As a native of the Appalachian region, I have grown to love the mountains and discovering some of its long-forgotten history. I completed an undergraduate degree in forensic psychology and sociology and enrolled in graduate school where I obtained a master of science degree and have additional graduate credits in American and Public History with research interests in the history of medicine and psychiatry and the history of funeral traditions.

I worked closely with Phil to help provide a permanent online home for KHI to be utilized as a resource for family members and friends of the deceased patients buried at the various hospitals and institutions. Both Phil and I were active in the non-profit, Kentucky History and Genealogy Network Inc. Our group serves as a means to educate the public about the history of Kentucky’s asylums and institutions as well as to advocate for the forgotten patients buried at these places decades and centuries ago.