History Burgoo

"Faux Sawyiers" discovered in KHS collections

Last winter the Museum Collections and Exhibition (MC&E) team spent several weeks re-cataloging the Paul Sawyier painting collection. Sawyier, an Impressionist from Frankfort, is known for his watercolor landscapes of central Kentucky and the Catskill area of New York. As we “waded” through painting after painting of images of the Elkhorn Creek and the Kentucky River, we began to get a sense of Sawyier’s style and technique. That’s why when we came across a painting entitled Main Street at Calvert Corner we realized something was not quite right. The lines weren’t as straight or crisp as Sawyier’s and the skill level wasn’t the same.

Main Street at Calvert Corner (1980.40.19)

After a bit of research we discovered that Main Street at Calvert Corner was a copy of Sawyier’s painting entitled A Rainy Day in Frankfort that we also have in the collection. Although each painting depicts the same scene it was obvious (even to us non-art historians) that they were done by two different people. As we continued to work our way through the collection we were able to identify five more so-called “faux Sawyiers.” Some were even signed with Sawyier’s signature! We know that Sawyier had students. We also know there were art classes in the 20^th century who copied Sawyier’s work as an exercise in technique. Although we don’t know who painted our copies, we do know who one of the Sawyier copyists was.

After writing about these “faux Sawyiers” in the fall 2011 issue of the Chronicle, I received an email from a KHS member in Louisville who had another copy of A Rainy Day in Frankfort. This one, painted by Eva Graham of Frankfort, had Sawyier’s signature but more importantly had been signed “copy by Eva S. Graham.” By looking at the photograph one can tell that Mrs. Graham was a much better artist that the person who painted the copy that we have. Eva Scottow Graham was born in 1878 and died in 1971, so it’s possible she either studied with Sawyier himself or she could have been a student later in the 20^th century. Graham also painted a copy of Sawyier’s Old Louisville Road that I think is better than the original.

A Rainy Day in Frankfort (2008.21.4)

I think it would be fun to do a mini-exhibition of the copies hanging next to the originals giving folks the opportunity to compare the two. One of the other items on our “things to do when we have time” list is to determine if Mrs. Graham painted any of the copies that we have. To be honest, only a couple of them would qualify as good enough to have been done by her. Most would fall in the category of “folk” or “primitive.” Unfortunately those ideas will have to wait until some time in the future. In the meantime, here are images of Sawyier’s A Rainy Day in Frankfort and the copy entitled Main Street at Calvert Corner. Can you tell which is the real Sawyier?

-Sara Elliot, KHS Curator 

 

Behind the scenes at the opening of "The Makings of a Master: Kentucky Folk Art Apprenticeships"

        I’ve had some interesting assignments in the two and a half years I’ve been a volunteer at the Kentucky Historical Society. One of the most enjoyable was spending an evening with Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press.

        Since I’m a bluegrass music fan it wasn’t a hard decision when the call came for volunteers to help with the September 15th opening of ”The Makings of a Master: Kentucky Folk Art Apprenticeships” exhibition and the concert to mark the Bill Monroe centennial.

     Bob Gates, director of the Kentucky Folklife Program, surprised me with the assignment of looking after the musicians -- showing them where the food and soft drinks were and making sure they could get in and out of the locked doors to their tour bus.

     What a nice group of guys!

     When I informed Bobby Osborne about the cold sweet tea in the “green room” (the education rooms off the main lobby), he told me how he had gone off tea while fighting as a Marine in Korea. He said he had gotten too many cups of lukewarm tea when what he really wanted was something cold. 

     Bobby passed on the food and tea, but other members of the band dug into the fried chicken box suppers.

     While waiting with the band members until time to go onstage, I spotted a small electronic device clipped to the neck of Joe Miller’s guitar. Miller explained that the digital readout allowed him to tune his guitar, even when the rest of the band was playing. Bobby Osborne Jr. also had one on his five-string bass.

     It was a great concert! One of the highlights was the appearance with Osborne and the X-Press by Cory May, a young musician from Kentucky.

     I had a chance to talk to Cory early in the evening. It’s easy to tell he’s very passionate about his music. His talent and long hours of practice were evident when he played both guitar and mandolin and sang with Osborne and his band.

     "The Makings of a Master: Kentucky Folk Art Apprenticeships" will be open at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History through December 10 and will then tour the state through 2014.

     The next concert in the Folklife series will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, and feature the Reel World String Band, Carla Gover and Jeri Katherine Howell. The exhibition and concert are free with admission to the Kentucky Historical Society.

     I’m looking forward to it!

-Jim Gill, KHS volunteer since 2009. Jim also blogs at Searchin' for Kinfolk.

All photos by the Kentucky Folklife Program.

How (and why) I became a docent at the Old State Capitol

In the late autumn of 2008 my wife, Jan, brought to my attention a request in the Frankfort State Journal for applications to serve as a volunteer docent at the Old State Capitol. I answered the call and filled out an application. I was approved soon after and in November began my training.

I was given materials and guides to read and also shadowed a docent during tours. At that time, I worked with Leslie McWhorter, Annie Denny and other full-time educators at KHS. In January 2009, after giving joint walkthroughs of the facility, I was granted the honor of being able to go “solo” and lead my own tours.

My interest in being a docent at the Old State Capitol most likely stems from my overall interest in history, especially Kentucky history. Growing up and attending schools in Franklin County provided me with ample opportunity to be exposed to the stories and tales of the commonwealth. Frankfort, as the capital of Kentucky, provided a political backdrop for much of what went on and continues to go on in the development of our history.

I can remember my first tour of the building on a school trip in the late fifties when I was in the first or second grade. The guides were older ladies (at least they appeared that way through the eyes of an eight year old) that skillfully led 30 or 40 youngsters through the tour. I can remember how we were fearful of the staircase after hearing that no cement, mortar or metal held the stairwell together but it stayed erect because of the great design work that relied on the physics of gravity.  

At the top of the steps was a souvenir stand where I purchased a Kentucky state flag and an American flag. Those flags have long been misplaced but I remember keeping them for a very long time and I could always remember where I purchased them.

I remember that what are now the house and senate chambers were then filled with many of the artifacts that are exhibited in the Kentucky Historical Society’s present exhibits. There, I saw Goebel’s suit coat with the holes made by the entry and exit wounds. We were shown weaponry of all sorts from the different eras of Kentucky history.

Over the years I would visit the Old State Capitol, but not very frequently. There would be an occasional visit to a special exhibit or to hear a choral group during the holidays, plus attending the various festivals that were held on the grounds. But it was those visits during my early school years that stand out and whereby I based my decision to return as a volunteer docent.

Over the past two years I have met people from all over the United States as well as every continent in the world. I have led school groups, church groups and preservation groups. I have served in the upper chambers on Boone Day. But just as important as serving as a docent and attempting to be a good will ambassador for our commonwealth, I have been able to learn more about the history the commonwealth and that of the United States of America.

-Russ Wright

 

Russell Wright is a ninth generation Kentuckian who was born and raised in Franklin County. He is retired from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet with over 35 years experience as an audit manager.

Wright holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting and a master’s degree in public affairs. He is a certified public manager, a certified government financial manager and an enrolled agent (a designation granted by the Internal Revenue Service). He has worked as a tax advisor for several years and practices in Frankfort.

Wright’s interest in genealogy has led him to attend the Kentucky Historical Society’s Family History workshops. He is a member of the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Genealogical Society (KGS) and serves as a director at large on the KGS board.

In addition to volunteering as a docent at the Old State Capitol, Wright also assists at the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives as a narrator for the Kentucky Talking Library Book (KTLB) program. KTLB provides the visually and physically impaired with recordings of books that are by Kentucky authors or books about Kentucky. He also serves as president of the Friends of the Paul Sawyier Public Library and is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Frankfort.

Wright lives in Frankfort with his wife, Jan, and has two sons in their late twenties who live in Frankfort and Lexington. He also has a wonderful American bulldog, Lucy, who is approaching her first birthday.

 

For more information on how you, too, can volunteer at KHS, visit www.history.ky.gov/volunteer or e-mail the KHS volunteer administrator at phyllis.gilman@ky.gov.

California Burgoo

 
 First, I have to admit…As a native Californian, I had never heard of “burgoo” until I started digitizing some archival video footage of Kentucky Folklife Program director, Bob Gates, interviewing participants at the 2007 Kentucky Colonels Bar-B-Que event in Louisville. This is a small reminder that one full year as a resident of Kentucky still leaves me with quite a lot of regional folkways to learn about. So…where and how can I try the best burgoo? Perhaps you know the answer (leave a comment!).

 As the Kentucky Folklife Program’s summer graduate intern, I’m working at one of the epicenters of public sector folklife research and programming in the state. The 2011 summer season marks the half-way point in the completion of my Master’s degree in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University (the same program which has excellently yielded the full-time folklorists of KFP)--a continuation of my undergraduate degree in folklore and ethnomusicology from Indiana University.

 Building on experiences working in folklife studies and programming at Indiana’s state folklife agency, Traditional Arts Indiana, and with the Smithsonian Institution’s Folkways Recordings, and the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, I’m now very glad to be here at the Kentucky Historical Society, diving into the rich heritage of Kentucky's folk and traditional arts as a seasonal member of the Folklife team.

 Over the summer, I’m helping with a few different projects. A couple days out of the week I organize materials from KFP’s archives. On my first day of work I was organizing release forms from our “More than Music” project—a heritage driving tour of Kentucky’s Route 23, the Country Music Highway—and I stumbled upon the signatures of Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless and other important Kentucky performers involved in the project. I admit I let out a squeal. (Contact us to purchase your copy of the driving tour, 502-564-1792, attn: Bob Gates)  

I’m also helping with our upcoming traveling exhibit, “The Makings of A Master,” commemorating the 20^th anniversary of KFP’s Folk Arts Apprenticeship program. From editorial assistance for the upcoming exhibit, to deconstructing, moving and reconstructing our current traveling exhibit on Kentucky luthiers, it’s been a baptism-by-fire into the joys and mishaps that come with curating and managing a dynamic folklife exhibit. This hands-on experience is particularly timely for me as I’m independently curating a small exhibit at WKU on Freeman Kitchens—a Warren Co., Ky. record collector who founded the official fan club of the America’s beloved Carter Family, producing an important legacy of early music journalism and grassroots documentation of 20th century country music culture in and around Kentucky. The exhibit opens August 27, 2011 at the Kentucky Museum & Library at WKU.

 
Beyond the horizon of these projects, I’ll be going out into the field, for KFP, to document and report on the arts and folk traditions of the western portion of the state in support of a future Kentucky Folklife Festival program on Western Kentucky. I'm thrilled at the responsibilities that have and will be sent my way during my internship with the Kentucky Folklife Program, as I'm swiftly gaining important insight about the everyday life of a public sector folklorist--from grant-writing, to project coordination, to curatorial duties, to the application of disciplinary theory, to archival processes, to fieldwork--it's safe to say I've got a thorough head start on my "Public Sector Folklore" course this fall.

 Amidst all this engaging work, I still find time to take this portrait of our Director, Bob Gates "fitting in" on a work trip to Berea.

 

-Jenn Jameson
Kentucky Folklife Program Intern

Photo Credits:

Image 1: Warren May, dulcimer maker, teaching Jenn to play the dulcimer in Berea. Photo by Bob Gates.
Image 2: Installing the Made to be Played exhibit at the Behringer-Crawford Museum.
Image 3: Bob Gates, Folklife Program Director, enjoys Berea's attractions.

Crowdsourcing: using technology to build community

I just got back from lovely Maysville, Kentucky, where the Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance is holding its annual meeting.  This year the theme was "Negotiating the Rapids:  Celebrating our Strength, Service and Stewardship".  Months ago I submitted a program presentation on the topic of crowdsourcing and, amazingly, they selected my topic for the annual meeting.

So you may well ask, just what is this thing you call crowdsourcing?  Wikipedia defines crowdsourcing as the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee, to an undefined large group of people or community, through an open call.  Translated that means telling the world that you are looking for a solution to a problem and waiting for some unknown person to solve that problem, usually for free.  Software developers and programmers have long used this method to fix glitches in programs, like "does anyone know how to..."

This can be really useful but, sometimes you get what you paid for, which is to say, not much.  Now I don't have any immediate programming needs nor am I designing any software, so you might wonder what use museums and archives could have for this technique.  Well, if you tweek the parameters just a bit this process can be transforming.  If you broaden the model to a "creative services exchange" where the institution vets the crowd in advance, and the staff facilitate the exchange between staff and crowd, then this can be a melding of staff and crowd knowledge which benefits everyone in the end.

 We are in the process of using this model with the William C. Ogden Photographic Negatives project.  We, the staff at the Kentucky Historical Society, were responsible for caring for, housing and inventorying this collection of over 10,000 photographic negatives.  However, the original housing for these negatives were glassine envelopes on which the photographer, Bill Ogden, had written sometimes cryptic notations.  

We had the knowledge to do a basic inventory, but we needed more contextual information to truly process the collection and make it accessible and usable.  For example, the envelope for the image below stated "Clay W. Buckner" but the image is of a woman in a wedding dress.  Is this Clay Buckner's daughter?  His bride?  We, at KHS, lacked that information.

 
Enter our partner, the Bluegrass Heritage Museum, with director Sandra Stults and her community of volunteers.  This museum is in Winchester, Kentucky, where Ogden resided for over 60 years.  His photographic studio was well known throughout Clark County and neighboring Bourbon, Fayette, Woodford and Franklin Counties.  Many of Sandy's volunteers knew Ogden or had seen photographic portraits created by him.  And better yet, they knew their community, their neighbors and the stories that provided the context for these photographic negatives.

So Sandy and I met and cooked up a plan to bring these two groups together to share their knowledge and to build on that knowledge.  We both wanted to learn more about the collection and to make it useful to researchers and community members alike.  KHS wanted to inventory the collection and to digitize the images.  Bluegrass Heritage Museum wanted to make the collection, or a portion of it, available locally in Winchester through an exhibit.  And so this is the way we used crowdsourcing to inventory, describe, digitize and exhibit this wonderful collection.  

First, we got the older community members to come to KHS to view the collection, and to work with staff to better describe the images.

Then, working with students from George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, KY, Sandy and her volunteers selected the images they wanted to research, scan and exhibit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then they researched.

And they scanned.

And they described the results of their research and added this to the digital collection.

And we have the beginnings of a finished product.  Just the beginnings, mind you, as there are 28 images up online and 10,000+ in the collection.

And we also have a group that can't wait to come back and do more research, scanning and description.  And now that images are up online and on exhibit at the Bluegrass Heritage Museum in Winchester, we hope that others with knowledge about this photographer and his subjects will also share that information with us.  

A true exchange.  Two organizations working together to make these historic images available to their communities.  Ahh, this is what we are talking about when we say "crowdsourcing".

For further information about the Bluegrass Heritage Museum, visit their website at www.bgheritage.com.

To view selections online, please go to our Digital Collection at www.kyhistory.com.

If you have information that can help us further identify the subjects of these images, please contact us at Refdesk@ky.gov.  Please remember to identify the image by its accession number, so we can add your infomation to the correct image.

-- Louise Jones

 

 

 

 

 

Renovated “Hall of Governors” Will Open on Boone Day!

Boone Day, the KHS event that takes place annually on the first Saturday in June, will be even better than usual this year.   

On Saturday, June 4, the renovated “Toyota Kentucky Hall of Governors” will open in conjunction with Boone Day.  Boone Day will take place at the Center for Kentucky History, and KHS guests that day will be the first to experience the new Hall of Governors, along with related programming that day.  

Why is this renovation such a big deal? 

Well first, a word on the history of the Hall of Governors—affectionately referred to as the HoG. 
Re-opening the HoG on Boone Day closely mirrors the roots of the Boone Day tradition and the existence of the exhibition itself.  On June 7, 1897, Gov. William O. Bradley presided over the first annual meeting that reestablished KHS after it was nearly abolished in 1889. (Each governor also serves, by statute, as the Chancellor KHS during his/her term.) 

During the meeting, Bradley requested that the Society’s portraits of Governors Letcher, Metcalfe, Scott, Powell and Blackburn be assembled for display.  

Now, portraits are commissioned during each governor’s term and are hung when he leaves office. The previous configuration of the HoG was becoming crowded, and did not allow for the addition of more portraits.  

The new, improved exhibition, however, allows for these additions and much more!  KHS is lucky to hold many governor-related artifacts, including personal items that belonged to many governors. The new HoG will allow for the display of these items, and will let KHS tell the story of the commonwealth’s heads of state more fully. 

For example, KHS holds in our collections the watch Isaac Shelby carried when he fought the English in the War of 1812.  We also have the ring Luke Blackburn presented his wife on their wedding day in 1857; a cane Thomas Bramlette carried during the Civil War; and, perhaps most infamously, the shirt William Goebel was wearing when he was shot by an assassin in 1900. All of these will be on display in the newly renovated exhibition. 

 And on Boone Day, our guests will have the opportunity to hear from the living governors, from Ford to Fletcher, on a variety of topics relating to the governorship. This panel discussion will be moderated by Bill Goodman from KET. 

Tickets for Boone Day are $18 for KHS members and $23 for all other guests, and include the exhibition opening, the panel discussion and lunch.To purchase your tickets, email Julia Curry or call Julia at
502-564-1792. 

While we anxiously await Boone Day, stay tuned to the KHS Facebook page for governor-related trivia!

--Laura Coleman

Top image: The HoG has been painted, and KHS staff are reinstalling portraits today. Second image: The upper text rail in the exhibition contains the oath of office.  

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.

Horse Cave - At it Again!

 
Marti Booth and Joanna Hay in front of the introduction sign for the new cell phone tour in Horse Cave, photo courtesy Marti Booth

If you check in with this blog periodically, you may remember an early posting about all of the cool things happening in Horse Cave, KY over the last year. It seems like I am continuing to be drawn or associated with events in this small town. Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the opening event of a cell phone walking tour (www.horsecavestories.com) in this community. I have known the 2 individuals who were contracted by Hart County Tourism to develop and implement this tourism tool, Judy Sizemore and Joanna Hay, for a few years now and love being invited to experience whatever projects they have on their plate (they are always interesting, and always wonderful). Judy and Joanna both are Kentucky Community Scholars – which has continued on with their relationship with the Kentucky Folklife Program – and in this sense were utilizing these trained skills by conducting oral history interviews in the community in order to use them to tell the story of Horse Cave in this new tour. Over the last year, Horse Cave Development Corporation (thank you Ken Russell) received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for Judy and Joanna to create the tour. Go Ladies! I was also introduced to Marti Booth, who is providing the graphics for the project, looks great Marti - great to meet you! 

My role was to invite the donation of  the new interviews to the Kentucky Historical Society (and chase down release forms), since we already have a related collection recently deposited, African American Heritage in Southern Hart County – which focused primarily on this population in and around Horse Cave. I was absolutely impressed by the organization and excitement behind this project as well as the community support the day of the opening – between 30-40 people! It was wonderful to see the newly elected Horse Cave Mayor, Randall Curry, introduce the project and show the city’s support. Folklife director, Bob Gates and family was there to welcome the tour, support recent Horse Cave Community Scholars and document the event - great to see you Bob! The local bakery provided Delicious (yes, capital “D”) cookies and even though there was snow on the sidewalks, people took the 10-stop, 4 block walking tour.


This is a project that has been brewing for about a year and it is just Phase I, I understand Phase II starts in the next few months to add more stops to the cell phone tour dealing with the unique ecosystem of the community to go along with the unique culture already represented. Right now you can go find out who makes square donuts, what is and who started the Repertory Theatre, and what about that cave the community is built on?

So, PLEASE check out their online presence for this project. Get ideas for what you might be able to do in your own community, look and see what you find valuable – physically or culturally – and think about that all important term “sense-of-place” that folklorists and other social observers like to throw around. What would you show someone who was visiting your town? What do you have left to learn yourself about your community? Check out all of the logos and credits on the website for this project – there was a lot of buy in and support for a project like this! Don’t be afraid to think large and get started!

(look who's coming to town!)

-- Sarah Milligan

Photos Courtesy of Marti Booth - top right, community gathering for tour opening. above left, Sandra (Hart Co. Tourism and tour development team member) and Marti test out the QR function (look it up). above right, Sarah and Joanna listen in to one of the cell phone stops (#10). directly above, Kentucky Reportory Theatre

On the Road (... Again?)

  

It’s a beautiful Friday morning as Mark and I drive a white, motorpool cargo van down the Bluegrass Parkway. (Bob is driving and talking, Mark is typing.) We are heading to Munfordville to pick up dozens of white oak baskets made by members of the Mammoth Cave Basket Makers Guild, and deliver them to the Living Arts & Science Center in Lexington for an upcoming exhibition.

This is one of our many travel dates of late. Within the last month or so, we have

• moved the Made to be Played exhibit from the Center for Traditional Music at Morehead, to Hyden Citizen Bank (where visitors of the Osborne Brothers Bluegrass Festival viewed it, and where Bob got to stay in the Mary Breckinridge House), to Greenbo Lake State Resort Park (the first state park to host the exhibit)
• taken a trip to Horse Cave to meet with Community Scholar Mary Margaret Villines of the Kentucky Repertory Theatre to prepare for the aforementioned basket exhibit
• traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park to scope out the construction of the Kentucky Experience Pavilion, where the lots of great artists will perform during the World Equestrian Games.

Traveling frequently across the state, we meet people in their communities, and experience their culture. Often, we hear music along the way, whether it’s played at a local festival, or on local radio (such as WRFL’s Friday morning surf music show). Why so much travel? This work supports an aspect of the Folklife Program’s mission – conservation of folk culture.

Conservation (not to be confused with preservation) is about encouraging traditional art forms to grow, by educating the public, building pride in local heritage, and promoting traditions within a community and beyond. With so many Kentucky traditions to help conserve, this mission is ongoing. At the state level, we support such efforts through grants, archives, and public programs.

While KFP's work supports conservation, the real driving force is usually someone in the community who takes initiative and coordinates efforts over time. Luckily, there are allies all over who work toward the same goal. Here are a couple of examples that come to mind while sitting in this noisy van:

• Dr. Lee Harris of First Baptist Church in Frankfort, who organized a group to take some interview training and, with help from a KSU intern, document stories of senior church members, archive recordings, and present these stories at a church anniversary celebration
• Dr. Loyal Jones, Bob’s mentor who started the Appalachian Center at Berea College, and who we just learned is this year’s Governor’s Arts Award winner in Folk Heritage
• Dr. James Middleton, who has done much to conserve the Mammoth Cave basket tradition by sponsoring the Hart County Fair Basket Competition, and generated interest in the tradition and inspired new creativity among basket makers. The walls of his Family Medical Center showcase a vast collection of locally made baskets and quilts (the Center welcomes visitors, even when you are feeling well.)

These three individuals are cultural conservation leaders. (It is a coincidence that all three are doctors.) We have almost reached our destination so, in closing, readers, do you know any cultural conservationists? If so, pay tribute and describe them in a comment below!

“It isn’t the heat, it’s the humidity.”

Anybody experiencing Kentucky’s summers can attest to this adage.  The weather during the month of August in 1855 wasn’t any different.  However, it wasn’t just the heat and the humidity that caused the residents of Louisville to sweat.  The political climate had caused many to get hot under the collar and get a bit overheated as well.  The American Party, also known as the “Know Nothings” had been touting (particularly German and Irish) anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiments through the weeks leading up to election day on August 6^th.  Many believe a particularly strong worded editorial by Louisville Journal Editor George Prentice stirred the angry masses. 

 

“Let the foreigners keep their elbows to themselves today at the polls. Americans are you all ready? We think we hear you shout ‘ready.’ Well fire, and may heaven have mercy on the foe.” - George Prentice, 1855

    Riots erupted which lasted until after midnight, leaving twenty-two people dead, hundreds homeless, and caused thousands of dollars in property damage.  “Bloody Monday” as it is to be forever known, was certainly a dark day in Louisville’s history. 

 

“Necessity Knows No Law: The Lives and Liberties of Bloody Monday” which details some of the events of that day, was created by the Museum Theatre program for the “Our New Kentucky Home: Immigrant Experiences” exhibition in 2006 and is performed regularly as part of our rotating schedule of plays.

 

Over the years, the Museum Theatre program has also had the honor of performing this play at the German American Club in Louisville and most recently at Lincoln Elementary, the site of the new performing arts school in Louisville, in conjunction with the University of Louisville’s College of Arts and Sciences and the department of International Programs.  State Representative Reginald Meeks (District 42) hosted this event which included a performance of “Necessity Knows No Law”, preceding a lively discussion of current immigration issues with many voices from the diverse immigrant community of Jefferson County.  With representatives from the Latino, African, German, Austrian, Polish, and British communities in attendance, as well as members of the Human Relations Commission and the Muhammad Ali Center in attendance, the two hour program was an engaging evening of performance and dialogue. 

 

Five years ago, during the 150^th anniversary of the little known “Bloody Monday” event, the story was remembered through a series of special events, and the dedication of a new historical marker.  The Kentucky Historical Marker Program is administered by the Kentucky Historical Society in cooperation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and commemorates historical sites, events, and personalities throughout the commonwealth.  Visit the online searchable marker database and enter “Bloody Monday” in the search engine to learn more.

 

The message and meaning of our play continues to find relevance to modern immigrants and to modern immigration issues.  Even though the events of Bloody Monday occurred a little over 155 years ago, some of the sentiments and attitudes still resonate today.  Visit the Kentucky Historical Society on Saturdays in September to see “Necessity Knows No Law: The Lives and Liberties of Bloody Monday” and relive one of the dark days of Kentucky’s history.  Visit our online calendar to see more performance dates and times for September.

- Adam Luckey, Museum Theatre Specialist