America 250

Shake Rag Neighborhood: Past and Present

The Shake Rag neighborhood is a vital part of Bowling Green’s past and present. The downtown community grew steadily after the Civil War as a segregated part of the city for many African Americans.  Join us for a panel discussion about this vibrant National Register of Historic Places neighborhood and the community’s culture. Learn more about those who built Shake Rag, along with present day community leaders.

Sponsored by the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

Nancy Green became one of the first prosperous African American women in the U.S. Green was born enslaved in Montgomery County, Kentucky, in 1834. While in Kentucky she worked for the Walker family and moved with them to Chicago just after the Great Fire, in 1872. Eight years later, Nancy Green became "Aunt Jemima." Businessman R.T. Davis had purchased a pre-mixed, self-rising recipe for pancakes and wanted an "Aunt Jemima," a character from minstrel shows which were popular at the time, to be the face of his pancakes. "Aunt Jemima" would be a friendly, animated, African American cook who served a wealthy white family. Playing the role of "Aunt Jemima" gave Green financial independence few African Americans and few women experienced at the time. She used her wealth as a means to empower her community. She was particularly active in her church, leading missionary trips, investing in anti-poverty programs for African Americans, and advocating for equal rights. Though her work depended on a derogatory racial stereotype, her financial success demonstrates how black Americans could sometimes play on and use such images to their advantage.

Join us for this amazing Kentucky Chautauqua program by Debra Faulk.

This program was funded in part by Kentucky Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  

Location: Kentucky Museum 

September 7, 2023

Presentation by Dr. Nicholas Hartlep, Associate Professor of Education Studies and Robert Charles Billings Endowed Chair in Education, Berea College. A leading authority on the model minority stereotype, Dr. Hartlep will untangle the model minority stereotype of Asian/Americans in a way that will illuminate three racist elements of the model minority myth's sophistry and discursive nature, and its reliance on dog whistle politics. This talk will draw from three of his previous books: The Model Minority Stereotype: Demystifying Asian American Success, The Model Minority Stereotype Reader: Critical and Challenging Readings for the 21st Century and Killing the Model Minority Stereotype: Asian American Counter Stories and Complicity.

This program was funded in part by Kentucky Humanities.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

October 18, 2023

Presentation by Dr. Cynthia Williams Resor, Foundation Professor, College of Education, Eastern Kentucky University. This program will explore the lives of Kentucky women, free and enslaved, as Resor prepares recipes from early nineteenth century cookbooks such as Lettice Bryan’s The Kentucky Housewife. Reviewing how women produced, preserved, and prepared food in pre-industrial kitchens, Resor explores the often-overlooked “women’s work” of the past and present and how teaching it can enhance our understanding of everyday Americans.

This program was funded in part by Kentucky Humanities.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

November 8, 2023

Panel discussion with WKU historians Dr. David Lee, University Historian; Dr. Kate Brown, Associate Professor, History; Dr. Jennifer Hanley, Associate Professor History; and Dr. Marko Dumančić, Director, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. The past has always been subject to interpretation discussion and reinterpretation. However, for many, history was often presented to students as a singular agreed upon narrative. Today, most historians agree that history should be studied from a multi-perspective approach. Join panelists in an exploration of how history has been, is currently, and might be, taught in the future.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

February 7, 2024

Presentation by Dr. Kathy Bullock, Professor Emerita of Music, Berea College. Through songs and stories, this presentation will share the journey and the contributions of African American women in the struggle for the Right to Vote in the U.S. This program will highlight stories and struggles of African American women leaders, from the late 1870s up to the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and beyond.

This program was funded in part by Kentucky Humanities.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

March 9, 2024

Presentation with Dr. Pearlie Johnson, Independent Scholar and member, Kentucky Humanities Council’s Speakers Bureau. Based on historical records, secondary sources, and oral history interviews with quilters across Kentucky, Johnson discusses 19th century quilts made by black women living and working on slave plantations, traditional quilts made by African American women of the 20th century, as well as contemporary art quilts made by women of all cultural groups of the 21st century. Her work explores women’s history, storytelling, identity politics, social activism, and empowerment. Her study of quilts in Kentucky is aimed at examining cross-cultural parallels in technique and assemblage, as well as revealing unique designs.

This program was funded in part by Kentucky Humanities.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

April 9, 2024

Finding the First Farmers  with Kentucky Archaeological Survey staff and guest curators: Dr. David Pollack, and Dr. A. Gwynn Henderson.Panelists from the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS) will discuss the diverse nature of indigenous farm life in the Barren River drainage of south-central Kentucky during the Mississippian era. Exploring recent archaeological finds, the team will expand on the First Farmers of the Barren River Valley exhibition at the Kentucky Museum to address misconceptions on indigenous peoples’ identity, technology, settlement patterns, foodways, and trade routes to reveal the complex societies present before Europeans arrived in what is now North America. They will also explore the similarities between indigenous farmers and Kentucky farm families of the late nineteenth to early twenty-first centuries.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

Join panelists for a discussion reflecting on Bowling Green’s history of welcoming residents from all over the globe, while learning more about the diverse international communities represented in southcentral Kentucky. Panelists will provide insights into how new Americans have shaped SOKY’s institutions and promote welcoming efforts that support the successful integrations of our newest Kentuckians.

Panel moderator Leyda Becker, BG International Communities Liaison with fellow panelists: Albert Mbanfu, Executive Director International Center of Kentucky;  April Memeh,Karenni Cultural Preservation Center; and  Dmytro Kondratovych, financial specialist for the city of Bowling Green

Sponsored by the Kentucky Museum Friends.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

Black Material Culture with Dr. Tiffany Momon, Assistant Professor, University of the South. This talk will focus on Dr. Momon's community-based historic preservation projects with Black Craftspeople Digital Archive, a black digital humanities project that centers black craftspeople, their lives, and their contributions to the making and building of America. The talk will engage with how black craftspeople are identified and researched in the historical record and how institutions are adjusting their curatorial practices to better collect, preserve, and engages with this history. Dr. Momon is the founder and co-director of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive and has worked with organizations such as the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winterthur Museum and Gardens, and the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum.

Sponsored by the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission.

Location: Kentucky Museum 

Critical Race Theory in Kentucky: What is it and why is it the "Bogeyman" in the classroom? Panel discussion with moderator Dr. Andrew Rosa, Associate Professor, History, WKU; Dr. Jeffrey Budziak, Assistant Dean, Political Science; Dr. Sophia Arjana, Associate Professor, History and Dr. Amy Cappiccie, Professor, Social Work. Panelists will introduce and discuss Critical Race Theory and why the flurry of bills, resolutions, and other legislative actions have sparked debates over the role of teaching race in America. Panelists will reflect on whether the "problem" of Critical Race Theory truly exists in the classroom and the origins of these political movements to control school curriculum.

Sponsored by the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission.

Location: Kentucky Museum