Kentucky History & Haunts

Mary Byron was waiting for her car to warm up in the parking lot of the mall where she worked on the night of her 21st birthday. She was about to head home to decorate the Christmas tree with her family. Instead she was shot to death by Donavan Harris, her former boyfriend.

Just a few weeks earlier, Harris was arrested for holding Mary hostage at gunpoint and assaulting her in the basement of her own home. He was released on bond, and less than a week later, Mary was dead.

This left the Mary's family, and the community, wondering if things could have been different if they had been notified of his release from jail. This case ultimately led to the creation of the victim notification service known today as VINE.

*Listener discretion advised*

Thanks to Christopher B. for recommending this case.

Thanks to Ms. Lillie for becoming a Patreon member!

Thanks to Neal for your donation and for hyping the show up while visiting local landmarks!

The 24-Hour Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-844-BESAFE1 (237-2331)

Follow the show on Instagram @kyhistory haunts or look it up on Facebook by typing the show name in the search bar. Send emails to kyhistoryhaunts@gmail.com

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Kentucky History & Haunts

9115 Leesgate Rd, Suite A

Louisville, KY 40222

In the late 1830s, the owner of Mammoth Cave hoped to attract more tourists to the area. One of the key figures in making that happen was a slave named Stephen Bishop. Stephen became one of the most popular guides in the caves history, as well as a brave and savvy explorer, responsible for the expansion of the cave system with his discovery of several 'new' areas like the Bottomless Pit and Ruins of Karnak.

It was stipulated in his owners will that Stephen was to be emancipated seven years after the owners death, and he was finally free in 1856, but unfortunately his story does not have a happy ending.

There is so much more to be said about the role of slaves related to the early exploration and management of Mammoth Cave than what's covered in this episode. For further research, I recommend starting with the following-

*Legendary tour Guides who were Enslaved Americans

A National Council for the Social Studies Publication Number58 • January/February 2017

*Mammoth Cave, Slavery, and Kentucky: Overcoming the Chains that Bind

Susan Farmer Western Kentucky University,

*https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/travel/in-kentucky-a-family-at-the-center-of-the-earth.html

*https://www.nps.gov/maca/learn/historyculture/african-american-history.htm

If you'd like to be pen pals, you'd like to send me holiday cards or some homemade jam, my mailing address is:

Jessie Bartholomew

9115 Leesgate Rd, Suite A

Louisville, KY 40222

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In the 1840s, a doctor from Louisville purchased Mammoth Cave. One of his motives for purchasing the land was to conduct an experiment by inviting tuberculosis patients to live underground during the winter months to cure them.

It did not go well.

For more on this topic, check out THE PURSUIT OF HEALTH IN THE MAMMOTH CAVE, published in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 1971, by Stanley Sides & Harold Malloy.

Follow the show on Instagram @kyhistoryhaunts and find it on Facebook by searching Kentucky History & Haunts. For feedback, corrections and topic suggestions, email kyhistoryhaunts@gmail.com

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Thanks for listening!