The Frazier History Museum and Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) are teaming up once again to bring you a fascinating look at how Louisville’s 19th century Irish community compared to those in other Southern cities. Along with how and why Irish men and women came to the U.S., plus how they survived and eventually thrived, there will be a Louisville-centric look at the 1855 anti-immigrant “Know Nothing” riots and military participation in the Civil War, the overlooked Louisville roots of the Irish revolutionary invasion of Canada in 1866 and more.

Dr. David Gleeson and Dr. Patrick Lewis will lead the discussion. Gleeson is author of two popular books on Irish immigration to the South and professor of American history and associate pro vice chancellor for Research and Innovation at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Lewis is project director of the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition at the Kentucky Historical Society and a member of the Kentucky Humanities Council’s Speakers Bureau.