Strike for our Country's Good - The Battlecry of William Henry Harrison | 19th Century Display
Display tour by Mel Hankla, American Historic Services
Today we're being guided through “Strike for our Country's Good, the Battle Cry of William Henry Harrison” a historic display tour guided by none other than Mel Hankla
I'd like to thank Mel Hankla and Jeff Jaeger for giving us some time with the display during this hectic show. I'd also like to thank the Kentucky Rifle Association, the Grouseland Historic Foundation and the Kentucky Historical Society for sponsoring this historic display.
I gotta say as much as the NRA show isn't about muzzleloaders, I was very pleased with the amount of traffic that went through this booth. Even as we were trying to film and show you this display, it was really great to see so many people interested in history and I think because it was so much and so tied to local history that many of the attendees for this show in the local surrounding area were able to connect with some of their local history that they may have only read about and visited a couple of these historic sites.
Being able to see these amazing artifacts in person was just incredible. I can't thank all the parties involved enough for the opportunity to to see and then share this display with you at home.
About Mel Hankla
Mel Hankla is a collector, researcher, speaker and writer of Kentucky’s heritage and an authority on the history surrounding the Kentucky Longrifle. He is a past president of the Contemporary Longrifle Association and editor of American Tradition magazine. He is a builder of traditional Kentucky Longrifles and in 1984 was awarded a National Endowment of the Arts grant to apprentice with master riflesmith Hershel House.
A historical actor, he has worked 18 years with the Kentucky Humanities Council presenting Chautauqua characters of frontiersman Simon Kenton and Gen. George Rogers Clark.
Most recently he was cast for the leading roll, in the PBS documentary, An Audacious American, the story of abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay.
A noted writer, he has contributed articles to many publications and is currently working on a book, "Up the Valley & Thru the Gap - Following the migration of Kentucky's Rifle Smiths." Lectures reporting his research towards the publication of this book have been presented to: The Kentucky Rifle Association, The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, The Kentucky Historical Society, The Owen County Historical Society, and will be presented at the 2014 Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) Conference on Southern Material Culture, October 23-25.
Mel’s Latest Book, “Into the Bluegrass”
Mel Hankla
E-mail: melhankla@amhiss.com