Beautiful Jim Key

by Mim E. Rivas

  Carson, Gerald. Men, Beasts, and Gods: A History of Cruelty and Kindness to Animals. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1972.

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  Conley, Kevin. Stud: Adventures in Breeding. London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2002.

  Conn, George, ed. The Arabian Horse in Fact, Fantasy and Fiction. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1959. Essays cited: “The Horse Fair,” by James Baldwin, 1899; “Bedouins of the Euphrates,” by Lady Anne Blunt, 1879; “A Pilgrimage to Nejd,” by Lady Anne Blunt, 1881; “The Horse of the Sahara,” by E. Daumus, 1863.

  Courtenay-Thompson, Fiona, and Kate Phelps, general eds. The 20th Century Year by Year. London: Barnes & Noble Books, a Marshall Edition, 1998.

  Daniel, Clifton, editorial director. Kirshon, John W., editor in chief. Chronicle of America. Paris: Jacques Legrand; Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Chronicle Publications, 1988.

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  Garner, Robert, ed. Animal Rights: The Changing Debate. New York: New York University Press, 1996.

  Goodall, Jane, and Marc Bekoff. The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for the Animals We Love. San Francisco: HarperSan-Francisco, 2002.

  Hagedorn, Hermann. The Roosevelt Family of Saginaw Hill. New York: Macmillan, 1954.

  Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: An American Legend. New York: Ballantine Books, 2001.

  Hughes, Langston, and Milton Meltzer. Black Magic: A Pictorial History of the Negro in American Entertainment. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1967.

  Jacobs, Lucile Frizzell. “The Tennessee Walking Horse.” Chapter 13 in “Duck River Valley in Tennessee and Its Pioneers,” 1968.

  Justi, Herman, ed. Official History of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Publication committee: Dr. W. L. Dudley and G. H. Baskette. Nashville, Tenn.: 1898.

  Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. New York: Crown Publishers, 2003.

  Lawrence, Bobby. Tennessee Centennial Nashville 1897. From the series Images of America. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 1998.

  Lee, Essie Mott. Dr. William Key: The Man Who Educated a Horse. Bloomington, Ind.: 1st Books, 1998, 2002.

  Litwack, Leon F. Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979.

  Magner, David. Magner’s Art of Taming and Educating Horses. Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald Publishing House, 1884.

  Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff, and Susan McCarthy. When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals. New York: Delta, 1995.

  McNamara, Brooks. Step Right Up: History of the Medicine Show. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976.

  Menand, Louis. The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001.

  Mooney, Chase C. Slavery in Tennessee. Westport, Conn.: Negro Universities Press, 1957.

  Morais, Herbert M. History of the Afro-American in Medicine. International Library of Afro-American Life and History. Cornwells Heights, Pa.: The Publishers Agency, Inc., 1978.

  Oppedisano, Jeannette M. Historical Encyclopedia of American Women Entrepreneurs: 1776 to the Present. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000.

  Patterson, Lindsay, ed. Anthology of the Afro-American in the Theatre: A Critical Approach. International Library of Afro-American Life and History. Cornwells Heights, Pa.: The Publishers Agency, Inc., 1978.

  Roberts, Monty. The Man Who Listens to Horses: The Story of a Real-Life Horse Whisperer. New York: Random House, 1997, 1998.

  Robertson, William H. P. The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Bonanza Books, 1964.

  Rogers, Albert. “Information Regarding Jim Key.” Various drafts, 1913–1945, unpublished article/manuscript.

  Sacks, Howard L., and Judith Rose Sacks. Way Up North in Dixie: A Black Family’s Claim to the Confederate Anthem. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.

  Senour, Caro. Master St. Elmo: The Autobiography of a Celebrated Dog. Chicago, Ill.: The Juvenile Book Company, 1904.

  Sherman, Joe. A Thousand Voices: The Story of Nashville’s Union Station. Nashville, Tenn.: Rutledge Hill Press, 1987.

  Sights, Scenes and Wonders at the World’s Fair. St. Louis, Mo., 1904.

  Slout, William Lawrence. Theatre in a Tent: The Development of a Provincial Entertainment. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1972.

  Spiegel, Marjorie, with a foreword by Alice Walker. The Dreaded Comparison: Human & Animal Slavery. New York: Mirror Books/I.D.E.A., 1988, 1989.

  Thuss, W. G., and A. J. Thuss. An Art Album of the Tennessee Centennial International Exposition, May 1 to October 31, 1897. Nashville, Tenn.: Marshall & Bruce Co. Publishers, 1898.

  Ward, Geoffrey C., with an introduction by Ric Burns and Ken Burns. The Civil War: An Illustrated History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.

  Womack, Bob. Call Forth the Mighty Men. Bessemer, Ala.: Colonial Press, 1987.

  ———. The Echo of Hoof Beats: History of the Tennessee Walking Horse. Shelbyville, Tenn.: DABORA, Inc., 1994.

  Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492–Present. New York: HarperCollins, 1980, 1995, 1998, 1999.

  PAMPHLETS AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

  Albert R. Rogers, “He Was Taught by Kindness” aka “Beautiful Jim Key: How He Was Educated.” Rogers Publications, editions 1899, 1901, 1904, 1906.

  Los Angeles Public Library exhibit brochure for “The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863” on view Dec. 5–8, 2003.

  Tennessee Centennial Exposition postcards, posters 1897.

  “The Parthenon: A Museum Guide.”

  Historical Edition Shelbyville Times-Gazette, 1819–1969: “Physicians, Attorneys, Teachers of 1850”; “Historic Streets”; “Study of Early Politics Explains Secession Vote”; “Erwin Home Was General Hardee’s Headquarters”; “Bedford Countians Took Up Arms—for Both North and South”; “Units in Which Bedford Countians Fought”; “Federal Soldier Saw Much Union Sentiment”; “HomeGuards Established During 1863”; “Shelbyville Rebels”; “Military Control of Shelbyville Changed Often During 1861–62”; “Andrews Made Plans to Steal ‘The General’ at Shelbyville”; “Anti-Secessionist ‘Parson’ Brownlow Detained Here by Rebel Soldiers”; “Bushwhacker Terrorized City”; “Bragg Set Up Defense at Shelbyville after Retreating from Murfreesboro”; “Rosecrans Outflanked Bragg at Battle of Hoover’s Gap”; “English Soldier Visited Bragg’s Army”; “Spy Pauline Cushman”; “Skirmish at Shelbyville, as Seen by a Soldier”; “Summary of Civil War Action in Bedford County”; “Loyalty of 80-Yr.-Old Shelbyville Woman Impressed Federals”; “S. E. Tillman Gives Insight into Civil War–Torn Bedford County”; “Forrest Escort Assembled in Shelbyville”; “Impressions of Shelbyville by a Rebel Soldier”; “Nathan Bedford Forrest: Legendary Civil War Cavalry Officer”; “Union Underground Railroad Operated in Bedford County”; “Wheeler Took Revenge in Raid on Shelbyville”; “Bedford Countians in the Civil War”; “Smalling Memoirs: Unusual Experiences Encountered by Local Confederate Officer”; “Social and Political Unrest Reflected Change During Reconstruction Period”; “Bedford County Fair Was ‘Biggest’ Event of Year”; “Support for Woman Suffrage Gained at 1920 Hotel Dixie Meeting”; “From Patent Medicines to Prescriptions”; “History of Negro Education in Bedford County”; “‘Old Sawney’ Established Nationally Known Webb Preparatory School in Bell Buckle”; “Walking Horse National Celebration: Idea That Was Successful”; “Heritage of Tennessee Walking Horse”; “Activities of Thespian Club…in 1888”; “Industrial Development”; “Former Slave Became Prosperous Businessman”; “Many Theories Given about Origin of Bell Buckle’s Name.”

  Information-impressions of Shelbyville and Bedford County, Shelbyville Times-Gazette, spring 1988: “Bedford Votes Democratic for Governor”; “L
ocal Theatre Was First Opera House”; “Shelbyville Depot Recommended to National Register for Historic Places”; “National Registry” (Bedford County landmarks); “Early Bedford County Communities and Their Histories”; “Bell Buckle Strives to Retain 1800s Charm”; “Shelbyville and Bedford Co. Have Close Ties to Three Members of Congress and Both Senators”; “Bedford County Can Claim Two United States Senators”; “Famous Bedford Countians”; “Summary of Some Events in Bedford Co. and Shelbyville, Tennessee, History.”

  NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS (BY DATE)

  “Keystone Driving Park,” Shelbyville Gazette, 6/23/1887.

  Coverage of President McKinley at Tennessee Centennial, Nashville Sun, Sunday, 6/13/1897. “Beautiful Jim Key,” New York Herald, 8/15/1897.

  “Beautiful Jim Key,” New York Sun, 8/15/1897.

  “General Sporting News,” Brooklyn Eagle, 8/18/1897.

  Centennial coverage, Nashville Daily Sun, 8/18/1897, 8/23/1897, 8/24–26/1897.

  “At the Waverly Fair,” Newark Evening News, 9/9/1897.

  Newark Daily Advertiser, 9/8/1897.

  “Beautiful Jim Key, the Educated Horse and His Wonderful Feats,” Orange Journal, 9/18/1897.

  “Beautiful ‘Jim Key,’” Orange Chronicle, 9/18/1897.

  “A Pet Horse That Writes, Thinks, and Spells,” New York World, 9/26/1897.

  “A Horse That Can Count, Read, and Write,” York Press, 9/26/1897.

  “Beautiful Jim Key at the Inter-state Fair,” Trenton Sunday Advertiser, 9/26/1897.

  “Grand Expo Feature,” Pittsburg Evening Record, 10/1897.

  “The Wonderful Horse to Be Seen Exposition,” Pittsburg Daily News, 10/1897.

  “A Wonderful Horse” (Pittsburg), 10/4/1897.

  “Unfere Musfteflung,” Pittsburger Beobadjter, 10/4/1897.

  Cincinnati clippings, “Little Ones: From House of Refuge and Children’s Home,” “Odeon, Beautiful Jim Key,” “Auditorium, Beautiful Jim Key,” fall 1897.

  “A Wonderful Horse,” Mail and Express, 10/25/1897.

  “Jim Key a Clever Horse,” New York Times, 12/1/1897.

  “Beautiful Jim Key, The Scholar and a Model Office Boy,” Trenton Sunday Advertiser, 2/13/1898.

  “Jim Key a Great Actor,” Plainfield Courier News, 2/26/1898.

  “Jim Key Is a Scholarly Horse,” Plainfield Courier News, 2/1898.

  Daily clippings, “Amusement Notes,” Plainfield Feb./March 1898.

  “A Horse That Almost Talks,” Plainfield Courier News, 3/8/1898.

  “Entertained by the Scholarly Horse” (Plainfield), 3/8/1898.

  “The King of All Horses, Beautiful Jim Key” (York, Pa.), 10/4/1898.

  “Jim Makes His Bow,” Evening Telegram, 11/8/1898.

  “Beautiful Jim Key: First Performance of This Wonderful Horse Last Night,” Greensboro Record, 11/8/1898.

  “This Horse Will Teach People How to Spell,” Atlanta Journal, 12/1898.

  “Beautiful Jim Key to Come,” Atlanta Constitution, 12/4/1898.

  “Jim Key Performs Today,” Atlanta Constitution, 12/9/1898.

  “Jim Key’s Exhibition,” Atlanta Constitution, 12/10/1898.

  “Jim Key’s Power of Reasoning,” Atlanta, 12/1898.

  “Jim Key Performs Today,” Atlanta, 12/1898.

  “Wonderful Jim Key, the Educated Horse Being Exhibited by the Humane Society,” Atlanta Constitution, 12/19/1898.

  “A Tribute to Jim Key,” “Jim Key the Fashion,” Atlanta Constitution, 12/23/1898.

  “Jim Key Leaves Tonight,” Atlanta Constitution, 12/31/1898.

  “Object Lesson to Humanity,” Nashville American, 2/11/1899.

  “Chesterfield Among Horses,” Nashville American, 2/12/1899.

  “Jim Key the Famous Horse,” Nashville Banner, 2/18/1899.

  “Beautiful Jim Key,” The Children’s Visitor, vol. 33, no. 3, March 1899.

  “Dr. William Key, Most Successful Horse Trainer in the World,” New Orleans Item, 1899.

  “Horse Still King at the State Fair,” “Jim Key to Be Awarded Blue Ribbon,” “Pronounced Cleverest Horse in the World,” New Orleans, August 1899.

  “Exposition Notes,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/8/1899.

  “Beautiful Jim Key,” Temple Review, 11/1899.

  “Humane Society Endorses the Press Animal Ambulance Fund,” Pittsburg Press, 10/24/1900.

  “Pittsburg Heartily Praises Fund,” Pittsburg Press, 10/25/1900.

  “Need of Animal Ambulance Recognized,” Pittsburg Press, 10/26/1900.

  “No City Needs Ambulance More,” Pittsburg, 10/1900.

  “More Money Than Was Originally Asked For,” Pittsburg, 10/1900.

  Various Boston Food Fair ads, Boston Globe, 10/6–27/1901.

  Boston Food Fair, Boston Evening Transcript, 10/19/1901.

  Blurb on examination of Jim by Harvard professors, Boston Globe, 10/27/1901.

  “Beautiful Jim Key: Horse That Reads, Writes, and Changes Money,” Boston Globe, 11/1901.

  “Last Chance to See Beautiful Jim Key,” Boston Traveler, 11/1/1901.

  “A Letter from Jim Key,” Our Dumb Animals, vol. 34, no. 7, 12/1901.

  “Jim Is Highly Educated—Can Both Spell and Figure,” Post-Standard, 9/7/1902.

  “Last Day of Mechanics Fair,” Boston Traveler, 10/30/1902.

  “Dr. Key and His Horse,” Guardian, 11/1902.

  “Beautiful Jim Key,” South Carolina Interstate & West Indian Exposition Midway Edition, A. R. Rogers, ed., 12/28/1902.

  “Beautiful Jim Key,” Boston Hampton Union, 1903.

  “Will Astonish the City,” Charleston, 1902.

  “Read by Ten Million People.” Extract from an illustrated article that was sent out by the American Press Association; 1903 AP story (reprinted in Rogers promo materials).

  “Horse, Trained by Kindness, Does Everything But Talk,” St. Louis Republic, 4/29/1904.

  Entire newspaper, precoverage of world’s fair opening, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4/30/1904.

  Entire newspaper, coverage of world’s fair opening, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 5/1/1904.

  “Popular Prices the Rule on Pike,” St. Louis, summer 1904.

  “Jim Key’s Mascot Was Once a Common Stray Dog” (clipping).

  “Beautiful Jim Key a Wonderful Horse,” Chicago Daily Journal, 5/27/1905.

  “Wonderful Jim Key Has Arrived,” Columbus Evening Dispatch, 3/6/1906.

  “‘Jim Key’ Here Tonight,” Ohio State Journal, 3/6/1906.

  “Horse Is Winner in Spelling Bee,” Columbus Citizen, 3/7/1906.

  “‘Jim Key’ Makes Good Impression,” Columbus Evening Dispatch, 3/7/1906.

  “Jim Key Proves Equine Wisdom,” Ohio State Journal, 3/7/1906.

  “Wonderful Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy Writes about ‘Jim Key,’” Columbus Evening Dispatch, 3/8/1906.

  “Captured the City, He Broke All Records,” St. Joseph Star Special Jim Key Edition, 3/23/1906.

  “The Horse and the Boy,” Omaha World-Herald, 3/26/1906.

  “Wisest Horse in the World Is Here,” Minneapolis Journal, 3/30/1906; editorial cartoon, “The School Board Has Been.”

  “Jim Key Delights First Night Crowd” (Cleveland), 4/4/1906.

  “Jim Key Does Sums for 8000 People,” Minneapolis Journal, 4/4/1906.

  “Is It Wrong to Slaughter Flies?” Cleveland News, 5/2/1906.

  “Soldier of Peace: George T. Angell 1823–1909,” Boston Traveler, 3/20/1909.

  “A Negro on the ‘Problem,’” “Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Library,” Chattanooga Times, 6/29/1909.

  Death notice, Shelbyville Gazette, 10/21/1909, “Dr. William Key, colored, died at his home last night” (d.o.d. 10/18/1909).

  Clippings, obituaries, Dr. William Key, Shelbyville Gazette, 10/1909.

  Boston clippings on Angell Memorial Fund, “Children May Give Pennies,” various sources, 1909.

  “Jim Key Dies,” Shelbyville Gazette, 2/2/1911 (incorrectly reported).

  Carl Krall and Wilhelm Neumann, �
��Tell of Mind Link to Horses and Dogs,” New York Times, 10/1/1927.

  “Gets Tercentenary Post: Albert R. Rogers to Direct Celebration Planned by Connecticut,” New York Times, 1/26/1935.

  “Beautiful Jim Key, the Educated Horse, Was the Sensation of His Day,” Shelbyville Gazette, 9/4/1946 (from collection of W. J. McGill).

  O. C. Walker, “Jim Key Foaled, Trained in Bedford, Shattered Theories of ‘Dumb Animals,’” Shelbyville-Times Gazette, 3/21/1958.

  “‘Jim Key’ Foaled, Trained in Bedford, Shattered Theories of ‘Dumb Animals,’” New York World 3/21/1958.

  Charles Whited, “Shelbyville’s Wonder Horse,” Nashville Tennessean, 3/23/1958.

  Phil Coop, “Jim Key’s Memory,” Shelbyville Times-Gazette, 9/4/1969.

  “Jim Key Wonder Horse,” 31st Annual Walking Horse National Celebration Souvenir Edition, 9/4/1969.

  “Story of Jim Key Lives On,” 32nd Annual Walking Horse National Celebration Souvenir Edition, 9/1/1970.

  “Memorial to Jim Key,” Shelbyville Times-Gazette, 10/6/1970.

  Dr. Bob Womack, “Jim Key…A Remarkable Horse,” Walking Horse Report, 3/12/1979.

  Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Amy Wallace, “The Amazing Calculating Horse,” Parade, 6/13/1982.

  Dick Poplin, “Scraps of Poplin: Bedford County’s Hall of Fame” (Dr. Stanley White Davis remembered), Shelbyville Times-Gazette.

  Dick Poplin, “The Civil War in Bedford County.”

  Chris Shofner, “The Smartest Horse in America,” Shelbyville Times-Gazette, 8/27/1985.

  Kay Rose, “Trunk Yields Unexpected Treasures,” Shelbyville Times-Gazette, 2/23/2000.

  Monica Whitaker, “How Kindness Made Freed Slave Famous,” Tennessean, 2/21/1999.

  Dick Poplin, “Of Cabbages and Kings,” Shelbyville Times-Gazette, 7/17/2002.

  Clara Singleton Nelson, “My Civil War Connection,” Shelbyville Times-Gazette, 2/17/2003.

  The Bell Buckle Echo: History Echoes in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, vol. 11, issue 10, October 2002; vol. 11, issue 12, December 2002; vol. 12, issue 3, March 2003.

  FILM, VIDEO, AND MUSIC

  The Civil War, a film by Ken Burns (episodes 1–9) PBS Gold DVD, dist. by Warner Home Video.

  The Hoffman Collection: Films by David Hoffman, including Moonshot (4-part series, Turner Broadcasting, Peabody Award); Riding for America (PBS Gold Cine—America’s equestrians head for Olympics); Barnum’s Big Top (The American Experience; the unique story of P. T. Barnum); Sins of Our Mothers (The American Experience; incest rumors turn to truth and truth turns to legend in Maine); Ballad of a Mountain Man (The American Experience; one man’s quest to unearth the roots of “mountain music”).