Discover the leading scholarly publication and journal of record in Kentucky history.
In addition to research articles (and occasionally historiographic essays), each issue of The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society features an extensive book review section, typically on a wide array of U.S. history topics.
Published since 1903, the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society is available in print and electronically on Project MUSE. Archived issues (from 1903 to the present, with a five-year moving wall) are available on JSTOR.
Full Run Table of Contents (PDF) | Index vols 68-110 (1970-2012) (PDF)
The Register Derby
"America's Native Spirit": Prohibition and the Consolidation of the Kentucky Bourbon Industry wins the 2024 Register Derby. Congratulations to author Bailey Browning!
The Register Derby
Access the articles for FREE on ProjectMUSE.
In the Beginning: Kentucky and the Failure of the First Anti-Evolution Legislation by Emily Muhich
How Emancipation Redefined White Loyalty in Civil War Kentucky by Lucas R. Somers
Editorial Advisory Board
2020-2023
Dr. Karida Brown – UCLA
Dr. Anya Jabour – University of Montana
Dr. Joseph Pearson – Union College
Dr. Fay Yarbrough – Rice University
2018-2021
Dr. Jonathan Chu – University of Massachusetts-Boston
Dr. Joy M. Giguere – Pennsylvania State University-York
Dr. Timothy Minchin – La Trobe University (Australia)
Dr. Jessica Wilkerson – West Virginia University
2016-2019
Dr. Chad Montrie – University of Massachusetts-Lowell
Dr. Katherine C. Mooney – Florida State University
Dr. Aaron D. Purcell – Virginia Tech
Dr. Honor Sachs – University of Colorado Boulder
Featured Interviews with Register Contributions
Listen to podcast interviews from the WEKU radio program Eastern Standard, hosted by Tom Martin. Subscribe to download the podcast on iTunes.
- Chad Montrie, professor of history at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and former Register board member, discusses activism in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky.
- Dr. Jonathan Coleman, director of the Faulkner-Morgan Archives, discusses the life of Lige Clarke, an LGBTQ activist in eastern Kentucky featured in a special issue of the Register on Appalachia post-1970.
- Dr. John Davis, assistant professor, KCTCS Hopkinsville, discusses the history of pandemics, what they have in common, and what we learn as we navigate the coronavirus outbreak.
- Dr. Anya Jabour, Regents Professor of History at the University of Montana shares the remarkable story of Kentucky-born activist Sophonisba Breckinridge.
- Dr. Andrew Patrick, assistant professor of history at Centre College, details the work by enslaved Kentuckians in the hemp industry.
- Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor, professor of history at the University of Kentucky, discusses material culture and partisan loyalty in Civil War Kentucky.
- Dr. Carole Emberton, associate professor of history at the University at Buffalo on documenting and reconstructing day-to-day lives of the enslaved.
- Dr. Stephanie Lang interviewed Kathryn Newfont about expanding the Appalachian Kentucky narrative with the aid of historical perspective.
- Gary O’Dell on horse racing in 18th and 19th century Kentucky.
- Dr. Anne Marshall and Dr. Joy Giguere on the removal or relocation of Confederate statues.
- Dr. Jessica Wilkerson, author of “To Live Here You Have to Fight,” discusses the determination of women in Appalachia.
- Dr. Caroline Peyton (part 1) and (part 2) author of “Kentucky’s Atomic Graveyard: Maxey Flats & Environmental Inequity in Rural America,” (Vol. 115, No. 2 | Spring 2017). The article won two national history awards.
- Courtney Kisat discusses her award-winning Register article on birth control access in eastern Kentucky. Her article, “Completely Sold on Birth Control”: Rural Extension Work of the Kentucky Birth Control League, 1933–1942 (Vol. 116, Nos. 3&4 | Summer/Autumn 2018) won two national history awards.
- Zada Komara, Lecturer in the Lewis Honors College at UK, and Kentucky Appalachian Studies colleague interviewed by Dr. Stephanie Lang on coal camps and material culture in Appalachia.
- Thomas Weyent, Assistant professor at Black Hills State University, shares on Cold War Christmas in Appalachia.
- Richard Bailey, Chair/Associate Professor at Canisius College and KHS Research Fellow speaks on his research on Wendell Berry.
- Aaron Purcell, Director, Special Collections Virginia Tech and KHS Research Fellow talks about Cumberland Falls.
Watch interviews with KHS Research Fellows playlist. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications of future interviews.
Contents of Current Issue
CONTENTS
Volume 121, No 4 (Autumn 2023)
Stating History: Arizona and Kentucky in Comparison
Introduction: Stating History by Stephanie M. Lang and David C. Turpie
ARTICLES
Section 1: Indigenous Erasure and Selective Remembering in Kentucky and Arizona
Section Introduction
This is Native Land: Disentangling Indigenous Meanings of Homelands in State Histories by Farina King and Jacob F. Lee
What is a Hunting Ground? Reflections on Indigenous Kentucky by Jacob F. Lee
Sacred Waters in Indigenous Homelands: History of Erasure and Hijacking by Farina King
Afterword by Farina King and Jacob F. Lee
Section 2: Labor History and Capitalism
Section Introduction
The Intimacies of Infrastructure: Histories of Exploitation, Labor, and Community Life in Territorial Arizona and Kentucky at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Dana M. Caldemeyer and Traci Brynne Voyles
Toward a New History of Labor and Capitalism in Kentucky by Dana M. Caldemeyer
The Laguna Diversion Dam in Arizona: Reconsidering the Dams on the Colorado River, Starting with the First by Traci Brynne Voyles
Section 3: The War on Drugs and Addiction
Section Introduction
The War on Drugs in the South and West by Stephanie M. Lang
People of Blame in a Place of Blame: The War on Drugs in Appalachia by Lesly-Marie Buer
Pouring “Across Wild Border”: Historicizing Anti-Drug Narratives and Public Policy in Arizona by Holly M. Karibo
Section 4: Modern Conservatism in the South and West
Section Introduction
Modern Conservatism’s Long Origins in Twentieth-Century Kentucky and Arizona by Allen Fletcher
Gender, Politics, and the Continuities of Conservatism in Twentieth-Century Kentucky and Tennessee by Nancy Elizabeth Baker
“All Done in Secret”: The Sun Belt’s Un-Democratic Origins by Elizabeth Tandy Shermer
Section 5: Queer Archives
“Kinds of Histories That Save Lives” : A Q&A on Queer Archives in Kentucky and Arizona by Eric Gonzaba, Jonathan Coleman and Jamie A. Lee
Section 6: Social Movements and Activism
Section Introduction
Regional Social Movements and Activism in the South and West by Lora M. Key
Place Matters: A Roundtable on Social Movements and Activism in the South and West by Doris S. Morgan Rueda, Darius V. Echeverría, Melanie Beals Goan, and Jessica Wilkerson
Print Subscription
Print edition subscriptions are $40 per year for individuals and $60 per year for institutions, plus 6% sales tax. If you are a tax-exempt organization, please include documentation. To subscribe, call 502-564-1792, or email KHSPublications@ky.gov. KHS members receive an electronic subscription as a member benefit. Access the member portal here.
Back Issues
Recent back issues are available in print for purchase. Regular issues are $12, double issues are $15, plus 6% sales tax. Call 502-564-1792.
Article Submissions
Although dedicated to Kentucky history, the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society strives to be historiographically relevant to scholars everywhere. We, therefore, seek article submissions that effectively engage in significant scholarly debates. We subject submitted manuscripts to a rigorous review and editing process before we publish them. We welcome submissions on all aspects and time periods of Kentucky history.
Prospective authors should watch for our posted Calls for Papers on H-Kentucky and elsewhere.
To inquire or to submit a manuscript, email Dr. Stephanie Lang, Editor.