Historic Marker Dedicated to Margaret I. King

Remarks from the Dedication

Margaret Isadora King was born on September 1, 1879 in Lexington, Kentucky. She was the salutatorian of her senior class in 1898. During this time women were consistently graduating with honors and outranking the campus men. Perhaps this is why in 1900, the faculty simply decreed that there would no longer be any college-wide academic honors.

Margaret I. King began her work at the University from 1905-1912 as Registrar and Secretary to President Patterson, our first President. In 1912 King was appointed Librarian, becoming our first.Her salary was fixed at $75.00 per month. Margaret I. King not only witnessed tremendous growth of the library but of the University. In 1912, 2,000 volumes were added to the library and UK’s enrollment was only 754. In 1949, the year that King retired, 28,973 volumes were added and enrollment had increased to 9,991.

At the time of the building’s dedication in 1931, this was the central library on campus. The five story Georgian Building cost $400,000 and was designed to house 350,000 volumes. It was outfitted with a completely refrigerated circulating system of drinking water, three electric elevators, and 781 light fixtures. The UK Libraries now has 12 major facilities with over 3.7 million volumes. It was said of Margaret King, “an institution is but the lengthening shadow of a person. Her shadow falls across a great portion of our collective memory and it is my privilege to work in this building and my pleasure to carry on the legacy of Margaret I. King.

--Deirdre A. Scaggs April 15, 2010

• Library Club, 1. ? 2. Minnie Neville 3. Margaret King 4. Dean A. J. Hamilton 5. Freda Lenon 6. Margaret Tuttle
• Dedication Ceremony: Carl Nathe; Angela Martinez, President of the Student Development Council; President Lee Todd; Mattie Parsley, Senior Challenge Chair; Deirdre Scaggs, Director of Archives.
• The King Library in 1940.

Oral Histories with UK Basketball Coach Adolph Rupp

Nunn Center interviews were featured on WUKY highlighting oral histories with the great UK basketball coach Adolph Rupp.

Saving Stories Remembers "The Baron of The Bluegrass"

The Nunn Center recently uploaded 15 hours of interviews with Coach Rupp to the Kentuckiana Digital Library.

If you want to hear the whole collection, search for what Coach Rupp had to say about your favorite player go to the Kentuckiana Digital Library and click on oral history.

This is great collection to listen to during NCAA tournament. Go Cats!

A Horse of Many Different Colors!

James Edwin Ed Weddle Photographic Collection, 1948-1981
Available on KDL at http://name.kdl.kyvl.org/KUKAV-1997AV27-1367

Why in the world would someone want to put polka dots on an otherwise perfectly good mule? We don't know! A prank? A parade? A party? Either way, the poor thing looks none too happy about it as he gazes haplessly, yet amazingly calmly (good horsey!) into James Edwin Weddle's camera.

Unfortunately, with "no publication notice present," no date or context is offered for this 8x10 black & white print other than "Men spray painting polka-dots on a mule." So, we offer it up to you to take a whack at what this mule did to deserve a new "coat" of paint!

(*Note: To our knowledge, no animals were harmed in the making of this blog. But that doesn't seem to make this one any happier!)

When Irish Eyes Were Smiling: St. Patrick's Day Postcards from 100 Years Ago

Curated by Jeff Suchanek and scanned by Lewis Warden.

NOTE: Slideshow does not work with Internet Explorer but seems to work fine in Firefox.

A Knockout Kentuckian!

"Ali sizes up opponent with reaching left" [undated]
James Edwin Ed Weddle Photographic Collection 1948-1981
Available on KDL http://name.kdl.kyvl.org/KUKAV-1997AV27-0103

Well, a technical knockout (TKO) anyway.

Today, in 1964, famous Louisvillian Muhammad Ali became the youngest boxer to win the Heavyweight title, at 22 years of age. Then known as Cassius "Louisville Lip" Clay, he took the title from Sonny "Big Bear" Liston, after Liston refused to return from his corner for the 7th round. It was prior to this match that Ali uttered his well-known line, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

With rumors swarming regarding Clay's association with Malcolm X, the following day (2/26/1964), he changed his name to Cassius X, renouncing the surname of his family's former slaveholders. [Note: Cassius M. Clay was named for his father who, in turn, was named after the 19th-century Kentucky emancipationist.] Within the following year, Clay changed his name again to Muhammad Ali, in relation to his Islam conversion.

Ali had an extremely successful boxing career. Before his first title - which he held for 3 years until it was taken away when it was stripped due to his refusal of the Army draft for religious reasons - he won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics. He later regained the Heavyweight Championship twice, holding it for almost half of the 1970s. Throughout his life he has been passionately active in Civil Rights reform, using his celebrity to champion the cause, even after his 1984 diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

His athletic and societal achievements have afforded him numerous accolades, including the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award, Kentucky Athlete of the Century (1999, Kentucky Hall of Fame), and Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005). He even lit the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics! His social activism continues, as does his boxing legacy, through his daughter, Laila (she started her career in 2002).

Happy Founder's Day University of Kentucky

Jean Ritchie, folk singer and UK graduate, being presented the school's first Founders Day award by President Donovan.

According to the April 4, 1944 Board of Trustees Minutes President Donovan recommend that the University celebrate the day of its founding. "Some time ago I requested Professor E. L. Gillis, who is probably as familiar with the history of the University as any man connected with it, to study various dates that might be considered as an appropriate date on which to celebrate a Founders Day Program. After considerable research, Professor Gillis has suggested that February 22 would be a very appropriate time for such a celebration. It was on February 22, 1865, that the General Assembly of Kentucky approved a bill establishing an Agricultural and Mechanical College in connection with Kentucky University (now Transylvania). Therefore, February 22, 1865 is the date on which the University of Kentucky actually came into existence as a state institution."

“Progressive Hearts: Valentine’s Day Postcards From 100 Years Ago”

Curated by Jeff Suchanek and scanned by Lewis Warden.

NOTE: Slideshow does not work with Internet Explorer but seems to work fine in Firefox.