History Commons^™

Female Cartographers: Historical Obstacles And Successes, Eva Llamas-Owens

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

For much of history, women have lived in male-dominated societies, which has limited their participation in society. The field of cartography has been largely populated by men, but despite cultural obstacles, there are records of women significantly contributing over the past 1,000 years. Historically, women have faced coverture, stereotypes, lack of opportunities, and lack of recognition for their accomplishments. Their involvement in cartography is often a result of education or valuable experiences, availability of resources, a supportive community or mentor, hard work, and luck regardless of when and where they lived.

This research divides women before and after the turn …

Ua37/44 Faculty Personal Papers Gordon Wilson, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Personal papers of Gordon Wilson.

A Political Perch: A Historical Analysis And Online Exhibit Of The U.S. Senate Clerk's Desk, Olivia Bowers

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience aims to highlight the importance of the historical object and accurately document the complete history of the former United States Senate Clerk’s Desk, placed in the newly built chamber in 1859 and removed in 1951. The desk’s first and last occupants were Kentucky natives and civil servants, and its current resting place is in Western Kentucky University’s Kentucky Museum. Through research that began in the nation’s capital, and a journey to follow the desk’s paper trail, the object’s massive historical legacy and close ties to the state of Kentucky may live on. Along with …

Baudrillard And The Viral Violence Of Cyber Security, Alex Rivera

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This paper explores Jean Baudrillard’s theorization on war and communication, connecting it to recent developments in the field of cyber security. With the important elevation of military forces such as the United States Cyber Command, critical theory needs to interrogate the increasing stature and seriousness of the cyber domain in global military strategies. Baudrillard’s critique shifts the focus from simple military strategies to the globe’s consumption of the information that is offered by the global information complex. This paper explains the nuances of violence surrounding the exchange of media surrounding war, criticizing both pro-war and anti-war stances, to examine the …

An Ethnic Cultural Landscape: German Breweries And Social Institutions In Covington, Kentucky, 1860-1920, Andrew Jones

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A useful marker for recognizing the impact that ethnic groups make to the social and cultural characteristics of a city are the institutions and material landscapes created by those groups. In northern Kentucky, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, German immigrants and their descendants in the city of Covington established institutions such as breweries, saloons, social associations, and churches that became the heart of ethnic neighborhoods and shaped the form of the landscape. This research examines institutional and cultural landscape markers of German cultural identity in the city of Covington, Kentucky, from 1860 to 1920. Demographic and spatial data …

Discussion On 'A.R. Wallace In The Light Of Historical Method' By John Van Whye, Charles H. Smith, George Beccaloni, James D. Williams, Derek Partridge

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

The recent article by historian John van Wyhe purports to identify seventeen ‘myths’ concerning the life and work of naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. Here we briefly describe what we feel is wrong with them, and refer to published literature that extend these arguments. Our objections do not extend to the ‘historical method’ van Wyhe adopts, but instead to the way he has ignored the criticisms of peers to the extent of not even acknowledging their scholarly articles.

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 10: The Impact Of A.R. Wallace's Sarawak Law Paper Resurrected, Derek Patridge, Charles H. Smith Editor

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Six assertions that relate to the impact of Wallace’s Sarawak Law paper1 on the development of evolution theory have been proposed and analyzed by John van Wyhe.2 He concluded that they were all erroneous. The analysis presented a valid criticism of some casual and over-confident pronouncements with respect to interpretations of history. More significantly, it is a misguided attempt to expose “original historical meanings,” and thereby dismiss all other interpretations as necessarily incorrect. A re-analysis reveals that, contrary to van Wyhe’s analysis, much of the conventional wisdom is plausibly correct, and it remains the case that “the past is a …

Ua1c11/105 Phi Mu Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs created by and about Phi Mu sorority.

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 11: Wallace, Darwin, Education, & The Class Question, James D. Williams, Charles H. Smith Editor

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

In a recent paper by John van Wyhe (2020), the issue of class was discussed and whether Wallace came from a “working class” background. As a result of class differences could or should Wallace be considered differently from Darwin, who supposedly came from a higher class? An additional “myth” highlighted was whether Wallace left school, aged 14, due to difficult family financial circumstances. Van Wyhe contends that Darwin and Wallace were both middle class, and Wallace left school at the “normal” school-leaving age. This article shows that both contentions are mistaken. Class in the 19th century was complex and difficult, …

Ua94/6 Gemini 13 Memories, Eddie Key

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

Answers given by Eddie Key to WKU Gemini jazz bands questionnaire in winter of 2019. See Gemini Jazz Bands online exhibit for more information.

Ferrell, Ann Katherine, B. 1972 (Fa 1381), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1381. Interview conducted on 11 December 2019 by Ann Ferrell with Michael Ann Williams, who discusses her education and academic career as a folklorist and vernacular architecture historian. From 1987-2018, Williams was a faculty member in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University.

Tichenor Collection (Mss 678), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 678. Correspondence, papers and photographs of the Tichenor family of McLean County, Kentucky, and related families, especially Cherry, Short, and Hutchison. Much relates to the home front during World War II during the Navy service of high school teacher Thomas Cherry Tichenor.

Eagles, Annabelle Deane, 1873-1967 (Sc 3495), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3495. Family letters to Annabelle (Mrs. Hawes B.) Eagles, Owensboro, Kentucky. Her widowed mother describes her sewing, household decorating, illness outbreaks, and the activities of mutual friends. Her husband writes to her while she is in Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, and Buena Vista Springs in Logan County, Kentucky. He also writes to her from Dawson Springs, Kentucky and from hospital in Louisville. Annabelle’s sister-in-law writes from East Orange, New Jersey, with family news and urges her to visit; she also quizzes Annabelle about her bowel ailment in order to secure recommendations for treatment. …

Madden, Cornelius J., 1842-1903 (Sc 3494), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript of letter (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3494. Letter, 17 November 1862, to his mother from Cornelius Madden, serving with the 102nd Ohio Infantry at Bowling Green, Kentucky. He describes an increase in patrols and fortifications precipitated by rumors of guerrilla leader John Hunt Morgan’s presence in the area. Anticipating an encampment for the winter, he suggests his mother and other “widows” send a box of provisions, prepaid in order to save expense. He reports hearing nothing of his father, also in military service, who he believes to be at Nashville, Tennessee. …

Cassidy, Paul S., 1908-1998 (Sc 3497), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3497. Letters written by Paul S. Cassidy, likely in the 1950s, soliciting clients for the sale or purchase of small rental houses on behalf of a company called "The Rental Pool" in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

American Association Of University Women - Danville, Kentucky (Mss 681), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 687. Records of the Danville branch of the American Association of University Women, including minutes, president’s reports, newsletters, historical information, programming materials and other miscellaneous items. Also includes more limited material about the state and regional divisions of the AAUW.

Milem, Charles Arthur, 1893-1950 (Sc 3493), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescripts (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3493. Letters, 28 March and 27 April 1919, of Arthur Milem to his future wife Bendola White in Covington, Kentucky. Writing from Verdun, France, where he is serving with the American Expeditionary Force, he reports on the weather, letters received from family and friends, and his uneventful military life. Noting that his is now the oldest company left at Verdun, he expresses hope that orders will arrive soon allowing them to embark for “the good old U.S.A.” Hearing that Bendola and his sister are planning a reception …

Mcconnell, Harry Claude, 1879-1973 (Sc 3490), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3490. Letters of H. C. McConnell, proprietor of Valley View Stock Farm, Princeton, Kentucky, to his wife Sudie in St. Louis, Missouri. A letter of 14 November 1915[?] refers to family and their young daughter Josephine, and evaluates photographs made by Sudie; a letter of 3 March[?] 1919 mentions several family members, the prevalence of influenza in Cadiz, Kentucky, his work on another “plant bed,” and the weights of their two children.

Spiller, William (Lg 465), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Land Grant 465.

Copy of a military land grant, 11 November 1795, by which Isaac Shelby, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, granted to William Spiller 667 acres on the south side of Green River and on the waters of the east fork of Lower Beaver Dam Creek.

Miller, Harold Asher, B. 1939 (Mss 679), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 679. Correspondence, speeches, political material and notes related to Harold Asher Miller’s political career, which included several terms on the Bowling Green City Commission and one term as the city’s Mayor in the 1980s. It also includes material related to several Miller campaigns for the Warren County Judge Executive position.

Dinwiddie, James Baker N., 1853-1873 (Sc 3492), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3492. Items related to attendance of James Baker N. Dinwiddie, Henry County, Tennessee, at the Kentucky Military Institute from 1869-1872. Includes a report card, tuition invoice and letters of receipt, copy of a photograph of Dinwiddie, two letters from his sister Pattie with news from home, and a 1985 letter regarding Dinwiddie’s record at KMI.

Cress, Mary Jane "Kit" (Firth), 1920-2010 (Sc 3491), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3491. Alphabetical list of African Americans residing at the Shaker colony at South Union, Kentucky. Includes name and, where available, years referencing their residence, emancipation, departure or death. The list was compiled by Kit Cress as part of her research for the article “Black Shakers at South Union, Kentucky” in The Kentucky Review 12, no. 1 (Fall 1993): 79-95.

Historical Overview Of Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee, Kentucky Library Research Collections

Research Collections

This footnoted paper provides historical and cultural information about Red Boiling Springs, Macon County, Tennessee from its beginnings to 2019.

Bowling Green, Kentucky - Waterworks (Sc 3488), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of documents (Click on "Additional Files" below for Manuscripts Small Collection 3488. “Changes in Plans and Specifications for Water Works Improvements, Contracts Nos. 1 to 5, Incl[usive] for the City of Bowling Green, Bowling Green, Kentucky, December 12, 1947.”

Bowling Green, Kentucky - Fire Department (Sc 3489), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of documents (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3489. Compiled correspondence and documents related to the purchase of fire trucks for the cities of Bowling Green and Smiths Grove in Warren County, Kentucky. Most of the material was scanned and is only available in digital format, but a few original letters and documents were retained.

Nunn, Louie Broady, 1924-2004 (Sc 3487), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3487. Letter, 26 May 1969, from Governor Louie B. Nunn of Kentucky to orchestra leader Lee Maxfield, Washington, D.C., enclosing a newspaper article autographed by Nunn at Maxfield’s request. The article reports on the gift of a mule to Nunn by the director of an advocacy group for the poor, parodying a recent gift to Nunn and his fellow Republican governors of a thoroughbred colt, and Nunn’s response to the attempt to embarrass him.

Gray, John H. (Sc 3483), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3483. Letter, 15 October 1862, to his family from John H. Gray, serving with the 101st Indiana Infantry. He describes his experiences en route to Perryville, Kentucky in the wake of the recent battle there: the lack of rations that required improvisation when preparing meals, the prevalence of diarrhea (“the quick step”) among the troops, and his hospitalization at Perryville, where he sees the decaying body of a Confederate soldier, houses and hospitals full of suffering wounded, piles of spent ammunition, and destruction of …

Duncan, Sarah Amanda "Dallie," 1848-1940 (Sc 3486), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3486. Letters, 3 November 1866 and 23 May 1867, of Dallie Duncan to her mother in Pontotoc, Mississippi. Returning for another year of school at Science Hill Academy, Shelbyville, Kentucky, she writes of her roommates and clothing purchases, asks about various family members, and warns that her tuition should be paid before she leaves school, noting the headmistress’s criticism that “Mississippians never paid their debts when they could help it.” She also expresses concern for her recently widowed mother’s emotional and physical health. Dallie’s mother (addressed as …

Warr, Joseph W., 1836-1864 (Sc 3482), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on “Additional Files” below for Manuscripts Small Collection 3482. Letter, 11 February 1862, to his mother and siblings from Joseph Warr, Company A, 2nd Minnesota Volunteers. From Somerset, Kentucky, he writes of troop movements toward Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he expects a victorious battle. He describes a recent encounter with Confederate forces crossing the Cumberland River and the severe wounds of those taken prisoner, but declares that the enemy would otherwise have shown no mercy. He notes the long knives of the Confederates (“Mississippi toothpicks”) and the homemade quality of their uniforms. He also urges …

Bethlehem Methodist Church - Monroe County, Kentucky (Sc 3485), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3485. "Bethlehem Methodist Church (Monroe County, Kentucky) Membership List, ca. 1853-54" compiled by Charles R. Arterburn. A one-page history of the church is included on page 2. The remainder of the pages are photocopies of the church’s membership list from 1853 to 1854, although the church was established in 1839.