Mammoth Cave book explores park's black history

GLASGOW, Ky. -- A new book about Mammoth Cave tells the story of the national park's slave history.

The book, entitled "Making Their Mark: The Signature of Slavery at Mammoth Cave," is available at the visitor center at Mammoth Cave National Park.

Author Joy Medley Lyons, chief of programs at Mammoth Cave, told the Glasgow Daily Times that she hoped "to get the story of Mammoth Cave's slave history out to the public, but also to make it a little bit better known within the National Park Service as well."

Lyons said some people have written before about Stephen Bishop, a slave who gave guided tours of Mammoth Cave. But she said other slaves -- such as Nick and Mat Bransford -- who worked as guides are not as well known.

The two men were not brothers -- but were owned by the same person, Thomas Bransford.

Mat Bransford began giving guided tours of Mammoth Cave in 1838. His son, Henry, also became a tour guide, and his grandsons were tour guides as well. Today, another Bransford descendant, Jerry Bransford, works there as a seasonal tour guide.

Mammoth Cave is the longest cave in the world, with more than 350 miles of recorded natural tunnels, and was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1981.

In the 19th century, sophisticated Easterners and Europeans would travel to Kentucky for 12-hour excursions into the cave, and their guides were often slaves of the cave-owners. Notable visitors included Ralph Waldo Emerson and the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind.

Today, park rangers lead the tours, which are just a few hours long and include stories about the cave's interesting human history as well as its geological significance. Cave drawings left by ancient people can be seen, as well as more modern artifacts. For more information on visiting Mammoth Cave, go to www.nps.gov/maca/.