Illustrations by Liz Swanson and Lena Bird-Pollan lizswanson.com
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Dear Lexington Third-Grader,
Did you know your city turned 250 years old this year? That’s a really big birthday, and we’ve been celebrating all year!
Lexington is even older than the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, but our city was founded in 1775. You can still visit the place where it all began, just on the edge of downtown at McConnell Springs.
There are lots of fun things to learn about Lexington. One of the greatest jockeys ever, Isaac Murphy, lived here. There’s even a downtown park named after him.
And a long time ago, Lexington had a famous town dog named Smiley Pete. People loved him so much that there’s a plaque about him right on Main Street.
This activity book will help you learn more about Lexington. Join us in celebrating our city’s big birthday!
Sincerely,
Mayor
Join us for an exciting adventure through time! Lexington, Kentucky, is celebrating its 250th birthday, and you’re invited to explore the amazing history of this special city. Imagine horse farms, bustling streets, life-changing inventions, and important people who helped shape Lexington.
As we journey through Lexington’s past, we’ll discover fun stories, fascinating facts, and hidden treasures that make this city unique.
Let’s uncover the history all around us! Pack your curiosity—this trip through time is going to be unforgettable!
Welcome to Downtown Lexington
By A. Gwynn Henderson
By A. Gwynn Henderson
WOW! What a place!
Cars whiz by on asphalt (AS-falt) streets. WATCH OUT—they only stop when overhead traffic lights turn red!
Sunlight winks in the tall narrow windows of old brick buildings. They are old, for sure. But they are not nearly old enough to be the first ones people built here.
Look at all those restaurants. That’s what smells so good!
Honey locust trees in the park line the walks leading to a noisy flowing fountain. The park follows the curve of Vine Street. But hey: downtown hasn’t always looked or smelled or sounded this way.
Can you imagine it before?
Oh, yes! There was a “before.” Two hundred and fifty years ago, Francis and William McConnell and their friends camped at a nearby spring. There were no fountains, restaurants, or cars back then. But can you imagine even further back in time? How about 550 years before the McConnells? That would be 1250 CE.
My goodness, how lovely “downtown” is.
And how very very different it looks.
Thick stands of tall rivercane and grasses grow along the banks of Town Branch. So, too, do rushes, blackberry bushes, and colorful flowers. The water in the creek is so clear, you can see its sandy bottom. Check out those shiny minnows and sunfish swimming in the creek’s quiet pools.
Cup your hands and take a drink. Ahhh…delicious!
Wait! What’s that rustling noise? Can you see anything through the cane? Is it a wild turkey? Maybe it’s a grey squirrel or a fox. Standing this close to the creek, it could even be a beaver. Or a snapping turtle.
A gently rolling meadow land lies beyond the creek. It is covered in clover and Big Bluestem grass, and is dotted with a few trees and flowers. Shade your eyes. You may have to squint a little to see.
From where you are standing, though, you cannot see the forest. But you KNOW you want to go there! So, climb up the creek bank and follow that deer path—it is right behind you—out across the meadows.
Did you just smell spearmint? Yep! You stepped on pennyroyal!
Ahead of you, a rabbit hops off the path, then shyly watches as you pass by. A groundhog, though, takes his sweet time waddling out of your way. MOVE IT, buddy!
Watch out! Don’t step in the deer poop!
When you get to the forest, you see oak and maple. Hickory and ash. You can tell who’s who by the shape of the leaves. The oldest trees are so BIG. You would need at least five friends to give just one tree a complete bear hug.
Wait—is that smoke you smell? Uh huh. And a dog is barking, and children are laughing. It sounds like your backyard when friends come over. You hear grown-ups’ voices, too, but you can’t understand their language at all.
What is going on here? Well, find out! Look around that big black walnut tree. Ah! American Indian families are eating and tending their campfires. If you could ask them, they would tell you their village is about a day’s walk southeast of here. So, this place is their home, and it is your home.
What do you think they would say if you told them a city will stand here someday?
Bet they would be surprised to see today’s traffic lights, brick buildings, and a fountain. Just like you are surprised (admit it—you ARE!) to imagine stands of rivercane, a clear creek, and meadowlands so close to downtown Lexington.
Photo
Isaac Burns Murphy
By Yvonne Giles
Isaac Burns was ten years old when he began working with horses. Mr. Eli Jordan, the horse trainer, taught him how to care for them. Horses are big animals. They can kick and bite if you are not careful. Isaac was a small boy. He did not want a horse to hurt him. He whispered to it. He patted it. He gave it apples and carrots. He never hit the horse with his whip. Isaac was never hurt.
When Isaac was fourteen years old, he learned to ride horses. He became a jockey. The first horse he rode threw him to the ground. Mr. Jordan told him to get up and try again. Isaac did. He kept practicing until he won his first race in 1876, riding the horse Glentina. Isaac was fifteen years old.
After winning his first race, Isaac Burns decided to change his name. It would be Isaac Burns Murphy. It was the last name of his mother, America, before she married his father, Jerry Burns.
Isaac exercised. He had to have good arm and hand strength to hold the reins. He needed strong legs to keep him in the saddle.
From 1877 to 1893, Isaac rode in eleven Kentucky Derbies. He won first place in 1884, 1890, and 1891. He was the first jockey to win three races. No one beat his record until 1948.
He rode in 1,412 races. He won 628 of them during his career.
People remembered that Isaac Burns Murphy was a quiet man. He was honest. He worked hard. He was loyal to his friends. He was a great athlete.
There is a park named in his honor. His house stood on the land. Some of the stones of his house are in the park. It is the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden. The park has information on Isaac and other African American horsemen.
Isaac was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955. He was the first African American jockey.
Activity
Jockey silks are colorful shirts worn by jockeys during horse races. They help fans watching the race know which horse belongs to which farm or owner. They can be stripes, stars, patterns, or even have pictures on them. Now, imagine you have your own horse farm—what kind of silks would you create? Think about your favorite colors, shapes, or even animals you love, and design your own set of silks that stands out from the crowd!
The Lexington Cemetery
By Melissa A. McEuen
Did you know that Lexington’s largest cemetery is 175 years old?
The official opening was on June 25, 1850. It was a big event. Local businesses closed and crowds of people headed to the new burial ground on foot and in carriages. Why did Lexington need a new cemetery? And why was it so big? A gigantic 40 acres! One reason was space. Church graveyards in town were almost full. In 1833, 500 people died from the disease cholera (KOL-er-uh). In 1849, the sickness again swept the city. Germs in food and the water supply caused it. In crowded parts of town, the disease spread quickly. People who caught it had severe stomach trouble, and most did not survive.
Some people believed that the bodies of cholera victims might be a danger to healthy people. Could a large burial site outside the city solve this deadly problem? Maybe. In 1849, twenty-five men gave $500 each to buy a wooded area on the edge of town to turn into a cemetery. The new burial ground was not like crowded church graveyards
in town. It was a quiet, peaceful place with sweeping lawns where visitors could rest and enjoy nature – like a garden.
The cemetery still has ancient trees and colorful flowers. Ponds and fountains attract birds and other wildlife.
During the Civil War, grave sites were needed for soldiers who died in and near Lexington. In 1861, the cemetery set aside space for U.S. soldiers’ graves. This became the Lexington National Cemetery in 1863.
A year later, a similar burial ground was set up in Arlington, Virginia, near the nation’s capital. National cemeteries are also resting places for the remains of people who served in later wars.
Find the stories of teachers, writers, doctors, and others at lexcem.org.
Look for unusual shapes and symbols on the stones. Which do you like best? The Graves of Famous Kentuckians
Gravestone Designs
You can visit the Lexington Cemetery seven days a week. Just be sure to be quiet and respectful! Here are some things to look for:
Trees and Birds
Nature lovers have seen 200 types of trees and 179 kinds of birds at the Lexington Cemetery! Find a tree walk and bird list at lexcem.org.
Gideon Shryock
By James Renner
Gideon Shryock was born in Lexington in 1802. Gideon received his first training from his father, Mathias, who was a builder. In order to learn more about architecture (designing buildings), Gideon spent a year in Philadelphia studying under William Strickland. Strickland was a prominent architect, who was known for his Greek Revival designs.
Greek Revival architecture is based on the designs of the Ancient Greeks, especially their temples. Many Americans in the 1800s saw a connection to the Ancient Greeks because of the development of Democracy in Greece. Greek Revival architecture featured columns in the front of buildings and simple, symmetrical designs.
After a year studying with Strickland, Gideon moved back to Lexington and began his work as an architect. In 1827, just two years after Kentucky’s Capitol building was destroyed by a fire, the state decided to build a new capitol. The 24-year-old Shryock submitted a design, and his was chosen. His design was inspired by an Ancient Greek temple, and features a self-supported staircase in its rotunda, a design feat that is still impressive today. This building would be the center of Kentucky’s government for almost 80 years, when a new Capitol was built. While he was working on the Statehouse, Shryock married Elizabeth Bacon, who was from Frankfort.
Completing the Statehouse was a major accomplishment and helped Shryock become a well-known architect. His next project was designing Morrison College at Transylvania University in Lexington. In 1835, he moved with his family to Louisville, where he would design many of his later buildings. While many of his buildings are in Kentucky, he also designed buildings in other states, including Arkansas’s Old State House.
Shryock is remembered as one of Kentucky’s most well-known architects, and he helped bring the Greek Revival style to Kentucky. Many of his buildings are still standing. You can visit the Old State Capitol in Frankfort, which is now a part of the Kentucky Historical Society.
Gideon Shryock
The Old state Capitol Morrison College
Portrait by Matthew Jouett/Courtesy of University of Kentucky Library Archives
Photo courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society
Photo courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society
Activity
Now, it’s your turn to be the architect! Design a building that you think Lexington really needs. What kind of building would help people in Lexington today? A new library? Art museum? Animal shelter? Science lab? You decide.
Use pencils, crayons, or markers to make your building plans below. Give your building a name that tells what it’s for.
When you are finished, show your drawing to your friends, teacher, or family members and explain to them why Lexington needs this building.
Schools Then vs. Schools Now
Schools don’t stay the same. Just like everything else, they change over time. Your school and your classroom are much different from schools and classrooms of long ago. The buildings are different. The classrooms are arranged differently. The things inside the classrooms are different. Be a school detective. To see the change, match the item in the Schools Then column with the item that has replaced it in the Schools Now column. After matching all the items, scan the QR code to check your answers.
Schools Then Schools Now
Schools Then Schools Now
Schools Then Schools Now
Schools Now Schools Then Scan
Lexington is Fan-tastic!
By Marianne Stoess
We sure are crazy about sports around here! We LOVE to cheer for our favorite teams and athletes. There’s basketball, of course. Who DOESN’T love the University of Kentucky Wildcats? Go Big Blue! The Cats are one of the best college teams in the country. Fans wearing blue and white go wild in Rupp Arena when the Cats are in town. Many local kids dream of playing for UK.
Lexington is famous for another sport, too: horse racing. People call our town the “Horse Capital of the World.” You can find beautiful horse farms all over central Kentucky.
Racehorses need racetracks. One of the most famous racetracks is Keeneland. It is across the road from the Blue Grass Airport. In the spring and fall, race lovers line the fence and fill the seats at Keeneland. They watch fast horses compete for trophies.
But let’s not forget other sports. How about football and baseball? And there’s also volleyball, soccer, tennis, pickleball, golf, lacrosse, and more. There are lots of sports for kids to play!
Lexington is even home to Olympic champions! Lee Kiefer went to Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and to medical school at UK. She won a gold medal in fencing at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sports are about more than watching and winning. Sports bring people together. Families and friends gather around the TV to watch games. Students support their teams. The whole city celebrates big wins. Whether you play or watch, sports are an important part of life in Lexington!
Activity
Now, it’s your turn to tell the story of a Game Day in Lexington! Follow the instructions below to tell your best silly story.
1.) First, you’ll see a list of blanks, like “place” or “animal.” Fill them in without looking at the story!
2.) Play with a friend and ask for words. Say something like, “Give me a color!” or “Name a silly word!”
3.) Write them in. Fill in all the blanks with your words. Don’t worry if they sound silly—that’s the fun part! 4.) Once all the blanks are filled, read the whole story from the top—with your goofy words in place!
Game Day in Lexington!
Today is the big game in Lexington, Kentucky, and I’m feeling ________________! I put on my lucky ___________________, grabbed my ______________, and ran outside with my best friend, _____________. We were ready to cheer for the _________________-named sports team!
When we got to ________________, we saw people waving ________________ and shouting, “________________!” The game started, and the players ran as fast as ________________, jumping, kicking, and throwing the ________________ through the air.
Suddenly, the crowd got really quiet. Our favorite player, ________________, had the ball. They ran past ________________ defenders and scored a ________________ goal! Everyone jumped up and did a ________________.
After the game, we celebrated with ________________ and told everyone it was the ________________-est day ever in Lexington! (emotion) (snack food) (clothing item) (person’s name) (animal) (place) (plural colorful thing) (funny word) (plural animal) (object)
A Native World
By A. Gwynn Henderson & Linda Levstik
When settlers came to the Bluegrass, they stepped into a world with a long, long human history. If they had asked, these newcomers would have learned that Native people had deep historic roots in the Bluegrass. The roots of Native people were as deep as the ones the settlers left behind in Europe when they came to North America.
But the settlers did not ask. So, they never knew how long Native peoples had been living here.
It was thousands and thousands of years!
The first Native peoples arrived 12,000 years ago. The climate in central Kentucky was much colder and wetter than it is today. Small groups of people hunted animals like bison and mammoths and gathered wild plants to eat.
Their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren hunted animals like deer and turkeys and gathered wild plants for food. The climate was like today’s. For 7,000 years, they lived in camps all across the land.
Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren also hunted animals and ate wild plants. But they taught themselves to grow local plants for food. They used soil in another way, too. They built mounds shaped like cones to bury the dead and circular and square earthworks for ceremonies 2,400 years ago.
And their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren became farmers. They grew corn, beans, and squash in fields around their villages. These Native peoples farmed the land for over 700 years. Then Black and White settlers and the Black people they enslaved arrived in this ancient land.
You live in the Bluegrass now. You are part of this long, long human history. And that’s pretty cool!
Activity
Native people lived in Lexington thousands and thousands of years ago. When did you come to Lexington? Were you born here? Or did you move here after you were born?
A timeline shows important things that happened in your life, in the order they happened. In the space below, create a timeline of your life in Lexington so far. Start with the year you arrived in Lexington (or the year you were born in Lexington) on the left side. Then add each year up to this year along the line. Think about big things that happened in each year and add them to the timeline. You can add things like your first day of school, a fun trip you took, getting a pet, or joining a team.
My Lexington Timeline
Two Worlds Meet
By Linda Levstik
Stories Beat the Strangers to the Bluegrass
Native people moving along forest trails and trading routes brought news of strangers in the land! These outsiders dressed in armor, and rode tall animals. Natives had never seen their like!
There were no horses in the Bluegrass then. No suits of armor, either.
Native people might have enjoyed the stories. They probably worried, too.
Disease Followed the Stories
Sadly, illnesses followed the stories along the same trails. A terrifying smallpox pandemic killed many, many Native people.
As a result, the first outsiders to explore the Bluegrass never knew how many Natives had once lived in the area.
And, Native survivors were surprised to see people far different than the armor-wearing soldiers in the old stories. They noticed that some just looked around and moved on. They worried about others who seemed to want to stay.
A Shawnee family looking out over the Bluegrass around 1675.
Shawnee Family at Pilot Knob by Mike Prather, 2025. Image courtesy of the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission
A Native farming village
Image courtesy of Susan Walton and the Kentucky Archaeological Survey
Settlers Return: A
New Town Gets a Name
Two hundred and fifty years ago, a group of explorers camped at one of the springs around what is now Lexington. Their leader, William McConnell, was impressed. This would be a good place to settle and build a town! Their new town needed a name. But how does a new town get a name? In this case, McConnell and his men got some exciting news. Far away, in Lexington, Massachusetts, the American Revolution had begun. The men camped at McConnell Springs named their new town, Lexington, to honor an American victory over the British in that distant battle.
Whose Land is This?
Those who stayed took over more and more land. They saw the land as a wilderness—a wild place. They wanted more farmers and townspeople to help them tame the wilderness—to “settle” it. They thought the people they called “Indians” could be forced to move away. They were wrong about that, at least for a while. In fact, Indian attacks became so ferocious that these early “settlers” abandoned the Bluegrass for a time.
What is Left for Native People?
Imagine what Native people thought of all this! Their ancestors had been the first humans to set foot on this land. This was their home. How dare settlers take their land!
Native people tried everything they could think of to keep their homeland. Some fought the settlers. Still others tried to fit into the new world that was growing up around them. Others moved away. Fewer and fewer remained in the area around Lexington.
As a result, newer settlers probably knew little about the American Indian people who once called this place home.
McConnell Springs
Fort Lexington
Some Settlers Did Not Have a Choice
Some settlers had no say in where they lived or worked, or how they were treated. The majority of these people were enslaved. That meant that someone bought them and forced them to work for no pay. They could only be free if they escaped or their so-called masters freed them.
A smaller number of settlers were indentured. That meant that they worked for no pay in order to pay off a debt, or learn a trade. After a set period of time, though, they would be free.
Getting Settled in Lexington
Lexington certainly looked wonderful to McConnell and his men. But it did not look settled. Newcomers to Lexington imagined farms, fences, and buildings like those they had left behind. Perhaps they imagined a city like Lexington, Massachusetts. Their ideas of settling the land did not include joining Indian communities or learning to live as Indians lived. Instead, they moved onto Indian land, built homes and fenced in areas for crops and animals. They built “Fort Lexington” to protect themselves when Indians fought to take their land back.
The Towards Freedom statue honors Lewis and Harriet Hayden, who were once enslaved in Lexington. It also celebrates the courage of everyone who traveled through Kentucky to find freedom using the Underground Railroad. You can see the statue for yourself at 350 N. Limestone Street.
Historical marker at Short & Upper Streets in Lexington
Photo by Tom Eblen
What Was Good About the Bluegrass?
There was good water everywhere! No big river or lake, of course. But water gushed out of the ground. It bubbled out of rocks. It burbled up in the middle of streams and creeks. Beavers created ponds that were perfect for fish and waterfowl. Deer and other wildlife were everywhere. What an amazing place!
Why Settle a Dangerous Place?
Some settlers were desperate for land. They could not afford good land in the colonies along the Atlantic coast. Some settlers were free Blacks escaping from bad treatment in the colonies.
Others were immigrants from Europe. They wanted a place to make a new start for their families.
All these settlers, Black and White, born in the colonies or born in Europe or Africa, were free people. They chose to live here because they hoped it would be a wonderful place to live and work.
Explorers & Settlers
Spanish Explorers
Ellen Britton Mary Ellen Britton
By Melanie Beals Goan
By Melanie Beals Goan
Do you have a nickname? A name only good friends and family call you?
Mary Ellen Britton did. People across the country knew her as “Meb.” But to proud African Americans, she was “our Meb.” They loved and admired this brave woman from Lexington. She was a teacher, a doctor, and always, a helper.
Mary Ellen was born before the Civil War ended slavery. Her parents were already free, so her family had more opportunities than others.
Most Black children in Lexington could not attend school regularly. Not Mary Ellen and her nine brothers and sisters! They were lucky. Their parents made sure their children went to the best schools. They even moved to a new town near Berea College. It was a rare place where Black and White students could learn together.
Miss Britton’s first job was teaching. She did more than teach kids to read and write, though. She called herself an “agitator” (someone who shakes things up!). When she saw a problem, she knew she had to fix it. She had to make people notice. She had to make them DO something! And looking around, she saw many problems.
At a teachers’ meeting in 1887, she stood up. She explained why women should vote, just like men. She knew that voting women would make the country better if people heard their ideas.
Five years later, she bravely stood up again. Kentucky leaders wanted to pass a law that would make Black and White riders sit on different train cars. Miss Britton spoke to the legislature. She asked them to change their minds. They did not. But that did not stop “our Meb.” The famous poet Paul Laurence Dunbar even wrote a poem in her honor!
She often wrote to newspapers. She explained why things needed to change. Men and women, Black and White, should be treated equally. It was the right thing to do. She did not sign her name to these articles. She just used her initials: M. E. B.
Later, Miss Britton decided to go back to school to become a doctor. She had to move away from home for several years. But she came back to Lexing ton when she graduated. In 1902, Dr. Britton began to see patients.
She did not just fix scrapes and treat illness. She also looked for other ways to help. She organized a club for women who wanted to help other women. Club members built a home for orphans (children without parents). They also started a nursery school. Now mothers with jobs could take their kids there instead of leaving them at home all alone.
Lexington is building a new school. It will be called Mary Ellen Britton Middle School. What a good way to remember the many things “our Meb” did for her community!
Activity
Mary Ellen Britton was always taking on new challenges. Now it’s your turn!
Crossword Puzzle
Use the information you learned about Mary Ellen Britton to fill-in the crossword puzzle. Read the Across and Down clues carefully. They give hints about the answers. Each clue has a number. Find the matching number on the puzzle grid. Write one letter of the answer in each box. Make sure your word fits in the spaces. Some answers share letters. If you solve one answer, it can help you figure out another. If you get stuck, skip that answer and come back later. Once you have filled-in all the answers, scan the QR code below to check your work. Good Luck!
Across
1. In what city did Mary Ellen see patients?
6. What was Mary Ellen’s first job?
8. What college in Kentucky did Mary Ellen’s family move close to?
9. When Mary Ellen went back to school, what did she want to become?
Down
2. Mary Ellen wrote to ___________________ explaining why things needed to change.
Across:
3. Mary Ellen called herself an ____________.
4. At an 1887 teachers’ meeting, Mary Ellen explained why women should ____________.
5. What was Mary Ellen Britton’s nickname?
7. Mary Ellen was always a _______________.
8.What college in Kentucky did Mary Ellen's
1.In what city did Mary Ellen see patients? Ellen wrote to _____________ explaining why things needed to change.6. What was Mary Ellen's first job? Ellen called herself an
10. How many children did Mary Ellen’s parents have? Scan to check your answers
family move close to?
went back
Thomas Barlow
By Sarah McIntosh
Thomas Barlow was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky in 1789. Even though he did not go to school, he worked hard to study on his own and was always curious about the world around him. He joined the United States Army and fought in the War of 1812. After the war, he married Keziah West. They had three children, Milton, Samuel, and Elizabeth. In 1824, the family moved to Lexington. There, Barlow worked as a mechanic building sawmill equipment. His son, Milton, often worked in the shop with his father and also became a skilled mechanic and inventor. Together, the Barlows were responsible for many inventions. Not all of them worked, but they never gave up trying.
Thomas Barlow was very interested in studying astronomy, which is the science of space and the objects in our universe. He used his talents as a mechanic to create an orrery (OR-uh-ree), which was his most successful invention. Orreries are models of our solar system used to show the movement and location of the planets in relation to each other and the sun. They are also sometimes called planetariums. Orreries use gears to move all the parts, similar to the inside of a clock.
Thomas Barlow hoped that his invention would help students better understand how planets move around the sun. Many of Barlow’s orreries were sold to schools. The Military Academy at West Point as well as Washington and Lee University in Virginia purchased Barlow orreries for their campuses. One of Barlow’s orreries was displayed at the 1867 Universal Exposition in Paris, which was like a world’s fair. People from all over the world were able to see and learn from Thomas Barlow’s orrery.
You can view one of Barlow’s orreries on display at the Kentucky Historical Society!
Photo courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society/ #2000.35
Activity
Do you want to be an inventor like Thomas Barlow? He was curious, worked hard, and loved learning! You can invent something too—think of a tool or gadget that helps people understand something better or makes life easier.
First, pick a problem you want to solve, like helping kids learn math or making it easier to clean up toys. Then, sketch your invention below. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect—Thomas Barlow made lots of inventions, and not all of them worked the first time. Keep trying, change things, and ask for ideas from family and friends. Your invention could help lots of people, just like Thomas Barlow’s orrery helped students understand the solar system!
Isaac Scott Hathaway
By Yvonne Giles
Isaac Scott Hathaway and his family went to Cincinnati, Ohio to see an art show. Isaac did not find a bust of Mr. Frederick Douglass, a famous African American. His father told him that a sculptor would have to make it. Isaac said, “I will do that.” He was nine years old. The same age as you.
Isaac liked to draw. He learned to draw horses. He learned to work with clay and Plaster-of-Paris in his art class at school. When he graduated from high school, he went to the Cincinnati Art Academy in Ohio. He learned how to shape the faces of people from clay. He used special tools made of wood and metal.
Isaac made over 100 busts of famous men and women. He made small ones of Plaster-ofParis. People bought them to put in their homes. He made big ones of bronze. These are in museums, art galleries, and schools.
Mr. Hathaway designed two coins. They had images of African Americans on them.
In 1946, the United States Fine Arts Commission minted a 50-cent coin. It had the face of Booker T. Washington on the front. Mr. Washington was a teacher and principal.
In 1951, another 50-cent coin was minted. It had the faces of George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington on the front. Mr. Carver was a scientist. They both taught at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Isaac was head of the schools where students learned to work with clay. He first taught at Branch Normal School, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He next taught at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. The last school was Alabama State College, Montgomery, Alabama.
Isaac had his own studio where he lived. The first one was at his home on West Pine Street in Lexington. The next one was in Washington, D.C. The third one was in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The fourth one was at Tuskegee, Alabama. And the last one at Montgomery, Alabama.
Mr. Hathaway is a “Kentucky Star.” Look for his name on the sidewalk on Main Street, downtown Lexington.
Mr. Hathaway was 95 years old when he died.
Activity
Isaac Hathaway was an artist who designed coins with important people on them.
Now it is your turn to design a coin! Think of someone you admire—maybe a family member, a teacher, or someone from history. Or you can choose something important to you, like kindness or courage.
Kentucky’s First Newspaper
By Vicky Middleswarth
Imagine Lexington in 1787. Most people lived in log houses. There were few stores. The nearest city was hundreds of miles away. There was no Internet or TV. How did people find out what was going on in the world? Newspapers!
Early leaders decided Kentucky needed a way to share local news. But to do it, they had to have two things: a printing press and a printer.
Printers were the people who produced newspapers. They arranged tiny metal letters called type in a frame to make words. Then they rolled ink on the type and placed a sheet of paper on top. The printing press squeezed it all together to transfer the words to the paper. When the ink was dry, the printer folded the pages into a newspaper.
Brothers John and Fielding Bradford were willing to print newspapers, but they didn’t know how. So, Fielding traveled to Pennsylvania to learn about printing and to buy a press and type. He brought them down the Ohio River to Kentucky on a boat. Horses carried the press from the river to Lexington. They trotted along a dirt road, swam across streams, and jumped over logs.
The type ended up in a heap! Imagine sorting thousands of tiny letters into piles from A to Z. It took some time! John Bradford printed the first Kentucky Gazette on August 11, 1787. It was small and short. But it was a paper — the first in the region.
For a while, most of the news was from other states and countries. But as Lexington grew, so did The Gazette. Soon there were local news stories, along with reports of lost horses, land for sale, and ads for stores and schools.
Before long, there were more Lexington papers. But The Kentucky Gazette informed readers throughout the region until 1848.
To see The Kentucky Gazette and modern newspapers from Kentucky and all over the world, go to the website of the Lexington Public Library (lexpublib.org).
Activity
It is 1787. Fielding Bradford is bringing printing equipment to Lexington. YAY! Our town needs a newspaper. OH NO! The type fell on the ground. It is all mixed up!
Fielding Bradford needs your help.
On the next page, find the words in the block of letters. They might be hidden: left to right, up to down, or on the diagonal.
When you find a word, circle it. Once you have found all the words, scan the QR code to check your answers. Fielding Bradford says, “Happy searching!”
By Linda Levstik
The Constitution, the document that created the U.S. government, begins with three powerful words: We the People. Why were these three words important? Because they are the very first promise, we, the people of the United States, made to ourselves. We promised to work for liberty and justice for all. What a wonderful promise! But have you ever found it difficult to keep a promise? That happened with the Constitution. Sometimes people argued about what liberty and justice meant. Sometimes a lot of thinking and talking and working together helps us keep our country’s first promise.
Madeline McDowell Breckinridge certainly thought so. She lived in Lexington more than 100 years ago. For most of her life, women could not vote. She did not think that was fair. She thought it broke that very first promise! A change was needed—an amendment! An amendment is a change to the Constitution. Madeline wanted one that said women had the right to vote.
She got to work. She wanted to make sure women had a say in government.
Madeline started with friends and family. She encouraged them to join her in working for suffrage—that’s the right to vote in political elections. She joined with others all over the United States who thought this should be part of keeping America’s first promise. Madeline traveled many, many miles, giving thousands of speeches all over the country. She was so good at this work that one newspaper called her “Kentucky’s most distinguished citizen.” Her portrait hangs in our state capitol.
Travel was difficult in those long-ago days, but Madeline had an additional challenge. She had tuberculosis (too-bur-kyuh-LOH-suhss), a disease that led to the loss of her foot. There was little help for people with physical challenges like Madeline’s.
She faced another problem, too. Not everyone agreed that women should vote or even speak in public. Some people yelled and threw things at people like Madeline when they gave speeches. Mobs broke into suffrage meetings. They attacked people marching in suffrage parades. Fights broke out; people were hurt.
And, yet Madeline kept going. And it took such a long time! Madeline was almost 48 years old before Congress sent an amendment to the states for their approval. At least 36 states had to vote yes. Madeline campaigned hard to get Kentucky’s YES! Finally, on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution passed, with Kentucky’s help. Women’s suffrage was added to the Constitution. Madeline must have been so proud of her hometown of Lexington and home state of Kentucky. She voted for the very first time that year.
Madeline McDowell Breckinridge died just four months after women won the right to vote, on Thanksgiving day, 1920. She is buried in the Lexington Cemetery.
Activity
Madeline McDowell Breckinridge worked hard to bring change in her community. On the next page, write a letter to Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton. Tell her what you think Lexington will be like in 50 or 100 years, and how you are going to work to make Lexington a great city! Once you have finished your letter, tear the page out, fold it on the dotted line, tape the bottom. Then put a stamp on it and drop it in the mailbox.
