History Burgoo

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.

"Signs" of the Time

 

When you think of the Civil War what comes to mind? If it's slavery, Abe Lincoln, and the colors blue and grey, you’re in the ballpark.  If you can name a few states that pledge allegiance to either the Confederacy or the Union, recognize the name “Gettysburg”, or understand the term “Emancipation Proclamation”, you’ve done your homework.  If you can finish the sentence “Fourscore and seven years ago”, pick Stonewall Jackson out of a line up, and name the constitutional amendments that resulted from that four-year tussle, well consider yourself a pro.  I was hovering somewhere around pro status when I learned my pet project during my time here would consist of the Civil War.  Ah, but the caveat: My pet project during my time here would consist of the Civil War in Kentucky…

…And all my professional knowledge about the Civil War came to a screeching halt.

Not that I mind—I love learning history—but seriously: we’re talking about Kentucky.  Other than ironically being the birthplace of Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, what history could there be?  So I did what curious minds do best when they have a question: research. But instead of hitting the books, I found a plethora of knowledge in the unusual place of historical markers scattered around Kentucky (you know, those bronze signs you see in random places of the state as you drive by).  Fortunately, I got to save my gas, because KHS did me a great service by cataloging all of the markers and making them available on their website: http://migration.kentucky.gov/kyhs/hmdb/MarkerSearch.aspx?mode=All. (Thank you!)

My three word summary of that process:  So. Much. History.  (Does that make me a super pro, now?)

I couldn’t begin to sit here and tell you all I’ve learned from just reading those signs—but I can riddle you this--find the answers to these questions by clicking on the links and finding the markers:

• What does Kentucky’s Civil War story have to do with Carson City, Nevada? (They're Historic Markers 79 and 1335 in the Marker Number Search engine)
• When you Google ‘Famous American Family Feuds’, why does a Kentucky clan pop up? (Type "McCoy-Hatfield" in the Keyword Search engine)
• Why does Campbellsville make such a big deal out of the Fourth of July? (Marker 605)
• He was doing what with that chain? (Marker 528)
• Who was Kentucky’s Confederate governor(s)? (Marker 610)
• What often neglected battle was of the most importance in the Civil War campaign? (Marker 553)
• So who, exactly, is “Sue”? (Keyword search "Sue Mundy")
• To what lengths did the CSA (and USA!) go to in order to discourage their opponents? (Keyword search "Civil War, Courthouses")
• Where did the legislative go? (Marker 522)
• And lastly: Was Kentucky to be the new (West) Virginia? (Marker 74)

There’s an incredible story about Kentucky’s involvement in the Civil War (and other Kentuckian topics!) just waiting for you to explore. Just waiting for you on that sign you go past while walking your dog.  So the next time you’re on the go in Kentucky, and you have a few minutes to spare, take one and pull over to read a historical marker sign—you’ll be surprised (as I was) with what you find!

 

--Kortnie Allen, Super pro

 Images:

Battle of Mill Spring, Ky., January 19, 1862.  Total routof the Rebel Army, by the gallant soldiers of the West under Generals Thomasand Schoepff. Martin F. Schmidt Collection of Kentucky Views, 2004.41.  2004.41.202

 

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.

Beyond the Boring: Interning at the Kentucky Historical Society

I have always loved history. 

My earliest educational memories involve me getting up early on Saturday mornings to watch School House Rock.  In the first grade I may not have been able to spell Declaration of Independence, but oh, could I recite to you its preamble.  As I grew older, my love for history grew deeper.  In the fourth grade I had to introduce the rest of my class to a county in Kentucky.  I introduced Taylor County with, naturally, a heart-shaped poster. In middle school I felt like an amateur history detective—piecing together bits of evidence to find out who killed King Tut; and in high school I wrote my very first thesis paper on the Harlem Renaissance. (And I got an A!) The summer before my freshman year at UK I was agonizing over whether to pursue a degree in Political Science or History.  I tried to let history go, but thanks to the late Dr. Bowman, a wonderful American history teacher with a love for Antebellum America, I realized just how much I missed history and picked it right back up again.  My other passion involves books, which is why I after graduation I am pursuing a Master’s in Information and Library Science.  What does this have to do with anything?  Nothing, other than to introduce myself to you and to show how you excited I am to be working at the Kentucky Historical Society this summer.

My first day here began with me realizing the doors are closed to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays, due to a gradual decrease of frontline staff over the last 3 years (35% reduction, yikes!) so it pays to have a cell phone number handy.  Check.  Within 15 minutes I go from knocking on an outside window to searching the rare book collection with my boss and things have been that great ever since.  If I had to describe my work experience so far in one word, I would choose overwhelming; not because the workload is impossible, but because the amount of historic information here is incredibly enormous.  One day I am pin-pointing on a Kentucky county map the stops General John Hunt Morgan made in the state during his havoc-causing raids...

...the next I am listening to and summarizing oral interviews made by late Kentucky Governors...

1982OH02--Interview with Governor Wetherby

 

...and the day after that I am looking through a collection of postcards of Kentucky spanning ten-thousand pictures.

 


My favorite aspect of this job is that I learn something new here everyday.  Did you know that during the civil war the term “brothers against brothers” was taken literally in one household in Clark County? The Honorable Samuel and Matilda Hickman Hanson had five sons who served during this war: Two served in blue, three served in gray.  Do you know which Kentucky Governor made the unpopular stand during the Southern Regional Education Board conference supporting the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board decision?  I could tell you the answer, but what fun would that be for you? Pull out your magnify glass—or reading glasses, whichever you prefer—come visit the library and see for yourself!

 --Kortnie Allen

Images:

Drawing of townspeople preparing for a raid by John Hunt Morgan, ca. 1864. Handwritten caption at botton of image reads "Main Street while Morgan was expected". Laura G. Pugh Photo Album of Conferate Army Officers and Elected Officials, 2000PH05.42.

  "Oldest Brick House in Kentucky, Built in 1782, Crab Orchard, Ky." ca 1910. Black and white photo of the same home as postcard 3.397. This photo includes several people standing in front of the house. Graphic 5 Ronald Morgan Kentucky Postcard Collection, Graphic5.Box3.398.

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

 

 

 

 

 

Kentucky Afar

  
The last time I did a blog, we talked about how the Kentucky Folklife Program’s mission was to help conserve Kentucky’s traditional cultures.  We spoke of how conservation in this sense means to encourage the continuity of traditions through research, public presentations, and community scholar trainings.  Grants like our Apprenticeship awards and the efforts of interested people throughout the state who spend time and money help spread the word about their local folklife.  We talked at length about the extraordinary efforts of Dr.  Middleton to conserve the Mammoth Cave basketmaking traditions in the region of Hart County.

Sometimes the traditions of Kentucky find homes outside of the Commonwealth and these too need to be conserved.  The influence of migrants from Kentucky can be seen throughout the nation but especially in the industrial cities a little ways north of us.  Dayton, Ohio and the neighborhoods of south Chicago are known for their bluegrass music offerings.  A few years ago while traveling along Highway 23 in Michigan I passed  a suburb of Detroit that the locals called “Little Kentucky” because of the large population of former Kentucky Residents who followed  others in their family to take auto industry jobs in the region.  These transplanted Kentuckians often form new communities where they share similar worldviews, aesthetics for art forms like music, crafts, and food, traditions, and culture.  It is important for us to document and share the stories of these communities.  With travel budgets being what they are, the prospect of my staff traveling to these communities is remote, but it seems that there are always other ways to skin a cat.

Early this summer a friend of the Kentucky Historical Society, Pat Adkins from Owen County stopped by to talk about a little town in Wisconsin where a relative of hers lived.  It seems that Crandon, Wisconsin made a concerted effort in the early 1900s to recruit residents of Eastern Kentucky to come up and work in the lumber industry of northern Wisconsin.  Thousands of Kentuckians made the trip, worked very hard and stayed.  Pat said that you can hardly walk the streets of Crandon without bumping in to somebody with ties to Kentucky.  She says the accent is a little different, but after a few words you can still tell they are from Kentucky.  Pat said that she would be visiting her relatives this summer around the time of Crandon’s annual “Kentuck Day” festival, a celebration of the town’s Kentucky roots. 

Well it didn’t take long for me to convince her to do some documenting for us.  I gave her a quick overview of how folklorists conduct ethnographic observations. I described how we immerse in a culture events by objectively watching the activities, describing the context of the action and conducting interviews with participants.  A former instructor described it as pretending you were from another planet and your job is to describe to the people (beings) back home the new and wondrous events you were witnessing.  It is sometimes hard to do if you are a insider to the event because you have to pull yourself back and look at things from an outsiders perspective.  Pat was going to be an outsider and her natural curiosity about folklife prepared her well for the task.  At least this is what I told her and she bought it and vowed to take her camera, note pad and enthusiasm to her trip to Crandon.

Well, mission accomplished.  She dropped by last week with an armful of pictures, books, pamphlets, posters (picture above) and notes on her experiences.  She told me about the friendly Kentucky expatriates who welcomed her to the town, accompanied her to the local historical society and  guided her to  the many events surrounding Kentuck Days.   She showed me reprints of the original recruiting books used in the early 1900s to lure Kentuckians to the area.  We looked through recent history books about the county that talked about the cultural contributions of these settlers to the region.  Finally she described some of the events of the annual festival and how it still connects to the community.  I asked her to write up her observations for us to include in our growing files about this Crandon and other similar communities and I will follow up by recording her observation for the collection.  Maybe we can present them in a future blog. The Folklife Program depends on the help of people like Pat Akins who help to conserve the cultural traditions of the Commomwealth.

If you know about any of these Kentucky Afar communities, I would be very interested in talking with you.  Please respond to this blog or give us a call at 502-564-1792.

-Bob Gates

Postcard Progress

 
At a time when most people are thinking in terms of instant messenger, email and texting to send short notes, Ronald Morgan sees the value in preserving the early history of the “short note.”  Mr. Morgan collected over 11,000 examples of Kentucky postcards over a twenty-year period, starting with his very first postcard, a scene of Lancaster, Kentucky.  He donated his collection to KHS in November, 2009, and since then the staff of the Special Collections and Library have been processing the postcards, inventorying them and, in general, readying them for researchers.  

 

The Morgan Postcard Collection is believed to be on of the largest collections of postcards dedicated to documenting Kentucky in a US repository, and is a spectacular view of life in Kentucky during the 20th century.   Pick a topic, theme or place particular to the bluegrass state and we guarantee you there will be something in this collection to help illustrate it.  After that first image of Lancaster, Mr. Morgan focused his collecting on scenes of Kentucky before 1940.  Among his favorites are those that show a Kentucky few remember, with street scenes showing dirt rather than paved surfaces, and agricultural scenes showing hemp growing side by side with tobacco.

All summer long the Special Collections and Library staff and our summer interns have been inventorying the collection and selecting images for inclusion in our Digital Collection Catalog (DCC).  To date we have six boxes completely inventoried and over 700 postcards digitized and added to the DCC.  Because we are scanning both sides of every postcard, there are now over 1400 images added to the database since July.

You might ask, how do you decide which images get included in the DCC?  Well, we have some projects going currently, and we are using these subjects to help us make the difficult choice of which get added and which wait to be added at a later date.  First, we want to make sure that one postcard representing every town, village or city gets included.  In some cases, there are postcards for towns, villages and areas that have disappeared off modern maps because they have been incorporated into another town or city.  

Then we look for subjects like:  horses (Kentucky has a bit of a reputation for this industry), distilleries (again, bourbon is a huge part of Kentucky’s economy), local businesses, schools, prominent figures (governors, military, and musicians) and rivers.   

We have only begun to scratch the surface of this collection, but it has proven to be a rich treasure trove of Kentucky history.  Stay tuned for additions to both the DCC and the inventory as we strive for the halfway mark in this amazing project.

The Special Collections and Library Staff, with special thanks to our summer interns and volunteers, because without their help, this project would not have progressed so quickly.

Kate Sowada
Jordan Schauer 
Adrienne Willoughby
Bill McHugh
Jim Gill
Evan Patrick
Dave Carpenter

 

You’re Listening Anyway, Come on Down and Learn How to Record it!

KHS Collection: Chescheir family collection, 98M03.Punitive Expedition into Mexico, ca. 1916

Seriously, I know that you enjoy listening to your parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors tell stories about their life experience. Don’t tell me you have never thought, “Someone should really be recording this!” Okay, I am calling you out – YOU are that someone who should be recording it.

Especially think about the holiday coming up this Sunday. Independence Day is a time when we get together with our friends and family and cook out, swim, camp, blow up fireworks…all that good stuff. But it is also a time we remember what it means to be a part of this country, and to celebrate our continued freedom – and thank our VETERANS for that freedom. Take some time this weekend to listen to a veterans experience, and when you do, go ahead and record it – the best part, I AM GOING TO TEACH YOU HOW!

This Thursday, before you get settled in for your long weekend, join me at KHS from 5-7pm to learn about how to do oral history interviews with veterans. We are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center. The American Folklore Society (established 1888 – I find this impressive!) is sponsoring a workshop for YOU to learn how to participate in the VHP with the Library of Congress. I am going to show you how to setup an oral history interview, talk about recording equipment for this and give you all the paperwork and tools for you to participate, on your own or in conjunction with the Kentucky Historical Society.

Want a sample: here is a clip of Raymond Turley from Mt. Sterling talking about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Turley Pearl Harbor

If you want to encourage someone in your life to participate, but don’t want to be the one to do the interview, give me a call, I will get you scheduled here at KHS – we are still conducting military related interviews as a part of our current exhibition  Kentucky Military Treasures.

Check out some of the Kentucky interviews already at the LOC, only 5% of what they receive goes online, there are 106 KY interviews up.

Seriously, Here is your chance! If you can't make it this Thursday, or you are too far away, I will also be offering the same training (with the same sponsorship) on July 29 from 5-7pm at the Perry County Public Library in Hazard and on August 5 from 5-7pm at the Hardin County Public Library in Elizabethtown.

Tell your friends and family - let's get those stories saved!

(Image above: Mary McElroy Perry interviewing Neal Hammon for the Military Treasures Exhbition at KHS)

- Sarah Milligan

Calling All Federation of Genealogical Society Conference Volunteers!!

 
I've posted about this before and I'll probably post about it again so, while I feel a need to apologize for the redundancy, I just don't want anyone to miss out on this wonderful conference!

In case you missed the news, the Kentucky Historical Society and the East Tennessee Historical Society are teaming together as co-hosts for this year's Federation of Genealogical Society (FGS) Conference! The conference activities are taking place in Knoxville from August 18th-21st and it's going to be one exciting time! And, if you're the type who likes to throw yourself in the middle of the action, we have an abundance of opportunities.

I just received the below information about volunteer opportunities at the conference. Keep in mind you're eligible for a registration discount IF you register by the June 1st deadline.  Here's all you need to know:

Sign up to be an FGS Conference “Volunteer” in 2010!

Everyone knows how critical volunteers are to our societies, and FGS is no different. Please consider volunteering for the 2010 FGS Conference in Knoxville. Your gift of time is incredibly valuable and can be contributed to four critical areas:

• Registration: Volunteers will assist at registration desk and with other associated responsibilities (Tuesday-Saturday during registration hours).

• Hospitality: Volunteers will assist with welcoming attendees, providing directions and general information for the conference and convention center, as well as seeing to their general comfort. There will always be folks available who know Knoxville to assist with more specific city information. Training is provided for this area as well as all others (Tuesday-Saturday hours correspond to registration hours).

• Room Monitors: Volunteers will report and assist with the needs of speakers and attendees in their room, change session signs, check attendees for nametags, and oversee survey needs in the room, etc. Volunteers will work in the assigned room for a minimum shift of the morning or afternoon sessions for that room (Wednesday-Saturday during session hours).

• Technology Troubleshooting: Volunteers will respond to room monitors and conference staff that have reports of technology needs in sessions—as well as other technology needs that arise (Wednesday-Saturday during session hours).

• Exhibit Hall: Volunteers are needed to monitor access to the exhibit hall during non-public hours only—all day Wednesday (set-up day) and an hour or so Thursday-Saturday mornings. Exhibitors will have unique badges which allow them access before public hours. Volunteers will not be required during public hours.

In return for your generosity, FGS will provide a graduated registration reimbursement based on volunteer hours completed. The reimbursement is available to those registered for the entire conference and who have registered before the early bird deadline, June 1st (Reimbursements are mailed after the conference):
• 8 hours = 25%
• 12 hours= 50%
• 16 hours = 65%

Training will be provided for all areas and shifts can be flexible; however, there will generally be 2 equal shifts daily for most positions.

For more information or to volunteer, please contact Lisa Oakley, 865-215-8828 or email 2010volunteers@fgs.org. You can also complete the volunteer interest form found on the conference website, www.fgs.org, and return via email or fax to 865-215-8819.

Feel free to also contact me if you have questions or need guidance. Whether you decide to volunteer or not, please don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity to learn, network and meet a host of wonderful folks who, like you, are interested in genealogy and family history!

Sally Bown

502-564-1792

sally.bown@ky.gov