Kentucky Historical Society
KHS to Celebrate Ten Years in Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History

Frankfort, KY (March 30, 2009)—Celebrate the Kentucky Historical  Society’s 10th Anniversary at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort, April 7-11, by visiting the KHS Stewart Home School 1792 Store sale that week and by taking advantage of free admission to two KHS sites on Saturday, April 11.

The 1792 Store, located inside the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, will host this inventory reduction sale during the Center’s 10th Anniversary Week.  Items on sale include books about Kentucky history; Kentucky-made items, including foods and crafts; CDs featuring Kentucky musicians; and Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial merchandise.  KHS members will receive an additional 10 percent off all merchandise and 20 percent off books published by the University Press of Kentucky.

The Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, a 167,000-square-foot building which serves as the headquarters for the Kentucky Historical Society, opened to the public as the Kentucky History Center in April 1999. Then, in March 2005, the Kentucky General Assembly voted to rename the building the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History to honor Dr. Thomas D. Clark, who served as Kentucky’s Historian Laureate for Life from 1991 until his death in June 2005.

“It is an honor to call the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History the headquarters of the Kentucky Historical Society,” said Kentucky Historical Society Executive Director Kent Whitworth.  “Dr. Clark was deeply committed to Kentucky history and the betterment of the commonwealth. He personified the Kentucky Historical Society’s mission of providing connections to the past, perspective on the present, and inspiration for the future.”

Although the Kentucky Historical Society has been housed in its current headquarters for 10 years, the organization was established in 1836.  Chartered as the state historical society in 1838, the Society became an agency of Kentucky state government in the early 1950s. KHS is a not-for-profit membership organization with more than 3,500 members from 48 states and 5 countries.

The Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, one of the Kentucky Historical Society’s three sites on its history campus, has welcomed more than one million visitors since it opened in April 1999. The multi-million dollar facility includes A Kentucky Journey, a 20,000-square-foot signature exhibition showcasing Kentuckians from Daniel Boone to Ashley Judd and 12,000 years of Kentucky history; the Keeneland Changing Exhibits Gallery, which currently features Beyond the Log Cabin: Kentucky’s Abraham Lincoln; the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library, which specializes in genealogical research and Kentucky history; and the Stewart Home School 1792 Store.

Other sites on the Kentucky Historical Society’s campus include the Old State Capitol and the Kentucky Military History Museum at the Old State Arsenal, which is currently closed for renovation but is due to re-open later in 2009.