How Kentucky Became Southern

by Wall, Maryjean

• ISBN13: 9780813136561
• ISBN10: 0813136563
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-12
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

Now renowned for its rich tradition of Thoroughbred breeding and racing, Kentucky was not always the center of the horse industry. During and after the Civil War, Kentucky was perceived as a border state with a shifting identity and stereotyped as violent and lawless. Horse breeders and businessmen in the state struggled to keep up with competition from their counterparts in New York and New Jersey. In How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders, turf writer and historian Maryjean Wall draws from nineteenth-century periodicals, letters, and court documents to tell the story of how Kentucky earned its reputation as a genteel, beautiful, and quintessentially Southern state. Examining the impact of the Civil War on horse racing, the North-South rivalry between the horses Kentucky and Asteroid, and the disappearance of African Americans from high-profile positions as jockeys and trainers, How Kentucky Became Southern chronicles the struggles of the Kentucky horse industry and the eventual reemergence of the Bluegrass region as the horse capital of the world. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Maryjean Wall served as the turf writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader for thirty-five years. She is the recipient of three Eclipse Awards and three John Hervery Awards for journalistic excellence in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing. She was inducted as a journalist into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame and was twice nominated for a Pulitzer prize. She holds a doctorate in American history from the University of Kentucky.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Fast Track into the Future	p. 13
The Greening of the Bluegrass	p. 54
A Killing Spree and a Hanging Tree	p. 90
"All the Best Jockeys of the West Are Colored"	p. 109
Old Money Meets the Arrivistes	p. 143
Winners and Losers in the Age of Reform	p. 172
The Idea of Horse Country Reclaimed	p. 202
Notes	p. 243
Selected Bibliography	p. 269
Index	p. 277
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