Repositories

Civil War Governors of Kentucky (CWGK) is a collaborative effort that brings together every document that crossed the desk of Kentucky’s wartime governors.

Scattered across Kentucky-based institutions, CWGK pulls together its collection from a variety of state, public, and private archives. The project makes these materials freely available on one platform.

Filson Historical Society

Located in Louisville, Kentucky, the Filson Historical Society is a private archive that collects, preserves, and shares the history of Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley. The Filson’s collections from the Filson expanded the limited material available about the Confederate governors.

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Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives

The state repository for governmental records, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA) provided much of the official records and numerous petitions written to the three Union governors. These records cover every corner of the state and every imaginable topic, most often written from ordinary Kentuckians to officials in Frankfort.

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Kentucky Department of Military Affairs

Kentucky Department of Military Affairs (KDMA) connects Kentucky’s National Guard with the Federal military. KDMA’s archives provide a wealth of information about the role Kentucky’s governors played in military administration of the state, as they cooperated with Federal authorities to raise troops and defend Kentucky.

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Kentucky Historical Society

Established in 1836, Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) is the institutional home of Civil War Governors of Kentucky. It educates and engages the public through Kentucky’s history. KHS’s records offer insight into Kentucky’s Confederate governors, more of the Union military bureaucracy, and the correspondence of ordinary Kentuckians throughout the war years. 

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Maker's Mark Distillery

A multi-generational family distillery, Maker’s Mark property and archives intersect with the Civil War at Samuel’s Depot, where future members of the James-Younger Gang surrendered in July 1865. The Samuels family generously shared Civil War materials with Civil War Governors of Kentucky.

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Mary Todd Lincoln House

The childhood home of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. The collections of the Mary Todd Lincoln House connect prominent Kentuckians to the Civil War governors.

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