Kentucky Chronicles: A Podcast of the Kentucky Historical Society

Labor's Lost Cause | Dr. Shannon Smith

Throughout the 1880s, labor unrest shook the United States as workers demanded shorter hours, higher pay, and better working conditions. The Ohio Valley also experienced moments of conflict and violence, leading city officials in Louisville and Cincinnati to mobilize the National Guard amid fears of another civil war. Join us for a discussion with an award-winning author who has written about how memory of the Civil War shaped responses to labor unrest in the late nineteenth century. Dr. Shannon Smith is a professor of history at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota. She holds a PhD from Indiana University and a master’s degree from the University of Nevada, Reno. Her scholarship focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, African American history, and the role of the militia in riots in the nineteenth-century United States, particularly relating to issues of gender and citizenship. She has published articles in various scholarly journals and magazines. Her 2026 article, “Labor’s Lost Cause: May Day, 1886, and Fears of a New Civil War between Labor and the National Guard,” appeared in the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and received the 2026 Richard H. Collins Award for the most outstanding contribution to Kentucky history. Hosted by Dr. Allen A. Fletcher, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-re…earch-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation This episode was recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, with support and guidance from Dr. Stephanie Lang. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary,” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: history.ky.gov/ history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts

Civil War Governors of Kentucky Year in Review | Dr. Chuck Welsko, Dr. Jacob Wood, Dr. Chase McCarter

Since 2010, the Kentucky Historical Society has been the proud home of the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, a digital project committed to understanding and interpreting Kentucky’s role in the Civil War. Over the past decade, CWGK has digitized thousands of letters that crossed the desks of Kentucky’s five wartime governors. The letters offer a glimpse into the lives of ordinary Kentuckians—men and women, free and enslaved, Unionists and Confederates. It’s been another busy year for CWGK, and I recently sat down with the team to discuss their new website, other achievements, and their goals for the future. Join us for a discussion with Drs. Chuck Welsko, Jacob Wood, and Chase McCarter. Dr. Welsko earned his Ph.D. from West Virginia University. He specializes in the cultural, social, and political history of the Civil War era, with a focus on border regions, loyalty, slavery, nationalism, and identity formation. Welsko has published in West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies as well as in the edited collection Slavery and Freedom in the Bluegrass State: Revisiting My Old Kentucky Home. He is currently working on a book manuscript tentatively titled, Breaking and Remaking the Mason-Dixon Line: Loyalty in Civil War America. Dr. Jacob T. Wood is a nineteenth century political historian who works as an editorial specialist with the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2023 with his PhD under the supervision of Mark Summers. His current research focuses on party politics in the decades before the Civil War. His current book project "Any Changes, Eh?" studies the prevalence of party switching in the antebellum era. Dr. Chase H. McCarter is a historian of the U.S. Civil War era and a former editorial specialist with CWGK. His research focuses on the collapse of the Confederacy, the Lost Cause, and histories of racism. Chase received his Ph.D. in U.S. history in 2025 from the University of New Mexico under the direction of David Prior. His current book project explores the emotional underpinnings of the ex-Confederate diaspora to Latin America after the Civil War. Learn more about Civil War Governors of Kentucky: https://discovery.civilwargovernors.org/ Hosted by Dr. Allen A. Fletcher, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-re…earch-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation This episode was recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, with support and guidance from Dr. Stephanie Lang. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary,” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: history.ky.gov/ history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts

Kentucky’s Antislavery Prisoners | James M Prichard

Figures like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass are household names within the abolitionist movement. In Kentucky, well-known figures like Cassius Clay also occupy a prominent place in the antislavery narrative. But what about the everyday men and women who joined the fight against slavery in Kentucky and beyond? Although many of their names have been lost to history, scores of Kentuckians went to prison for challenging slavery. Join us today for discussion with a historian who has written about the various ways that Kentuckians resisted slavery. James M. Prichard received degrees in history from Wright State University, supervised the Kentucky State Archives Research Room for 23 years, and served as adjunct professor of history at Kentucky State University. Most recently, he was employed as a cataloger in the Filson Historical Society Special Collections. He has contributed to numerous magazines, encyclopedias, historical journals, and documentaries. He is the author of Embattled Capital: Frankfort, Kentucky in the Civil War and coauthor of 10th Kentucky Cavalry, C.S.A. Hosted by Dr. Allen A. Fletcher, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-re…earch-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation This episode was recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, with support and guidance from Dr. Stephanie Lang. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary,” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: history.ky.gov/ history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts

A Frenchman in Early Kentucky | Dr. Randolph Runyon

Just four months before the end of the American Revolution, a Frenchman named John Savary arrived in Boston. Speaking no English, Savary eventually made his way to Millersburg, Kentucky, where he operated a general store and acquired huge tracts of land. He later befriended Robert Alexander, owner of the famed Woodburn Farm in Woodford County. Savary and Alexander exchanged some eighty letters, most of them in French, where they discussed issues ranging from politics to real estate, friendship, and the state of American democracy. These letters, housed within the Alexander Family Papers at the Kentucky Historical Society, contain a wealth of information on the challenges of making one’s way in early Kentucky. Stream our discussion with a historian who has transcribed and translated Savary’s letters. Dr. Randolph Runyon is the Professor Emeritus at Miami University of Ohio, and since 2019 a resident of Bourbon County. He is the author of eighteen books. Eight are on Kentucky history and literature; the rest consist of French literary studies and humoristic verse. His most recent is A Frenchman in Early Kentucky: The Life and Letters of John Savary, who settled in Millersburg in 1795. Other subjects include the Mentelles of Lexington, Delia Webster and Lewis Hayden, the Reverend Elisha Green, Sallie Ward, and Robert Penn Warren. Hosted by Dr. Allen A. Fletcher, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. https://history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-researchers/research-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. https://history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation This episode was recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, with support and guidance from Dr. Stephanie Lang. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary,” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: https://history.ky.gov/ https://history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts

Tragedy in the Coalfields | Dr. Brian McKnight

On March 9, 1976, tragedy struck the community of Oven Fork in Letcher County, Kentucky, after an explosion at the Scotia Mine killed 15 miners. Two days later, a second explosion killed another 11 miners and federal inspectors, making the disaster one of the worst in US history. Years of legal challenges rocked this close-knit eastern Kentucky community and raised important questions about the safety of coal mining. Join us today for a discussion with Professor Brian McKnight, who has befriended members of the mine recovery team. He will tell us more about this harrowing event and how the aftermath of the Scotia Mine disaster brought major changes to the US coal industry. Dr. Brian McKnight is Professor of History and Founding Director of the Center for Appalachian Studies at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. He has written Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia; Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia; and “We Fight For Peace”: Twenty-Three American Soldiers, Prisoners of War, and Turncoats in the Korean War. He has served as editor of The Age of Jackson and The Guerrilla Hunters: Irregular Conflicts During the Civil War. Hosted by Dr. Allen A. Fletcher, associate editor of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and coordinator of our Research Fellows program, which brings in researchers from across the world to conduct research in the rich archival holdings of the Kentucky Historical Society. https://history.ky.gov/khs-for-me/for-researchers/research-fellowships Kentucky Chronicles is presented by the Kentucky Historical Society, with support from the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. https://history.ky.gov/about/khs-foundation This episode was recorded and produced by Gregory Hardison, with support and guidance from Dr. Stephanie Lang. Our theme music, “Modern Documentary,” was created by Mood Mode and is used courtesy of Pixabay. To learn more about our publication of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, or to learn more about our Research Fellows program, please visit our website: https://history.ky.gov/ https://history.ky.gov/khs-podcasts