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The Black Guides of Mammoth Cave
Album Description
Mammoth Cave in south-central Kentucky is: a National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a natural wonder, an archaeological site dating back thousands of years, and a historic site that represents a successful struggle for freedom, equity, and entrepreneurship of Black Americans both enslaved and free.
The Cave has a wonderful legacy of Black tour guides dating back nearly 200 years.
This is a great listen to start your students off on a journey of discovery:
The Enduring Legacy of Black Guides at Mammoth Cave National Park, WBUR
3 - 5 6 - 8 9 - 12 13+ Social Studies/History Black History Kentucky
[Stephen Bishop, Afro-American guide of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, half-length portrait, facing front]
Teaching Notes
Read the section about Stephen Bishop. He was an enslaved man working at Mammoth before the Emancipation Proclamation.
What is one thing about his biography that made you curious?
Did you notice he spoke Latin and Greek? It was illegal for enslaved people to learn to read. How do you think he learned to speak those languages?
Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/93507462/
Reference note
Created / Published
- [published 1882]
Genre
- Book illustrations--1880-1890
- Engravings--1880-1890
Notes
- - Illus. in: Mammoth Cave, by Hovey, 1882, p. 7.
- - Reference copy in BIOG - Bishop, Stephen.
Digital Id
- cph 3a03757 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a03757
- cph 3b40028 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b40028
Black History at Mammoth Cave, Part 1: PBS Video
The Mammoth Cave and its denizens; a complete descriptive guide.
Teaching Notes
This booklet, published shortly after the end of the Civil War, does not mention the Black guides. Why do you think it does not?
Explore the first few pages of the booklet, pay attention to Page 14 (#22 or 108 pages in the Library of Congress record). What do you find curious or interesting? Why?
Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/rc01002327/
Reference note
Created / Published
- Cincinnati, R. Clarke, 1869.
Notes
- - Also available in digital form.
Bransford Shares His Family History in Mammoth Cave
Teaching Notes
The New Enterprise interviewed the last Bransford to work at Mammoth Cave.
What did you find most interesting about his story?
Mammoth cave of Kentucky: an illustrated manual,
Teaching Notes
In this 1897 booklet, explore pages 12 and 13 (Images 26 and 27). The Bransford guides are mentioned, but not that they are Black. Do you think the author left this out intentionally? Why or Why not? If he had put in that they guides were Black would it have affected sales of his booklet?
Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/04003478/
Reference note
Created / Published
- Louisville, J. P. Morton and company, 1897.
Notes
- - Also available in digital form.
Mammoth Cave, Edmondson, Co., Ky. - Corkscrew
Teaching Notes
This is a passage called The Corkscrew. The photo was taken in 1891.
What makes it unique for the time and the place?
Compare it to this image and answer the question again.
Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2005680825/
Reference note
Summary
- An African American man and woman climbing ladders.
Created / Published
- c1893.
Notes
- - Title and other information transcribed from unverified, old caption card data and item.
- - Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection.
- - Caption card tracings: Caves; Ky. M- C-; Shelf.
Repository
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Digital Id
- cph 3b08114 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b08114
America Works Podcast Occupational Folklife Project, American Folklife Center Season 5, Episode 3: Jerry Bransford, Park Ranger. Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Teaching Notes
This transcript can be used with or without a separate video interview with Jerry Bransford, the last in the line of Black guides going back nearly 200 years!
Pictorial guide to the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.
Teaching Notes
Published 10 years before the Civil War began, this booklet discusses the Guide at Mammoth Cave. Read the description of Stephen on pages 10 and 11 (Images 20 and 21). How does this description make you feel? What would you like to know about the man?
Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/rc01002333/
Reference note
Created / Published
- New York, Stringer & Townsend [1851]
Notes
- - Added t.-p., engraved.
- - Also available in digital form.
- - LAC ael 2020-10-01 update (1 card)
How a celebrated family legacy continues to impact Kentucky's Mammoth Cave
Teaching Notes
Explore the photos of Materson and Nick Bransford.
What do you find interesting?
What do you want to know more about?