Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Landscape Does Not Care It Is A Landscape: A Utopian Pessimist Journey In Kentucky., Shachaf Polakow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

These thesis and exhibition, invite the viewers to travel through different places in Central and Eastern Kentucky. The region’s landscape, like many other American landscapes, is often known to the public through the settler colonial lens—a lens that ignores Indigenous peoples’ history in the region. The work in the exhibition is a response to landscape art's history and its complicity with American settler colonialism- art that was recruited to create a new identity for the settlers and for the country from the beginning of the American Colonial Project. Landscape art was a crucial part of this effort, presenting the land …

“They Did This Work”: Black Activism, Education, And The Rosenwald Rural School-Building Program In Kentucky, Le Datta Denise Grimes

Theses and Dissertations--History

This study examines what Black Kentuckians did on their own behalf to educate themselves in the early twentieth century. I argue that Black Kentuckians’ agency and activism formed the bedrock of the Rosenwald movement in Kentucky. From 1917 to 1932, they built 158 Rosenwald Schools across the Bluegrass by welding together multiple strategies of resistance. Such agitation included voluntarily taxing themselves, waging legal battles, deploying military-style fundraising campaigns, and building institutions to support their schools. Seeking first-class citizenship, they also volunteered labor, donated land, and bought supplies to uplift themselves and their community through education. This work took place against …

Buckberry, Ray B., Jr., B. 1934 - Collector (Mss 685), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 685. Research material collected by Ray B. Buckberry, Jr. related to Ernest Hogan, an African American musician from Bowling Green, Kentucky, who is sometimes credited as one of the pioneers of ragtime music. He composed and wrote lyrics for numerous musical pieces for minstrel shows and published sheet music.

Moxley, Frank Otha, 1908-2004 (Mss 664), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 664. Personal and professional papers of Dr. Frank O. Moxley of Bowling Green, Kentucky, an educator, guidance counselor, coach, and prominent member of the city’s African American community. Includes projects and narratives related to Bowling Green’s African American heritage.

Pearson, Carolyn (Sc 3377), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3377. “Shadow of a Rope,” a paper by WKU student Carolyn Pearson about the arrest and trial for rape of an African American man, Sam Jennings, and his 1932 execution, the last public hanging in Breckinridge County and the second-last in Kentucky. Pearson interviewed citizens connected with the case and included five photographs of Jennings on the scaffold.

Loving, Frances (Hoover), 1906-1982 (Sc 3339), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3339. Letter, 19 August 1968, of Frances (Hoover) Loving, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to the editor of the Park City Daily News, Bowling Green, Kentucky. The former resident of Bowling Green deplores the recent bombing of a rural African-American church near the city and expresses the hope that law enforcement will solve the crime, stated in an attached clipping to be the sixth in the county in the past eighteen months. Copied to several state and national politicians, pastors, and Western Kentucky University faculty, the letter was published in the Daily News on …

African Americans In Madison County, Kentucky, Reinette F. Jones

Library Presentations

Reinette Jones, Special Collections Librarian at the University of Kentucky Libraries, speak about notable Madison County African Americans.

Gotta’ Go! African American Migration And Community Outside Kentucky, Reinette F. Jones

Library Presentations

Reinette Jones from the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center shares what she has learned about the fascinating and hidden story of the "out-migration" of African Americans from Kentucky while developing the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (NKAA).

Please, Remember Me: African Americans From Scott County, Ky, Reinette F. Jones

Library Presentations

Reinette Jones, who created the Notable Kentucky African Americans (NKAA) Database, explains how to use this award-winning library tool while introducing us to some lesser-known Scott Countians. They include Sgt. Harrison Bradford, who led the San Pedro Springs Mutiny (TX) in 1867, in the fight for fair treatment of African American soldiers, and Lillian Nareen White, the first African American woman to play basketball at UK.

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bosnia Oral History Project (Fa 1137), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Oral Histories

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1137. Collection of interviews, transcripts, photographs, and additional materials, gathered by the Kentucky Folklife Program in partnership with the Bowling Green Bosnian community, relating to the 2017 International Year of Bosnia and Herzegovina sponsored by Western Kentucky University.

Pyatt, Susanna (Fa 1380), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 1380. “Woven Evidence?: Western Shaker Connections with Native Americans,” a paper written by Susanna Pyatt in April 2018 for a WKU folk studies class.

Maffenbeier, John, 1905-1978 (Sc 3199), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3199. Correspondence of John Maffenbeier, Newark, New Jersey, relating to colleting and selling Native American artifacts. Some of the correspondence is related to Lost City, an archaeological tourist site in Logan County, Kentucky.

African American Funeral Home Records - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 626), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 626. Records of the Kuykendall-Abel-Boyd and Abel Brothers funeral home businesses, operated by African Americans in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Records include names of deceased, funeral dates and expenses, and in some cases family information, cause of death and place of interment. The records were photocopied from originals in the possession of Gatewood and Sons Funeral Chapel, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

New Matriarchs: Louisville, Kentucky Ii (Fa 1001), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Digital audio interviews, transcripts of the same, photographs and digital photo files, and corollary material related to a project conducted by Laura Fleming Ospital titled "New Matriarchs: Louisville II" in 2014-2015. It details the lives of women from Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Mexico,and Uzbekistan. The digital interviews are stored in the WKU Sound Archives and the digital images are stored in The WKU Photo Archives.

Oldham, Barbara (Fa 924), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 924. Paper titled: “Negro Folklore.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of African American beliefs and superstitions in Ohio County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, informant’s name, and motif index number.

Cruse, Billy (Fa 917), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklilfe Archives Project 917. Project titled: “Negro Folklore.” Includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of African American beliefs, epitaphs, and stories in Hart County, Kentucky. Sheets include a brief description, informant’s name, and motif index number.

Bradley, Peggy And Dianah Logsdon (Fa 883), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Collection 883. Paper titled: “Negro Religious Beliefs.” Project includes survey sheets with descriptions of religious beliefs and practices of African Americans in Kentucky. Sheets include a description and informant’s name.

Owens, Nellie, 1912-2007 (Sc 3051), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text scan (click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3051. W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) sewing notebook of Nellie Owens, Louisville, Kentucky, containing fabric swatches and sewing samples.

Lee, James C. (Fa 857), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 857. Paper: “The Negro Church” which covers various aspects of the African American church experience, including songs, leadership, and self-expression. Titles and song lyrics are provided from the Eleventh Street Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This project was conducted by James C. Lee for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Ua1c11/89 Jim Burton Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs and negatives taken by Jim Burton documenting life in western Kentucky primarily between the years 1975 and 1980. Venues include Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Madisonville, Cumberland County and Scott County.

Band Formations - Burton was hired by WKU band director to photograph half time performances. It was a freelance job paying $250 per winter semester which allowed him to pay his car insurance.

Bobby Sandige - Bobby was from Burton's hometown of Madisonville and was married in college. Besides being a full-time student, he worked full-time at an underground coal mine. Burton did a feature story on …

Warren County, Kentucky - Tax Records (Mss 548), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 548. Bound volume recording local taxes paid by residents of Warren County, Kentucky for 1939. Includes names and addresses of both white and African American residents.

Ua12/2/1 Best Of The Hill - 2015 Winners, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

Special awards edition of the College Heights Herald.

Southern Injustice And Radical Discontent: The Black Panther Party In The Post-Civil Rights South, Adam Nolan

History Undergraduate Theses

This paper looks at the efforts, obstacles, and outcomes of attempts to organize Black Panther Party chapters in four southern states – Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas - using a variety of sources, including the The Black Panther and Southern Patriot newspapers. Organized in 1966, the BPP mobilized against police brutality and injustices inflicted upon African Americans throughout American history. While successfully establishing various popular community survival programs to help uplift local communities, the BPP’s revolutionary rhetoric and imagery instantly attracted state-sponsored repression that exacted a heavy toll on the organization on local and national levels.

Vertrees, Peter, 1840-1926 (Sc 1282), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1282. Autobiography of Peter Vertrees, an African-American native of Edmonson County, Kentucky, who served as a cook in the Confederate Army, 6th Kentucky Cavalry. Afterward, he was an educator and Baptist minister, chiefly in Sumner County, Tennessee. Includes associated biographical data, and the autobiography of his third wife Diora.

Bowling Green Academy - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Sc 1233), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1233. Letters written to Elizabeth Coombs, of the Kentucky Library, Western Kentucky University, answering her inquiries about the Bowling Green Academy, a school for African Americans sponsored by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Carroll, Julianne (Fa 615), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 615. This collection includes interviews and information about six Bosnians who immigrated to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Only four interviews were actually recorded.

Street, James William, 1858-1944 (Mss 478), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 478. Account books and journals of James William Street, recording his activities and local events, primarily in Henderson and Lyon counties in Kentucky. He also records the 1908-1909 activities of the Night Riders in the region.

Moxley, Frank Otha, 1908-2004 (Sc 1036), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1036. Notes of Howard E. Bailey, Western Kentucky University’s Dean of Student Affairs, taken during a 1998 interview with Frank Otha Moxley. Moxley relates his educational pursuits and career. Includes Bailey’s informational letter.

Schenck, William T. Y., 1844-1904 (Sc 2690), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of letter (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2690. Letter, 22 March 1866, to a newspaper editor from Captain William Schenck, encamped near Bowling Green, Kentucky with the 119th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry. He denies the editor’s claim that an outbreak of smallpox in the town was attributable to “careless Negro soldiers” and describes the measures taken to control the disease among his troops.

Mccartt-Jackson, Sarah (Fa 578), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 578. Paper by Sarah McCartt-Jackson titled “Narrative Compromise: African American Representation at Henry Clay’s Ashland Estate.” Paper provides analysis of the inclusion and accuracy of the history of slavery at Ashland, and slavery’s depiction in tour narratives, brochures, exhibit signage, advertisements, and websites. This project won the 2011Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.