On Tuesday, January 6th, 2026, the City was delighted to host a visiting scholar from the University of Kentucky History Department, Ethan Coomer.
Coomer is a Columbia native and has been at UK since 2023 studying History.
During his time at UK he has studied the US Civil War, with specific research on African American soldiers in the Civil War and Kentuckians in the war.
He has also done research and work on Greek History during his time in historical studies.
He has also spent time doing historical studies in various other countries including France, Germany, Czechia, Italy, and Austria.
This marked the second visit of scholars to Columbia of the week as the City hosted two visiting scholars from the McConnell Center for Leadership at the University of Louisville on Monday.
The two visits this week and many others throughout the year, is just one of the many examples of Columbia being a hub of academia in southern Kentucky, with hometown Lindsey Wilson University and other universities such as Tennessee Tech, University of Kentucky, and the University of Louisville conducting research and activities in our community.
(Trey Stephens, Assistant to the Mayor – City of Columbia)