Kentucky Teacher

The Kentucky Historical Society is seeking teachers to serve as judges for the Kentucky History Day contest April 28. Judges will help determine who will represent Kentucky at the national contest this summer.

The Kentucky Junior Historical Society (KJHS) is a youth program that runs throughout the school year in which participants explore Kentucky’s history through service-learning and research projects, field trips to historic sites and academic contests.

The year is capped off by an annual meeting and state History Day contest in April, the winners of which compete in the national contest in College Park, Md., each June.

Those interested should contact Cheryl Caskey at (502) 564-1792, ext. 4461 by April 5 to participate.

The workshop, “Navigating Wildcat Turf: Conducting Research at the University of Kentucky,” will be held this Saturday, March 10, from 10:30 a.m. to 1: 30 p.m. ET at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort.

The workshop will be led by Kentucky Historical Society senior librarian and reference specialist Cheri Daniels.

Daniels will review resources available to the public at UK. The morning session will explore the challenges involved in visiting the campus, using each library and navigating the usage and circulation policies. The afternoon session will highlight some specific collections of interest with a large emphasis on statewide newspaper holdings and evolving digital access.

Registration is required before noon on Friday, March 9 for this free workshop. A light lunch is available, if requested at time of registration, for $6, payable at the door. Contact the Reference Desk at KHSRefDesk@ky.gov or (502) 564-1792, ext. 4460.

Initiated in 1998 by the Kentucky Oral History Commission (KOHC), the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky Oral History Project continues to provide resources to Kentuckians and teachers in the form of an online database and the documentary Living the Story: The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky.

The original oral history project documented the civil rights movement in Kentucky through interviews focusing on the black experience from 1930 to 1975. Nearly 200 interviews were collected statewide, resulting in the production of radio programs, symposiums, live museum theatre performances and a 2010 publication, Freedom on the Border: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky, by Tracy K’Meyer and Catherine Fosl. Two resources continue to have a lasting impact on educators and the public: a documentary, Living the Story: The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky, and an online database, containing keyword searchable video and audio clips from the oral history interviews and 10,000 pages of transcripts.

The Kentucky Oral History Commission is an agency of the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS).

For airtimes of any of these broadcast pieces, visit www.ket.org. To order a DVD of Living the Story: The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky, contact KOHC Administrator Sarah Milligan at sarah.milligan@ky.gov or (502) 564-1792, ext. 4434.

The database with expanded documentary content and full access to the original oral history interviews can be found on the KOHC page of the KHS website at www.history.ky.gov/oralhistory.

The Digging Deeper for the Gold workshop is scheduled for Dec. 10 in Frankfort.

At this workshop, Deborah Lord Campisano will offer advice for determining a research objective and preparing a research strategy for solving family history mysteries. Case study examples will illustrate methods for getting the most from census records and court records including wills, administrations, court minutes, land records and tax records.

Presented by the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) and the Kentucky Genealogical Society, the free family history workshop series takes place each month at the Center for Kentucky History. Topics range from how to begin documenting ancestry to specialized resources for experienced genealogists.

To make a reservation, contact the KHS Reference Desk at (502) 564-1792, ext. 4460 or KHSRefDesk@ky.gov. The registration deadline for this workshop is noon on Friday, Dec. 9.

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Donnie Wilkerson talks with his 5th-grade history class at Jamestown Elementary School (Russell County). Wilkerson was recently named the 2011 Kentucky History Teacher of the Year. Photo by Amy Wallot, Sept. 2, 2011

Walk by Donnie Wilkerson’s 5^th grade social studies classroom at Jamestown Elementary (Russell County) and you might think that his students are just eating ice cream.

But what they’re really doing is learning about the War of 1812 – by way of U.S. President James Madison’s favorite sweet treat, strawberry ice cream.

Wilkerson’s students may spend 25 minutes doing traditional work and five minutes eating ice cream, but it is the five minutes they remember, he said.

“My students ask, ‘Are we going to do any work today,’ and I tell them, ‘You’re working every day; you just don’t know it sometimes,’” said Wilkerson, who is in his eighth year of teaching.

“You can’t have strawberry ice cream every day.”

In recognition of his creative and engaging approach, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) announced in June that Wilkerson had been named the 2011 Kentucky History of the Year. The award is co-sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, HISTORY (History Channel) and Preserve America. Read the full story

Effective Dec. 11, 2011, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) history campus in downtown Frankfort will adopt a seasonal public schedule.

The KHS history campus – which includes the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, the Old State Capitol and the Kentucky Military History Museum at the Old State Arsenal – will not be available to walk-in visitors from Dec. 11, 2011 through March 9, 2012. However, groups of 10 or more will be accommodated with a reservation throughout the winter season.

The history campus will be open to walk-in visitors and researchers on Dec. 10, 2011; Jan. 14, 2012 and Feb. 11, 2012. Read the full story

The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) announced recently that Donnie Wilkerson, a teacher at Jamestown Elementary School (Russell County) has been named the 2011 Kentucky History Teacher of the Year.

Wilkerson has been teaching at Jamestown Elementary for seven years after a diverse career that included owning several businesses and serving as the mayor of Jamestown from 1993-98. Read the full story

The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) will host Food for Thought: Every Seed has a Story with Deborah Larkin June 15 at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort.

The heirloom vegetables, herbs and flowers that people eat, savor and enjoy each come with unique histories. Larkin, a specialist in heirloom plants and their traditional uses, will share techniques on seed saving and heirloom gardening. Larkin worked as horticulturist/herbalist at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill for 27 years.

The menu for the luncheon features crudités with Benedictine dip, spinach salad, grilled chicken, farm stand corn salad, country-style green beans, honey cornbread muffins, blackberry cobbler and iced tea or coffee.

Tickets to the Food for Thought luncheon, which is part of the KHS Highlighting History series, are $18 for KHS members and $23 for other patrons.

To make a reservation, contact Julia Curry at (502) 564-1792, ext. 4414. Reservations are due by June 10.

To find out more about other KHS programs, visit www.history.ky.gov.

The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) will participate in Blue Star Museums, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Blue Star Families, and more than 1,300 museums across America to offer free admission to veterans and active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day, May 30, through Labor Day, Sept. 5, 2011.

This will include access to the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History (including the newly renovated “Toyota Kentucky Hall of Governors”) and the Old State Capitol. This offer applies to veteran and active duty members of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and National Guard and Reserve.

More than 1,000 museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and American Samoa are taking part in the initiative, including more than 500 new museums this year. Museums included represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums, history museums, nature centers and 70 children’s museums.

To learn more about current and upcoming exhibitions at KHS, visit www.history.ky.gov.

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies and the philanthropic sector. Visit the NEA at www.arts.gov for more information.

Effective Dec. 12, 2010, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) history campus in downtown Frankfort will adopt a seasonal public schedule.

The KHS history campus, which includes the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, the Old State Capitol and the Kentucky Military History Museum at the Old State Arsenal, will close to the public from Dec. 12, 2010, through March 11, 2011. This seasonal schedule was recently adopted by the KHS Executive Committee (governing board). Read the full story