{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"July 2, 2026 - Amy Murrell Taylor (UK's 'Celebrating 1776' lecture series)","description":" LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 2, 2026) \u2013 As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, the University of Kentucky Department of History is helping the campus and broader community think more deeply about 1776 \u2014 not only as a moment of celebration, but as a moment for reflection. Through its 'Celebrating 1776' lecture series, public events, film screenings and courses, the department is bringing together historians, public scholars and UK experts to explore the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence and the ideas that have shaped the nation across two and a half centuries. On this episode of 'Behind the Blue,' Amy Murrell Taylor, Ph.D., the T. Marshall Hahn Jr. Professor of History at UK, joins host Kody Kiser to discuss America 250, Kentucky\u2019s place in the story of the founding era and why the principles of liberty, equality and governance by the people remain so alive in the national conversation. \u201cThese are moments, yes, of celebration, but moments that encourage people to stop and think: what are we celebrating exactly?\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWhat is this nation? What is this Declaration of Independence that we\u2019re celebrating?\u201d Taylor\u2019s scholarship focuses on the Civil War era, slavery, emancipation and the lived experiences of ordinary Americans. The last time she joined 'Behind the Blue,' the conversation centered on her award-winning book, 'Embattled Freedom,' and the national debate over Confederate memorials. In this episode, Taylor connects that earlier conversation to America 250 through questions of public memory \u2014 how people remember the past, what they choose to honor and how history continues to shape the present. \u201cOne through line between the conversations about Confederate memorials and the 250th is clearly how do we remember our past?\u201d Taylor said. \u201cHow do we look back on it and learn from it and celebrate it?\u201d Taylor also discusses Kentucky\u2019s relationship to the founding era. While Kentucky was not yet a state in 1776, the region was deeply shaped by the American Revolution, westward expansion, Indigenous resistance and settlement. Lexington itself was named for the Battle of Lexington in 1775, and what would become Kentucky was part of Virginia during the Revolutionary era. \u201cKentucky is part of what we might consider to be the traditional revolutionary story,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also part of this other side to the revolution that hasn\u2019t gotten as much attention in our collective memory.\u201d The episode also previews the Department of History\u2019s 'Celebrating 1776' series. Events include public conversations and lectures with leading historians and public scholars, including Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis; Christy Coleman, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation; a September screening of highlights from the PBS film \u201cThe American Revolution\u201d by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt; and an October lecture by Patrick Spero, chief executive officer of the American Philosophical Society, on \u201cAndr\u00e9 Michaux, Thomas Jefferson, and the Kentucky Conspiracy of 1793.\u201d The department is also incorporating the anniversary into coursework, including classes on the American Revolution and U.S. history. Taylor said students are engaging directly with founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, not simply to memorize them, but to understand their origins, their meaning and how Americans have continued to invoke them across generations. \u201cWhat I want them to get out of reading these documents is they\u2019re not going to memorize them,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut I want them to generally understand basically what\u2019s in there, but walk away from my class with an impulse to always go back and look.\u201d For Taylor, America 250 offers an opportunity for the public to ask historical questions \u2014 not only about what happened in 1776, but about why those events continue to matter. \u201cI would love for people in this moment to ask some questions about what they\u2019re celebrating,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cEven as they\u2019re eating their hot dogs and watermelon and whatever they\u2019re having, maybe some questions will come to their minds.\u201d You can find out more about the UK Department of History here. And, you can learn more about the department\u2019s \u2018Celebrating 1776\u2019 lecture series here. \u2018Behind the Blue\u2019 is available via a variety of podcast providers, including Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Spotify. Subscribe to receive new episodes each week, featuring UK\u2019s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists, writers and the most important news impacting the university. \u2018Behind the Blue\u2019 is a production of the University of Kentucky. Transcripts for most episodes are now embedded in the audio file and can be accessed in many podcast apps during playback. Transcripts for older episodes remain available on the show\u2019s blog page.  To discover how the University of Kentucky is advancing our Commonwealth, click here. This interview has been edited for time and clarity. ","author_name":"Behind the Blue","author_url":"http:\/\/behindtheblue.libsyn.com\/podcast","html":"