Who Needs June Cleaver?
Times have changed since fathers knew best and June Cleaver damp mopped the kitchen floor in high heels and a starched shirtwaist dress. Although those images of perfection never existed in fact, many families still aspired to those impossible standards. Constance Alexander has been writing an award-winning column since 1989, and her most popular pieces contain experiences and reflections on growing up in a small town in the 1950s and ’60s. Her writing addresses a range of topics, from the light-hearted to life-changing, each one part of a unique autobiography that begins in New Jersey and continues in Kentucky. With excerpts from her memoir, Who Needs June Cleaver, and snippets from her current columns, her presentation documents the many ways family dynamics and small towns have changed in some ways and stayed the same in others. Discussions inspired by her presentations are lively, leaving audiences to share their own experiences and insights.
Kilroy Was Here: Children on the World War II Home Front
On December 7, 1941, the United States was plunged into World War II. Life changed for everyone on the home front, regardless of age. Kilroy Was Here uses oral histories conducted with people who grew up in that turbulent era to tell the story of one Kentucky family. Artifacts from that time — including soldiers’ letters, a recipe, radio advertisements, and quotes from one of FDR’s most famous speeches — make Kilroy Was Here a history lesson and a moving family saga. Alexander’s presentation features excerpts from her book, Kilroy Was Here, and allows time for questions and discussion of oral history techniques as a way to capture family history and community stories that should not be forgotten.
The Curious Incident of Poetry at Rotary
Not old, dead, nerdy, or stuck-up, poetry is alive and well and flourishing in Kentucky. This interactive presentation features snippets of poems by contemporary Kentucky poets, and provides opportunities to match titles and lines of poetry. “The Curious Incident” in the title refers to the first time this talk was presented publicly, at the January 3, 2019 meeting of Rotary in Murray. Audience consensus was that this was one of the best and most memorable presentations ever made before this decidedly un-poetic group.
Equipment needs: Microphone, podium
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Being Mercifully Just
In reacting to harm perpetrated by others, it can seem like we have but two choices: either hold the guilty accountable for what they have done or spare them deserved punishment and forgive them. In this talk, a third alternative is considered—mercy. In this down-to-Earth philosophy lecture, attendees learn the philosophical conundrum between the virtues of justice and mercy; justice seems to require exacting deserved punishment, but mercy remits deserved punishment. Far from creating another dichotomy, Dr. Anton argues that the virtues of justice and mercy are inextricably linked. Through a discussion of their common aim—moral education—it becomes clear why a relentlessly just person is truly merciless and why unrelenting mercy inevitably perpetrates further injustice.
Make Your Vices Work in Your Favor
Does a lack of confidence ever convince you to "play things safe" when you really should be brave? Are you often embarrassed to realize that you mistook a minor slight for a grave injustice...again? Do self-improvement goals like being more generous or living healthily make the New Year's resolution list every year? There's a reason we do this to ourselves, and philosophers like Aristotle have known why for centuries. In this lecture, participants learn about Aristotelian character development and moral perception. They will consider why certain dysfunctional behaviors seem like great ideas at the time and-through individualized use of Aristotle's doctrine of the mean-how ancient wisdom can point us in a better direction for success in the future.
Equipment needs: Computer with PowerPoint and projector setup
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Arches, Waterfalls, and Wildflowers of Kentucky
Did you know that Kentucky has the second highest number of arches in the United States? And more than 600 waterfalls have been catalogued and photographed across the state? Or 10 different kinds of orchids reside in the Bluegrass? Celebrate Kentucky’s natural beauty! This presentation can be tailored for a variety of groups (from Scouts to garden clubs); geographically for your region; or otherwise narrow its focus to fit your needs. A slideshow of photographs accompanies colorful commentary to keep the presentation lively and engaging. Valerie Askren is the author of five guidebooks on exploring Kentucky outdoors.
Equipment needs: Projector, screen, access to power outlet
Available as virtual program: No
The Newburgh Conspiracy: George Washington and His Speech that Saved a Nation
America might not have survived as a nation and Kentucky may never have been if not for a single speech delivered by General George Washington in the spring of 1783. In the closing days of the American Revolution there arose a mutiny among the officers of the Continental Army. Dissatisfied by a lack of pay for their services, they threatened rebellion against Congress and convened a secret organizational meeting for March 15. General Washington arrived uninvited at the meeting and delivered a compelling, history-changing speech that helped ensure civilian government in the USA. In this talk Baggett explains and then presents the text of Washington's speech while dressed in a replica Revolutionary War uniform of George Washington.
Equipment needs: Podium, microphone, and table
Revolutionary War in a Trunk
This hands-on, interactive program is fun for all ages! Baggett brings to his listeners an old wooden trunk full of interesting items and military equipment from the Revolutionary War period. His presentation utilizes reproductions of 18th century weaponry, camp tools and equipment, clothing, toys, personal hygiene items, and other everyday necessities. This trunk full of Colonial “treasures” helps bring to life the reality of living on the Virginia and Kentucky frontier in the 1770s.
Equipment needs: Display tables
The Siege of Fort Jefferson—Western Kentucky’s Forgotten Battle of the Revolution
Most Kentuckians associate the raids and combat of the Revolutionary War in their home state with the central and eastern sections of the Commonwealth. Precious few people know that there was actually a Revolutionary War battle and siege in the far western end of Kentucky. Baggett tells the story of Fort Jefferson, a short-lived frontier outpost along the Mississippi River in what is now Ballard County. The fort was established in 1780 but abandoned in 1781 after a siege by the British and their Chickasaw Nation allies. The engagement involved the only major combat between American and Chickasaw forces in the American Revolution.
Equipment needs: Video projector, screen, display table
Betsy Johnson: Girl Patriot of Bryan Station, Kentucky
In August 1782, the remote outpost at Bryan Station came under siege by a large band of Shawnee natives and British-Canadian Rangers. A group of incredibly brave women and their daughters ventured outside the walls of the station to carry water from the nearby spring back to the desperate families taking refuge inside the fort. Ten-year-old Elizabeth “Betsy” Johnson was one of those brave girls. Later that night, once the attack began in earnest, Betsy took an action that changed the course of American history. In this presentation, Geoff Baggett, author of A Bucket Full of Courage: Betsy Johnson of Bryan Station, tells the story of the Johnson family and their journey to Kentucky, their life on the frontier, and little Betsy’s amazing bravery as a Patriot of the American Revolution.
Equipment needs: Video projector, screen, display table
Available as virtual programs: No
Guarding the Kentucky Central Railroad
During the Civil War the Kentucky Central Railroad —Covington to Nicholasville— was the main supply line for Camp Nelson and moved goods to the front by connections with Louisville, Frankfort, and Lexington Railroad, and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. This talk centers on the importance of railroads during the Civil War and how the Kentucky Central Railroad was guarded by Federal troops.
The Missing Link in C.P. Huntington's Transcontinental Railroad
In the 1880s, C.P. Huntington tried to put together a transcontinental railroad. The only gap in the rail line was between Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. This is the story of his trying to acquire the LC&L.
Equipment needs: PowerPoint projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
The Underground Railroad in Kentucky
In this multimedia presentation, Brown will demonstrate the influences of slavery on Abraham Lincoln’s early years in Kentucky. A National Park Service research grant made it possible for Brown to document slave-owning neighbors and Underground Railroad activity in all of Kentucky.
World War II: The Largest Art Theft in History
Between 1940 and 1944, Hitler’s Nazi regime looted approximately 100,000 works of art from Jewish citizens in occupied France. The initial shipment of stolen artifacts from France to Germany filled thirty railcars. Between 1933 and 1945, the total number of works plundered from museums and citizens in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece, Germany, Russia, Norway, and the Netherlands has been estimated at between 650,000 and 1,000,000. Stealing Renoir is Brown's first novel about this event followed by Stealing Picasso. Stealing Van Gogh will be available in 2023.
Let The Earth Breathe
Gardening with native plants is fun and rewarding. See how one suburban Kentucky couple transformed their yard into a beautiful nature preserve for pollinators and wildlife. You too can create your own enchanting home landscapes with native plant species. Enjoy a 12-plus year journey that anyone can take. Native plants are survivors and full of wonderful surprises. It's fun to put plants in the ground! Let the Earth Breathe is full of pictures that show how to transform any suburban yard so that every window is tuned to the nature channel. A pictorial overview, combined with pages of suggested plant lists, means this book is accessible to everyone. This is how we did it, and you can do it, too!
Equipment needs: Screen and projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
I Got A Right to the Tree of Life: Women’s Suffrage and African American Women’s Voices
Through songs and stories this presentation will share the journey and the contributions of African American women in the struggle for the Right to Vote in the U.S. As part of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, this program will highlight stories and struggles of African American women leaders, from the late 1870s up to the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and beyond.
Singing in the Spirit: The African American Sacred Music Tradition
Spirituals and gospel music are much more than pleasing songs to listen to—they are powerful representations of the triumphant spirit and faith that have defined African-American music and people. Bullock takes the audience on a musical journey from West Africa, through the middle passage, to the North American shores where the African-American culture was forged. Through songs, stories, and performance, this participatory program lets the audience experience the beauty, joy, and power of this music and culture.
Equipment needs: Piano
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Civility and Climate Change: The Ethics of Talking About a Scientific Controversy
Climate change is one of the most controversial and polarizing scientific topics in the public sphere. This lecture surveys reasons that climate change has become so controversial, and turns to humanistic ideas about civic duty, civility, and virtue to offer productive ways of talking about climate change.
Using Ancient Greek Rhetorical Theory to Understand Contemporary Controversies in Kentucky
This presentation provides a brief overview of rhetoric and the psycho-social factors that make communicating about controversial issues so challenging. After establishing that most communication problems can't be solved by simply explaining facts better or clearer or more loudly, Dr. Cagle offers a concept from rhetorical theory to help manage communication about controversies. "Stasis theory" is a way of analyzing arguments and articulating exactly what the points of disagreement in them are. Using a case study of debates about solar energy in Kentucky, I show how the humanist tradition of rhetoric allows us to better understand why reasonable people disagree.
Equipment needs: Projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
My Academic Strangers: Simmons College of Kentucky and Rhodes College
Rhodes College, my alma mater, and Simmons College of Kentucky, my employer since 2016, reside on opposite ends of the academic economic spectrum. Both are liberal arts colleges founded in the 19th century, but Rhodes is prestigious and well-funded, sporting a $430 million endowment and slate-roofed gothic architecture. Simmons has no endowment to speak of, and part of our campus sits in the poorest zip code in Kentucky—eastern Kentucky included. This talk looks at the history of each school, as well as cultural factors, to explain this disparity. It also explains the history of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and the unique challenges they have overcome and continue to overcome.
From Slavery to Today: The Past and Present of Simmons College of Kentucky
Simmons College of Kentucky was founded in 1879. The college's first two presidents were formerly enslaved, and by the 1920's the flourishing college trained nurses, doctors, and lawyers. The University of Louisville acquired Simmons during The Great Depression and when UofL integrated, only one Simmons professor was retained. The college, however, persisted, and limped into the early 2000's as a 40-student unlicensed, unaccredited school. But since then, the college has regained accreditation, gained federal HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) status, and with millions of dollars of investment, now offers multiple majors, online education, and in 2023 became the only college in Kentucky offering "second chance Pell" degrees to those in prison. This presentation shares the story of Simmons College in detail.
Equipment needs: The ability to present a PowerPoint presentation is preferred
Travel: Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Available as virtual programs: Yes
The Kentucky Derby: A Celebration of Kentucky and its Heritage
Claypool traces the origins and development of the Kentucky Derby, the world’s most famous horse race and a powerful influence on Kentucky society and culture. He will use memorabilia collected during his 40-year passion for the race.
Rascals, Heroes, and Just Plain Uncommon Folks from Kentucky
In this talk, Claypool will profile a choice selection of the many colorful Kentuckians, male and female, noted and notorious, whose stories make our history so interesting and entertaining. The format of the program contains an exciting and stimulating surprise for the audience to wield its power even today.
Songs of Kentucky's Civil War
This program offers a lively presentation with recordings of some of the most popular songs from the North and South during the American Civil War. Claypool discusses the origins, importance, and placement in historical context of each song.
Equipment needs: Microphone, small table
Available as virtual programs: No
Speaking Our Piece: Language Variation in Kentucky
Kentucky is located at a particularly interesting crossroads in the linguistic landscape of the United States. This presentation introduces the specific linguistic situation in Kentucky by examining several linguistic, sociolinguistic, and educational aspects of language in the many diverse regions of the Commonwealth. We will explore not only how language is variously produced but also how people’s impressions of the language of their fellow Kentuckians changes from place to place.
The Myths and Realities of Appalachian Englishes
Have you ever heard someone say that people from the Appalachian Mountains sound like Shakespeare? Or maybe you’ve been told that the language spoken there is frozen in time. These and other misconceptions about the linguistic varieties employed by Appalachians have hidden the vibrant and dynamic nature of their language and helped to perpetuate the idea that speakers of these dialects are old-fashioned and backwards. This presentation examines the myths and realities surrounding Appalachian Englishes by providing evidence that these varieties, like all others, are constantly changing.
Equipment needs: Projector (with connection) and ability to play sound preferred
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Sharing a Life through Memoir and Verse
Selected readings from the author's memoirs (Bad Sex in Kentucky and On Stage with Bette Davis), plays, and four volumes of poetry, with a discussion of autobiography as a bridge to shared, not exclusive, experiences. Readings can be crafted to suit an audience. Themes: Age, Loss, Prejudice, Bullying, Cancer, LGBTQ Life, Family, Love, Intimacy, and the Persistence of Memory. This presentation can be specifically tailored to LGBTQ and LGBTQ ally audiences; his LGTBQ identity is part of the author's inspiration but by no means his only interest in offering this talk.
*N.B. Bad Sex in Kentucky is about guilt, not the details of anatomical intimacy.
Equipment needs: Podium with light and microphone
Kentucky Theatre and the Great Touring Stars
Go on a visit with the great and glorious theatre stars who toured through Kentucky, starting in 1808, with a concentration on Lexington, which was the home of the first professional theatre west of the Alleghenies. With a quick-moving slide show of historic photographs and clippings, this talk was originally presented as part of the Bluegrass Trust's Hopemont Lecture Series, but its content and focus can be shifted (as far as research allows) to mirror the local history of any venue in Kentucky. This talk is based on the speaker's research for his publications: The Bard In the Bluegrass, Marie Prescott: a Star of Some Distinction, Clyde Fitch and the America Theatre, Regarding Mrs. Carter, and The Theatrical Life of Eleanor Robson Belmont, who named the Kentucky star, Man o' War.
Equipment needs: Powerpoint projector compatible with Mac laptop, projection screen, podium, and microphone
Available as virtual programs: No
Appalachian Culture, Yesterday and Today
Deaton's program offering includes a humorous and heartfelt discussion of how a young man from Long’s Creek in Breathitt County grew to become the lobbyist for all the cities in Kentucky and the Executive Director of a statewide trade association, as well as an author, filmmaker, playwright and world traveler. Deaton’s stories relate back to his experiences growing up in eastern Kentucky in the ’60s and ’70s and explain how unlikely a candidate he was to achieve the things that he did. Deaton also reads stories from his ghost story book and memoir in a fashion that takes you back to a time and place that is indeed long ago and far away. This program can be tailored specifically to the telling and reading of his ghost stories, the Breathitt feud history, Mr. Harry Caudill, as well as Kentucky history and politics.
Mountain Ghost Stories
Jerry Deaton grew up in the mountains of eastern Kentucky hearing old-time ghost stories as told by his father and grandmother. In this presentation, he reads from his book, Appalachian Ghost Stories, and talks about the odd and often eerie folk traditions that he experienced and often heard about as he grew up in Breathitt County.
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Watching Movies Differently
Generally speaking, we watch movies to be entertained. We invite films into our lives to distract us from the hustle and bustle of everyday reality. Yet there are other ways to watch a film, ways that demand more active forms of spectatorship and a certain knowledge of film techniques (i.e., cinematography). This interactive presentation, a kind of crash-course in film aesthetics, demonstrates how to watch a movie from a more analytical perspective. Besides entertainment, what else does cinema have to offer us? We will watch snippets of memorable films spanning the cinematic canon from Phantom of the Opera (1925) to Singing in the Rain (1952) to The Matrix (1999) to reveal the various strategies filmmakers mobilize to create visual spectacles.
Horses on the Big Screen
The very first motion picture, brought into the world by Eadweard Muybridge in the late 19th century, consisted of a few images of a galloping horse. Since then, horses have appeared on screen more so than any other species of animal, from Thomas Edison's The Burning Stable (1896) to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz (1939) to Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2011). This multimedia presentation examines the significance of horses throughout film history. We will together watch clips from some of the most iconic films in which horses star, and we will discuss how (and why) horses have been portrayed differently by Hollywood filmmakers, documentarians, and arthouse directors.
Equipment needs: Projector for PowerPoint presentation
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting
This talk is about Douglas' book on voting reforms: In contrast to the anxiety surrounding our voting system, with stories about voter suppression and manipulation, there are actually quite a few positive initiatives toward voting rights reform. Professor Joshua A. Douglas, an expert on our electoral system, examines these encouraging developments in this inspiring book about how regular Americans are working to take back their democracy, one community at a time. Told through the narratives of those working on positive voting rights reforms, Douglas includes chapters on expanding voter eligibility, easing voter registration rules, making voting more convenient, enhancing accessibility at the polls, providing voters with more choices, finding ways to comply with voter ID rules, giving redistricting back to the voters, pushing back on big money through local and state efforts, using journalism to make the system more accountable, and improving civics education. At the end, the book includes an appendix that lists organizations all over the country working on these efforts. Unusually accessible for a lay audience and thoroughly researched, this book gives anyone fed up with our current political environment the ideas and tools necessary to effect change in their own communities.
The Current State of American Democracy
In this talk, Professor Joshua A. Douglas provides an overview of current debates in voting rights, redistricting and gerrymandering, campaign finance, and other aspects of how we run our democracy. From the latest Supreme Court cases to the most recent policy initiatives, people leaving this talk will be armed with up-to-date information on some of the most contentious issues of the day.
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Choosing a President: Understanding the Electoral College
Recent presidential elections have reinvigorated talk of abolishing the Electoral College, an institution that has evoked controversy since its origins at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Any useful discussion of the Electoral College must take into account both its origins and the way its operations have changed over time, but myths about this history abound. This presentation will identify and challenge the most prevalent of these myths.
Five Myths about the Civil Rights Movement
In spite of Americans’ almost universal willingness to embrace the idea of black equality and to retroactively applaud African Americans’ mid-20th century struggles to achieve it, popular depictions of the civil rights movement often reflect a shallow and even misguided understanding. This presentation will explore the misconceptions that shape our understanding of the civil rights movement, demonstrate how these faulty beliefs limit discussions of equality in the present, and offer evidence-based correctives to these myths.
Equipment needs: Projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
The Future of News
Columnist, editor, writer and photographer Tom Eblen, a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, talks about the economic, technological, and societal forces reshaping American journalism. Newsprint is going away. Cable TV and commercial radio are declining. Digital delivery has become king, but social media has created a sphere of propaganda, misinformation, and “fake” news. While there has never been greater need for fact-based journalism, the local/regional news industry hasn’t developed a new business model to replace traditional advertising. As the ranks of professional journalists dwindle, what are the implications for government and corporate accountability—if not American democracy?
Athens of the West
Journalist Tom Eblen, one of the authors of the 2012 University Press of Kentucky book Bluegrass Renaissance: The History and Culture of Central Kentucky, 1792-1852, tells how Lexington, in the early 1800s, was the most important city in what was then western America. He gives an entertaining presentation and slideshow about this brief golden age in Central Kentucky and some of the amazing characters it produced: great statesmen, doctors, lawyers, architects, civil rights leaders, artists, craftsmen, and business tycoons. What can we learn from this era, and how has it affected the nearly two centuries of Kentucky history since?
Equipment needs: Projector, screen, or a large screen television
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Cancelling Canons Without Cancelling Any Philosophers
Periodically social media-philes have a collective freakout over apparent cancelling of a canonical (i.e., a well-known and widely studied) philosopher, like Aristotle or Immanuel Kant. This freakout is usually in response to some other social media-phile arguing that a non-canonical (i.e., lesser-known and infrequently studied) philosopher should be canonical. The freakouts also happen when someone says that we should study a famous philosopher who held racist views then we should address this head-on. What are we to make of these social media freakouts? In this talk Dr. Elkind argues that we shouldn't cancel any specific philosopher. That would be to treat the symptom instead of the disease. Instead, we should cancel our talk of making any of them canonical. There shouldn't be a rule about which philosophers need to be studied by everyone, but which philosophers are studied should depend on what the individual's (or teacher's) goals are. And, Dr. Elkind argues, cancelling talk about canonizing philosophers (as if they were saints!) will make us more open minded and—dare it be suggested—more philosophically open to reading any philosopher, famous or not.
What Do Critical Thinking and Ethics Have to Do With Each Other?
A lot of philosophers praise the value of critical thinking (or logic) teaching on students. It can improve standardized test scores, analytical and persuasive writing, and students' ability to detect fallacies. But does teaching critical thinking make the student more ethical—a better person? In this talk Dr. Elkind discusses the fact-value dichotomy in David Hume's work, and considers what Plato and Bertrand Russell have to say about whether teaching logic can make you a better person. Dr. Elkind argues that logic can make you a better person by altering your moral feelings to be less narrow, selfish, and impulsive. Then Dr. Elkind will discuss whether there is any scientific evidence to show that logic does make you a better person, arguing that there is not much support for logic actually making you a better person. Dr. Elkind will suggest that this is because logic also cannot make you have moral feelings and, when you lack these moral feelings, it can make you even more dogmatic about morally bad beliefs.
Equipment needs: Can use handouts or slides as desired; A/V or a microphone are not strictly needed
Travel: Regions 2, 3, 4
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Days of Barbarity: The 1986 Lima Prison Massacres
Drawn from Dr. Feinstein's book, The Fate of Peruvian Democracy, this talk tells the harrowing tale of a prison riot gone wrong. In the context of Peru's bloody civil war, the growing prison population of Shining Path terrorists launched a coordinated three prison uprising, taking prison guards hostage and showing the inability of the government to control the Maoist insurgency. Peruvian President Alan Garcia sent the military to reassert control with an overwhelming show of force, leading to the extrajudicial execution of hundreds of surrendered prisoners. As one of the worst human rights cases of the war, this event divided democratic forces on the Left over how to react to the violence of the state.
Fighting Against the Tide: The Life Story of Afro-Peruvian Women's Activist María Elena Moyano
Drawn from Dr. Feinstein's book, The Fate of Peruvian Democracy, this talk explores the extraordinary life of Afro-Peruvian activist María Elena Moyano. Born into poverty in the southernmost shantytown of Peru's capital city, Moyano became one of the main leaders of her community's first comprehensive association of women's organizations, which worked hard to provide basic services to the community. After becoming a Vice-Mayor, Moyano became a vocal opponent of the insurgent violence of Shining Path members who had infiltrated her community. Her brave defiance of violence led to a fatal ending, but she remains a symbol of strength and inspiration in Peru to this day.
Equipment needs: Projector with laptop connector for PowerPoint
Travel: Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Fighting For Instead Of Against
Changing the way someone thinks or believes is very difficult. It is much harder to change a mind than it is a perspective that resides within it. Communication and learning barriers have plagued social justice and civic engagements. A contributing factor is the history that has made such things necessary. Fields will share and explore the concepts of the I Was Here project and its mission to change how we see each other by focusing on what we are fighting for instead of what we fight against. Fields will share concepts of reframing history, providing new visual memories, and delving into the power of empathy.
Changing the World By Changing How You Talk To It
Empathy and sympathy are oft confused. Empathetic power means not feeling for but as someone else—and doing so from another's perspective, not yours. Fields will share thought processes developed from engaging with audiences, thought leaders, and random strangers. From the Racial Justice and Equality Commission to the participants of his online workshops covering how we can use communication to overcome race—Fields has learned the value of looking at our barriers to empathy. It is a priceless and unifying gift possessed by humanity.
Equipment needs: Microphone and projection screen
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Shining Light on Kentucky's Everyday Heroes
Steve Flairty has traveled the state and collected stories of what it means to be a Kentuckian with a heart and soul—ordinary people who have made a positive difference, living unselfish lives and overcoming obstacles.. In his talk, Flairty shares many of these inspirational profiles, often selecting individuals from audience members' communities who have been featured in his Kentucky's Everyday Heroes book series. He can adapt his presentation to either adult or children's audiences.
Shining Light on Kentucky's Everyday Women Heroes
Steve Flairty has traveled the state and collected stories of what it means to be a Kentuckian with a heart and soul—ordinary people who have made a positive difference, living unselfish lives and overcoming obstacles. In his talk, Flairty focuses on Kentucky's women and shares many of these inspirational profiles, often selecting individuals from audience members' communities who have been featured in his Kentucky's Everyday Heroes book series.
Equipment needs: Stationary microphone
Available as virtual programs: No
The Gist Boys: Sequoyah & Gratz
Here is the true story of Sequoyah (George Gist), inventor of the Cherokee written language and his half-nephew, Henry Howard Gratz, editor of the Kentucky Gazette. Based on Foody’s book, The Cherokee and the Newsman: Kinsmen in Words, this program traces the lives of each: their famous relatives, literary achievements, political proclivities and common characteristics. Spanning three centuries and four wars, the Gist Boys were on the forefront of American history with Washington, Jackson, and Lincoln, in Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri, and Oklahoma. From articles, letters, and interviews, Foody illuminates Sequoyah and Gratz’s connection to relevant topics of the times: a free press, slavery, indigenous rights, and race relations.
Heroes in Disaster: The 1833 Cholera Epidemic in Lexington, Kentucky
Before there was Covid, there was Cholera! During the 19th century, cholera raged through the United States several times with high fatality rates. Drawing from her book, The Pie Seller, the Drunk and the Lady: Heroes of the 1833 Cholera Epidemic in Lexington, Kentucky, Foody poignantly describes this civic devastation and the crucial deeds of the formerly enslaved woman, the homeless workman and the founder of the Orphan Asylum during a summer with 500 deaths. Despite great medical advances, cholera is still a worldwide killer. A former Public Health Nurse, Foody explains why by tracing repetitive patterns of epidemics from disease spread to national response, from Cholera to Covid-19, with lessons for our global health today.
A New Yorker Finds Her Old Kentucky Home
When Terry Foody moved from New York State to Kentucky, her mother revealed that her family had previously lived in Kentucky. “Find my land!”, an ancestor whispered in Foody’s soul. Armed with only a pencil-scratched deathbed-dictated list of five generations of heretofore unknown relatives, she set off on this exploratory mission to stand on their land. When the trail led to Missouri, she soon developed connections in both states, and learned to deal with murky records, thick brush and barbed wire. The discoveries made it all worthwhile: a hidden church, lost road, 1830s grave, and a special surprise in a chocolate-covered cherries box. But a mysterious portrait and whispered words still haunt and prod her. Join Foody on this search for her ancestors’ land—you might be inspired to make your own trip!
Equipment needs: Microphone and PowerPoint projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Moving Beyond Susan and Elizabeth: The Complicated History of Woman Suffrage in Kentucky
You have probably heard of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but what do you really know about the long fight for woman suffrage? This presentation will address misconceptions and will document Kentucky's contributions to the Nineteenth Amendment. You will learn about the Kentucky Equal Rights Association, its leaders, as well as the thousands of men and women, white and black, from all parts of the state who worked to secure "a simple justice."
Call the Midwife: Mary Breckinridge and the Frontier Nursing Service
Across America, medical doctors were becoming the standard of care and hospital deliveries were becoming the norm for pregnant mothers in the early twentieth century. Mary Breckinridge proposed an alternative system when she created the Frontier Nursing Service in Leslie County, Kentucky, in 1925. Her nurse-midwives became famously known as "Angels on Horseback." Learn more about Breckinridge's pioneering medical service, the challenges involved in bringing new lives into the world in mountain communities, and discover how she made health care more accessible and affordable, offering lessons that continue to matter today.
Equipment needs: Laptop, internet signal, projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Religion in Early America
Religion was essential in the development of the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Dr. Goetting discusses the importance of Protestantism in the U.S. during this period, especially the significance of local congregations and laypeople.
Power of Religious Print in Early America
The beginning of the 19th century witnessed the proliferation of print, especially religious print in the United States. Dr. Goetting will discuss the advancements that made the growth of newspapers and magazines possible and the importance of these periodicals on American culture. This talk will especially focus on religious print and local newspapers.
Equipment needs: Projector and screen for PowerPoint presentation
Travel: Regions 6, 7, 8
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Ghosts in Drama and Theatre
From Greek and Roman dramas to Hamlet, of course, to August Wilson ghosts haunt the stage. This presentation will discuss the various reasons why ghosts appear and suggest that while the different cultures and different time periods offer different specters all of them give insight into our lives. This presentation is part of a book, Dramatic Apparitions and Theatrical Ghosts, a collection of essays edited by Dr. Ann C. Hall and Alan Nadel.
What's Fright Got to do with it? Our Love of Horror Films
This presentation will look at classic and contemporary horror films (appropriate for ages 16+) and offers a quick overview of film techniques, as well as an explanation for our attraction to the genre from film's early days to the present day.
Equipment needs: Presentation technology
Available as virtual programs: Yes
The Five Listen Languages
This title may remind you of the famous five love languages book. Listening is a foundation of love, along with learning and leadership, to name a few. Unfortunately listening is the least taught and most misunderstood of our four communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). Listening is a brain-based process, not a behavioral skill, despite what a speaker may want. Listening is hard work. However, recent research has given us some help by identifying specific types of listening. Understanding one's listening language opens up a world of joy and freedom. Audience members will take an inventory to help identify their listening bent-and learn memorable ways to stay focused while listening in different settings.
Equipment needs: Microphone, podium, pencils for audience to mark inventory
Unbelievable
From Shaker Village to snake handlers, the people of Kentucky have strong roots in their quest to worship. America's first camp meeting was in Kentucky. The national headquarters for Race Track Chaplains boasts a home here. Kentucky was the stomping grounds of preacher Mordecai Ham, the spiritual granddaddy of Billy Graham. And let's not forget the Commonwealth has both a basilica with the world's largest handmade stained-glass window and an abbey where monks live in contemplation and make fantastic fudge. This overview of the history of religion in Kentucky is told through stories and images.
Equipment needs: Microphone; must be able to project PowerPoint images
The Dressmaker & The First Lady
Formerly enslaved, Elizabeth Keckly was an activist and author in Washington, D.C. But first, she was the confidante and dressmaker for Mary Todd Lincoln. Mary gave Elizabeth numerous articles after the assassination of Lincoln, including his blood-splattered cloak from that fateful night. Keckly’s dressmaking business was famous—and included wives of other famous politicians such as Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis, and Mary Ann Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee. Keckly’s autobiography, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, is a compelling narrative of an enslaved person and a controversial look at Kentucky’s famous first lady.
Equipment needs: Large screen; computer connection; table
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Telling Stories—Past and Present
The art of storytelling has a long, ever-evolving, tradition in Kentucky. Hamilton, author of Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths, and Outright Lies, explores the art of storytelling by highlighting the skills storytellers employ, providing examples of traditional and contemporary oral storytelling, and bringing attention to the role of storytelling as both a performance art and an essential component of everyday life.
Liar, Liar, Storyteller
Kentuckians have long entertained each other by stretching the truth to impossibility by telling tall tales. Perhaps you’ve heard of Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill? Those fellows have no place in Kentucky tall tale lore! Instead, we’ve got smart dogs, Daniel Boone, and telling lies for the fun of it! Using selections from her oral and written repertoire, Mary Hamilton examines both the traditional and the evolving contemporary uses of tall tale telling.
Feeding Nightmares
Dread, deception, death, and dismemberment—such are the ingredients of Kentucky tales that have fed nightmares for generations. In this talk, Mary Hamilton shares sample stories and reveals who told them, who collected them, and how she came to add them to her storytelling repertoire. You may also end up wondering why anyone told such creepy tales!
Equipment needs: Microphone on a pole stand
Available as virtual programs: No
What's the "Lock?" The "Keys" Needed for Unlocking the Model Minority Stereotype of Asian Americans
In this presentation, Dr. Hartlep, a leading authority on the model minority stereotype of Asian Americans, aims to untangle the model minority stereotype of Asian/Americans in a way that will illuminate three racist elements of the model minority myth's sophistry and discursive nature, and its reliance on dog whistle politics. This talk will draw from three of his previous books: The Model Minority Stereotype: Demystifying Asian American Success, The Model Minority Stereotype Reader: Critical and Challenging Readings for the 21st Century, and Killing the Model Minority Stereotype: Asian American Counterstories and Complicity.
The Assault on Communities of Color: Race-Based Violence in the Era of the New Jim Crow
In this talk, critical race theorist Dr. Hartlep will discuss his current work on the realities of race-based violence. This presentation will provide a critical look at issues such as racism, community segregation, whiteness, and other hegemonies and how they reproduce injustice and violence. Dr. Hartlep will also explore how space, place, and institutionalism produce and maintain white dominance and violence.
The Identity and Politics of Transracial Adoption
In this presentation, Dr. Hartlep, a leading authority on race and education, will discuss his experiences as a transracial adoptee. This talk will draw from his research on identity formation of transracial adoptees who are Asian/American.
Equipment needs: Laptop, projector, screen for PowerPoint
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Exploring Kentucky Historical Destinations and Natural Wonders
Many have made the drive across the Bluegrass State, but too often we bypass all the worthwhile distractions between Paw Paw in Pike County and the Kentucky Bend of the Mississippi River in Fulton County—treasures such as Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home that rests inside a Greek-style temple and the buffalo that roam the modern-day prairies of Land Between the Lakes. Whether you're a native or long-time Kentuckian or if you're a recent transplant, there is always something new to discover exploring your own backyard. This talk travels the parkways, byways and backroads of the Bluegrass State and outlines some of Kentucky's most famous historical destinations and natural wonders as well as some of her best kept secrets. Kentucky native Blair Thomas Hess is the author of four travel books about Kentucky's history, its people, and its natural wonders. This presentation will highlight fun and educational destinations to help Kentuckians of all ages explore the amazing and irreplaceable things that make the state one of a kind.
Famous Kentucky Flavors
We can thank Kentucky for the cheeseburger, Bibb lettuce, the hot brown, fried chicken, and so many more famous culinary staples. The Bluegrass state's rich traditions in good eatin' are a reflection of the unique and diverse people and cultures that call this state home. This presentation will dish out the history of these famous flavors and discuss how their inventors and the cultures they come from are woven through Kentucky food (and libations). Join seventh generation Kentuckian Blair Thomas Hess, author of four travel books about Kentucky including one exploring its cuisine to talk about how these foods have influenced our state identity. This talk can be tailored to include bourbon or leave it out and can be customized based on region and time of year.
Equipment needs: Projector, screen
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Writing Your Memoir: Getting Started
In this generative creative writing workshop, which can be adapted to fit different lengths of time depending on need, we will examine a few brief excerpts of memoir writing and complete writing exercises to help participants start to get their memories down on the page.
Equipment needs: It would be helpful to make a few photocopies of handouts for participants
Sounds Like Titanic: Author Reading
A reading and discussion of Sounds Like Titanic: A Memoir, a National Book Critics Circle Finalist for Autobiography.
Book description: A young woman leaves Appalachia for life as a classical musician? or so she thinks. When aspiring violinist Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman lands a job with a professional ensemble in New York City, she imagines she has achieved her lifelong dream. But the ensemble proves to be a sham. When the group "performs," the microphones are never on. Instead, the music blares from a CD. The mastermind behind this scheme is a peculiar and mysterious figure known as The Composer, who is gaslighting his audiences with music that sounds suspiciously like the Titanic movie soundtrack. On tour with his chaotic ensemble, Hindman spirals into crises of identity and disillusionment as she "plays" for audiences genuinely moved by the performance, unable to differentiate real from fake. Sounds Like Titanic is a surreal, often hilarious coming-of-age story. Hindman writes with precise, candid prose and sharp insight into ambition and gender, especially when it comes to the difficulties young women face in a world that views them as silly, shallow, and stupid. As the story swells to a crescendo, it gives voice to the anxieties and illusions of a generation of women and reveals the failed promises of a nation that takes comfort in false realities.
Available as virtual programs: Yes
The Southern Culture in Kentucky’s Shaker Villages
Kentucky’s Shaker villages, South Union and Pleasant Hill, drew converts from the South. Those converts brought their own well-established manners, customs, and cultural biases into environments and systems that had been designed by Shakers rooted in the Northeast. South Union, in particular, had a difficult time adapting and, consequently, created a material culture and maintained a folklife that was unique among Shaker villages. From the food they ate to the furniture they produced ... from the way they spoke to the methods in which they constructed buildings ... the Kentucky Shakers were set apart from their northern counterparts. Their story is colorful, humorous, heart-breaking, and fascinating.
Rural Kentucky Through the Lens of George H. Dabbs
George H. Dabbs was a Morgantown, Kentucky, photographer who worked from 1904 until 1934. Not only was he successful as a portrait photographer, but he was also a preservationist, capturing a quickly fading past. He left behind an incredible array of images that documented homes and workplaces, community events, disasters, and celebrations. His masterful work also included photographs of the last days of the colorful steamboat era on the Green River. Insightful, creative, and nostalgic, Dabbs’ art is a priceless look into the distant past of a typical small town in Kentucky.
Making Use of Ardent Spirits: The Kentucky Shakers and Alcohol
The Kentucky Shakers advocated a God-centered existence, seeking perfection in every aspect of their daily lives. While their communal experiment was built on the spiritual, the Shakers also delved into the temporal when it came to the production of alcohol. From whiskey-making to wine production, the Kentucky Shakers pushed the boundaries set by the sect’s leadership in New York. And the “ardent spirits” they manufactured weren’t just for customers.
Equipment needs: Screen, electricity, table for projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
A Discussion of the Novella Eve's Daughters: a Saga of Kentucky's Holt Women
Eve's Daughters tells the history of six generations of women in one Kentucky family from the 1830s to the present. The family's story illustrates the common every day life of women who were creating families and trying to survive societal and family crises while carrying their families into the future. The book describes how the women adapted to profound technological advances, desperate economic conditions, and the gradual transformation of the United States and Kentucky into an urban nation. The book discussion will include looking at several topics/issues and how those topics defined life for most Kentucky women: family structure; settling and working the land; housing; modes of transportation; and necessary community organizations such as crossroads stores, churches, and schools.
The Fifty-Year-Old American Cultural War and Political Readjustment in Kentucky
This presentation briefly surveys the political history of the state up to around 1970. Then it explores how the now 50+-year cultural war over clashing definitions of racial justice and gender equality profoundly affected and rearranged political allegiances in Kentucky.
Equipment needs: Podium
Travel: Region 6
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Kentucky and the Music of America's Front Porch
In a time of great stress, economic and social concerns, even war, the comfort and imagery of America's Front Porch, the calming sense of family, neighbors and music is more important now than ever. To Michael Johnathon, Kentucky is the comfortable rocking chair on America's Front Porch. This is a performance and conversation about restoring that "front porch" feeling back into our hometowns.
Equipment needs: Suitable sound system, two mics (Sure 58 or equivelent) two mic stands
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Reflections on Five Wars: A Soldier's Journey to Peace
Colonel Fred Johnson (USA,Retired) served 29 years in the Army and deployed to Iraq twice and once each to Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Honduras. In his talk Colonel Johnson reflects on his experiences during both war and peace as a military officer, through his transition to a civilian and now as a veteran who has continued his service as a middle school teacher. This presentation was created to be tailored for specific events. Colonel Johnson can speak at Veteran's Day and Memorial Day ceremonies and occasions to commemorate military service and he can talk about the history of warfare and the effects of war on service members and families. Colonel Johnson can specifically address the affects of PTSD and moral injury as he experienced them and how he was able overcome the mental health challenges associated with the hidden cost of war. Colonel Johnson can also talk about his experience with the healing effects of art from his work as the co-founder of "Shakespeare with Veterans" where former service members used the words and plays of William Shakespeare as a means to confront challenges in transition from military experience. Colonel Johnson both educates and entertains and he has presented to audiences at the Wofford College TEDx, The Moth StorySlam, and with the Louisville StoryTellers in addition to his service with the Kentucky Humanities Speakers Bureau. Please check out his website fivewars.com for examples of his presentations.
Soft Skills in Hard Places: The Perryville Battlefield Leadership Experience
In his book Soft Skills in Hard Places, retired Army Colonel Fred Johnson makes the bold claim that soft skills, not technical abilities, were the most important factor in the success of both Union and Confederate leaders at the Battle of Perryville in 1862, the bloodiest clash in Kentucky during the Civil War. In this presentation, Colonel Johnson marches with the audience alongside the soldiers who fought for the Open Knob and Starkweather’s Hill and those that assaulted into the Valley of Death. The fate of Kentucky and the nation rested in the hands of Union General Don Carlos Buell and Confederate General Braxton Bragg, commanders who were technically and tactically competent, but lack the soft skills to be effective leaders. However, men like George Maney and John Starkweather, who did not have the benefit of the technical training afforded at the U.S. Military Academy, demonstrated aptitudes like thinking outside the box, initiative, and empathy. They were the leaders that provided the greatest opportunities of victory for their armies. Colonel Johnson also weaves in soft skill lessons from current wars and his own personal experience to show the enduring relevance of emotional intelligence in combat leadership. Having served with General David H. Petraeus, Johnson shows how, arguably the greatest General since WWII, expertly employed soft skills to great success. Johnson not only demonstrates the significance of soft skills on the battlefield, he provides a methodology to teach them to civilian business executives and their staffs so they can excel in the boardroom. Colonel Johnson can present similar talks on other battles in Kentucky based on the needs of the audience. He can also facilitate these talks on the actual battlefield for audiences with prior coordination.
* These talks can be tailored in length based on the needs of the audience. It can be as short as 20 minutes or as long as one hour.
Equipment needs: None
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Quilt Art: Examining the Narrative in Kentucky Quilts
Based on historical records, secondary sources, and oral history interviews with quilters across Kentucky, Johnson discusses 19th century quilts made by black women living and working on slave plantations, traditional quilts made by African American women of the 20th century, as well as contemporary art quilts made by women of all cultural groups of the 21st century. Her work explores women’s history, storytelling, identity politics, social activism, and empowerment. Her study of quilts in Kentucky is aimed at examining cross-cultural parallels in technique and assemblage, as well as revealing unique designs.
Roots and Branches: West African Aesthetics in African American Quilts
Knowledge is power! This presentation is designed to enrich, encourage, and engage elementary through high school students. It includes either a PowerPoint presentation or an exhibition booth.
The PowerPoint presentation includes photographs and links to video footage of African cultural groups making textiles. These are part of Dr. Johnson’s ethnographic fieldwork while studying in Ghana. This information is then compared with Johnson’s footage of African Americans making quilts. An interpretation of signs and symbols and their meanings are discussed. The exhibition booth includes one-on-one talks and display boards featuring photographs of African textile production and African American quiltmaking, along with handouts and sample textiles for students to see and touch.
Equipment needs: Screen, projector
The Ghostly World
As the author of five nonfiction books about ghosts and hauntings, John Kachuba investigated well over 100 haunted locations all across the U.S. and internationally. In this presentation Kachuba shares his experiences at some of the more creepy and interesting locations. Kachuba will also talk about the various theories that attempt to explain ghosts. With enough advance notice, this talk can be tailored to include regional, state, national, or international locations and hauntings. The presentation will be illustrated with photos from Kachuba's books.
Shapeshifters: A History
This talk is based on John Kachuba's new book, Shapeshifters: A History. The nonfiction book explores the shapeshifter character and answers how and why it has appeared in cultures all around the world, from Neolithic times to the present day. It examines shapeshifters from many perspectives: historical, mythological, theological, psychological, and even pop culture. The presentation will be illustrated with photos from Kachuba's books.
Equipment needs: Projector, screen, table
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Veteran Identity and 'Homecoming' as a Lifelong Process
Kentucky Native, former Army sergeant, and current scholar of phenomena impacting military veterans Dr. Travis Martin created the first-ever program in "Veterans Studies" at Eastern Kentucky University in 2010. Today, the Kentucky Center for Veterans Studies teaches students empathy, communication skills, and ways to think critically about veterans' issues. This talk will draw upon those same lessons, asking participants to think about veterans and the worlds they inhabit in new ways. Participants will learn why: • Veteran homecoming is a lifelong process, not an isolated event;
• Veteran identity is intersectional and non-monolithic;
• Many issues faced by post-9/11 veterans result from a lack of healthy examples of identity to model in post-service life;
• Stereotyping and patriotic mythmaking compel veterans to remain silent about their service, impeding the work of defining self;
• Contemporary veterans are understood in extremes as heroes or victims; and,
• Storytelling, or conscious portrayals of veteran identity - in art, literature, continued service, or even interpersonal interactions, allows veterans to decide the meaning of their military service and/or exercise the symbolic authority earned by it. Participants will leave with new skills in communicating authentically with veterans as well as a newfound since of confidence in their ability to welcome them home properly.
Available as virtual programs: Yes
My Old Kentucky Poem: Creating Our Myth through Folklore and Poetry
Much of Sarah McCartt-Jackson’s poetry draws inspiration from Kentucky folklore, using poetry to explore the stories, beliefs, and people of our pasts that live with us and haunt us in our present. In this presentation, McCartt-Jackson reads from her award-winning books and chapbooks, discussing her professional background as folklorist and poet, and how she weaves folk narratives, beliefs, and oral history of Kentucky and Appalachia into her poems. McCartt-Jackson also discusses how others can use their own family history in their creative expression.
Write Where You Are: Poetry and Place
We often teach writers of all abilities to “write what you know.” In Sarah McCartt-Jackson’s case, she writes of the places she knows. In this presentation, she reads from her newest books, highlighting how she uses poetry and place to explore deeper truths about people, history, wilderness, home, and cultural and physical landscapes in her poetry. McCartt-Jackson encourages audiences to experience place through sensory-based approaches, and discusses how to incorporate a rooted awareness of place into creative expression.
Equipment needs: Microphone
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Broadening Historical Narratives Through Material Culture
Material culture lends itself to engaging with the humanity of the people we are studying. Material culture creates space for scholars to engage with the experiences of those who did not have access to the written record. There is so much to be learned about life in the trenches based on the object a soldier had in their pack. There is a countless amount of necessary information to be added to the history of enslavement in the U.S. by studying the living spaces and possessions of the enslaved. There are narratives that can help us challenge the bifurcated memory of post conflict societies by studying the objects of everyday life. This talk is a deep dive into how historians use objects as evidence. We will look at how objects can help us better understand the people, place, and time they were created in.
Collecting The Troubles: Material Culture of the Modern Conflict in Northern Ireland
The sliding scale of "post-conflict" in Northern Ireland creates a challenging backdrop for museum professionals who are seeking to interpret the recent conflict, commonly referred to as the "Troubles". The conflict is recent, contested, and a sensitive topic for the thousands of people for whom the Troubles is not a distant history, but a lived experience they carry with them daily. In post-conflict societies, museums play an important role, creating a space for opposing experiences to sit side by side and for the voices silenced in the popular narratives to be explored. This talk explores how the material culture of the Troubles can help us understand the experience of individuals living ordinary lives against the backdrop of extraordinary violence.
Equipment needs: Computer and projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: From Louisville to the Corridors of Power
Louis Brandeis was one of the most consequential Kentuckians in the state's history. From humble beginnings in Louisville through Harvard law school at the age of 18, a groundbreaking private legal practice, and long service on the U.S. Supreme Court, his life and work are still relevant to many of the issues still being debated in America today.
Equipment needs: Microphone and projector
Travel: Region 6
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Dark Tourism
While researching material for their upcoming book on paranormal activity in the Commonwealth for the University Press of Kentucky, Mason Smith and Marie Mitchell noticed the powerful and lucrative effects of "dark tourism." Many Kentucky communities have embraced this national trend by marketing their mysterious folklore and traditions to a new breed of visitor: travelers drawn to sites of infamous hauntings, UFO abductions, bigfoot sightings, or horrific crimes. The couple's presentation will focus on what draws people to dark tourism sites which are associated with tragedy, death, grief, and crime, what visitors learn about Kentucky history and culture besides the details of the paranormal and criminal events, and how the state is capitalizing on this phenomenon.
Your Favorite Author Could Be--A Robot!
When you read a book, watch a movie, or listen to a song, the author, screenwriter, or musician receives credit for their work. But what if a robot created those unique art forms? Instead of a human spending months or years to complete their novel, film script, or song, what if an artificial intelligence had scanned thousands of databases and spewed out a chapter, scene, or lyric in several seconds? This game-changing possibility poses potential problems concerning plagiarism, creativity, and even humor. Authors, university professors, and former journalists, Marie Mitchell and Mason Smith, will delve into some ramifications of this developing technology, mainly frontrunner ChatGPT, and test whether you can tell the difference between AI and human writing.
Haunted Kentucky: Six Spirited Bluegrass Spooks
You don't have to travel far to encounter a ghost in Kentucky. There is reportedly an abundance of spirits floating around-maybe in your house. While researching an upcoming book about paranormal activity in the Commonwealth for the University Press of Kentucky, Mason Smith and Marie Mitchell visited a Bardstown inn allegedly haunted by ruthless outlaw Jesse James, a bloody Civil War site in Perryville where some soulless soldiers never left the battlefield, the spook-inhabited theater of a thwarted thespian at Eastern Kentucky University, and several specter-filled historic houses-including Richmond's White Hall, Franklin's Octagon Hall, and Frankfort's Liberty Hall. The couple will share details about these six locations and the spirits that have made them their eternal un-resting places.
Equipment needs: Projector for PowerPoint and microphone
Available as virtual programs: No
God and the Pandemonium on Earth
Personal encounters with more and more humans suffering on the margins of cityscapes also being destroyed by climate change around the world led to the writing of the book God and the Pandemonium on Earth. The historical and global spread of the belief in the biblical God raises a big question about man being made in the image of God and given dominion on earth. This now stands to be corrected by the story of the "self-emptying" of the same God who created the universe to correct fallacious reasoning about man's position in geological science. Endurance supported by human acts of compassion for all the human and nonhuman sentient beings on earth now characterizes hope for the healing of planetary life.
Equipment needs: Computer, projector, microphones (one for q & a) podium, table
Travel: Regions 1, 2
Available as virtual program: Yes
Wicked Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky has always had a dark side, despite being the "Birthplace of Bluegrass Music." Mary James Trotter, an arrested moonshine-selling grandma, remarked to a judge that she "simply had to sell a little liquor now and then to take care of my four grandchildren." Rod Ferrell led a bloodsucking vampire cult in Murray, Kentucky, and traumatized parents of the 1990s. In the early morning of July 13, 1928, at the "Castle on the Cumberland," seven men were put to death in Kentucky's deadliest night of state-sponsored executions. Join award-winning author Richard Parker as he takes you on a journey through 15 of Western Kentucky's most nefarious people, places and events.
Equipment needs: Projector, computer
Escape to Freedom: The Role of the Steamboat in the Underground Railroad
Paducah is located on the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, which acted as an interstate for slaves moving North seeking their freedom. Thousands of slaves worked on steamboats on waterways throughout the South. These rivers provided slaves a quicker and easier escape than venturing overland. Paducah and other riverport cities along the Ohio River played a significant role as logistical points furthering slaves in their journey to freedom.
Equipment needs: Podium and computer with projector for PowerPoint
Travel: Regions 1, 2, 3, 4
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Echoes of the Hills: Kentucky’s Traditional Music
Kentucky has been justly celebrated for its contributions to country and bluegrass styles, but a diverse and vibrant range of earlier musical traditions made the hills and hollers echo with song and dance long before these popular styles came into being following World War II. Ron Pen will explore Kentucky’s musical past through a talk illustrated by a PowerPoint presentation. A live musical performance of ballads, old time fiddle and banjo dance tunes, dulcimer songs, and shape note hymnody will animate the history and context.
Sweet Strains of the Dulcimer
In 2001, the Kentucky Legislature recognized the Dulcimer as our Commonwealth’s state instrument. The dulcimer’s roots are firmly planted in the soil of east Kentucky with the earliest instruments crafted in 1838 by Ely Boggs and “Uncle” Ed Thomas in 1870. Dulcimers created by McKinley Craft, Will Singleton, and Jethro Amburgey spread throughout the country from Hindman. Performers including Jean Ritchie and John Jacob Niles popularized the instrument during the folk revival. This history will come alive through a talk illustrated by a PowerPoint presentation, enhanced with a live performance.
Equipment needs: Chair without arms, projector and speaker setup capable of PowerPoint projection with a laptop
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Dance in Appalachian Kentucky: Different Forms for Different Folks
Dance in the Appalachian hills of Kentucky has taken many different forms, some forms considered sacred and some considered profane. This talk focuses on the histories of different forms of dance in the mountains, forms associated with ceremonial rituals, spiritual expressions, social events including square dancing and "sock hops," and performances from exotic dancing to ballet. The talk considers how the meaning of these different forms changes over time and among different groups of people.
Forests and the Appalachian Imagination
The Appalachian Mountains hold one of the oldest hardwood forests on earth; and ever since humans have survived in and near them, the forests have played a role in our understanding, hopes, and fears, a role that changes as our relationship to forests changed. This talk considers how eastern Kentucky culture meshed with, fought against, and fought for forests through the 19th and 20th centuries as these interactions are described in major works of fiction and nonfiction by Kentucky authors.
Equipment needs: Microphone, projector
Available as virtual programs: Yes
"Work I Knew I Must": Factory Life for Women in Nineteenth Century
Divorce, supply-chain shortages, labor shortages, union talks—these are not new issues. In "Work I Knew I Must," a blended narrative of a factory owner, A.I. Root, and his employee Jane Cole, they together work to make their factory successful in spite of the personal and national challenges facing the country. Since women still struggle for equity in the U.S., this work is timely and the strategies that both Root and Cole can still benefit twenty-first century audiences.
Flower Power: Establishing Pollinator Habitat
Pollinators are in peril due to a variety of reasons, but one of the easiest to address landscape diversity. Having traveled around the world interviewing beekeepers and honey producers, Tammy Horn Potter includes intriguing slides of pollen grains from nectar-producing plants of some of the world's favorite honeys as well as photos and recommendations of local flora. Pollen is considered the "life-giving dust" to many pollinators, and this presentation focuses on the complexities of pollen grains, their beauty, and also the relative ease that many people can employ to diversify their surroundings with flowers that are beneficial.
Equipment needs: Microphone, projector, computer
Available as virtual programs: Yes
1812: Remember the Raisin!
Kentucky’s contribution in the War of 1812 was vital to the American War effort. This presentation shows how deeply Kentuckians were involved. The massacre at River Raisin gave rise to the battle cry of the war: “Remember the Raisin!” Governor Isaac Shelby left Frankfort to lead troops along the northern frontier and commanded victorious soldiers at the Battle of the Thames. Kentuckians answered the call once more to defend New Orleans. The epic battle on the sugarcane plantations below the city provided redemption for the young American nation.
The Cane Ridge Revival: The Great Revival that Transformed Kentucky
When people talk about the "Bible Belt" they might be interested to learn that its roots began in the great Cane Ridge Revival, held in today's Bourbon County. No one can deny that it changed lives and shaped Kentucky's (and the Deep South's) social and cultural development. Take a journey back to 1801. Find out what drew 25,000 people to Cane Ridge. Sing one of the old hymns that some folks claimed to "make the flesh tremble."
The Battle of Blue Licks
By 1782, the American Revolution was drawing to a close. Lord Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown and negotiators were hammering out the Peace of Paris. But war still raged for frontier settlers, American Indians, and Canadian rangers. On August 19, 1782, Kentuckians would suffer one of the worst military defeats of the war. Learn about the events leading up to the battle that some historians call "The Last Battle of the American Revolution."
Homemaking on the Kentucky Frontier
Take a journey back to 1811 and experience homemaking on the Kentucky frontier—"from the ground up." After clearing timberland, fencing off pastures, and planting crops, homemakers involved themselves in every aspect of building a home from available materials. Roofing, flooring, insulation, heating, water supply, and lighting were considerations then as now. Learn how frontier folk cultivated and preserved their food, made their clothes, doctored their families, and still found time for recreation and religion. Cooking on open hearths, hemp and flax breaking, heckling, spinning, weaving, and dyeing are examined. The audience will appreciate the severity of disease and how little medical knowledge existed in the early 1800's. Native American and folk remedies are discussed, along with frontier religion and recreational activities. Eddie Price displays utensils used by early Kentuckians and educates with a colorful PowerPoint slideshow.
Equipment needs: Computer, projector, screen
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Writer’s Secrets on Productivity and Staying Organized
Organization is important to being a successful published author. Lynda Rees, will explain how to manage day-to-day business chores and make time for writing while juggling the business side of an author’s work by staying organized.
Equipment needs: Projector and screen for PowerPoint
Travel: Region 1
Available as virtual program: Yes
Cooking in Kentucky Before the Civil War
Cooking before the modern conveniences of electric appliances, pre-packaged foods, and modern recipes was hard work! In this presentation, Cynthia Williams Resor explores the lives of average women in Kentucky, free and enslaved, as they prepare recipes from early 19th century cookbooks such as Lettice Bryan's The Kentucky Housewife. Look over the shoulder of a Kentucky woman as she produces, preserves, and prepares food in a typical pre-industrial kitchen. What kitchen tools did she use? What foods were plain, everyday fare and what was prepared for special occasions? How did she juggle cooking and the other daily chores? The answers to these questions and more will make you appreciate a microwave!
Mourning in Kentucky in the 1800s
Mourning the dead was an important part of life in the 19th century. Cynthia Williams Resor will begin her time-travel tour of this culture of mourning in Kentucky cemeteries by examining the symbols on tombstones and their meanings. Explore customs and beliefs associated with death through the eyes of 19th-century writers and artifacts of mourning such as hair mourning jewelry, stationery, clothing. Finally, we'll visit the new funeral parlors of the late 1800s and memorial park cemeteries of the early 1900s to discover why mourning customs changed.
Equipment needs: PowerPoint projector, screen
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Mose Rager: Kentucky's Shy Guitar Master
There are many country guitar legends—Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and Eddie Pennington, to name a few—who trace the root of their music to Mose Rager. A Muhlenberg County, Kentucky native, he was known for developing a unique thumb-picking style. Mose worked as a barber and a coal miner when he wasn’t playing gigs with Grandpa Jones, Curly Fox, and Texas Ruby. Although Mose died on May 14, 1986, his sound lives on when modern-day pickers try to play “That Muhlenberg Sound.”
Crowing Hen: Cousin Emmy, A Kentucky Pioneering Performer
Before there was a Minnie Pearl, there was "Cousin Emmy." She styled herself as the first hillbilly singer to own a Cadillac. She was born in a log cabin in Barren County but by the 1940s, she was one of the top performers on the radio. She headed her own group, "Cousin Emmy and her Kinfolks" at a time when there were not many solo female acts. She also had a brief career in Hollywood, appearing in films such as "Swing in the Saddle" and "The Second Greatest Sex." Cousin Emmy could light up a stage and played almost two dozen different instruments. She was also the author of the classic bluegrass song, "Ruby." With her independent success, she paved the way for other female musicians.
Equipment needs: Projector for PowerPoint, microphone
Available as virtual program: Yes
Sallie Ward, the Scandalous Kentucky Beauty
Sallie Ward was a charmer. Her beauty inspired poems and duels. Born to wealth in 1827, she used it to advantage, ordering expensive clothes from abroad, setting new standards in fashion and, to the outrage of many, wearing rouge. Her storied marital career fascinated the nation as she went through four husbands, only the last outliving her. Her fortune destroyed by the Civil War, like Scarlett O'Hara, she recouped it by marriage, determined never to go hungry again. Newspaper readers and acquaintances alike found her endlessly fascinating, not least because she was strangely able to retain her beauty, or the illusion of it, to the end, which came in 1896. In his forthcoming book, Forever Belle: Sallie Ward of Kentucky, Runyon reveals some engrossing but hitherto unknown details of her life.
Mary Todd Lincoln's French Connection
"My early home was truly at a boarding school," Mary Todd Lincoln once wrote, alluding to the years she spent living at Madame Mentelle's School for Young Ladies in Lexington. Mary's mother had died, and she did not like her stepmother, finding a better one in Charlotte Mentelle, a brilliant and adventurous Parisian who braved the perils of the French Revolution and the Ohio frontier before coming to Lexington in 1795. She was a woman of strong opinions who cut her hair short and dressed like a man and scandalized her neighbors by walking miles a day through the streets of Lexington all while reading a book. From her the future Mrs. Lincoln learned impeccable French, as foreign visitors to the White House learned to their delight, and increased confidence in her own intellect and spirited independence. This talk, based on Randolph Paul Runyon's book The Mentelles: Mary Todd Lincoln, Henry Clay, and the Immigrant Family Who Educated Antebellum Kentucky, explores the influence of one remarkable woman on another.
Equipment needs: Projector and screen
Available as virtual programs: Yes
When All Cheerleaders Were Boys: Sports and the History of Gender Segregation
Have you ever wondered why most cheerleaders are girls? It didn't used to be that way. Up until the early 20th century, all cheerleaders were actually boys and cheerleading was seen as an activity just as 'manly' as being the starting quarterback. What changed between then and now? What does the story of cheerleading teach us about sports and gender more generally?
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Gender But Were Afraid to Ask
Gender is a topic that's in the news a lot lately, but what exactly is gender and how is it changing? Is gender based in biology or something else? How have ideas about gender changed across time and place? What would a history of gender look like? What are the burning questions you have about gender? Dr. Robyn Ryle, professor of sociology and gender studies with over 20 years' experience teaching on these topics, answers all your questions.
Equipment needs:Projector and screen
Available as virtual programs: Yes
My Dirty Life
Doris Settles has spent many hours digging in the dirt, and perhaps even more time encouraging others to do the same, giving keynotes and workshops all over Kentucky. Focused on the joys and benefits of gardening inside and out, Settles has done presentations at Juvenile Justice, Education and Mental Health conferences on the concepts behind the book No Child Left Inside addressing the "nature deficit" with nature and our society...especially children. Her picture books Leira Clara's Flowers and Leira Clara's Garden Journal encourage children to plant zinnias to spread joy. This talk includes a discussion of native and pollinator habitats, avoiding invasives, combined with a call to action to get outdoors and beautify and interact with the natural world. Settles is the author of five other books, serves as an Extension Master Gardener, is a co-founder and Vice President of Celebrate Lexington! nonprofit, and belongs to various herb and gardening societies.
Peggy Oakley...and a Pig...Go to War
On August 30, 1813, Margaret (Peggy) Oakley waited anxiously at Newport Barracks to draw the ticket that would determine whether she would join her husband, John Scott Oakley, and good friend Richard Menifee to Canada and war, or back home to the farm in Grassy Creek, Kentucky. Little Dick was pulling at one arm, and Mary Ann, just one year older, at her other. Both were hungry and tired. When Peggy let go of Mary Ann's hand to reach into Governor Isaac Shelby's hat and pulled out a slip of paper saying, "To Go," she was both overjoyed and terrified. She had just the one night to prepare for the trek to Lake Erie, then Canada. The next morning, her little family, along with over 4,000 militia, began boarding boats to cross the Ohio and head to Canada in response to the massacre at River Raisin. To everyone's surprise, a pig that had become a camp pet plunged into the river and swam across. The children were delighted. Throughout the next ten months, Margaret and the other camp followers served as nurse, cook, seamstress, huntress and laundress for the camp, while keeping one eye on her children and the other watching for Indians. During the War of 1812, Kentucky women often accompanied their husbands, children in hand, to battle. Nearly four of every five military age Kentucky men fought in the War of 1812, and over 66% of those that died were Kentuckians. Their wives, girlfriends, mothers were sharpshooters and were used to doing whatever needed to be done as frontier farm wives. My ancestor, Peggy Oakley, might have been one of those women. Learn what she may have encountered along the path her husband chose, and how, together, they fought the battle that ended the War of 1812.
Equipment needs: Projector, screen, and microphone
Available as virtual programs: Yes
Henry Faulkner: Kentucky Artist
Henry Faulkner, one of Kentucky’s best and best-known artists, exhibited his paintings around the country and in Europe. Born on a Simpson County farm in 1924, he grew up in an orphanage in Louisville and a foster home in eastern Kentucky. He lived for more than 20 years in Lexington, where he was at the center of a thriving gay community. A world traveler, prolific poet, and enthusiastic blues singer, Faulkner attracted famous friends (like playwright Tennessee Williams), and became famous himself, both for his artwork and for his unconventional behaviors (like taking his pet goat to gallery openings). He died in an automobile accident in Lexington in 1981. This look at Faulkner’s life and work includes a slide show of his colorful paintings and a short film about his just-as-colorful life.
Equipment needs: Microphone, screen and projection system for Windows Live Moviemaker, PowerPoint, and DVD
Once There was a Writer ...
Anne Shelby has written and published poems, plays, stories, essays, newspaper columns, and books for children. In this part-talk, part-reading, she shares three stories. First, the story of how she fell in love with folktales, read and studied them, and told them to audiences. Second, how — and why — she searched hundreds of folktale collections, looking for stories with women or girls as their main characters. What she found, how she selected and adapted it, and what happened next. Third, Anne shares a story from the resulting book, an award-winning collection for children and adults, The Adventures of Molly Whuppie and Other Appalachian Folktales.
Equipment needs: Microphone, podium, table for displaying books
Available as virtual programs: No
Small Acreages
A regular contributor to Kentucky Humanities magazine and a former local NPR commentator, Georgia Green Stamper has been called Kentucky’s version of Bailey White. In Small Acreages, her latest collection of creative non-fiction essays, Georgia again welcomes audiences into her Kentucky life as she reflects on what Wendell Berry describes as “the small acreages of the universe that have been entrusted to us.” These include our marriages, family, friends, our sense of a particular place and its history, and everything related to homemaking. In a voice critics are calling “warm, wise, touching and funny, sometimes all at once,” Small Acreages follows Georgia through all phases of life from mothering, to grandparenting, to the discovery of her family’s secret recipe for blackberry jam cake. She opines on how to pick a good husband and contemplates the memory of quirky aunts and uncles and the grief of saying good-bye to beloved parents. From leaving her rural home as a young bride to restoring it as an anchor for her adult children during the Covid pandemic, Georgia examines the experiences that connect us to each other. Small Acreages was one of 10 titles Longlisted/nominated for PENAmerica’s 2023 Diamonstein-Speilvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.
The Forgotten Stories of Free Station and Mountain Island
Growing up in a family of storytellers, Georgia often heard her grandfather speak of the two free Black communities that thrived near her family’s Owen County farm in the decades before the Civil War. His stories of Free Station and Mountain Island became a part of “the small acreages of the universe” entrusted to her to remember. She re-tells them now “as I am able” she says, though the whole story of the Black families who lived in those settlements before and after the Civil War cannot be known nor can the character and motivation of the Herndon siblings who first enslaved and then freed the families be known. Public records, however, document that James Herndon and his sister Susanna Herndon Rogers deeded over 500 acres to the 39 men and women they had once enslaved. A sizable portion of that land is still owned by descendants of the Black families the siblings emancipated in the first half of the 19th century. While this talk focuses on the creation of the Free Station and Mountain Island communities, it also explores the conflicting views among abolitionists. Susanna was a proponent of re-colonization in the African colony of Liberia while her brother James was not.
Equipment needs: Lectern, microphone
Available as virtual programs: Yes
The Lincoln Family: Its Lost & Hidden History
This talk will discuss the early history of the Lincoln family in Washington and Hardin counties in Kentucky. The history begins with Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of President Lincoln, and continues through the Lincoln Family's move to Indiana. The oral history accounts and recorded documentation provide fascinating pictures of the Lincolns—accounts previously unknown to the reader of Kentucky history. Of particular interest is the discussion of how the Lincoln Memorial came to be established at Hodgenville. In addition, the role of Thomas Lincoln as the often-absent father and the effect this absence may have had on his son, Abraham will be discussed. Finally, the narrative dispels the myth of the Lincolns always being a poor family living in a dirt floor cabin.
The Who-Dun-It Caper
Since the days of Edgar Allan Poe, the detective story has remined one of the most popular genres of literature. In fact., Sherlock Holmes may be the best-recognized character in English Lit, and the stories and novels featuring American hard-boiled detectives—Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Nero Wolfe—have been in print for nearly a century. What is it about a detective story that keeps readers engaged? Raymond Chandler, author of the Philip Marlowe series, believed that it was the detective himself (or herself). This presentation will test that idea. Dr. Smith will briefly discuss the history of the detective story, with a special focus on the American detective, and will ask participants to help him construct a biography for an original fictional character: the 21st century detective.
Equipment needs: Microphone, podium
Available as virtual programs: Yes
The Underground Railroad and American Memory
This presentation will provide a review of the Underground Railroad as the product of the work of black and white southerners committed to an evangelical cause of freedom written about in Dr. Turley's latest book Gospel of Freedom: Black Evangelicals and the Underground Railroad.
African Americans and the Civil War
In this presentation, Dr. Turley offers a focus on the role of black Kentuckians in the war of emancipation and freedom that changed the social direction of American society and instituted our current "Juneteenth" celebrations.
Julius Rosenwald Rural School Building in the Reconstructed American South
At the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction, one of the enduring goals of African Americans was the attainment of an education. Julius Rosenwald, the President of Sears and Roebuck joined forces with America's then African American social leader, Booker T. Washington, to secure that educational goal.
Black Lynching in America
The 1876 presidential election resulted in an election win for Republican presidential candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes' election officially ended Southern Reconstruction, which was guaranteed when southern electors threw their full support behind Hayes' presidential campaign promise to immediately remove all federal troops from the newly "Reconstructed South."
Equipment needs: Laptop, projector, screen for PowerPoint
Available as virtual programs: No
Place and Past: Writing Through Sense Memory
Hiraeth is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation. It encompasses a mixture of emotions such as longing, yearning, nostalgia, and wistfulness, often tinged with grief and sadness over the lost or departed. As a writer, Judith Turner-Yamamoto has found that sense memory can be a powerful tool for evoking Hiraeth and accessing the past. In this talk, Turner-Yamamoto will share her experience of writing her novel, Loving the Dead and Gone (Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medalist for Best Southern Regional Fiction), and how she used sense memory to enter the live past. By immersing herself in the sensory details of her grandparents' barns, kitchens, and rooms filled with preserved foods, funeral wreaths, and the clothes of the dead, she was able to recreate a world that was rapidly changing as people left the farms for the prosperity promised by post-war manufacturing. Turner-Yamamoto will discuss how she employs sense memory in her world-building and how it helped her to convey a sense of place and time that is rooted in the past. By evoking the sights, sounds, and smells of a bygone era, she was able to create a vivid and compelling story that resonates with readers today.
Through her experience, she hopes to inspire others to use sense memory as a tool for exploring the past and experiencing powerful works of fiction. By tapping into our own memories and the memories of those who came before us, we can bring the past to life in new and unexpected ways, and perhaps even find a sense of connection and belonging in an ever-changing world.
Fractured Families: Storytelling through Trauma
In this talk, Judith Turner-Yamamoto will speak about writing Loving the Dead and Gone (Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medalist for Best Southern Regional Fiction), which found seed in her earliest childhood memory. The story is rooted in a family tragedy which conflated with later parental perfidies to become the novel. As writers, we tend to use our art to process and understand the emotions we're feeling. Through exploring my characters' internal dialogues, she was able to better understand the family members and the traumas that shaped her early life.
As humans, we all struggle with pain, family dysfunction and estrangement, loss, grief, and other emotions that are often difficult to express. However, sorrow, longing, and transcendence have long been associated with creativity. In this talk, Turner-Yamamoto will discuss the process of accessing the fictional inner life of a character to explain someone from your own history. Turner-Yamamoto will also share the tools and techniques that she has used to translate collective pain into language. Turner-Yamamoto hopes to encourage others to look at their own family stories as a source of material for their creative work. By doing so, we can better understand ourselves and the people who have shaped us, and perhaps even find some measure of healing through the act of creation.
Equipment needs: Microphone, lectern, table, projector, and screen
Available as virtual programs: Yes
World War II was on the Air
Did you know World War II was the first time Americans could hear news reports from the battlefields while the battles were still being fought? Radio made it possible. World War II was the first major war to occur after radio was developed. And, because World War II news was “on the air,” it reached audiences around the world faster and more dramatically than news of any previous war. It changed how news was reported, influenced how war was waged, and laid the foundation for today’s 24/7 news coverage. This presentation will include audio clips of World War II news reports by legendary broadcasters such as Edward R. Murrow, Harry Reasoner, Charles Collingwood, George Hicks, and others.
Equipment needs: Sound system that will accept audio input from a laptop, audio cassette player, or CD player
Music and Musicians in the American Civil War
This presentation is interspersed with Civil War era tunes performed by a small ensemble of musicians playing lap dulcimers, banjos, and other instruments. It focuses on the assertion of some music historians that the Civil War was “America’s most musical war” and perhaps “the most musical war ever, anywhere.” More than 2,000 new musical compositions were published in the first year of the war. Some 80,000 men served as musicians in the Union and Confederate armies. And, many of the Civil War’s favorite tunes are still popular today.
Equipment needs: Sound system with multiple microphones is helpful but not required
Available as virtual programs: No
The Journey to Women's Suffrage
U.S. Women's Suffrage was achieved through the convergence of many varied and winding paths. Before the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, many women could vote, but by 1807 that right had been abolished in all states. In the early 1800s, it was not considered appropriate for women to speak in public, and married women could not own property nor did they have rights to their wages if they worked, while women were also believed to be the moral center of family life. This position led them to advocate for Abolition, Temperance, Dress Reform, Prison Reform, Property Rights, Free Love and Free Thinking, and Spiritualism. Even the 1890s Bicycle Craze played a role! From Seneca Falls to the adoption of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920, this presentation highlights how women came to voice, learned to organize, and eventually achieved Women's Suffrage through decades of work and many, many intersecting movements, organizations, and events. Featured are a number of women beyond Stanton and Anthony who "rocked the vote" even before they could vote, such as Alice Paul, Victoria Woodhull, Ida B. Wells, Lucy Stone, and Kentucky's own Laura Clay.
Listening to Indigenous Voices: New/Old Revelations in Native American History and Culture
Did you learn in school about the first Thanksgiving, the Bering Strait, even that Columbus "discovered" America? Were you told that the North American continent was barely populated, and that indigenous peoples had little to no impact on the land? The past 40 years of research have drastically altered this picture. We'll look at migration theories, population estimates, how advanced peoples in the Americas were--there were cities larger than London with significant technologies. The oldest known human-made structure, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is several thousand years older than the Egyptian Pyramids. We'll discuss how certain stereotypes developed and compare creation stories and philosophies that open different ways of being in the world. We'll listen to the Native voices that have been trying to give us this history and culture for a long time.
Equipment needs: Projector, screen
Available as virtual program: Yes