Coming up on Kentucky Life...

Millions of years ago, sharks prowled the waters of Kentucky.

We'll go to Mammoth Cave to see what scientists there have discovered.

We'll meet an Oldham County native who broke through the color barrier to become the first Black woman to ever get a contract to appear in a motion picture.

We'll take a look at the only state park in Kentucky located on an island.

And we'll visit Tight Hollow at the Daniel Boone National Forest, one of the last old growth forests in Kentucky.

All that's next on Kentucky Life.

[music playing] Hey, everybody, and welcome to Kentucky Life.

I'm your host, Chip Polston.

Question, what is the only state park in the entire State of Kentucky that's located on an island?

Well, that would be the scene for this week's episode of our show.

Welcome to General Burnside Island State Park.

This 400-acre island offers all sorts of fun things to do, but the big draw here is golf.

Recognized a few years ago by Kentucky Living Magazine as the best place to play golf in Kentucky, the natural beauty of this course makes it one to behold.

We'll go check it out, and I'll pick up a golf club for the first time in three decades, so imagine how great that's gonna turn out here in just a little bit.

But first, cave sharks in Kentucky.

Now, that may sound like a wild urban myth or the plot of a really bad movie, but scientists say it's the real deal.

Recent shark discoveries have been made deep in the caverns of Mammoth Cave.

Now, these aren't sharks that are swimming around today.

Researchers have discovered the fossilized remains, more specifically the teeth, of ancient species completely new to science that roamed the shallow seas of this area hundreds of millions of years ago.

From these teeth and other fossils, we're able to learn a wealth of knowledge about how these sharks lived, hunted, and interacted with the world around them.

[music playing] At this time, sharks were ruling the world.

Many of the main fish throughout the ocean were sharks.

Three hundred fifty million years ago, we would have been standing on a ocean floor.

All of this would have been water column, and the water may have been 30, 40, 50 feet deep.

We would see those crinoids and corals and things around us.

And over time, we're seeing these stacked layers of the sand coming in around us, and eventually this is all compressed to make this limestone and allows us to stand here and see the fossils that were originally deposited on the floor of that sea.

And all sorts of critters were living in this sea, things you'd recognize, things that looked like corals, things that looked like clams, and sharks.

One of the interesting things about the shark's teeth is many of the shark's teeth will fluoresce in ultraviolet light, in black light.

And so we use this as a tool in trying to find the shark teeth.

[music playing] So, you can see that that tooth fluoresces very nicely yellow under this UV light, and that is very characteristic of what we see here at Mammoth Cave on our shark's teeth and cartilage.

Much of it will fluoresce in that color.

This is the business end, this flat part here.

This would have been up in the root.

This might have been the front of the tooth.

It's a shark called Psammodus.

Psammodus would have been a shyer animal, one that's sort of laying on the ground, staying out of the way.

It's eating invertebrates.

It's not out actively swimming, chasing other fish.

Right here, we have an example of one of our smaller, a smaller shark and a smaller shark's tooth.

So, this is a shark called Chomatodus.

It had these sets of blades.

Again, with blades, you're now looking at more of an active predator eating softer material like squid, octopus, anything that doesn't have the hard shell on the outside, something that you're just cutting up to eat.

So, that's Chomatodus.

[music playing] These sharks were obviously not the only animals swimming around in this ocean.

And a lot of this would have been analogous to a modern coral reef.

And some of the big players would be things like crinoids.

This is a piece of crinoid stem here.

The stem is made up of pieces that look like little washers, little circular things.

So, those crinoids were incredibly important and very, very diverse and very abundant in this area.

And that's why you have those Psammodus with the crushing teeth, because there's a wonderful food source.

It's like on the prairie, somebody's gonna eat the grass because there's so much of it.

Somebody's gonna eat the crinoids because there are so many of them.

It was a very diverse neighborhood and these sharks were part of that ecosystem.

[music playing] This is a jaw of a shark called Saivodus.

The shark itself, this is the front end, the very front end of the jaw.

This is the back end of the jaw.

This is some pieces possibly out of the gill area.

So, this shark had a jaw, two feet long, and this individual was probably right up in a great white shark size.

This is a tooth.

It was actually found not very far away from the Saivodus, Troglocladodus trimblei.

Troglocladodus, Troglo, being cave.

So, it's the cave shark found by Barclay Trimble, who is the superintendent of the park.

So, it's named for the superintendent because he was the person who found it and said, "Hey, is that a shark tooth?"

[music playing] We're here to look at a very interesting fossil.

It's this piece right here.

And it is a special fossil because again, it's a piece of shark, but in this case, it is a piece of shark cartilage.

It's a softer material and it tends to degrade.

Most sharks, we don't have a lot of information on.

These Mississippian sharks, most of them are known just from teeth.

So, when we find these cartilage pieces, especially when we find these cartilage pieces associated with teeth, so we can tell what shark they came from, they can be incredibly important.

With tourism being off limits to this portion of Mammoth Cave, it's allowed researchers to uncover more than 75 species of fish and shark, three of which are new to science, with many more waiting to be discovered.

[music playing] Back in 1915, D.W. Griffith's movie, The Birth of a Nation, was considered revolutionary.

What came with it, though, was a litany of controversy and prejudice.

Griffith, born in Oldham County, was considered a film pioneer and his movie would become the first motion picture to ever be shown in the White House.

And while Griffith is more commonly remembered to this day, there was another Kentuckian involved with the film who is less remembered.

Madame Sul-Te-Wan, born as Nellie Crawford in Louisville, became the first Black woman to ever have a contract in film for her role in The Birth of a Nation.

This monumental achievement was, unfortunately, overshadowed by the controversy created by the film.

She would later go on to have a relatively successful career and was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1986.

Let's explore the rich life and hard times of Madame Sul-Te-Wan.

[music playing] Nellie Conley, born Nellie Crawford, was born in 1873 in Louisville, Kentucky, to formerly enslaved parents.

She became very, very prominent, one of the most prominent African-American performers in Hollywood.

But her journey started in Louisville.

Her mother took on a job washing the clothes of actors at a local theater.

So, she would deliver the clothes and she would watch them as actresses and watch them work.

Her mother and she moved to Cincinnati.

She worked a little then as a young actress and the movie industry was just taking off.

And so, she moved to California to make her life in the movies.

And she did, she was in the silent films, she was in the talking films.

The big one that comes to mind is she was in Birth of a Nation.

And that film, D.W. Griffith, changed the game.

After moving to California and working odd jobs, she met, you know, or found out that D.W. Griffith, who was a Kentucky native, was producing a film and was looking for African-American actors.

And so, she wrote a letter to him, you know, stating her interest in being a part of that.

Birth of a Nation is probably one of the most pernicious films ever made about African-Americans and set in motion stereotypes that have been the steady diet of white America since that point.

Not only was she in Birth of a Nation, she was then in Intolerance, his next film the year later.

I think she was in several of his films, but she's in everything, my God.

She was in Tarzan, King of the Apes.

She was in Imitation of Life.

She was in Revenge of the Zombies, or the Revenge of the -- she's in them.

But most of them, she's uncredited.

There's a lot of conversation about why Nellie took on, you know, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, all right?

A lot of people wanna know where it came from.

Well, the Wan is there because in the early stages, she used to refer to herself as Nellie Wan.

When she became involved in Hollywood, what have you, she created this kind of exotic name, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, all right?

And Donald Vogel, who's a film scholar, focuses on Black film, suggests that she came up with that name because at the time, people in the South would always refer to people, especially Black people at that time, by their first name or auntie or aunt, you know?

And the fact that Madame was first, it always forced people to say Madame.

Most African-Americans who performed during that time had to take on stereotypical roles, but there were always stereotypes that were subservient to White people.

She took the roles of being servants.

It's what she understood, it's what she knew.

I don't think she was, you know, gonna be Camille.

[laughs] I don't think she was gonna be, you know, Madea in Madea, but Madea had a servant, you know what I mean?

So, I think those are the roles that she did take.

There's lessons that we can draw from her life just as we can draw from other people's lives in terms of their contribution.

You know, the other thing that we don't even talk about in Nellie's life is the fact that she was able to navigate this as an African-American woman, right, in predominantly White male profession.

I think that's a lesson in itself, is to understand that.

So, although we may have criticism of maybe some of the things, some of the films that she performed in, I think that we also need to look at it within the context of history and begin to maybe salute these people, the fact that they were able to show that they were capable.

[music playing] Kentucky isn't necessarily known for its islands, but in the southern part of the state on Lake Cumberland sits an island home to a park encompassing 430 acres.

Named for a Civil War general, it's the only island state park in Kentucky with activities including camping, fishing, even a full-blown golf course.

Come along as we check out General Burnside Island State Park.

[music playing] We're enjoying our time here today at General Burnside Island State Park.

This is Greg Blevins, he's the park manager.

Greg, thanks so much for being with us today.

Yeah, glad to be here.

So, how did all this come about?

What's the origin story here as to how everything was started up here?

Back in 1958, it had become a state park.

The Corps of Engineers gave that, deeded that to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

When the dam was built, Wolf Creek Dam, the waters come around and kind of made this an island, so it made this a place that was perfect for a state park.

And General Burnside is, what's the story there with that name?

General Ambrose Burnside, a Civil War general, and.. used these to kind of watch the Cumberland River and watch with his soldiers, and they kind of kept an eye on the Cumberland River back in the Civil War.

We just recently put in a walking trail called Point Isabel Trail, and it actually does go back to the overlook, that overlooks the lake, and kind of where Burnside and his troops were at that time.

So, it's got some history built into here as well.

It does, yes.

Sure does.

Okay, that's really cool.

And annual visitors, what's a good number for how many people usually are through here?

We've done over 22,000 rounds of golf.

Oh, wow.

And over 20,000 campers have visited.

If you were gonna bring somebody here for the first time, and you could only show them one thing, where would you take them and what would you show them?

I think I'd probably take them to that overlook.

You know, I really think that's something neat.

You can see the rivers coming in and the lake there, and we have a nice trail that goes back there, and I think it really tells a lot about the park.

Greg, why do you think it's important to be able to recognize this century of what state parks have been able to do in Kentucky?

Well, I think it's for longevity and importance of what the state parks provide for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

State parks, you know, we have services and amenities that, you know, create memories for families for a lifetime.

So, they're very important, and I think it's important to know how long that they've been here.

I think we just keep improving.

You know, I really do.

I look, when we first opened the park to where we are now, you have to change with the times, and the parks have done that, and I think they're continuing to try to modernize each park to make sure that it is staying with the times.

So, we'll have another 100 years, hopefully.

I hope so.

I think so.

There you go.

Well, obviously, golf is a big part of the draw here.

I'd like to really check out the course.

Can you show me around a little bit?

Sounds great.

Let's go.

Let's go look at it.

Let's do it.

So, Greg, we've walked over to the golf course now.

What an amazing view here.

Tell us what we're looking at and where we are here on the course.

This is Hole 16, one of our signature holes.

Has a water feature, dogwoods in the background, a couple of bunkers that guard it.

I think when we had COVID, there was a lot of things to do, and outdoor adventures and outdoor sports and stuff have become very popular, and golf has took off, and it really hasn't slowed down.

So, it's nice to have an outdoor park setting.

You know, there's wildlife.

You might see that on every hole.

Zoysiagrass fairways is something that we have on this golf course, and not a lot of courses have, and that's really popular, and it makes the golf experience very good.

What sort of recognitions have you gotten here?

Has the park been given any awards or noticed for anything that you've been able to do here?

It has over the years.

You know, one of them is course conditions.

It was top 25 in the United States, so that says a lot about the golf course and the employees and volunteers that put in the time here.

They do a great job and keep the course in excellent shape.

Let's talk about that course condition a little bit.

What's it take to keep this looking like this?

How much of an effort is that?

You know, it's a lot of work, and it takes a team to do it.

You know, it has a lot of pride in the course.

Like I said, we have a lot of volunteers that help at the state parks, and we have a lot of employees, and most of them play golf, and they take a lot of pride in their work, and it shows.

And you know, we just have a great staff here.

Well, you all have been very friendly and helpful to us today.

We really do appreciate it.

Thanks for showing us around.

Yeah, you're welcome.

Thank you for being here.

[music playing] Now, that could have been it for my time at the park, but after seeing the golf course, I just had to come back and give it a try.

[music playing] I hadn't picked up a golf club in 30 years, and it showed.

Ah.

But, hey, I had fun, and I understand why the game is so popular.

[music playing] Within the Daniel Boone National Forest lies an area that has been largely untouched.

It's known as Tight Hollow, and it's dense with gigantic old trees and rhododendron.

It's one of Kentucky's few remaining old-growth forests.

We recently got the chance to visit this incredibly precious land to learn about why its preservation is so important.

Check it out.

[music playing] It is a pristine place.

I would describe it as enchanting, amazing.

It's unique because of the geological nature of it and also the old-growth timber, old-growth trees we have in here.

If you do get in there, you're kind of in this valley with towering cliffs around you, some large trees that have developed there over time because it was so inaccessible, and not a lot of impact from people.

[music playing] The way that I understand it, it was named Tight Hollow because they couldn't get in here to get the timber out during the logging industry in the early 1900s.

Back in the early parts of the 20th century, there was a lot of timber harvesting occurring, and it created a lot of problems, a massive wildfires.

So, Congress authorized National Forest to acquire a lot of these lands that had been so cut over.

So, Tight Hollow was one of those areas that was purchased pretty early on in the 1930s.

But since the Forest Service acquired it, this area has been managed more in a primitive state.

[music playing] All the area around here is unique, and I say unique because of the cliff line, the protecting overhangs that houses the remains of fragile archeological sites, prehistoric Native American sites.

It was used for thousands of years.

You know, people lived here, hunted here, fished here.

We have archeologists that have found, you know, documentation and evidence of those prior civilizations that were here.

They would go into a little ravine like Tight Hollow here.

They'd find a -- probably get an access off the ridge through a gap, and they would make camp there.

It's an area where there's an overhang, a bit of a waterfall here, so a water source.

And judging by the soils, the dark nature of the soils, and it's relatively flat here, early Americans would have used this shelter.

Old-growth forest is one that's not been logged.

It's just natural.

One of the ways that we look at an area and establish that it's truly old-growth or virgin timber is that we look at not only the size of the trees, but the canopy of the trees.

So, once a tree gets above the rest of the canopy, it starts to spread.

Way in the background, you see one big tree.

That's an Eastern hemlock.

And I estimate the tree to be 400 to 500 years old.

And when they were cutting timber, they didn't really cut the hemlocks.

They wanted the hardwoods, like the tulip poplars and the oaks and the hickories, and they left the hemlocks.

So, that's why you see a lot of these really big hemlocks, because they just left them alone.

[music playing] The animals you would find here would be things like the spotted skunk, which lives in these grottoes and crevices.

We also have the Allegheny woodrat here that lives in the cliff lines, and it's pretty much an obligate species, which means that it's tied to the cliff lines.

What's neat about the woodrat is that it builds these little oven-like structures where it has its young.

[music playing] Up here in Tight Hollow, there's a rare plant called Lucy Braun's white snakeroot.

And what's special about that, this is the most northern population of that species on the planet, is Tight Hollow.

[music playing] So, back from, say, the 1930s to the 1960s, a lot of the Daniel Boone National Forest was relatively lightly visited.

A few people knew about it.

You know, there were some locals, of course, that used the area to hunt and fish and camp and all that kind of stuff.

Some steps were constructed to access the area.

But at that time, they were thinking, "Well, let's build something where people can go in and take a look."

Since it was a designated trail, people was starting to use it to camp in.

The dispersed recreation was impacting the plant life, especially the old-growth timber.

So, if that had continued, I can't imagine what this place would look like now.

This is an area that's unique.

Let's try to preserve it and let ecological processes operate freely here and not have a lot of people coming into this particular area or a lot of disturbance.

Let's not build any trails or roads.

And so, it was kind of just left alone at that point to allow those processes and encourage research.

[music playing] We've had a fantastic time here today at General Burnside Island State Park.

It's yet another gem we've been able to explore as we celebrate all of Kentucky's state parks this season on our show with lots more to come.

Now, if you've enjoyed our show, be sure to like the Kentucky Life Facebook page or subscribe to the KET YouTube channel for more of what we like to call Kentucky Life Extras, where you'll have access to lots of other great videos.

Until next time.

I'll leave you with this moment.

I'm Chip Polston, cherishing this Kentucky life.

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