March 17, 2025
Barbara Horrell, 11, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Horrell, Greta Kelly, 10, and Charles Kelly, 7, the children of County Patrolman and Mrs. Leo Kelly, tried ice skating on a snow-covered Clifton pond in February 1947. Clifton Pond was in Clifton Heights subdivision, which was platted about 1900 between the city of Lexington and the A&M College of Kentucky (now UK). The Lexington subdivision was razed in the 1990s for the construction of UK’s W.T. Young Library. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Kentucky’s newly elected governor, Wallace Wilkinson, left, was inaugurated on Dec. 15, 1987. Former Gov. A.B. “Happy” Chandler, right, was the grand marshal for the inaugural parade in Frankfort. Chandler’s endorsement of Wilkinson during the campaign was considered crucial to his election victory. Just a few months later, in early April 1988, Chandler, a member of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, used a racial epithet during a board meeting, setting of a storm of protests and calls for his resignation. Wilkinson resisted demands that he remove Chandler, who later apologized but did not step down. Photo by Tim Sharp | Staff
20-year-old Ashley Judd spoke at a protest march on April 14, 1988, at the state capitol in Frankfort, demanding the resignation of University of Kentucky trustee A.B. “Happy” Chandler. The previous week, Chandler, then 89, used a racial slur at the board’s investment committee meeting. About 200 people marched on the state Capitol demanding Chandler’s removal from the board. Gov. Wallace Wilkinson met the hostile crowd on the steps and urged forgiveness for Chandler, who had endorsed him in his 1987 gubernatorial campaign. Protesters booed Wilkinson when he said he wouldn’t remove Chandler from the UK board. Judd, the daughter of Naomi Judd and the sister of Wynona Judd, the award-winning country music duo from Ashland, told the crowd, “I know Gov. Wilkinson, and I think he was a little surprised because I was a white, middle-class person in this predominantly black crowd.” Judd, then a UK sophomore majoring in history and French, rounded up students to join the march. She walked through the halls of classroom buildings pleading with students to leave their classes and join the rally. Shouting “Stop racism everywhere” and “Let’s walk out and let’s go to Frankfort,” Judd and a few other members of the United Student Association for Racial Justice attracted about 50 UK students to make the trip to Frankfort. When Chandler celebrated his 90th birthday later in the year, he told a reporter he had no regrets about anything during his long and colorful public career. “I wouldn’t change a jot or tittle,” said Chandler, who died in 1991. Photo by Stephen Castleberry | Staff
Purcell’s department store at 320 West Main Street in downtown Lexington on Nov. 5, 1967. Purcell’s, which opened in 1887 as a 5-and-10 called the Racket Store, originally was on the north side of West Main Street. In 1923, its founder, Jefferson Davis Purcell, bought property on the south side and opened the department store at 320 West Main. The store was was later enlarged. In its heyday, during the 1940s and ’50s, Purcell’s was not only one of Lexington’s busiest, but one of its most colorful department stores. Customers often bypassed the crowded elevator so they wouldn’t miss anything on display in the store’s 22 departments. It was one of the first in the city to have a live Santa Claus and strolling carolers at Christmas. At one time, the store carried 75,000 charge accounts, said Stanhope Wiedemann, president and CEO of the department store, and a grandson of the store’s founder. Among the many promotions it sponsored were embroidery and meat-carving schools, and a table-setting contest. In 1951, at the request of a Lexington man, employees boxed the man in a crate and delivered him, engagement ring in hand, to his girlfriend’s home. She accepted his proposal. In 1970, after several stores left downtown, Purcell’s closed. The building was razed in 1980 to make way for the $50 million Vine Plaza, which includes the Radisson Hotel and parking garage. Herald-Leader Staff Photo
Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson reacted to an official’s call during Kentucky’s 88-73 win over the Razorbacks on Feb. 11, 1996, in Rupp Arena. The second-ranked Wildcats improved to 20-1 overall and 10-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Richardson, whose Arkansas team won the NCAA title two years earlier, was known for coaching teams that played a fast-paced game with pressure defense — a style that was known as “40 minutes of hell.” Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
Actor Leonard Nimoy spoke at Eastern Kentucky University on Feb. 16, 1978. Nimoy was known for his role as Mr. Spock in the Star Trek TV series and movies. When he spoke at EKU in Richmond, filming for the science-fiction series had been completed 10 years ealier. But Nimoy told the crowd, “it’s had an amazing afterlife.” As proof, a boy about 4 or 5 years old slipped down the aisle to the Hiram Brock Auditorium stage and called for Nimoy to hold him. Nimoy picked him up, carried him to the microphone and said, “See, there is magic in the character. There are lots of reasons to respond to Spock. … we all sense his dignity.” Nimoy died Feb. 27, 2015. Photo by David Perry | staff