The Filson Historical Society

This photo is of the main building of the Filson Club, a 125 year old local historical society of which I am now a proud member. I've been wanting to join up for several years, but I finally decided that now's the time: I'm only going to be in school for a few more months, so I had to act soon to take advantage of their student rate. Plus, I'm taking a class called Archives and Manuscript Management this semester and will need access to a local archives.

Anyway, my first visit was a rousing success: I have a paper due in which I have to write about being a patron at an archive, so I randomly decided to do a bit of research on the Civil War battle of Perryville, Kentucky (also known as the Invasion of Kentucky). The anniversary of the battle is coming up in a few weeks on October 8th (1862), and there is quite a bit of material at the Filson concerning the war, as well as the state's role in it. I spent some time in the library, getting oriented by the friendly reference librarians, and finally worked my courage up to go upstairs and visit the rare books and manuscripts room.

Readers, it was REALLY awesome: I got to page through the ACTUAL field report penned by Confederate General Hardee on the battle at Perryville. It was written on your basic-looking ruled notebook paper (sans spiral fringe, of course), and the General's penmanship puts us 21st century slobs to utter shame. It described, with poetic flourish, how the Confederate path "was marked by the crushed lines and disordered battalions of the enemy. Our troops displayed higher qualities than mere discipline can confer. The furor of freemen and the enthusiasm of patriots animated thier valor: whenever they advanced, the enemy recoiled before the shock: when they retired he dared not venture to pursue." I wonder how modern military reports compare to that.

Anyway, I was astounded that they brought it right out for me and left me alone in the reading room with it--free to ogle and page through it for as long as I liked! W-O-W! Here I am, just a random schmuck, and they treat me like some book writing historian--being taken seriously by strangers is kind of a new experience for me.

I plan to make a return trip next week to look at random awesome things: maybe I'll ask to see the letter penned by Mary Todd Lincoln to her cousin Emily in 1864...oh, boy!