Frankfort weekend on Book TV and American History TV is upon us. We've been busily putting together the wide ranging segments we recorded while in Frankfort earlier this month as well as during our visit in late March. Frankfort was integral in the start of our LCV project as they were the first city to work with us to test out our new programming and community outreach initiative. During our visit in March, Frankfort Plant Board Superintendent, Cable/Telecommunications John Higginbotham, General Manager Jim Smith , Frankfort Plant Board members and the city of Frankfort including Mayor Gippy welcomed C-SPAN to Frankfort. They provided us with an opportunity to present C-SPAN’s new LCV initiative and highlight Frankfort Plant Board’s continued commitment to providing C-SPAN in the community. Frankfort Plant Board was the first C-SPAN affiliate to launch C-SPAN in HD.
During my visit in March, I talked with Freddie Johnson a third generation employee at Buffalo Trace Distillery. He tell the story of Prohibition, the first settlers and whiskey production. Curator Sara Elliot provided us insight into the political climate and events leading up to the assignation of Governor William Goebel—the only governor to be assassinated while in office. Russell Hatter, Frankfort’s historical expert, gave me a tour of Fort Hill overlooking downtown Frankfort where military fortifications were built during the Civil War to protect the city and its pro-Union state government. There, we discovered in 1864 Confederate rebels attacked Frankfort. The community warded off the attack from inside the Fort Boone earthen fort and as a result the state capital remained in Frankfort. And, Dr. Anne Butler talked about Kentucky State University as a Historical Black College and University (HBCU) and its impact in history. We also appreciate all of the assistance we received from Karla Nicholson and the rest of the staff from the Liberty Hall Historic Site.
Adrienne and Tiffany returned in August to tape additional programming for AHTV and BookTV. Tiffany focused on videotaping segments for BookTV. She talked to Lizz Taylor at Poor Richard’s Books about the bookstore and the voracious readers that live in Frankfort and heard from Doug Boyd, Kent Masterson Brown and other authors as they told the stories of Frankfort’s history and Kentucky’s history as a whole. Look for her produced segments on BookTV and right here on the LCV website.
Adrienne videotaped additional historical programming for AHTV which included segments on Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan who is best known for 3 dissents related to Civil Rights cases in which he was the lone man in decent; The Civil Rights Cases in 1883, Plessy v. Ferguson, and the Berea College case in 1908. The Kentucky Historical Society where she went behind the scenes with Trevor Jones to show our audience the Special Collections at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. He also provided us with a tour of the Old Kentucky State Arsenal now referred to as the Kentucky Military Museum, a castle-like structure that was once used to house all of the state’s ammunition. She talked with Education Programs Administrator Leslie McWhorter about the architecture and the history of Old State Capitol. This is the third state Capitol building. Fire destroyed the first two buildings. This version, completed in 1830, was designed by 25-year old architect Gideon Shyrock. This is the only pro-Union state capitol occupied by the Confederate army.
I think we all three agree that our time in Frankfort was productive, interesting and fun! You can’t beat Frankfort’s hospitality. We want to extend a special thanks to John Higginbotham..his support and continue commitment to C-SPAN helped make the two weeks a huge success!
Be sure to catch Book TV and AHTV this weekend. Or...check out the videos listed above on this page.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Debbie and the rest of the crew…Mark, Adrienne and Tiffany
