Kentucky Progress
Magazine
We recently acquired the April
1929 issue (Volume 1, number 8) of this publication by the Kentucky
Progress Commission. The state-chartered organization was
created by the state legislature in 1928 to "Advertise Kentucky to
the World" and that's what this publication does for fifty pages
(plus covers). The ads are fascinating, but the subject matter
of this issue is as well. Notable articles include one about
"My Old Kentucky Home", and others other about historic Bardstown, a
trip through Harlan County's mountains, Kentucky's inter-collegiate
All-State football team, Morehead State Normal School and Teachers'
College, and Governor Metcalfe, who is adjudged a "Colorful
Character". There's a current (1929) highway map, a list of
what then were considered to be the state's points of interest,
material about planting trees and shrubs on the state highways, and
more. Download this issue in PDF format for $4.00.
The Brown Family of Liberty Hall
This article, reprinted from the
Filson Club History Quarterly of April 1942, is a genealogical and
historical piece about that Frankfort, KY family and its memorable
events. The article, written by Bayless Harden, appears to be
well researched and would no doubt be useful to anyone interested in
early Kentucky history or anyone with the surname of Brown desiring
to track down yet another Brown family in territory from which
migration paths led north, west, and south. 15+ pages, PDF
format, download for $3.00.
The Old Kentucky Home
By
Young E. Allison. Aside
from times like the Kentucky Derby, one seldom hears “My Old
Kentucky Home” (even though it is the state song of Kentucky)
anymore. While today we have a more realistic view of African
slavery than Stephen Foster’s songs depict and we know that in the
peculiar institution benevolence was more the exception than the
rule, the songs themselves, and the history of the place in
Bardstown where this specific song was composed and first performed,
are both important historically. This 1921 booklet represents a
point of view and a point in time. Read 80 years later, it appears
sentimental and even misinformed. At the time, it was most probably
perceived as neither. 43+ pages, PDF format, download now
for $4.00.
Haycraft's History of
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
By Samuel Haycraft (1869). This
history of an historic Kentucky town (and neighborhood) is told by
someone who participated in many of the historical events reported
through his long association with the courts of the County. Some
may fault it as being more or less a history of litigation in that
town, but they overlook both the litigious nature of frontier
Americans at that time and the vantage point of community goings-on
that the courthouse provides. As well as events there are plenty of
names here, and personal histories as well. We think that it’s no
accident of history that Haycraft’s History was already on its
second republication in the edition we reproduce here.
188+ pages, PDF format, download now for $4.25.
A Brief History of Boone
County, Kentucky
By Ann Lutes (1954).
This short history of Boone County was presented to the Boone County
Historical Society in 1955. It is an essential for anyone
interested in Boone County history, recommended for anyone with a
general interest in the history of Kentucky, and may prove useful to
those with an interest in the opening of Kentucky and mid-continent
American to settlement. 16+ pages, in PDF format, download now
for $3.25.