Kentucky Chronicles: A Podcast of the Kentucky Historical Society

Being a part of a close-knit neighborhood is something that many people aspire to. Barbecues, football games, and community events can help neighbors feel a sense of connectedness and community. But neighborhoods can also be places of separation and division, with boundaries drawn between families and neighbors. Join us today for a discussion with a former graduate research associate who has written an article about one Kentucky community that was torn apart by violence shortly before the Civil War. Kevin McPartland is a visiting assistant professor in public history at the University of Missouri—Columbia. He earned a PhD in history at the University of Cincinnati and his work focuses on the American South in the Civil War Era. In 2022, he was a Graduate Research Associate at the Civil War Governors of Kentucky. His article “‘He Has Ever Been Considered, a Good and True Hearted Citizen’: Neighborhood and Community in the Wadlington Case” appeared in the Summer 2022 edition of the Register. This article won the Richard H. Collins Award, a prize given annually to the article published in the Register that is deemed “to have made the most outstanding contribution to Kentucky history.” KHS Chronicles is inspired by the work of researchers from across the world who have contributed to the scholarly journal, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, in publication since 1903. Hosted by Dr. Daniel J. Burge, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation Our show is recorded and edited by Gregory Hardison, who also wrote the original underscoring of the interview. Thanks to Dr. Stephanie Lang for her support and guidance. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: history.ky.gov/

From December 1811 until March 1812, a series of three major earthquakes along the far western border of Kentucky shook the North American interior. The earthquakes were felt from as far away as South Carolina. Join us for a discussion with a former KHS Research Fellow who recently published a book with the University of North Carolina Press based on his research at KHS that discusses the earthquakes as we explore the pages of Kentucky history with Kentucky Chronicles. Kentucky Chronicles is inspired by the work of researchers from across the world who have conducted research at the Kentucky Historical Society or contributed to the scholarly journal, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, which has been published continually since 1903.

Within popular culture, enslaved people are often depicted as robust, vigorous, and strong, yet enslaved people often suffered brutal injuries at the hands of their enslavers. What was lifelike for those enslaved persons who suffered devastating injuries and how did they deal with disability? Join us today for a discussion with a research fellow who is teasing out how masculinity, physicality, and disability shaped the worldview of both the enslaver and the enslaved. Mia Edwards earned an MA in Atlantic History and Politics at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is currently working on her PhD at the University of Warwick. She has won several research grants and the Bryan Marsden History Prize from the University of Sheffield. She is currently working on her dissertation, which is entitled: “Masculinity, Physicality, and Disability: Shifting Experiences and Ideologies within the Antebellum South, 1800-1861.” KHS Chronicles is inspired by the work of researchers from across the world who have contributed to the scholarly journal, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, in publication since 1903. https://history.ky.gov/explore/catalog-research-tools/register-of-the-kentucky-historical-society Hosted by Dr. Daniel J. Burge, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. https://history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-researchers/research-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. https://history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation Our show is recorded and edited by Gregory Hardison, who also wrote the original underscoring of the interview. Thanks to Dr. Stephanie Lang for her support and guidance. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: https://history.ky.gov/ https://history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts

Richard Mentor Johnson is one of the most famous Kentuckians of the nineteenth century, having ascended to the position of Vice President of the United States in 1837. While much has been written about Johnson’s political career, nobody has uncovered the story of the enslaved woman whom he considered his wife, Julia Chinn, until now. Join us today for a discussion with a former research fellow who wrote a book about Julia Chinn and who will explain why we should remember her story. Dr. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers is the Ruth N. Halls Associate Professor in the Departments of History and Gender Studies at Indiana University. A historian of the Black female experience in America, she is the author of Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston. In 2012-13, she received a fellowship to the Kentucky Historical Society to begin working on her second book. In 2023, she published The Vice President’s Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn. We are delighted to talk with her today about this excellent book. Kentucky Chronicles is inspired by the work of researchers from across the world who have contributed to the scholarly journal, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, in publication since 1903. https://history.ky.gov/explore/catalog-research-tools/register-of-the-kentucky-historical-society Hosted by Dr. Daniel J. Burge, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. https://history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-researchers/research-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. https://history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation Our show is recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, and edited by Gregory P. Meyer. Thanks to Dr. Stephanie Lang for her support and guidance. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. Other backing tracks are also used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: https://history.ky.gov/ https://history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts

Many of us have seen images of a naturalization ceremony in the United States, where a group of individuals become citizens. Or perhaps you have participated in a naturalization ceremony yourself. But did you know that the process to become a citizen used to be quite different? Join us today for a discussion with a research fellow who talks about how a person could go about becoming a citizen of the United States in the nineteenth century and who will help us understand why that process was so complex. Sara Egge is the Claude D. Pottinger Professor of History at Centre College. She holds a Ph.D. in history from Iowa State University. Her first book (Woman Suffrage and Citizenship in the American Midwest) won prizes from the Western Association of Women Historians and the State Historical Society of Iowa. She has articles in the Middle West Review, the Annals of Iowa, and was a co-guest editor of the Summer/Autumn 2018 issue of the Register on “Agriculture and Rural Life in Kentucky.” She is now turning her attention to her second book project: “The Nature of Naturalization: Exploring Citizenship by Consent.” Kentucky Chronicles is inspired by the work of researchers from across the world who have contributed to the scholarly journal, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, in publication since 1903. https://history.ky.gov/explore/catalog-research-tools/register-of-the-kentucky-historical-society Hosted by Dr. Daniel J. Burge, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. https://history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-researchers/research-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. https://history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation Our show is recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, and edited by Gregory P. Meyer. Thanks to Dr. Stephanie Lang for her support and guidance. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. Other backing tracks are also used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: https://history.ky.gov/ https://history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts