Public History and Biology Collaborate to Unearth and Preserve the Legacy and Collection of Kentucky Birder Charles Wickliffe Beckham

Jan. 8, 2025

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences

Public history graduate student Hannah White is unearthing and preserving the legacy of Charles Wickliffe Beckham, the first Kentuckian to achieve a national reputation as an ornithologist, while also discovering his connection to state politics.

White, who is in the second year of the master's program in public history, is conducting the research as part of a collaboration between the history and biology departments. Biology is also seeking a permanent home for the Beckham ornithological collection, which consists of over 2,500 birds.

An amateur birder herself, White began pursuing this research opportunity after creating an educational video, now featured on The Lincoln Museum website, about birds and climate change for history professor Felicia Jamison's course in Public Humanities, Climate Change, and National Park Services course.

"The biology department needed someone who could contextualize Beckham's life and the collection itself, and then find an eventual home for it," White said. "I've been able to use my public history skills in a lot of different ways because it's been very independent, self-led research. I started with some archival research looking at Beckham's publications because he did publicize a lot of his work."

White earned a bachelor's degree in history at UofL in 2021 with minors in philosophy, Spanish, social change, humanities, and women's, gender, and sexuality studies. She's now conducting research in the records of the Smithsonian Institution where Beckham's name appears regularly, and in various ornithology publications about his life. She's also collaborating with the Beckham Bird Club, which began in 1935 and remains active in Louisville. The club's meeting minutes have provided additional information about Beckham and his work.

"We've moved on to the more community engaged part of the research, which is really a lot of the core of public history—community engagement and collaboration," White said. "I am also collecting oral histories from current members of Louisville's Beckham Bird Club."

Beckham identified species of birds—Bewick's Wrens—that are no longer found in Kentucky or the eastern part of the United States. He also identified the black throated bunting, the first recorded instance of that bird in Florida.

White discovered that in addition to his ornithological interests, Beckham came from a prominent and sometimes controversial Kentucky political dynasty. His maternal grandfather, Charles Anderson Wickliffe, served as governor of the state in 1839-40 and as a Kentucky Congressional representative during the Civil War, while a younger brother, Lieutenant-Governor-elect J. C. W. Beckham, became governor after the 1900 assassination of Governor-elect William Goebel. White discovered these political connections in family scrapbooks.

"On a personal level, this was so surprising," White said.

White's work is helping to sharpen her skills for a future career, no matter where it may lead.

"The more you can strengthen those skills and build community relationships—it could lead to working in a museum or doing research," White states.

For students interested in research, public history, and the rich, multidisciplinary offerings of the humanities, White's advice is this: say yes to new opportunities.

"Keep your mind open. If I had said 'I am only doing this one thing,' I would have been closed off from a lot of these opportunities," she states. "You'll find some awesome projects and partnerships."

White's work will continue through the spring 2025 semester. The biology department is planning events to bring the local Beckham Bird Club and Audubon Society chapters to campus to learn more about the collection and get involved in its preservation. The Public History program, meanwhile, offers a wide range of internship and research opportunities that enable students like White to put skills learned in the classroom into practice.