When the Kentucky Historical Society presented awards during Kentucky History Day on June 4 in Frankfort, the Hopkinsville museum wasn’t the only honoree from Western Kentucky.
Historian George Humphreys’ book, “The Fall of Kentucky’s Rock: Western Kentucky Democratic Politics Since the New Deal,” earned a publication award from KHS. It was presented to a representative of the University Press of Kentucky on behalf of Humphreys.
“The Fall of Kentucky’s Rock” fills a significant void in the state’s history which has too often overlooked Western Kentucky’s importance to the state’s history,” the author said in a press release. “Readers may be surprised to learn that the region was home to seven governors who served a total of eight full terms from 1931 to 1979.”
Humphreys is a former director of Madisonville Community College campus in Muhlenberg County. He resides in Drakesboro.
The book “explores the area’s political transformation from a solid Democratic voting block to a conservative stronghold by examining how developments in agriculture, the diversification of the economy, and civil rights movement affected the region,” WKMS reported for a story shortly after the book was published in January.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
