Kentucky Culture

Although Kentucky's culture is generally considered to be Southern, it is unique and also influenced by the Midwest and Appalachia. The state is known for bourbon and whiskey distiling, horse racing, and gambling. Kentucky ranks more in tune with the Upper South in terms of ancestry which is predominantly American,[93] but during the 19th century, Kentucky did receive a substantial number of German and Irish immigrants, who during that era settled primarily in the Midwest; only Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Oklahoma, all also border states, have higher German ancestry percentages than Kentucky among Census-defined Southern states [94]. Though Kentucky was a slave state and blacks once comprised over a quarter of its population, it lacked the cotton plantation system and was never as heavily black as most other slave states; with less than 8% of its current population being black, Kentucky is, unlike most Southern states, rarely included in modern-day definitions of the Black Belt despite a relatively significant rural African American population in the Central and Western areas of the state [95][96][97] . Kentucky adopted the Jim Crow system of racial segregation in most public spheres after the Civil War, but the state never disenfranchised African American citizens as did most other Southern states, and it peacefully integrated its schools after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education verdict, later adopting the first state civil rights act in the South in 1966. [98]

The biggest day in horse racing, the Kentucky Derby, is preceded by the two-week Kentucky Derby Festival[99] in Louisville. Louisville also plays host to the Kentucky State Fair,[100] the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival,[101] and Southern gospel's annual highlight, the National Quartet Convention.[102] Owensboro, Kentucky's third largest city, gives credence to its nickname of "Barbecue Capital of the World" by hosting the annual International Bar-B-Q Festival,[103] and Bowling Green, Kentucky's fifth largest city and home to the only assembly plant in the world that manufactures the Chevrolet Corvette,[104] opened the National Corvette Museum in 1994.[105]

Old Louisville, the largest historic preservation district in the United States featuring Victorian architecture and the third largest overall,[106] hosts the St. James Court Art Show, the largest outdoor art show in the United States.[107] The neighborhood was also home to the Southern Exposition (1883-1887), which featured the first public display of Thomas Edison's light bulb,[108] and was the setting of Alice Hegan Rice's novel, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch and Fontaine Fox's comic strip, the "Toonerville Trolley.[109]

The more rural communities are not without traditions of their own, however. Hodgenville, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, hosts the annual Lincoln Days Celebration, and will also host the kick-off for the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration in February 2008.Bardstown celebrates its heritage as a major bourbon-producing region with the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.[110] (Legend holds that Baptist minister Elijah Craig invented bourbon with his black slave in Georgetown, but some dispute this claim.)[111] Glasgow mimics Glasgow, Scotland by hosting its own version of the Highland Games,[112] and Sturgis hosts "Little Sturgis", a mini version of Sturgis, South Dakota's annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.[113] The residents of tiny Benton even pay tribute to their favorite tuber, the sweet potato, by hosting Tater Day.[114] Residents of Clarkson in Grayson County celebrate their city's ties to the honey honey industry by celebrating the Clarkson Honeyfest.[115] The Clarkson Honeyfest is held the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in September, and is the "Official State Honey Festival of Kentucky."

The breadth of music in Kentucky is indeed wide, stretching from the Purchase to the eastern mountains — from contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman, a Paducah native; to Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Everly Brothers, closely connected with Muhlenberg County, where older brother Don was born; to Mildred and Patty Hill, the Louisville sisters credited with composing the tune to the ditty Happy Birthday to You; to Johnson County native Loretta Lynn; to Flatwoods native Billy Ray Cyrus. However, its depth lies in its signature sound — Bluegrass music. Bill Monroe, "The Father of Bluegrass", was born in the small Ohio County town of Rosine, while Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, David "Stringbean" Akeman, Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, Sonny and Bobby Osborne, and Sam Bush (who has been compared to Monroe) all hail from Kentucky. The International Bluegrass Music Museum is located in Owensboro,[116] while the annual Festival of the Bluegrass is held in Lexington.[117]

Kentucky is also home to famed jazz musician and pioneer, Lionel Hampton (although this has been disputed in recent years).[118] Blues legend W.C. Handy and R&B singer Wilson Pickett also spent considerable time in Kentucky. The pop bands Midnight Star and Nappy Roots were both formed in Kentucky, as were country acts The Kentucky Headhunters and Montgomery Gentry, as well as Dove Award-winning Christian groups Audio Adrenaline (rock) and Bride (metal).

Kentucky's cuisine, like much of the state's culture, is unique and is considered to blend elements of both the South and Midwest, given its location between the two regions. [119] [120] One original Kentucky dish is called the Hot Brown, a layered dish normally in this order: bread, tomatoes, turkey, bacon, and topped with melted cheese. It was developed at the Brown Hotel in Louisville.[121]

Old Louisville is the largest Victorian Historic neighborhood in the United States.

Bill Monroe, "The Father of Bluegrass".