Lexington Public Library

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Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published throughout the War of 1812, and was occasionally semi-weekly when Congress was in session. The name of the paper changed to Kentucky Reporter in October 1817.

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated into English by an anonymous translator using the pen name, "A Lady." Published in 1800 in Lexington, KY, this work uses the "Long S" depicted as an "f".

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming publication. The first issue was printed March 29, 1803. The paper was later sold to Robert Kay and then to T. Anderson. This collection contains issues from 1803 and 1804, though the paper may have been published through 1809.

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Katherine Pettit Diary

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in establishing the Hindman (Kentucky) Settlement School in 1902. Activities described here include teaching, reading, cooking, and hygiene. The diary also includes daily entries (August 3-September 13) detailing Pettit's travel from Lexington and Hazard with fellow settlement workers, her encounters with Hazard and mountain families, and the general scope of her work. Also includes a manuscript map of her camp.

 

Collection Format

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time.) It reported local and national news, elections, and speeches. The Library’s digital and microfilm collection ends in December 1830, but the bound volumes are available by request in the Kentucky Room Closed Stacks through 1832.

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and tabloid-like reporting, though it later claims to be the only "Democratic Daily" in Central Kentucky. Many of the issues in this collection cover the Pearl Bryan Murder. The 1897 Courthouse Fire is also covered in detail.

 

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture, manufactures and fine stock”, as well as literary and scientific news, market reports, and serial stories. Local weddings, deaths, community events, and elections for Lexington and the surrounding region. The paper was sent anywhere in the United States at a cost of one dollar per year.

 

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Clubs and Organizations Collection

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s Bank Building at 24 W. Main St. Community response was high; a 1965 survey showed resident usage at 70%, and the library expanded again in 1996. 

 

Both of those collections are owned by the Bath County Memorial Library, and held in their local history collection.

The two collections in Bath County’s Community Collection are both primary sources from Bath County residents.

  • The Gilmore diary collection spans 1944-1955 and is written by Etta Evans Gilmore.
  • The Young WWII letter collection was written by Bath County native Sergeant Johnston A. Young, during his time stationed in the Pacific theater during World War II.
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Kentucky Histories Collection

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Keller J. Dunn Photograph Collection

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of Lexington, primarily in the center of the city, in an effort to capture on film a city changing due to urban renewal.

Collection Format

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Brown Hocker Collection

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are primarily for events in African American schools and churches. Several items also involve to civil rights activism in Kentucky. The 1964 March on Frankfort, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jackie Robinson, attracted over 10,000 marchers. The two volumes of “The Kentucky Club Woman” were published by the Kentucky Association of Colored Woman’s Clubs, which represented over 100 Kentucky clubs across the state. There are also several objects honoring the life and legacy of Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1921-1971).

The Constitution School and Booker T. Washington Elementary School were both segregated schools for African American children in Lexington. The Constitution School closed in 1972, but Booker T. Washington Elementary is still in use today.

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Imperial Court of Kentucky

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of Kentucky “one dollar at a time” through drag shows, social programs, and fundraisers. The Court uses the modus of English peerage to establish male and female lines of descent, with the female line comprising of drag queens (i.e. performers in drag), with each year an empress and emperor being elected. These “royals” represent the court throughout the upcoming year. The Court is a charter member of the International Court System with kingdoms in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Member courts are autonomous organizations bound together in a shared structure, policies, and goals, fundraising for HIV/AIDS services, human rights advocacy, and other LBGTQ+ stakeholders.

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Military History Collection

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center Yearbooks from Fort Knox, Kentucky. Lexington was also the site for the Lexington Signal Depot, which was active during and after World War II.

US Army Armor School Collection

The library has several yearbooks published for graduating classes from the Army Armor School. The United States Army Armor School began in 1940 as the Armored Force School and Replacement Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky. It spent a few years post World War II as inactive, until the 3rd Armored Division was reactivated in 1947, and became the US Army Training Center, Armor (USATCA), in 1956. Both Army and Marines soldiers received training on a variety of subjects and equipment.

Fort Knox hosted the school until it moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, in 2010, as the US Army Armor School. The yearbooks in the collection contain the names and photographs of the officers, NCOs, and graduates of the 8 week basic combat training at Fort Knox. There are also many photographs of the various buildings, training, and activities.

 

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Government Documents Collection

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, since Kentucky itself did not achieve statehood until 1792. Fayette County was formed in 1780, and spanned what is currently about a third of the state, before achieving its current boundary lines in 1799. 

The Lexington Fayette Urban County Government became a consolidated government in 1974. The digitized items in this collection are primarily Lexington city documents or merged city-county documents. The earliest digitized item is Lexington’s 1858 city charter and ordinances.

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include Leigh Angelique and other drag queens, Sweet Evening Breeze, Henry Faulkner, Greg Butler, the Royal Sovereign Imperial Court of All Kentucky and its Coronations, the Bungalow, the LMNOP, Jezebel’s, The Bar Complex, Crossings, Disco Circus, the Bluegrass C.O.L.T.S., AIDS Volunteers of Lexington, Johnny Angel’s, The Loft, and Trixie’s Hide and Seek.​

The collection is named in honor of Tina Belle Green Winters Simpler Young, known as Tiny, a sex worker who in the 1920s and 30s sent $5.00 a week home to support her sister. For a time, she worked in the Crawl section of Frankfort, then moved to Lexington, and finally lived the rest of her life in Cincinnati.

The queerness of sex work, a marginalized woman using sex to support family, provides context both to this collection bearing her name and to the LGBTQ+ community that has historically formed families on the social margins.

Collection Format

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Lexington Public Library Collection

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former Transylvania Library (est.1795). The library became a free library in 1899, shortly before moving locations. When the city outgrew the Carnegie building, the Central Library was built and it opened in 1989.

The system contains six branch locations. The largest is the Central Library, located on E. Main St. The Beaumont Branch, located on Fieldstone Way just off Harrodsburg Rd., replaced the Southside Branch in 1997. The Tates Creek Branch, located on Walden Drive, replaced the Lansdowne Branch in 2001. The Marksbury Family Branch, located on Versailles Rd at Village Dr., replaced the Village Branch in 2024 and is an English-Spanish bilingual branch with bilingual staff. The Northside Branch, located on Russell Cave Rd., replaced the previous Northside location in 2008. The Eastside Branch, located on Blake James Dr., replaced the Eagle Creek Branch in 2016. 

The contents of the library's digital collection contain some images and brochures at various points in library history. The typed library history by Mary K. Bullitt was a part of the library's cornerstone collection, which was buried in 1902, during the construction of the Carnegie building. It was opened in 1989 when the library moved locations. The other images depict the construction of the Central Library from 1987-1989.

 

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The lectures were apparently delivered before the Historical Society of Fayette County of which McCullough was a member. The lectures begin with a discussion of McCullough's early childhood, followed by reminiscences on local inventors, railroads, turnpikes, jails, punishment of crimes, mills, and the theater. Among Lexington inventors, McCullough details the careers of acquaintances Thomas H. Barlow (1789-1865), John Jones (d. 1849), Edward West (d. 1827), and Nathan Burrowes (d. 1846) Correspondence (2 items; 1869, 1870) consists of a note accompanying the donation of a pamphlet to the library and a letter to fellow members of the historical society concerning an historical map of Fayette County which McCullough proposed to create. Samuel D. McCullough was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1803 and attended Transylvania College, graduating in 1824. For fourteen years he conducted a female academy, after which he engaged in the manufacture and sale of mustard, having inherited a recipe from a relative, Nathan Burrowes.

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

League of Women Voters Collection

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and active participation of citizens in local, state, and national government. 

In January 1920, Lexington’s Leader reported, “The Fayette County Equal Rights Association will become the Fayette County League of Women Voters when thirty-six states have ratified the Federal suffrage amendment or the Kentucky Legislature grants presidential suffrage to women.” The 19th amendment to legalize women’s voting rights had been approved by both the House and Senate in July, 1919, and was submitted to the states for ratification, requiring 36 for adoption. Tennessee became the 36th state on August 18, 1920. On August 26, 1920, the nineteenth amendment was signed into law. 

Kentucky was the 24th state to ratify on January 6, 1920, and the local chapter of the League of Women Voters was formed, seven months before national ratification. In addition, on March 29, 1920, Kentucky passed and signed a separate bill ensuring that Kentucky women would have the right to vote, in case ratification was not reached. 

At the time, Madeline McDowell Breckinridge of Ashland was the president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association, and Mabel Sawyer McVey was the president of the Fayette County chapter. These and many other organizations had lobbied for national suffrage, and women were able to vote for the first time in the 1920 election between Warren G. Harding and James M. Cox.

Since its creation, the League of Women Voters has played an active role in encouraging voter registration and civic engagement in the community.

The collection contains assorted membership rolls, photographs, and documents for the local chapter.

 

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Postcard Collection

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by various individuals throughout the years.

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Black Community News

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding announcements in older local newspapers in the library’s collection. In addition to Lexington news, the articles contain information about people in many surrounding communities, as well.

In 1898, Lexington’s evening paper, the Leader* began publishing specific news columns about the local Black community and society events. Early columns were scattered and not consistently named; they were titled “Weldon” or “Welden” after the first Black columnist, “In Colored Circles,” “In Colored Society,” and later, became a more standard column titled, “Colored News” and “Colored Notes.” The other local paper, the morning Herald, began publishing a similar column in the 1920s. Lexington at that time had a weekly Black newspaper, the Lexington Standard, that ran from 1892-1912, when it briefly became the Lexington Weekly News before it folded.

The first reporter/columnist of Black social news in the Leader was John Weldon Jewett, a local educator later appointed to the IRS; he would often sign announcements with “Weldon” or “Welden” or “JW.” After his death in 1905, columns were contributed by William Henry Ballard, who opened the first Black pharmacy in Kentucky in 1893, and others. In 1925, the Herald appointed a separate department managed by Lucy J. Cochran, which was housed separately from the general newspaper office, and after multiple editors, D. I. Reid took over in 1934 and ran it until his death in 1950.

Community groups began to challenge the term “colored” and the “Colored Notes” being a separate news column in the 1950s, but Black community news was not integrated with the rest of the newspaper until 1969.

The only surviving issues of the Lexington Standard and the Lexington Weekly News can be found on Chronicling America.

Information about the Lexington newspapers and early Black editors was compiled from:

NKAA Database entry “Colored Circles, Colored News Notes, Colored News, General Colored News, and Colored Notes (Lexington Newspapers)”
Biographical sketches of prominent Negro men and women of Kentucky by W. D. Johnson, (1897)
*The Leader began as the Kentucky Leader in 1888, and several years later became the Daily Leader and the Sunday editions labeled as The Sunday Leader. It became the Lexington Leader in 1901, began sharing Sundays with the Lexington Herald in the 1950s, and eventually fully combined with the Herald to become the Lexington Herald-Leader in 1983.

Collection Content
Years Available:

The Leader: 1898, 1899

Collection Format

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news, though some local announcements can be found. Later, the paper focused on disseminating opinions on politics and issues of concern on the frontier. When political parties emerged, the paper developed a Democratic (conservative at the time) bent. John Bradford handed the reins of the paper over to his son, Daniel Bradford, in 1802.

While still owned and occasionally edited by the Bradford family, the paper had several editors and publishers through the mid-1830s, when Daniel Bradford returned to the paper’s byline as editor. Daniel Bradford edited the paper until 1840, when he sold it to Jim Cunningham. The paper shuttered in 1848, due to Cunningham’s failing health, but was revived in 1866 and published until 1910 by different publishers.

The years 1841-1910 are not digitized as of January 2020, but are viewable on microfilm and in print in the Kentucky Room at Central Library. Selected articles are indexed in the Library’s Local History Index.

 

The Kentucky Room’s collection of The Kentucky Gazette is not complete. Here is a list of what is missing from the digitized collection:

 

1788: April 5, May 31, September 20

1789: All of May

1790: August 9 – November 27, December 27

1791: April 2, July 30, All of August, September 3, 10, 24, October 1

1792: April 2, September 15 - November 17

1793: May 4, June 15, July 20

1794: May 24, June 21, August 9 – September 13

1795: March 21, August 29, September 5, 12, 26, October 17

1807: Entire Year

1808: Entire Year

1821: January 26, February 1, 9, 16, March 29, April 5, May 3, 17, 24, 31, All of June, July 5, 19, August 9, 23, 30, September 20, October 18-December 27

1822: Entire Year

1823: Entire Year

1824: Entire Year

1827: Entire Year

1828: Entire Year

1829: Entire Year

1830: Entire Year

1831: Entire Year

1832: Entire Year

1833: Entire Year

1834: Entire Year

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

Daily Lexington Atlas (1847-1848)

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was supportive of the Whig Party, which counted Henry Clay among its members. The Daily Lexington Atlas is described by William Perrin in his 1882 History of Fayette County Kentucky as a “red-hot Whig and fiery southern” publication.

Though short-lived, the paper covered many significant events including: the final year of the Mexican-American War, The Irish Rising of 1848, the debate surrounding emancipation of enslaved Kentuckians, the 1848 presidential election and the local election for Kentucky Governor. It also includes a few marriage and death notices from Lexington and surrounding counties. There are occasional notices of outbreaks of disease in other parts of the country, most commonly dysentery, which they called a “mysterious new disease.” They note an outbreak of cholera in Europe in October 1848; Lexington would see a second outbreak of cholera in 1849.

Perrin claims the paper had an extensive subscriber list, but had to “give up the ghost after several months disastrous experience” due to the expense of the paper. After his wife’s death on September 27, J.B. Cochran put his shares of the paper up for sale, and beginning in October, notices appear asking subscribers to pay on time.

This collection was digitized from microfilm by the University of Kentucky for Lexington Public Library. Toward the end of the run of the paper, there is significant bleed through on the pages, and in some cases the OCR (optical character recognition) quality is poor.

While the paper was considered a daily paper, it did not publish on Sundays. The library’s collection covers December 11, 1847 (first issue) through November 20, 1848, the final issue with J. B. Cochran as editor and proprietor. The paper continued through sometime in 1849 with N. L. Finnell as sole editor.

The following issues are missing from the library’s collection:

1848:

February 11

April 25

May 2

June 9

July 28-August 2, 5

September 2-6, 13, 22-24, 29 (no issue printed due to J.B. Cochran’s wife’s funeral)

October 7, 17, 20, 27, 28

November 2, 3, 8, 13, 18

Collection Format

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…

Lexington Public Library Digital Archives

The True American (1845-1847)

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an article deemed so incendiary that a court injunction was issued against his printing, and his press shipped to Cincinnati. An advocate of the right to a free press, and his right of free speech, Clay continued printing the paper through 1847 in Cincinnati. The paper was distributed in Lexington. While focused on advancing the cause of emancipation, Clay also published poetry, agriculture, labor, and commercial news. There are also marriage and death notices from the surrounding area, some national.

Cassius Marcellus Clay was a fiery figure in Kentucky history. He often fought in duels and in street fights, generally in response to arguments against his emancipationist views. Later in life, he often had shootouts with the Madison County Sheriff at his home, Whitehall.

After the publication of his incendiary editorial (August 12, 1845, page 3 columns 1-4), he is said to have armed his printing shop with two brass cannons and myriad other weapons to fend off any attacks. The committee charged with removing his press did so while Clay was incapacitated with a fever, avoiding what surely would have been a deadly counterattack from Clay. In the March 18, 1846 paper, Clay addresses the attack, and continues his fiery rhetoric, finally offering a discount to non-slaveholders in slave states.

Clay is featured in an episode of the Library’s podcast "Tales from the Kentucky Room", which is linked below.

The Library only has a short run of The True American. It has been digitized from the microfilm, which can be accessed in the Kentucky Room. Several issues have significant mildew damage, so in some cases the OCR quality may be poor, though the print itself is still legible.

Issues available in the Library's Collection:

1845:

June 3

June 10

June 17

June 24

July 1

July 8

July 15

July 22

July 29

August 5

August 12

August 19 (missing pages 3 & 4) – The printing office was sacked on August 18.


1846:

March 18

 

Collection Format
Collection Topics

All Digital Archives Collections

 

The first Kentucky almanacs were printed by John Bradford, on the same printing press that published the Kentucky Gazette. The Kentucky almanacs in the library's…

Fayette County's buildings contain a great deal of history about the region and its inhabitants. The earliest structure in Lexington was built in 1779, the Blockhouse. Lexington currently has over…

Aunt Tiny Belle Collection

The collection consists of an image, homemade brochures, flyers, pamphlets, and programs covering LGBTQ+ events and places from 1983 to 1999 in both Lexington and Louisville. Subjects include…

Bath County Memorial Library Collection

The Bath County Memorial Library was founded in 1949 by the Owingsville Women’s Club, and opened in January, 1950. It expanded into a bookmobile in 1953, and in 1963 moved into the old Farmer’s…

Black Community News

The Black Community News Collection compiles searchable newspaper articles and ads for local Black community events, schools, social gatherings, church events, obituaries, and wedding…

Brown Hocker Collection

The Brown-Hocker Collection is a community collection of photos and realia from African American events and people in Lexington and Kentucky history.

The objects in the collection are…

Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Ministry of Mark Collis

This collection contains materials from Lexington and Fayette County religious groups.

 

Cyrus Parker Jones Funeral Notices

Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices…

Mast head of Daily Lexington Atlas

The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines. It was…

Directory Collection

The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks,…

Duncan-Goff Scrapbook Collection

 

Various objects found in our Duncan-Goff scrapbook collection. 

 

Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection

Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune …

Father William T. Punch Letter Collection

 

Letters from and/or about Father William T. Punch and the Punch family. Donated by a Lexington resident to Lexington Public Library. Father Punch was instrumental in building…

Government Documents Collection

 

Until 1974, Lexington and Fayette County had two separate governing bodies. Lexington itself was founded in 1775 and chartered in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly,…

Historic St. Paul Catholic Church

The St. Paul Catholic Church Collection includes materials from the Church's archive. The Roman Catholic church is over 150 years old, and is located on West Short Street, in downtown Lexington.…

Imperial Court of Kentucky

 

Founded in 1982 by Gigi Galore (Greg Butler) and Blanche Pink (Marlon Austin), the Imperial Court of Kentucky, Inc., is a nonprofit charity that supports the LGBTQ+ community of…

Judge Kenneth Lyons Collection

The Judge Kenneth Lyons collection consists of an atlas, a journal, and letters. The atlas features copies of letters written on the blank pages of the atlas. The journal contains family and local…

 

The Junior League of Lexington (JLL) is a local nonprofit organization of women committed to improving community through volunteerism. The first Junior League was established in 1901…

Katherine Pettit Diary

The diary (ca. 1899) of Katherine Pettit, details her settlement work for the Kentucky Confederation of Women's Clubs, made yearly trips to Hazard during this period and was a central figure in…

 

The Dunn Photograph Collection contains images of Lexington, KY taken in the 1960s and 1980s. Keller J. Dunn (1917-2000) born in Lexington, KY, shot hundreds of pictures of…

The library's collection contains many event pamphlets for Lexington and Kentucky counties, including county anniversary celebrations, suffragette songs, chautauquas, and community events and…

 

The photographs in the library's collection are donated from a variety of individuals. 

The Ashland-McDowell Collection shows an unknown gathering of friends and…

Kentucky Progress Magazine (1928-1936)

The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board. The “Kentucky…

 

The League of Women Voters of Lexington, Kentucky, was established in 1920. It is the local chapter of a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that encourages informed and…

The Lexington History Museum began in 1998, and opened its doors in the Old Courthouse in 2003. Its purpose is to educate Fayette County about its rich history, and preserve pieces of that history…

 

The Lexington Public Library opened a Carnegie library in 1905. It incorporated the collections of the former subscription Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former…

Lexington Weekly Press (1881)

 

The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture,…

The military history collection contains relevant histories and records that focus on Kentuckians involved at home and abroad, and includes a collection of United States Army Training Center…

Miscellaneous Newspapers

The Micellaneous Newspaper collection combines scattered issues of various historic newspapers in our archive collection.

Muhlenberg County Black Marriages Book c.1866

Scans of the Black Marriage records from the Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.

 

The collection contains various postcards featuring places in and around Kentucky and includes a selection donated by the Knowles family. The postcards in the library's collection were donated by…

Sam'l D. M'Cullough's Reminiscences of Lexington

This is a handwritten series of lectures detailing Samuel D. McCullough's memories of his childhood and life in Lexington, Kentucky, accompanied by letters and a photograph of his house. The…

Schools and Yearbooks Collection

The Schools and Yearbooks collection contains historical and modern yearbooks and other school documents owned by and donated to the Lexington Public Library.

The Daily Argonaut (1895-1899)

The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898. The paper focuses more on sensational news and…

The Independent Gazetteer (1803-1804)

 

The Independent Gazetteer was founded and printed by James Charless in 1803, with ads appearing in the Kentucky Gazette about its upcoming…

The Kentucky Gazette (1787-1840)

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news,…

The Kentucky Reporter (1817-1830)

 

The Kentucky Reporter was published from October 1817-April 1832, by William W. Worsley and Thomas Smith. It is the direct continuation of the The Reporter. Politically, it was a…

The Reporter (1808-1817)

The Reporter was published from March 1808-September 1817, by William W. Worsley. It was a Republican paper (Jeffersonian Democratic Republican - liberal at the time). The paper was published…

The True American (1845-1847)

 

The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845. He ran the paper in Lexington until August of 1845, when he published an…

Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants, translated by A Lady Thumbnail

This work contains information about French Emigrants to America over the years 1789-1799, and provides a history of the French Revolution. The work was originally in French, and was translated…