The Lecture will be given by Ms. Katherine Johnson, Associate Professor and Archivist for Manuscript Collections at University Archives and Records Center, and Archivist/Curator at the Kornhauser Health Sciences Library at the University of Louisville.

Ms. Johnson has researched the work and contributions of the Nursing Staff for the Army and Red Cross during World War 1, and her talk is expected to be one of the most interesting Lectures in the Series.

The Doors open at 6:30, and admission is only $5.00 for the Lecture, and $10.00 for both the Lecture and admission to the Camp Zachary Taylor Photographic Exhibit, which will be open for it’s last, night time viewing.

The Photographic Exhibit closes on August 8th, so if you have not had a chance to make it, this would be your last chance to see it in the evening. I hope to see you there!

Ken Maguire

The Lecture will begin at 7:00 and following the Lecture, the Camp Zachary Taylor Photographic Exhibit will be open for extra hours for anyone who would like tour it. Admission for the Lecture is only $5, and $10 for both the Lecture and the Exhibit. The Conrad Caldwell House is located at 1402 St James Court, at Magnolia.

Ken Maguire

The First of three Lectures takes place on July 6th, at 7:00. Ms. Carrie Daniels will be talking about the Library System during world War 1. She will be detailing how the men and women of the military were served by the ALA in 1917.

The Second Lecture on July 13th will be given by Mr. Ed Taylor. Mr. Taylor is Camp Zachary Taylor Historian and will talk about the building and occupation of Camp Taylor.

Our Third Lecture will take place on July 27th, by Ms. Katherine Johnson. She will be speaking on the subject of Nursing during World War 1.

All of the Lectures will take place at the Conrad Caldwell House, at 1402 St James Court. Admission to each Lecture is $5.00, or $10 for the Lecture and Exhibit. I hope to see you there,

Ken Maguire

We will be displaying over 30 Original Panoramic Photographs from Camp Zachary Taylor, of which 20 will be new photos that have not previously been seen. There will also be artifacts from the Camp and other items of interest. We are also planning a lecture or two, so check back for more details.

If you missed our Exhibit two years ago, you will have another chance to see it again, but don’t delay, it will only run for six weeks, ending the first week of August. I will be posting more info about the exhibit, as to the start and end date, and hours of operation. I hope to see you there.

Ken Maguire

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=336044514633

Ken Maguire

The History and Issues Discussion board has also started a Facebook page. Log on and join the group.

and here http://brokensidewalk.com/2010/03/01/does-louisville-need-a-history-museum/

From the Broken Sidewalk website, this is part of the article. Check out the entire article and add your comments.

“Cincinnati has one. So does Atlanta, Richmond and New York. But does Louisville need a Museum to showcase it’s long and storied history at the Falls of the Ohio.”

Ken M

The Lincoln Institute was founded in 1909 for African American students who could no longer attend Berea College. The Day Law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1904, mandated the segregation of Kentucky higher education institutions. The law was aimed at Kentucky’s  only interracial College at Berea.

Berea graduates, Dr. James Bond and Kirke Smith, joined in the campaign to find funds to build a new school. Andrew Carnegie gave a gift of $200,000, and donations were solicited from and received from private individuals. The Lincoln Institute was to be modeled after Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute, and the school was initially referred to as the Tuskegee of Kentucky. Unfortunately, this idea was soon dropped because funding would never be sufficient for the Lincoln Institute to become a college.

Just finding a site for the school had been a major feat. School founders were unable to secure land in Lexington or Louisville. Property was finally acquired in Anchorage, in Jefferson County, but the white residents in the community opposed the idea, and a $2000 gift was given to the School to persuade the search committee to seek another location. Finally, a farm in Simpsonville was purchased, and again whites opposed the idea of an African American school in their community. Shelby county citizens quickly passed the Holland Bill, which allowed voters to approve or deny the establishment of industrial schools in the entire county. The Lincoln Institute administrators fought the bill and it was declared unconstitutional in June 1910.

To appease the community, the school administrators decided that only Lincoln Institute students who lived at the school would be allowed to enroll. This would keep large numbers of African American families from moving into the Shelbyville area. Also, Shelbyville’s mayor, who owned a construction company, was given a contract to assist in the building of the school. The first building, Berea Hall, was constructed in 1911. The Lincoln Institute opened in October 1912.

The day the school opened, a group bearing arms barred the entrance to the new Lincoln Institute. The group was disbanded by the persuasions of Dr. Bond without violence. Dr. Bond also provided escort for the arriving students past the demonstrating crowd of white protestors. The opening of the Lincoln Institute proceeded as planned with Rev. Eugene Thomas, pastor of the Berea Union Church, being it’s first president. Dr. James Bond became the school financial agent.

To read more about Dr. Bond, his life from slavery to his part in the civil rights movement and his contributions to Camp Zachary Taylor and the YMCA,  visit our “History” page and click on the “Notable Veterans” link.

Ken Maguire

One of the reasons that Louisville was selected to build one of the camps here was, that it had the option of using the land around West Point Ky for Artillery practice. West Point had 16,000 acres available for an artillery range. This land had been used in the past for similar training as far back as the civil war. Camp Taylor sent men to that site from Sept 1917 until August of 1918. Men were housed in tents due to there only being a few permanent structures on the land at the time. It was not until April 1918 that a temporary camp was authorized to be built at West Point. That construction began in June of 1918. In a few weeks it was decided that the area around West Point was not large enough and the camp was expanded to take in the town of Stithton, Ky. The Constructing Quartermaster in charge of building what was now going to be named Camp Knox, was Major W. H. Radcliffe.

The new Camp was built to house 10,000 men and had a firing range with the capacity of 50 cannons. Upon the completion of Camp Knox, the US Army conducted the first training camp for artillery in the United States at Camp Zachary Taylor.  The” Field Artillery Central Officers Training School” (FACOTS)  was held at Camp Zachary Taylor, and Camp Knox was the” hands on” training location.

In reality, Fort (Camp) Knox was actually the 17th Cantonment build, although only 16 were authorized by congress in 1917. Now home of the Armor School, Ireland Army Hospital, the Patton Museum and the United States Bullion Depository, it houses 23,000 men and women. If not for Camp Zachary Taylor, Fort Knox may not have ever been built.

One fact that they did not mention was, that during the 1917–18 winter, the coldest temperatures on record for four consecutive days in the month of December happened during this time. The records still hold up, and they are the only four consecutive days of record cold temperatures ever to be recorded in Louisville.

The dates that this occurred in 1917 were Dec 8th @ -1 Deg F., Dec 9th @ -6 Deg F., Dec 10th @ -4 Deg F., and Dec 11th @ -3 Deg F. On January 12th, 1918, the temperature dropped to -15 Deg F., and is the record low for that date.

The 1917–1918 winter also holds the record for the most snow fall in one winter season for Louisville, at 50.2 inches. Also, on December 8th, 1917, the deepest snowfall for the month of December was recorded at 13.6 inches. These types of record cold temperatures were not exclusive to the Ohio Valley region, as the entire nation was experiencing a very unusual weather pattern. The colder than normal weather trend had been developing for several months prior, with a colder than usual September and October in 1917.

It was recorded in the Quartermasters Report on the camp construction, that the brand new steam heating system was not capable of producing enough heat in the Hospital Group. The temperatures in the Operating Rooms could only achieve a constant temperature of 40 Degrees. The wards only were able to maintain a temperature in the mid 40’s throughout the entire Hospital group. Many of the steam lines froze and had to be constantly thawed out to allow the steam to reach the buildings. The building construction would also have contributed to part of the problem, as there was no insulation of any type in the walls. The buildings were all wood frame and elevated above the ground on piers which allowed cold air under the floors and into the buildings.

The Officers had the luxury of having steam heat also, but not sure how warm they were able to maintain it in their quarters. All of the remaining buildings were heated by coal burning stoves. I would venture to say that the barracks interiors were lucky to make it to the freezing point during this 17 day record cold snap.

It’s a wonder that more of them didn’t die from pneumonia. Of course, the Camp was just recoveing from the first wave of the Bird Flu Panedmic that peaked at the Camp in October of 1917. It was just a bad winter all the way around.

Ken M