May 16, 2013
Paducah, Then and Now
with B.J. Summers, Market House Museum President
Do you remember going to town to shop at Harbour’s Department store?
Do you remember where it was located and what is there now?
Surely we all remember the Union store?
Let’s spend an hour looking at Paducah landmarks from years ago and see what is in their place today.
Maybe a few artifacts will help us remember a little better.
Summers, Market House Museum President, will lead us on this fascinating journey through Paducah’s past.
Sponsored by the McCracken County Public Library
May 16, 2013 | 7:00 pm | 2nd Floor meeting room
All programs are free and open to the public.
Connecting People, Cultures & Ideas
For more information, contact Bobbie Wrinkle
Tel: 270-442-2510 ext. 119 (Toll-free 866-829-7532)
Email: bwrinkle@mclib.net
June 13, 2013
Chairs to Sugar Chests: Furniture in Early Kentucky Households
With Marianne P. Ramsey
Professor Emeritus Eastern Kentucky University
& Consultant, Clifton Anderson Art & Antiques
Lexington, KY
An introduction to early Kentucky furniture illustrating the range of forms used in households from seating furniture to storage and a discussion of the influences on furniture design. The presentation will address styles and forms, an overview of craftsmen working in Kentucky, where they were from, their early training and how they contributed to the transmission of styles. Consumer preferences and tastes and the concept of regionalism in furniture design will also be included in this visual presentation.
Co-sponsored by the Kentucky Humanities Council & The Friends of the Library
June 13, 2013 | 7:00 pm | 2nd Floor meeting room
All programs are free and open to the public.
Connecting People, Cultures & Ideas
For more information, contact Bobbie Wrinkle
Tel: 270-442-2510 ext. 119 (Toll-free 866-829-7532)
Email: bwrinkle@mclib.net
July 25, 2013
The Rockin' Little Angel: Rockin' Ray Smith
presented by Tommy Thompson
Paducah’s own native “sun” and member of the “Rockabilly Hall of Fame."
The Story of Rockabilly Legend and Sun Recording Artist, Ray Smith, who was born in Melber, Kentucky. Smith rose to capture the hearts of those who followed his career as he helped pioneer Rockabilly music at Sun Records in Memphis with such greats as Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Black and Charlie Rich.
Tommy Thompson is a native of Paducah, a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Murray State University, a consulting engineer and has been an adjunct instructor at Murray State University for over 20 years. He is an amateur musician and sings with the Paducah Symphony Chorus, the WKCTC Community Chorus and the Paducah Chamber Music Society. Tommy is an amateur historian speaking often on subjects pertaining to Paducah and the surrounding area.
Sponsored by the McCracken County Public Library
July 25, 2013 | 7:00 pm | 2nd Floor meeting room
All programs are free and open to the public.
Connecting People, Cultures & Ideas
For more information, contact Bobbie Wrinkle
Tel: 270-442-2510 ext. 119 (Toll-free 866-829-7532)
Email: bwrinkle@mclib.net
August 15, 2013
Kentucky’s Trail of Tears
Presented by Alice Murphree, President of the Kentucky Trail of Tears Association and board member of the National Trail of Tears Association
This year marks the 175 Anniversary of the Trail of Tears.
Imagine more than 15,000 Cherokee people being forced to march across Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. In 1838-1839 they walked hundreds of miles and were taken on wagons, steamboats, and flatboats to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Their ordeal is one to remember. This long, cruel relocation has become known as The Trail of Tears and by Native Americans as “The Trail Where They Cried”. The impact to the Cherokee was devastating. Hundreds of Cherokee died during their trip west, and thousands more perished from the consequences of relocation. This tragic chapter in American and Cherokee history culminated the implementation of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which mandated the removal of all American Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to lands in the West.
So many people only think of the Trail of Tears as the detachments that went overland. Many people do not realize that Paducah played a role in the removal as a site in the water route. Murphree will discuss the significance of the Ohio River and the water routes.
Kentucky now has eight certified sites on the National Historic Trail of Tears, including; Gray’s Inn, Guthrie, Radford’s Farmhouse Todd County, Whitepath & Fly Smith Gravesites Commemorative Park, Hopkinsville, Big Spring, Princeton, Mantle Rock Livingston County, Berry’s Ferry, Livingston County, Columbus –Belmont State Park Benge Route and the latest the Crider Tavern Complex at 89 Old Mexico Road, Fredonia, Kentucky, certified on December 6, 2013. Kentucky now only lacks one site having all routes marked. The Trail of Tears is the only National Historic Trail in Kentucky. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is approximately 4, 900 miles long, over land and water with routes in 9 states.
The Trail of Tears Association is a non-profit, membership organization formed in 1993 to support the creation, development and interpretation of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Designated as a national historic trail by Congress in 1987, the trail commemorates the forced removal of the Cherokee people from their homelands in the Southeastern United States to Indian Territory.
In 1993, the Association entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service to promote and engage in the protection and preservation of Trail of Tears National Historic Trail resources; to promote awareness of the Trail's legacy, including the effects of the U.S. Government's Indian Removal Policy on the Cherokees and other tribes (primarily the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole); and to perpetuate the management and development techniques that are consistent with the National Park Service's trail plan.
Throughout the years, the Cherokees have sought to maintain much of their cultural identity. To increase public awareness of their heritage, many of them have advocated the designation of the Trail of Tears as a national historic trail.
Sponsored by the McCracken County Public Library
August 15, 2013 | 7:00 pm | 2nd Floor meeting room
All programs are free and open to the public.
Connecting People, Cultures & Ideas
For more information, contact Bobbie Wrinkle
Tel: 270-442-2510 ext. 119 (Toll-free 866-829-7532)
Email: bwrinkle@mclib.net
September 26, 2013
The History of Paducah ICG Railroad Shops
Presented By John A. Rogers
John A. Rogers is the son, grandson, and nephew of railroad men. He worked for the Illinois Central Railroad Company for 38 years and was a supervisor at Paducah Shop from 1973 until its closing in 1986.
His one hour talk is illustrated with dozens of photos of the building of the shop from his private collection.
September 26, 2013 | 7:00 pm | 2nd Floor meeting room
All programs are free and open to the public.
Connecting People, Cultures & Ideas
For more information, contact Bobbie Wrinkle
Tel: 270-442-2510 ext. 119 (Toll-free 866-829-7532)
Email: bwrinkle@mclib.net