Kentucky Historical Society

Stuart Sanders, Community Services Administrator for the Kentucky Historical Society, will offer a special presentation about the aftermath of the Battle of Perryville at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Community Arts Center. Part of Sanders' presentation will focus on how institutions and churches in Danville suffered from Kentucky's largest Civil War battle. Other exhibits on display at the CAC throughout October also explore the Battle of Perryville, including a collection on loan from the Perryville Battlefield Museum that features paintings and photographs depicting the Battle of Perryville, as this site long has been an inspiration to artists, both local and across the nation.

In honor of Black History Month, the Kentucky Historical Society will offer events and programs that spotlight African Americans and their roles in Kentucky's history. Online resources Since 1998, more than 200 Kentuckians have shared their memories of the civil rights movement in interviews with the Kentucky Oral History Commission. Now, their powerful stories, in their own words in video, audio and transcript format, are available online on the Kentucky Civil Rights Movement database.

FRANKFORT - Kentucky National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dewey Pope, of Clark County, was recognized at the 2009 Kentucky History Awards, held March 7 at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. Sponsored by the Kentucky Historical Society, the annual award ceremony recognizes outstanding achievements in Kentucky history. The project titled "Bataan: The Harrodsburg Tankers- - A Time for Courage, A Time for Heroes" received an award of merit in the category of audiovisual or oral history project.

State historian Dr. James C. Klotter is the speaker for the Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau Civil War Lecture Series at 6:30 p.m. today at the Boyle County Public Library. Klotter's talk is titled, "Robert J. Breckinridge and the Civil War. " Breckinridge was an ardent Unionist Presbyterian minister whose family was divided during the Civil War. Two of Breckinridge's sons fought for the Union while two others embraced the Confederacy. His nephew, Vice President John C. Breckinridge, became a Confederate general and later Secretary of War. Klotter, who was executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society for many years, is a professor of history at Georgetown College and serves as the state historian of Kentucky.

The Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau Civil War Lecture Series, a monthly event held at the Boyle County Public Library on Broadway, will host a panel discussion about the 1862 Kentucky Campaign at 6:30 p.m. today. The discussion is free and open to the public. The panel will feature representatives of the three major battlefields of the 1862 Kentucky invasion: Paul Rominger of Richmond, Tres Seymour of Munfordville and Chris Kolakowski of Perryville. Stuart Sanders of the Kentucky Historical Society will moderate.

Genealogy workshop planned FRANKFORT - Get suggestions about beginning the process of researching and documenting family history from genealogist and publisher Sandi Gorin at this month's family history workshop, "Genealogy Basics, Parts 1 and 2. " The Kentucky Historical Society and Kentucky Genealogical Society will host the free workshop 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, in downtown Frankfort....

FRANKFORT - With the aid of the Kentucky Historical Society's Kentucky Oral History Commission, two new books, "Freedom on the Border: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky" and "This is Home Now: Kentucky's Holocaust Survivors Speak" have been published by the University Press of Kentucky. Inspired by The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky, a four-year project led by KOHC, "Freedom on the Border" was written by Catherin Fosl and Tracy E. Price. The book is based on interviews conducted during the KOHC project.

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Historical Society dedicated a historical marker to honor First Baptist Church Sept. 11 on South Paulding Street in Lancaster. The historical marker is sponsored by Spurlin Funeral Home and Farmers National Bank of Lancaster. The organization of First Baptist began March 1851, when Lancaster Baptist Church granted enslaved members petition for a black preacher to conduct their service. The slaves were organized under Rev. Bob Irvine with permission to preach to and baptize slaves.

Civil War historian Betty Jane Gorin will lecture Thursday at the Boyle County Public Library as part of the Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau Civil War Lecture Series. The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is free. Gorin's talk is titled "The Battle of Tebbs Bend on the Green River. " The Battle of Tebbs Bend is a part of Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan's legendary 1863 raid through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Morgan, of Lexington, moved northward in July of 1863, and fought a Federal garrison under Col. Orlando Moore at Tebbs Bend in Taylor County.

In honor of Perryville's 147th battle commemoration, taking place through today at the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, the Community Arts Center will feature two collections throughout October highlighting works of art from and inspired by the American Civil War. Included in the themed exhibit is a collection that takes a look at "Kentucky's Colors," featuring various flags of the Civil War ? all reminders of Kentucky's role in our nation's most tragic event. Farmers National Bank Gallery "Perryville: The Battle for Kentucky" A Collection from the Perryville Battlefield Museum Warfare long has been the muse of many artists.

SYLVIA¿RAE¿SOLHEIM¿HAYS A celebration of life service for Sylvia Rae Solheim Hays, 73, will be conducted at First Christian Church at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, with Dr. John Opsata officiating. Family and friends will be received at the church beginning at 12 p.m. on Monday, and are invited to a luncheon to be held at the church immediately following the service. A private burial will be observed. Ms. Hays passed away Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, at her residence. Sylvia was born July 21, 1939, in Franklin County to the late Michael Benjamin and Carol Rose Marko Solheim.

Dozens of local residents, out-of-town visitors and dignitaries gathered Monday to celebrate the dedication of a new historic marker at the Willis Russell House on Walnut Street. Willis Russell, a well-educated and emancipated slave of Revolutionary War Capt. Robert Craddock, relocated from Warren County to Danville about April 1838. He taught African-American children in the pre-1795 log home he inherited when Craddock died in 1837.  Russell was educated in Craddock's home by French soldier Peter Tardiveau, a political interpreter for Gen. George Rogers Clark.

FRANKFORT - The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) will participate in Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day Saturday, where museums across the country will open for free to those possessing a Museum Day ticket. Visit www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday to register.  The KHS history campus is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. One Smithsonian Museum Day ticket will be accepted per household for up to two people.  Visitors can explore the exhibits “A Kentucky Journey,” “Toyota Kentucky Hall of Governors” and “Civil War: My Brother, My Enemy” at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History and tour the Old State Capitol.

McKINNEY - A historical marker will be placed at 11 a.m. Saturday at the site in Lincoln County where a B-58 Air Force bomber crashed in December 1966 and took the lives of three men. The marker ceremony will take place at the site on the Wendell Smith farm at 489 Short Pike, off Ky. 198 south of McKinney, according to Chris Bennett. Bennett and Alan Reed, both of Columbia, were instrumental in a fundraiser to secure the roadside marker. Speakers will include Becky Riddle, historical marker program coordinator with the Kentucky Historical Society, and Darrell Hives and the Rev. Donald Scaly, who will give personal accounts of the crash.

FRANKFORT - The Mary Todd Lincoln House has been selected to be part of the Kentucky Civil War Heritage Trails, a new state program to help visitors and residents understand how the conflict shaped the commonwealth, as the nation observes the Civil War's 150th anniversary. Fifty-four sites across the state make up the initial group of attractions on the Civil War Heritage Trails announced Oct. 1 by Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Marcheta Sparrow. The selected sites are ready to receive visitors, have historical interpretation and are near to major routes for both in-state and out-of-state travelers.

FRANKFORT - Richmond has been selected to be part of the Kentucky Civil War Heritage Trails, a new state program to help visitors and residents understand how the conflict shaped the commonwealth as the nation observes the Civil War's 150th anniversary. Fifty-four sites around the state make up the initial group of attractions on the Civil War Heritage Trails, announced Oct. 1 by Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Marcheta Sparrow. The selected sites are ready to receive visitors, have historical interpretation and are near to major routes for both in-state and out-of-state travelers.

TODAY Democratic Appreciation Picnic All Democrats are invited to a free picnic at Beech Spring Farm Market, Old Boonesboro Road, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. OCT. 8 Kentucky Artisan Center offers free tours BEREA - The Kentucky Artisan Center will host free guided tours through the gallery's two current exhibits. The Artisan Center is located off Interstate 75 at exit 77. Exhibits are “The Clay's of Kentucky,” provided by the Kentucky Historical Society, and “An Artful Array: Bowls by Kentucky Artisans.” The tours will be led by Gwen Heffner, information specialist.

FRANKFORT - Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill has been selected to be part of the Kentucky Civil War Heritage Trails, a new state program to help visitors and residents understand how the conflict shaped the commonwealth as the nation observes the Civil War's 150th anniversary. Fifty-four sites around the state make up the initial group of attractions on the Civil War Heritage Trails announced Saturday by Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Marcheta Sparrow. The selected sites are ready to receive visitors, have historical interpretation and are near major routes for both in-state and out-of-state travelers.

MCKINNEY - A group's plans call for a Kentucky Historical Society roadside marker to be placed at the spot where three Air Force officers lost their lives nearly 45 years ago when a B-58 “Hustler” bomber crashed near a hillside on a farm off Short Pike. The bomber crashed on a farm between McKinney and Hustonville as it was returning to  Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Ind., after a seven-hour practice bombing run.  Those aboard were identified as Aircraft Commander Major Richard F. Blakeslee, 42, Mentor on the Lake, Ohio; Navigator Capt.

Lots of people read history. Historians discover history. They go where events occurred, and then painstakingly cull government records, deeds, censuses, legal documents, diaries, and artifacts to re-embody past events and people. It’s meticulous work, and few, if any in the central Kentucky area, do it with more dedication and thoroughness than Winchester historian Harry Enoch, who will be discussing his new booklet, “William Calk’s Journal: Boonesborough 1775” at the library this coming Thursday, March 24 at 7 p.m. For Harry, history is not just a record; it’s a landscape alive around us. Sun readers will remember Harry’s “Where in the World in Clark County” columns from a few years back.