James C. Nicholson
(859) 983-4940
Monographs
The Notorious John Morrissey: How a Bare-Knuckle Brawler Became a Congressman
and Founded Saratoga Race Course (University Press of Kentucky, forthcoming
2016).
The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America’s Premier
Sporting Event (University Press of Kentucky, 2012, 2014).
Never Say Die: A Kentucky Colt, the Epsom Derby, and the Rise of the Modern
Thoroughbred Industry (University Press of Kentucky, 2013).
Teaching Experience:
University of Kentucky Department of History and Honors Program
Instructor
HIS 240 History of Kentucky (Fall 2014)
HIS 499 Famous Trials (Spring 2013)
HIS 108 History of the United States through 1877 (2011- 2013)
HIS 351 Supreme Court Decisions in American History (Spring 2010)
HON 301 The Founders, the Courts, and Religion (Spring 2015)
HON 251 American Sports Scandals (Spring 2016)
Teaching Assistant, 2002-2005, 2008-2009
HIS 108 History of the United States through 1865
HIS 109 History of the United States since 1865
Other Selected Work Experience
Associate Attorney at Brooks, McComb, and Fields, LLP, focusing on education,
employment, and civil rights law, Lexington, KY, 2013-present
Law Clerk for Chief Judge Jennifer B. Coffman, U.S. District Court, Eastern and
Western District of Kentucky, 2011-2013
Education
Ph.D. History, 2010 – University of Kentucky
J.D., 2008 – University of Kentucky
M.A. History, 2004 – University of Kentucky
B.A., 2001 – University of Kentucky
Selected Papers Presented:
“Kentucky’s Horse Industry,” Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort
Kentucky, 2014.
“Sterling Clark’s Horses,” Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,
Williamstown, Massachusetts, 2013
“Louisville’s Kentucky Derby,” Filson Historical Society, Louisville,
Kentucky, 2012.
“‘The Fighting Finish:’ An Enduring Image and Class Conflict at the
Kentucky Derby in the Great Depression,” Bluegrass Regional
Graduate Student Conference, University of Kentucky, 2010.
“Easier to Kill a Monster: Femininity and Capital Punishment in American
Film,” Bluegrass Symposium, University of Kentucky, 2009.
“Barbaro, Colonel Sanders, and $1,000 Mint Juleps: The 2006 Kentucky
Derby,” Futures of American Studies Institute, Dartmouth College,
2009.
“Yummy!: Kentucky Derby Corporate Sponsorship in Historical Perspective,” Bluegrass
Symposium, University of Kentucky, 2006.
Awards and Honors
Finalist, 2015 Kentucky Literary Award for Nonfiction for Never Say Die
Winner 2013 Kentucky Literary Award for Nonfiction for The Kentucky Derby
Winner 2013 Kentucky Historical Society Book Award for The Kentucky Derby
Best paper by Phi Alpha Theta Member, Bluegrass Symposium, 2009
Scholarship to Attend Futures of American Studies Institute, Dartmouth College,
Summer 2009
Professional Organizations
American Historical Association
Kentucky Historical Society
Filson Historical Society
American Bar Association
Kentucky Bar Association
1