Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute
Newsletter Volume 1, Number 1 November 1997
Support from the Kentucky Heritage Council, as well as from the Kentucky Humanities Council and the State Parks Department, has played a crucial role in the success we have been able to achieve so far. There are many people to thank and, at the risk of leaving someone out, I'd like to acknowledge those who have helped us get to the point where we need a newsletter. Mentioning the agencies alone overlooks the people behind those agencies. David Morgan and the entire staff of the Heritage Council have been very supportive of MSU's public history program and have afforded us many opportunities to become involved in preservation efforts across the Commonwealth. Virginia Smith of the Humanities Council played an important role in our ability to take the first person program for Columbus-Belmont State Park from idea to reality. Ed Henson and Brooks Howard of the State Parks have welcomed our interest. Bill Stevens of Columbus-Belmont State Park has really made us feel welcome at the park and has gone the extra mile more than once to help, as has Frank Waggoner at Kentucky Dam Village. Judge Larry Whitaker of McLean County and Judge Greg Pruitt of Hickman County trusted us when we were just beginning to work with them on important local projects. Others have shared their time and expertise in working with students as directors of internships and directed studies: Maryann Andrus of Home Place 1850 at Land Between the Lakes; Mark Hunt and Susan Morgan both formerly of the National Scouting Museum and Susan Hardin and Joanna Herndon currently at the National Scouting Museum; Karl Lusk of the Kentucky Railway Museum; Donna Neary and Patti Linn of the Jefferson County Historic Preservation and Archives Office; and Anne Kimmel and the other members of the Amoss House Committee in Caldwell County. We have benefited greatly from the rising interest in community history and in heritage tourism in the Commonwealth and the willingness of so many people to work with us. Dean Joseph Cartwright and history department chair Jim Hammack have been very generous in their support of the program. Sincere thanks to everyone who has helped make this newsletter necessary. Bill Mulligan
During the current academic year we have two outside-funded projects. The first is the Hickman County Historic Structures Survey discussed below, funded by the Kentucky Heritage Council. Graduate students Jay Parrent (Princeton), LeeAnn Shadrick (Slaughters), and Jarrett Nantz (Calhoun) are involved in this effort to document historic structures in Hickman County. The second is an internship in the Jefferson County Office of Historic Preservation and Archives. Chris Goodlett (Taylorsville) will work on several projects, both at Riverside and in historic preservation section there.
One key area for any graduate program is the successful placement of its graduates. We are very proud of those who have completed the program and gone out into the "real world." Jerry Wooten, MA 1994, was recently appointed Director of the River Heritage Center in Paducah. Joanna Herndon, MA 1995, continues as Curator of Collections at the National Scouting Museum here in Murray. Eric Rousey, MA 1996, is now in his second year in the history Ph.D. program at the University of Kentucky. Dorrisanna Conner, MA 1997, is Curator of Collections at the Museum of the American Quilters Society in Paducah. Mike Hosking, MA 1997, is an Interpreter at the Morristown National Historic Site, National Park Service, in New Jersey. Jeff Meyer, MA 1997, is Curatorial Assistant at the National Scouting Museum in Murray.
Jay Parrent (Princeton) presented national register nominations for three historic railroad cars from the collection of the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky to the September 11 meeting of the State Historic Preservation Review Board. The board met in Bowling Green in conjunction with the bi-annual historic preservation conference sponsored by the Kentucky Heritage Council. Each of the three cars was nominated because of its relationship to a particular aspect of the railroad history of the Commonwealth. The first car, "The Mount Broderick," is a Pullman sleeper car that was used on the L&N Railroad during the golden age of rail travel. It represents the culmination of years of design developments by the Pullman Company that gave passengers the smoothest and most comfortable ride possible on long trips. L&N Combine Car Number 665, the "Jim Crow Car," retains its separate sections for white and black passengers from the era of segregation. A unique feature of the car is that it was designed for a line on which cars could not be turned around, so the two sections are exactly the same. At each end of the line, the designation for the section was changed. The third car, F&C M 55 Motor Car, "The Cardinal," was developed during the period when the automobile was causing severe competition for rail lines, especially commuter lines. Its light construction and gasoline engine were designed to keep operating costs as low as possible on commuter runs. The State Historic Preservation Review Board unanimously approved the three nominations, and they will be forwarded to the National Park Service in Washington for final approval. Kentucky Railway Museum Director Karl Lusk, Jr., who supervised the nomination work, said, "Each of these pieces represents not only a segment of America's transportation history, but also emphasizes sociological and cultural aspects of our past, and perhaps our present. We are extremely proud of our affiliation with Murray State and hope to continue that relationship for our mutual benefit." The museum is in the process of raising funds to restore the cars as part of its ongoing effort to preserve Kentucky's railroading history. This project was funded through a grant from the Kentucky Heritage Council.
Jay Parrent (Princeton) also presented a paper at "Preserving Community: the Kentucky Historic Preservation Conference" in Bowling Green on September 12. Parrent's paper, "Hickman County Historical Resources: A Preliminary Overview," reported on a project currently underway to document historic structures in Hickman County. The yearlong project is funded with a grant from the Kentucky Heritage Council and will establish an inventory of properties in the county that might qualify for the National Register of Historic Places and the federal investment tax credit program. Jarrett Nantz (Calhoun) and LeeAnn Shadrick (Slaughters) are also working on the survey. The survey project began in June of this year and is expected to conclude in late May of 1998. The Kentucky Historic Preservation Conference is a bi-annual program of the Kentucky Heritage Council, the State Historic Preservation Office. Four hundred people from Kentucky and eleven other states attended the three-day conference.
Institute director Bill Mulligan organized a workshop on Interpreting Historic Sites at "Preserving Community: the Kentucky Historic Preservation Conferences in Bowling Green on September 12. The workshop was designed to assist those responsible for interpreting historic sites in planning and implementing interpretive programs. In addition to organizing the workshop Mulligan spoke on the elements involved in defining and developing a sound interpretation program at any historic site. Mike Adams, Director of Interpretation at the Mammoth Cave National Park, discussed the strengths and weaknesses of several National Park Service interpretive programs he has been involved in developing. Sharon Calcote Director of the Louisiana Office of Heritage Tourism Development discussed how heritage tourism planning in Louisiana allows communities to preserve their history and attract visitors.
Students and faculty from the Forrest C. Pogue Public History participated in the September 17th meeting of the Pennyrile Area Historians at the new Amoss House Museum in Cobb, Kentucky, plans for which were developed by MSU students in the spring museum studies course. Bill Mulligan spoke briefly about the programs of the Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute and the public history component of the history graduate program at Murray State University. Both the Pogue Institute and the public history graduate program work with local historical organizations in a variety of ways that assist local historical organizations groups in reaching their goals, while providing hands-on experience for the students. "Getting our students involved in community history efforts by working with the people who are trying to preserve their community's history has been a part of program here from the beginning, " according to Mulligan. "It is something we plan to expand as the program grows and becomes better known. Any group in western Kentucky that is working on a community heritage project and might need assistance should contact me at Murray State's history department," he concluded. Jay Parrent (Princeton) reported on a project completed by a group of students in Mulligan's Spring 1997 Museum Studies course that involved developing a comprehensive plan for the conversion of the Amoss House into a museum on the Night Riders . Parrent was team leader for the project. LeeAnn Shadrick (Slaughters), who was part of the Amos House team, also attended the meeting. Rich Flynn (BA, 1997), Mike Hosking (MA, 1997), and Chris Utley (Benton, Junior) were also part of the Amoss House team. According to Mulliigan, "The Amoss House project was a tremendous opportunity for the students to tackle a project that had many dimensions and to learn how the various parts of any project fit together. It's a perfect example of how getting students involved in community projects benefits both the students and the community. There is no way we can replicate the complexity of a real project in the classroom. The Amoss House project was a great learning experience for the students and, I hope, a real benefit for the community."
Institute director Bill Mulligan reviewed National Register nominations at the September 11 meeting of the State Historic Preservation Review Board. Governor Patton appointed Mulligan to a four-year term on the State Historic Preservation Review Board in 1996. The meeting was held in conjunction with "Preserving Community: The Kentucky Historic Preservation Conference" in Bowling Green. The State Review Board considers nominations from Kentucky for the National Register of Historic Places and recommends sites for listing to the National Park Service. Inclusion on the National Register is a formal recognition of the important role a site played in national, state or local history. Nominations considered at the meeting included multiple historic resources along US 31 in Warren County, a historic district in Irvington, a dozen stone voting houses in Rowan County, a number of properties in Boyle County, and three railroad cars from the collection of the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven. Individual structures in Adair, Caldwell, Bourbon, and Magoffin counties were also considered. All of the nominations were recommended for listing and forwarded to the National Park Service. Since the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 established the National Register there have been 64,000 listings incorporating more than 600,000 properties. Kentucky has slightly more than 2800 listings, including 300 historic districts, and the number of individual properties is well over 30,000. The National Park Service administers the National Register program in cooperation with state historic preservation offices in each sate and comparable offices in the territories.
Several years ago the National Park Service conducted a major thematic study of the Underground Railroad, that assisted escaping slaves on their journey to the North. Few Kentucky sites were identified by the study, however. Institute director Bill Mulligan has been appointed by Sec. Roy Peterson of the Arts, Humanities, and Education Cabinet to a statewide steering committee to plan and conduct a comprehensive survey of sites in the Commonwealth related to the Underground Railroad and other efforts by African Americans to escape slavery.
This summer Chris Goodlett (Taylorsville) did an internship at the Kendall Whaling Museum in Sharon, Massachusetts. Bill Mulligan spoke on the interpretation of historic sites at the annual meeting of the Kentucky Association of Museums in Cumberland, KY. Jay Parrent (Princeton) and Jeff Meyer (MA 97) also attended the conference. Jay Parrent and LeeAnn Shadrick (Slaughters) attended the Kentucky Intensive Museum Management Seminar at Bowling Green. Bill Mulligan published an essay on African American troops from Kentucky during the Civil War in a booklet that accompanied an exhibit, "A Defining Moment: Kentucky African Americans in the Civil War," at the State Fair in Louisville in August.
For the second year, the Pogue Institute presented the first person interpretation program developed with a Kentucky Humanities Council grant at Civil War Days at Columbus Belmont State Park on October 10 and 11. Jerry Wooten (MA 194) portrayed Capt. Robert Hancock Wood, CSA; Andrea Bonk, a junior from Wingo, portrayed Mrs. Sallie Law, known as "The Mother of the Confederacy"; and Robert Superchi, a junior from Kissimmee, FL, portrayed sixteen-year-old Union army private Chauncey Cooke from Wisconsin. The characters were researched and developed by graduate students Robyn Warren (Providence, KY) and Chamonie Miller (MA 1997).
Bill Mulligan delivered the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Minnesota Historical Organizations in St. Paul on October 17. He spoke on "Making Connections: Local History and Heritage Tourism."
Karen Cox, who recently completed her Ph.D. at the University of Southern Mississippi, has joined the history department and will offer courses in public history beginning in the 1998-99 academic year.
Projects
Jackson Purchase Civil War Sites Survey, 1993-1994, Kentucky Heritage Council
Historic Structures Survey, Kentucky Dam Village State Park, 1994-1995, Kentucky Heritage Council
First person interpretation program at Columbus Belmont State Park, 1995-1996, Kentucky Humanities Council and Kentucky Dept. of Parks
Preliminary Survey of Historical and Cultural Resources related to Railroading in Kentucky, 1995-1996, Kentucky Heritage Council
NR nomination for Battlefield at Sacramento and two driving tours, 1995-1996, McLean County Fiscal Court
NR nominations, KY Railway Museum, 1996-1997, Kentucky Railway Museum
Planning for ITV and short courses, 1996-1997, Kentucky Heritage Council.
Americans Remember the Civil War Conference, April 1997, Kentucky Heritage Council, Murray Tourism Commission, and College of Humanistic Studies
Survey of Hickman County Historic Sites, 1997-1998, Kentucky Heritage Council and Hickman County Fiscal Court
Comments: Bill.Mulligan@murraystate.edu