Julia Chinn had a major impact on politics in Kentucky and America in the 1800s, but few people will recognize her name or the role she played.
“She’s literally been erased,” says Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, Ruth N. Halls Associate Professor of History and Gender Studies at Indiana University. “We don’t even know where she’s buried. We’ve literally lost a vice president’s wife, but because she was enslaved, no one cared.”
Learn more about Julia Chinn and watch the video.
Barbara Kingsolver’s Kentucky Memories
In season 10 of Kentucky Life, bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver talked about how her childhood in Carlisle, Kentucky, influenced her writing.
“Where I grew up, there were so many things to love,” says Kingsolver. “The maplewoods, the alfalfa fields behind our house where the meadowlarks sang every morning. The stories that came along with everybody and everything. The extraordinary ways that people take care of each other in a small town.”
Continue reading about Barbara Kingsolver and watch the video.
Louisville Sculptor Enid Yandell
“Everybody in the city is familiar with the Daniel Boone statue in Cherokee Park,” says Louisville artist Ewing Fahey. “But how many people out of the thousands of people could tell you who made it? Most people don’t know.”
Fahey is a founding member of Enid: Generations of Women Sculptors, a Louisville collaborative of artists named after the sculptor Enid Yandell.
Read more about Enid Yandell and watch the video.
Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln is best known as the wife of one of America’s most revered historical figures. But the Lexington-born eventual first lady was a smart and shrewd figure in her own right, according to historians who have studied her life.
“Mary Todd was an incredibly well educated woman, particularly for her era,” says Gwen Thompson, Executive Director of the Mary Todd Lincoln House. “Her father was liberally minded in regard to female education. Records suggest that all of his daughters received really impressive formal education.”
Continue reading about Mary Todd Lincoln and watch the video.
