Authors

Marlitta H. Perkins

Marlitta H. Perkins was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia and lived in Europe for over twenty years. Upon returning to the States, she attended Columbus College of Art and Design. After a visit in the early 1990's to the grave of her 2nd  great-grandfather Henry Clay Perkins, a 14th Kentucky Infantry Civil War veteran, the focus of Ms. Perkins’ work shifted from artistic pursuits to historic Civil War research and preservation.

Since 1996, Ms. Perkins has given numerous presentations on the Civil War in Eastern Kentucky. She has also participated as panelist in a number of Civil War seminars and round-tables. As an on-going commitment to honor the memory of Eastern Kentucky Civil War veterans, she has organized memorial services and created a number of exhibits, including at the Big Sandy Heritage Center in Pikeville, Kentucky.

Ms. Perkins has been involved in battlefield preservation and was a co-founder and trustee of the Buffington Island Battlefield Group, Inc., which actively promoted and fought for the preservation of Ohio's only Civil War battlefield. She continues to work as military specialist with a number of local historical societies and is the military and historic landmarks coordinator for the Lawrence County, Kentucky GenWeb site. In 1996, she designed and still maintains the 14th Kentucky Infantry website. Her blogs, Eastern Kentucky in the Civil War and Vanishing Eastern Kentucky, represent her continued interest in Civil War history and historic preservation. 

 Her work has appeared in various publications, including the Columbus Dispatch, which reported in 2004 on her discovery and subsequent research of an 1864 grave robbery at Camp Chase, originally published in 2001 on her Camp Chase website (now archived).  Slavery in Eastern Kentucky, her groundbreaking research about antebellum African-Americans in the Eastern part of the state, was published on CD in 2013 and as ebook in 2014. Other works include The Most Brilliant Little Victory, a book on General Nelson’s 1861 Eastern Kentucky Campaign (2014) and Adventures, Struggles, Trials and Services of the 5th Regiment, Virginia Vol. Infantry (2015).

In 2014, Ms. Perkins founded Eastern Kentucky Research & Publishing, a publishing house in the heart of the Big Sandy Valley, which highlights and celebrates the rich history and culture of Appalachia.

Her hobbies include Civil War reenacting and photography. Aside from preserving our historic treasures, she also believes in protecting the environment and has been an outspoken advocate for years. Ms. Perkins has two children and currently lives with her husband near Paintsville, Kentucky.