Our Collections

For over one hundred years the Kentucky Historical Society has been collecting, preserving, and sharing information, memories, and materials from Kentucky's past. The KHS collections of cultural and historical artifacts, oral history, and library and archival materials represent an overview of Kentucky and Kentuckians from prehistory to the present.

Researchers can access the Kentucky Historical Society's special collections by three methods: visiting the Center, submitting a reference request form, or searching online catalogs and databases.

The Society also operates three museum sites in downtown Frankfort—the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky, the Old State Capitol, and the Kentucky Military History Museum—that tell the story of our state's history with thousands of items from our collections.

Use and Quotation Policy

Authorization must be granted by the Kentucky Historical Society to use or publish by any means any archival material to which the Society holds copyright. To obtain authorization, users will submit a completed Use Agreement to the Kentucky Historical Society Special Collections & Reference Services. Fees for all uses, excepting non-profit or other use, with the intent to enhance understanding of or appreciation for Kentucky's heritage will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and added to the cost of reproduction.

Users may not alter, distort, or change in any way the text, image, audio, or video to be used, unless otherwise authorized by the Society. Researchers are responsible for obtaining permission to publish by any means any material held at the Society but to which the KHS does not hold copyright. The Society is not responsible for any copyright infringement.

Users will not quote or otherwise reproduce in part or in whole any archival material, without citing the "Kentucky Historical Society," and without giving explicit written acknowledgement of the collection from which it was obtained, as designated by the Society.

Users will present to the Kentucky Historical Society Special Collections & Reference Services one (1) copy of any publication using materials held by the Society or will provide any other proof of appropriate acknowledgment and citation as the Society will designate.

Only material that will not be physically damaged by the process of duplication will be copied. The Society reserves the right to withhold permission for the reproduction of any material involving unusual difficulty or great risk to the original.