Mother Catherine Spalding (1793?1858) was the cofounder and first leader of one of the most significant American religious communities for women?the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Spalding also founded several educational institutions, Louisville's first private hospital, and the first social service agencies for children in Kentucky. In 2003, the Louisville Courier-Journal selected Spalding as the sole woman among the sixteen most important persons in Louisville's history. Pioneer Spirit is the first biography of Spalding, who, from the age of nineteen, served the citizens of the Kentucky frontier. By the time of her death, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth extended far beyond Bardstown, Kentucky, to over one hundred sisters in sixteen convents. Spalding's legacy of service continues today with more than six hundred members worldwide.

John Breckingridge (1760-1806) served in the Virginia and Kentucky Legistaltures United States Congress and United States attorney general under Thomas Jefferson.

The story of African Americans in Kentucky is as diverse and vibrant as the state's general history. The work of more than 150 writers, The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia is an essential guide to the black experience in the Commonwealth. The encyclopedia includes biographical sketches of politicians and community leaders as well as pioneers in art, science, and industry. Kentucky's impact on the national scene is registered in an array of notable figures, such as writers William Wells Brown and bell hooks, reformers Bessie Lucas Allen and Shelby Lanier Jr., sports icons Muhammad Ali and Isaac Murphy, civil rights leaders Whitney Young Jr. and Georgia Powers, and entertainers Ernest Hogan, Helen Humes, and the Nappy Roots. Featuring entries on the individuals, events, places, organizations, movements, and institutions that have shaped the state's history since its origins, the volume also includes topical essays on the civil rights movement, Eastern Kentucky coalfields, business, education, and women. For researchers, students, and all who cherish local history, The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia is an indispensable reference that highlights the diversity of the state's culture and history.

Although historians have assumed previously that early Kentucky was a one-party area, Watlington has discovered that there were actually three active parties--the partisan," "court," and "country." From the land-grant maze following the 1779 migration, through a brief Tory movement and even James Wilkinson's intrigue for a Spanish connection, she traces the parties' development and their struggle for power in the vigorous world of postrevolutionary Kentucky politics." Originally published in 1974. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.