areas (and not because as a history undergrad you spend more time writing papers than an English major did) but because I would get so caught up in the thrill of discovery while conducting research on a given historical topic.

As a high school history teacher, I attempted to instill that same thrill of discovery through research into my students by telling them to use resources other than Google and to open their eyes to a world of knowledge they probably didn’t know existed (I mean lets face it, as a seventeen year old, the only way you are going to become interested about a bunch of dead guys is if they sparkle in the sunlight and have an occasional scuffle with werewolves who never seem to have a shirt on). But there would be that occasional student who would come up to me and say “ I actually really enjoyed going to the local history society and finding out some neat stuff”, my faith in the next generation is still in tact.

When I decided to pursue my master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Kentucky, I knew archiving was the area of concentration that would be a perfect fit for me, given the close relationship that history and archives share.  As an archivist, I would be a steward of historical artifacts that someone, someday, would see and feel that same rush of curiosity that I had felt in the library stacks as an undergrad.  The internship at KHS would offer some much needed hands-on experience in archiving practices and, as I would discover upon my first day at KHS, that there is much more to working in a historical society than I had perceived.  The theme of discovery continues.

On any given day I am working at the historical society, I am learning something new about the state of Kentucky.  If it is a day I am working in the Oral History Collection, I am more than likely auditing and  digitizing tapes of interviews or writing descriptions of collections that haven’t been cataloged yet. The most recent of which is the oral histories of some of our more prolific governors of the 20th century. I  can’t tell you the amount of intrigue one can accumulate while watching an interview with Bert T.  Combs over his battle with educational reform in this state or reading through a transcript of John Y. Brown and his dealings with the famous “Colonel” of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame (a subject that will the focus of my next blog entry).  And these are only a fraction of interesting artifacts to be found. 

Genealogy is a huge interest of patrons who come to the society.  When I am not in the lab digitizing, you can probably find me in the microfilm room, manning the reference desk and helping patrons find all sorts of records about ancestors that inhabited this state, spanning from marriage certificates from the late 1700s or court records of the 19th century.  There are even rare books that patrons can access that date back to the 1800s, a pretty awesome thing to behold if you are a history geek, such as myself. If you are a visual person, KHS has got you covered, with thousands of photogrpahs in our collection of many different topics. A personal favorite of mine are photogrpahs of Kentucky servicemen going off to fight WWII in the 1940's( seen below).  I could go on and on about the vast amount of historical information that can be found at the historical society, but then it wouldn’t be any fun in discovering it for yourself!

 

Interning at the Kentucky Historical Society will no doubt be a tremendous impact on my future professional career.  The things I have learned here will be things I take with me forever, a sentiment I hope that any who read this article will share and come down to KHS and just look around.  You never know what you may discover while you’re here.

- - Tommy Grant

Images:

Top Right- Bert T. Combs, portrait painting ca. 1970, KHS Collection 1975.17

Middle Left- Colonel Harland David Sanders, wikipedia.org

Bottom: James E. Bell in navu uniform. World War II vintage. He served in the South Pacific through most of the war as a pharmacist's mate on several ships ca. 1940s, KHS collection JPW.1990ph2.2JEFW3