March 19, 2025
Ike campaigns in Lexington, 1956
President Dwight Eisenhower (in rear of car with his wife, Mamie) and his motorcade left Blue Grass Field on Oct. 1, 1956, after arriving to campaign for his re-election. After being met at the airport by Kentucky Gov. Happy Chandler, the president’s car rode through downtown in a parade. He later gave a speech at Memorial Coliseum at the University of Kentucky.
V-J Day in Lexington, 1945
Victory over Japan Day, or V-J Day as it was commonly known, was celebrated in downtown Lexington on Aug. 14, 1945. The celebration began after the Lexington Leader’s extra edition hit the streets. A woman in the crowd holding the newspaper was kissed by a veteran who had recently returned from Europe. Published in the Lexington Leader on Aug. 15, 1945.
Rush hour on Nicholasville Road, 1999
Aerial view of rush hour on Lexington’s Nicholasville Road on Jan. 20, 1999. Note that at the bottom of the photo, Rose Street is open. The parking garage at left is now part of the UK hospital tower. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Silver Charm wins the Derby, 1997
Jockey Gary Stevens was congratulated by groom Rudy Silva in the winners’ circle on May 3, 1997, after Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby. The horse later won the Preakness Stakes but fell just short of winning the Triple Crown, finishing second in the Belmont Stakes. Silver Charm was recently retired to Old Farms, a farm for retired thoroughbreds outside of Georgetown. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Home economics class for boys, 1949
With their instructor, Mattie Ballew, six of the 12 boys enrolled in a home economics class at Douglass school prepared food for a father-son banquet that was held on a Friday night in May 1949. The home-ec class for boys, started in January as an experiment, had become so popular it was added to the regular curriculum. It included planning and preparing meals, household management and family relationships. From left, Demosthenes Hunn, Augustus Mack Jr., Rupert Seals, Miss Ballew, Walker Green, Jesse Yates and Murray Cruse. Published in the Sunday Lexington Herald-Leader on May 8, 1949.
Woolworth’s opening day, 1948
Lexington shoppers crowded the F.W. Woolworth store on opening day, Sept. 9, 1948. The new downtown store was at 106-122 West Main Street. The store closed in 1990 and was demolished in 2004. The other buildings on that block were razed to make way for the CentrePointe development. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
‘Les Nessman’ in Lexington’s Christmas parade, 1997
Actor Richard Sanders prepared to throw a turkey during the 1997 Lexington Christmas Parade. He is better known as Les Nessman from the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati. The turkeys were a reference to the show’s famous ‘turkey drop’ episode in 1978. The 2014 Lexington Christmas parade begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Typhoid shots, 1954
Typhoid shots were administered by Board of Health nurses at Arlington school. Bobby Blanton and Barbara Cooper received the shots from Mrs. Jean Traughber, Mrs. John Boone, Mrs. Nell Votaw and Mrs. Frank Hinton. Published in the Lexington Leader on Jan. 23, 1954. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Baptist Evangelism Conference, 1985
Marian Searcy of Mount Washington sang the hymn I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say during the opening session of the Kentucky Baptist State Evangelism Conference on Feb. 25, 1985, at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington. Photo by David Perry | Staff
UK, U of L football series announced, 1993
Louisville football coach Howard Schnellenberger, left, and Kentucky football coach Bill Curry at a news conference on June 25, 1993, announcing that the two schools had finally agreed to play each other. After a seven-decade absence, the two schools played Sept. 3, 1994, in Commonwealth Stadium. Kentucky won, 20-14. Talks between UK and U of L had broken down in 1991 when Kentucky insisted that because of its eight- game Southeastern Conference schedule, plus a longstanding home-and-home agreement with Indiana, it could not financially enter into another home-and-home series, especially with a school whose stadium seated only 38,000. Louisville’s drive to build a new 50,000-seat stadium altered UK’s thinking, and a deal was struck in 1993. At the news conference, Schnellenberger and U of L Athletics Director Bill Olsen said that it was “50-50” whether U of L’s new stadium would be completed by 1995. As it turned out, Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium would not open until 1998. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
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