Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox, 1900-1950

by Klotter, James C.

• ISBN13: 9780916968342
• ISBN10: 0916968340
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-06-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

" Published by the Kentucky Historical Society and distributed by the University Press of Kentucky This volume is the first comprehensive and in-depth history of Kentucky during the first half of the 20th century. State Historian James C. Klotter examines in depth not only the people and their lives but also the state's economy, educational system, cultural activities, politics, and folkways. He demonstrates how, enduring images and stereotypes developed that have shaped the state's progress throughout the century. In his view, the first half of the century were years of unrealized promises and failed dreams. Yet amid poverty there was plenty; along with educational weaknesses were cultural strengths; beside partisanship there was leadership. "This is an account of what happened in Kentucky and to Kentucky," Klotter writes. "It focuses on the process and the possibility of change, and how the people sought to adjust and to balance the positives of their past with the promises of their future. To know better what happened between 1900 and 1950 requires a study of not only the formal actions taken, but also the irony of actions, the presence of paradoxes, and the quieter things that shaped the state's character, its essence, its heart and its soul." A landmark in historical writing about the state, Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox is complemented by more than one hundred photographs and illustrations.

Author Biography

James C. Klotter, State Historian of Kentucky and professor of history at Georgetown College

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
``The Sun Shines Bright in The Old Kentucky Home''	3	(48)
``Divided We Fall'': Violence in Kentucky	51	(24)
``All Happy and Bright'': Life in Kentucky	75	(30)
``Weep No More, My Lady'': Majorities and Minorities	105	(18)
``The Corn Top's Ripe'': Agriculture, Industry, and Labor	123	(22)
``The Young Folks'': Education	145	(24)
``We Will Sing One Song'': Kentucky's Cultural Milieu	169	(20)
``Politics . . . in Kentucky''	189	(14)
``Politics The Damnedest -- in Kentucky'': 1900--1919	203	(32)
``Hard Times Comes A-Knocking at the Door'': War, Disease, and Depression	235	(30)
``United We Stand''? The Politics of Division, 1920-1930	265	(32)
Old Deal, New Deal, or Misdeal? Politics, 1931--1939	297	(20)
Wartime Politics, 1940--1950	317	(20)
Mid-century: Moment of Decision	337	(8)
Notes	345	(61)
Photo Credits	406	(2)
Index	408