Tagged: Kentucky Historical Society

The Kentucky Historical Society is releasing a smartphone app so users can find out more about the Commonwealth's historic sites.  The Explore Kentucky History app connects historical markers, related items in the Historical Society's collections and user-submitted images and stories to points of interest on a map. The information is then grouped together into tours, with a Civil War-themed tour the first available.  The KHS says it hopes Kentuckians and local history groups will participate, submitting images and stories.  The app is available for free.

The Kentucky Historical Society and schools around the commonwealth are partnering to create a new curriculum called “The Right Answer.”  The project is partially funded by a $110,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Historical Society says the curriculum is intended to increase students' skills in visual and historical literacy, as well as critical thinking with help from historical collections. The KHS plans a statewide pilot study to develop the program.

When was the last time you hand wrote a letter? For most people, not recently. In the 19th century, letters were vital links to family and friends. And for historians today, they are a snapshot of daily life. The Kentucky Historical Society recently added 27 letters to its collection. Called the Watson and Robinson letters, they contain information about the lives of free and enslaved families in Hopkinsville and Lexington. Louise Jones is the director of Special Collections and the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library. Jones spoke with Angela Hatton about the significance of the Watson and Robinson collection.