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New Versailles Road Library Branch to be named Marksbury Family Branch
Lexington, Kentucky (March 9, 2022) – Lexington Public Library and Lexington Public Library Foundation are honored to announce that the Marksbury Family Foundation has committed the lead gift for the capital campaign to rebuild the library branch at the corner of Versailles Road and Village Drive. In recognition of their generosity, the new facility will be named the Marksbury Family Branch when it opens in 2024.
Join us for Kentucky Legends: a series of programs exploring Kentucky culture, history, and lore. Programs include author visits, Chautauqua performances, live music, activities and crafts, and more.
Lexington Public Library Donations Received January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023
Mariam interviews Foster Ockerman, Jr., author of Hidden History of Horse Racing in Kentucky, and President and Chief Historian of the Lexington History Museum about his book and horse racing in Kentucky.
Mariam shares the history of Kentucky’s Separate Coach Law, and Lexington’s second African American attorney, J. Alexander Chiles, who took the fight to the US Supreme court multiple times in the 1890s and early 1900s.
Mariam and Wayne discuss the 1970 shooting on Kent State’s campus, and how protests against the shooting, including the ROTC building fire, on UK’s campus led to curfews and lockdowns by Kentucky’s Governor.
Mariam interviews Kentucky native Kevin Lane Dearinger about his forthcoming memoir, Bad Sex in Kentucky, his Broadway career, and his second career in education.
Mariam interviews Shea Simanek Magnuson about the history of women’s suffrage in Kentucky.
Mariam interviews Susan Griffith and Vikki Franklin from Eastern State Hospital about the 195 year history of the hospital, and shares stories from contemporary newspaper articles.
Mariam and Wayne discuss the rich history of baseball in Kentucky.
Mariam interviews Fred Mills about the history of the Kentucky Theatre and his 50 year tenure as the theatre’s manager.
Located on the fourth floor of the Central Library, this space invites children and students to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math through hands-on experiences. Programming events targeted toward upper elementary and middle-school aged students include circuits, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, coding, 3D printing, recording in the audio booth, and so much more.
Mariam and Wayne discuss the Code Duello and several nineteenth century Kentucky duels, including duels fought by Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and a pair of doctors from Transylvania University’s School of Medicine.
Mariam interviews Reinette Jones, founder of the Notable Kentucky African Americans database. They discuss Kentucky’s Centenarian Librarians, the boxer David Moore, and the prison shoe-making industry. Visit the NKAA at http://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/
Stories of Lexington's history told through the Kentucky Room archives.
The Lexington Public Library’s Digital Archives provide open access to researchers and students to learn more about the rich history of Lexington and Fayette County. It contains a fraction of the Library’s physical holdings, which are housed and available for reference in the Kentucky Room at the Central Library. New material is being digitized and added constantly, so there's always something new to find.
The archives have a simple keyword search, and it is possible to browse the collections by subject, area, or decade. The Lexington Public Library actively reviews and labels materials in our archives with statements that indicate how you may reuse the images, and what sort of permission, if any, you need to do so. Please check the information for each image to determine its legal status.
The collection contains non-Fayette County school yearbooks and images, dating from 1878-1968.
Mariam and David discuss Charles Dickens’ visit to Kentucky in 1842, with readings by Bill Widener from Dickens’ work “American Notes.”
Mariam and Erin discuss and play clips of a few of their favorite moments from Tales from the Kentucky Room. This episode was recorded online from their homes.
Enjoy this discussion of Lexington born Major League Baseball players that was cut from the KY Baseball episode.
Jennifer and Erin review recipes from four Kentucky Cookbooks: Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy by Damaris Phillips (Pimiento Cheese Baked Rice), Bluegrass Gatherings: Entertaining through Kentucky's Seasons by Junior League of Louisville (Beer Cheese),
The Central Kentucky Cemeteries Maps are powered by Google Maps. Counties include: Fayette, Bourbon, Clark, Garrard, Harrison, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Montgomery, Nicholas, Powell, Scott, and Woodford.
The materials in these collections are physically housed in the Kentucky Room at the Central Library and can be viewed during the Central Library's open hours.
For more information about a specific item, including any copyright restrictions on that item, please click on the information button:
The Library's digitized collection includes some non-Fayette County directories for businesses, farms and residences.
Discover unique resources in our Digital Archives that tell the story of Fayette County. Visit cemeteries throughout Central Kentucky using our cemetery maps. Contact our resident experts in the Central Library's Kentucky Room with questions.
In this episode we'll talk about the events that happen in pages 1-80, we'll go over all the characters that are introduced and how they fit in to the story. We'll share our opinions (lots of them) and talk about what we want to see in the rest of the boo
The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news, though some local announcements can be found. Later, the paper focused on disseminating opinions on politics and issues of concern on the frontier. When political parties emerged, the paper developed a Democratic (conservative at the time) bent. John Bradford handed the reins of the paper over to his son, Daniel Bradford, in 1802.
While still owned and occasionally edited by the Bradford family, the paper had several editors and publishers through the mid-1830s, when Daniel Bradford returned to the paper’s byline as editor. Daniel Bradford edited the paper until 1840, when he sold it to Jim Cunningham. The paper shuttered in 1848, due to Cunningham’s failing health, but was revived in 1866 and published until 1910 by different publishers.
The years 1841-1910 are not digitized as of January 2020, but are viewable on microfilm and in print in the Kentucky Room at Central Library. Selected articles are indexed in the Library’s Local History Index.
The Kentucky School for the Deaf, located in Danville, was created in 1822. The first class of students were admitted beginning in April 1823. Through a partnership with Centre College, the school's board identified John Adamson Jacobs as a potential instructor for the school and sent him to train at the first school for deaf students in the US, the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. He served as instructor, principal, and superintendent for KSD during the years from 1825-1869. Jacobs Hall was built in 1857 and was named for him. It is classified as a National Historic Landmark and is still in operation as the school's museum today. From the beginning, KSD was committed to educating students academically while teaching life skills and providing vocational training. Deaf African American students began attending in 1885.
The Centennial History provides a detailed account of the formation of the school and its facilities, as well as its evolution through the first 100 years. Financial structure of the school, methods of instruction, and the creation of the school newspaper and literary society are all discussed. The book also contains lists of the names of all donors, trustees, commissioners, and students. Officers of the school, which include superintendents, principals, teachers, and staff have a short biographical summaries accompanying their names.
The Kentucky Rally Songs pamphlet contains 42 songs compiled and printed by the state chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, to be used at the many gatherings and rallies that they organized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The songs, sung to popular tunes of the day, dealt with prohibition and women’s suffrage.
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was an organization founded in 1873 to promote social reform along with Christian moral principles, and the Kentucky chapter was extremely active. In addition to politically supporting sympathetic political candidates, the WCTU also held many social events to advocate for alcohol and tobacco abstinence, with a focus on overall moral reform.
Information from the Kentucky Historical Society.
