Kentucky Historical Society
The Contested Legacy of Jefferson Davis Symposium Scheduled for June 27

Frankfort, KY - Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America and a Kentucky native, is the topic of a day- long symposium set for Friday, June 27, at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort. This year marks the 200th anniversary of Davis's birth.

Keynote speaker for "The Contested Legacy of Jefferson Davis" will be nationally known Civil War scholar and author William J. Cooper Jr., of Louisiana State University. Cooper is the author of Jefferson Davis, American (2000) as well as other works on slavery and the South, including The South and the Politics of Slavery, 1828-1856 (1978), Liberty and Slavery: Southern Politics to 1860 (1983), and (with Thomas E. Terrill) The American South: A History (1990).

The symposium is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a break for lunch. Events include two topical panels followed by a roundtable discussion.

Panel 1: Jefferson Davis and the Civil War
This panel discussion features both established and emerging scholars highlighting recent work on Davis's role in the war, Confederate military and diplomatic efforts, African Americans in the Confederacy and the Confederate army, and life in the South during the war. It includes panelists Cooper, Richard J. Blackett, of Vanderbilt University; and Charles P. Roland, author and retired professor emeritus of history at the University of Kentucky. Edward M. Coffman will serve as moderator.

Panel 2: Jefferson Davis and Lost Cause Memory
This discussion focuses on the actual and symbolic roles Davis and his family played in the emergence of the Lost Cause, both across the old Confederacy and in Kentucky. Panelists include Anne Marshall of Mississippi State University and John Coski, director of library and research at the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia. James A. Ramage, Northern Kentucky University, will serve as moderator.

"The Contested Legacy of Jefferson Davis" will end with a group discussion on how to interpret Jefferson Davis era Confederate history accurately and sensitively at Kentucky's historic sites.

The deadline for registration is Friday, June 20, and seating is limited to the first 200 people. The registration fee includes lunch. Cost is: $25 general public; $20 Kentucky Historical Society members; $10 students (photocopy of student ID must accompany registration form).

To register, please contact Julia Curry at 502-564- 1792, ext. 4414 or by email. You can also download a registration form online.

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An agency of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet, the Kentucky Historical Society, since 1836, has provided connections to the past, perspective on the present, and inspiration for the future. KHS operates the Old State Capitol, the Kentucky Military History Museum, and its headquarters, the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. Since 1999, the thirty-million- dollar Center has welcomed more than one million visitors. For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit the Web site.