September 20, 2024
Jim Bunning, candidate for governor, 1983
Former Hall of Fame baseball player Jim Bunning, then a Kentucky senator, talked with reporters outside his headquarters in Bowling Green, while campaigning on Sept. 28, 1983. The bus in the background was the team bus of the Southern Kentucky Runnin’ Rebels, a Connie Mack League baseball team whose general manager supported Bunning. Bunning and his running mate, Eugene P. Stuart, lost the general election to Democrat Martha Layne Collins. Bunning was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, and he served in the House from 1987 to 1999. He was elected to the U.S. Senate from Kentucky in 1998 and served two terms as the Republican junior U.S. Senator. In July 2009, he announced that he wouldn’t run for re-election in 2010. Bunning died May 26, 2017, at age 85. Photo by David Perry | Staff
Louisville Falls Fountain, 1992
The Louisville Falls Fountain in the Ohio River on May 15, 1992. The fountain, a gift to the city from the late Barry Bingham Sr. and his wife, was intended to be a tourist attraction when it was turned on in August 1988. It didn’t pan out as hoped and was plagued by higher-than-expected maintenance costs. It was shut off after malfunctions in 1998. It was later sold for scrap. At the time of this image, the Louisville Water Co. took over operation of the fountain, agreeing to provide $120,000 a year through 1994 with the plan to find some other means of covering the cost. Billed as the world’s tallest floating fountain, it shot water 420 feet, but to reduce costs, the water company lowered the height to 375 feet. Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
John F. Kennedy campaign parade through downtown Lexington, 1960
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kennedy rode down Lexington’s Main Street during a campaign parade on Oct. 8, 1960. Approximately 20,000 people lined downtown streets to get a glimpse of the 43-year-old U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Kennedy, with Kentucky Gov. Bert T. Combs seated by his side, waved to the crowd, which was comparatively quiet. There was some hand-clapping, shouted greetings and waving, but little cheering. Flanking Kennedy’s car were three police motorcycles keeping the crowd on the sidewalks. The motorcade took more than a half-hour to arrive at the University of Kentucky, where Kennedy gave a 15-minute speech. He told the audience that students of the 1960s will be living in “the most hazardous time of the country.” An estimated 5,000 people heard Kennedy speak from a platform in front of the Administration Building. He tore into one of his favorite themes, saying, “American frontiers extend throughout the world. … Any candidate or any voter must think of any action he may take in relation to the rest of the world.” Less than an hour later, he boarded a plane at Blue Grass Field, bound for Bowling Green. Click here to see another image from our archives of Kennedy’s visit. Kennedy won the presidential election over Vice President Richard Nixon a month later. Three years after this photo was taken, he was assassinated in Dallas. Click here to see the front page of The Lexington Herald on Nov. 23, 1963, the day after he was shot. May 29, 2017 would have been his 100th birthday. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Preparing for Memorial Day at Camp Nelson, 1982
Clifton Guy, a Camp Nelson National Cemetery employee, placed American flags in front of tombstones on May 27, 1982, in preparation for Memorial Day ceremonies on May 31. It took four workers about two days to place the nearly 7,000 flags. This year’s services at Camp Nelson are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Monday. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Transylvania Day court of honor, 1940
A coronation ceremony was held May 11, 1940, on the Transylvania College campus, where Lois Howard of Glasgow, center left, and Charles Patrick of Burgin, center right, were honored as “Miss Transylvania” and “Mr. Pioneer” as chosen by the student body. Sharing the honors were the first and second attendants and the court of honor, which included Maxine Proscus of Crawfordsville, Ind., and Martha Adair Thomas of Paris, with attendants George Stopp of Chicago and Leon McKinney of Lexington. Transylvania College students celebrated the 160th anniversary of the college at the annual Transylvania Day festivities. A parade of floats through downtown Lexington, depicting the theme, “Transylvania Through the Ages,” opened the Transylvania Day activities. Transylvania University holds this year’s commencement ceremony Friday on campus. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Taylor Wyndham’s sack of Tim Tebow, 2009
Kentucky’s Taylor Wyndham sacked Florida quarterback Tim Tebow on Sept. 26, 2009, in Lexington, forcing the Heisman Trophy winner to leave the game. The Wildcats were trailing defending national champion Florida 31-7 in the third quarter when Tebow dropped back to pass. Wyndham came off right end unblocked and found himself with a clear path to the college football icon. Tebow got crushed, hit his head on the knee of a teammate while falling and wound up motionless on the Commonwealth Stadium turf. After lying on the ground for several minutes, Tebow got up, but he was wobbly. He spent that night in a Lexington hospital with concussion-like symptoms. No. 1 Florida would go on to beat the Wildcats 41-7. UK would finish the year 7-6, losing in the Music City Bowl to Clemson, 21-13. Seven years later, Tebow returned to game competition in Lexington, but this time on the baseball field when the Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies played the Lexington Legends. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
Paul Laurence Dunbar graduation, 1999
Paul Laurence Dunbar graduate Shauntae Moberly got a hug and kiss from her cousin Marva Moberly, after Dunbar’s commencement ceremonies May 28, 1999, in Rupp Arena. Henry Clay, Tates Creek and Bryan Station High Schools will hold this year’s graduation ceremonies Thursday at Rupp Arena. Photo by Hobie Hiler Herald-Leader file photo
Lafayette High School graduation, 1985
Lafayette High School graduating senior and band member Ronald Chi played one last song with the Lafayette band before joining the rest of his class for graduation ceremonies at the high school on June 8, 1985. Lafayette and Paul Laurence Dunbar both hold this year’s graduation ceremonies Wednesday at Rupp Arena. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Lexington police check speed and seat belts, 1992
Lexington police officer Eric Garner ran a radar display during rush hour on May 18, 1992, on South Broadway in Lexington. Police operated speed-display boards on various streets throughout Fayette County for several days as part of a national traffic-safety campaign called “Buckle up to avoid the summertime blues.” The boards used radar to show speeds for passing motorists on a red digital display. Tickets might have been issued to speeders, but officer Mitchell Smith said the boards primarily were used as “an attempt to remind the motorists to be aware of the speed limit.” Smith said police would be cracking down on speeders in an attempt to enforce the county’s seat belt ordinance, which can be enforced only if the driver is being stopped for another offense. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Victory garden, 1946
Mrs. James Darnaby, left, and Janet Wood were among more than 100 city gardeners who flocked to the Chinoe Garden Club’s eight-acre tract on April 3, 1946, taking advantage of summer-like weather to plant early vegetables. These community gardens were known as Victory Gardens during World War I and World War II and were meant to reduce pressure on the public food supply and create a civil “morale booster.” Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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