Sesquicentennial Stories: The Promise of UK #94

 

The first known annual at Kentucky State College was titled, The Memoria 1894 and was edited by Felix Kerrick. It contained a history of each class, a lengthy history of the University, and numerous feature articles.

 

The Kentuckian first appeared in 1899 as a monthly magazine and contained literary essays, poems, editorials, and gossip about campus life.  J.M. McDaniel was editor.  A series of the magazine-newspaper combination continued for several years.  Pictures and sports were gradually added.  

The KSC Blue and White, the first real annual, was published in 1903.  It had group class pictures and listed each graduate’s thesis, degree, and major.  It also included pictures and a history of each department.  

 

In 1904, William David Gray edited a yearbook called Echoes.  This was primarily a senior book with space devoted to individual pictures, nicknames, hometowns, activities, and a quote from each graduating senior.  There was no UK annual in 1905.

The first of the consecutive annual Kentuckians was published in 1906 and edited by Philip Rieflin.  This marked the beginning of great yearbook diversity.  Some have been modern, some reflective, some political, but each a great look into the history, culture, and success of the University of Kentucky.

The Kentuckian is still published today. Searchable, digital versions of the historic yearbooks are available at http://exploreuk.uky.edu

Sesquicentennial Stories: The Promise of UK #95

As part of the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering’s Silver Jubilee celebration on May 30^th 1916 at 10:00 a.m. a monument to American railroad development was erected. The monument consisted of a restoration of a portion of the original track of the Lexington and Ohio Railroad, the first railroad built west of the Allegheny Mountains.  About 25 feet of the original track was to be set on a concrete base on the campus of the University, in front of Mechanical Hall.  

A bronze tablet was to be set at the base, containing the following inscription:  “This restoration of a portion of the original track of the Lexington and Ohio (now Louisville and Nashville) Railroad laid at Lexington in 1831, is dedicated to those men of forethought and courage who were pioneers in railroad development in America.”

Left of center is the Railroad Memorial. The building near the center is Mechanical Hall. The Science Building (now Miller Hall) is on the left.

The dedication was presided over by Dean Anderson.  The dedicatory program had three speeches: “The Development of Railroads and the Locomotive,” by Dr. D.F. Crawford; “The Railroad Builder” by Major James Poyntz Nelson; and the dedication speech by Judge Samuel M. Wilson.  A history of the “First Railroad of the West,” by Maude W. Lafferty was printed in pamphlet form and distributed as a souvenir.

The Railroad Memorial can still be seen on campus today. It is located behind the Carol Martin Gatton Business and Economics Building and the plaque faces the Anderson Buildings.

We're pleased to announce several notebooks and scrapbooks from the Frank Fitch Notebooks, 1867-1873 (2008ms007) are now available on Explore UK.

Abstract: The Frank Fitch Notebooks span from 1867 through 1873. During this period Frank Fitch, along with his brother Fred, built a furnace in Estill County Kentucky. The seven notebooks in this collection serve as documentation of the construction of that furnace.

Biography/History: In operation from 1869 through 1874, Fitchburg Furnace of Estill County, Kentucky was designed by Frank Fitch, constructed by Sam Worthley, and financed by a group of New England businessmen. Fitchburg's twin furnaces, Chandler and Blackstone, were named for two of the project's investors. One of three iron furnaces in Estill County, and one of dozens in the larger Hanging Rock region of northeast Kentucky and southeast Ohio, Fitchburg Furnace produced railroad wheels and rails. During its 1868 construction a town of 2,000 developed around Fitchburg Furnace, but when the Furnace ceased operations in 1874 the town slowly dissipated.

Scope and Content: The Frank Fitch Notebooks consist of seven notebooks spanning from 1867 through 1873. These document the construction of the furnace Frank Fitch built with his brother, Fred. They include rough sketches of the furnace, maps of the area around the furnace, lists of supplies, and financial information. The collection also contains several pieces of ephemera as well as materials from an exhibit about Frank Fitch and the furnace.

Extent: 0.25 cubic feet