Alice Rogers, Director of Public Relations and Marketing

(502) 564-1792, ext. 4476

alice.rogers@ky.gov

FRANKFORT, Ky. (December 9, 2004) – Yellow school buses often seem to be the transportation of choice for visitors to the Kentucky Historical Society in downtown Frankfort. More than 35,000 visits were made by schoolchildren to the Society’s campus in downtown Frankfort during 2004.  Public, private and home schools came from 104 counties.   

Students and teachers choose from a variety of activities while visiting the Society’s Kentucky History Center, Old State Capitol or Kentucky Military History Museum—all within a three-block walking distance. Teachers often design their pupil’s visits based on the curriculum they are teaching in class. The Kentucky Historical Society offers programs about Kentucky pioneer life, nineteenth-century government, Kentucky soldiers, and women and slaves in antebellum Kentucky.  Other programs allow children to make journals and work on writing prompts that they will use for creative writing exercises in their classrooms.  Programs are designed to be age-specific and to connect to the core content.  The Kentucky Historical Society also tailors programs to meet classes’ specific needs or interests.

 “(It) is a wonderful educational/learning experience for all ages.  We love our field trips to the area, “wrote one elementary teacher. “The scheduling is sensational. The personnel is very top rate.  Thanks for a job well done.”

“We have preschoolers through high school students.  No matter their age, a visit to the Kentucky Historical Society is a very active event,” notes Jennie Boyd, museum tour programs manager.  “Programs and exhibits are designed to be interactive, with multimedia, items to touch, games to play and live museum theatre performances. With three buildings and often a half-dozen exhibits to choose among, students have a lot to do during their visits.  Days are usually noisy, fast-paced and exciting when school groups visit. And we like it that way!” 

A Kentucky Journey, an exhibit that showcases 10,000 years of Kentucky history, and the current temporary exhibit, A River Runs Through Us, are featured at the Society’s Kentucky History Center. Just down the street, Kentucky’s Old State Capitol beckons those interested in classic architecture, legislative history and Kentucky’s early history. Overlooking the History Center and the Old State Capitol is the Kentucky Military History Museum which traces the trials and triumphs of Kentucky’s soldiers, including a current exhibit, Wild Blue Yonder, which features the history of Kentucky’s Air National Guard.

“There are some schools which schedule two trips a year to the Kentucky Historical Society in order to focus on what we have to offer. We are pleased to offer this wide variety of learning opportunities to the students and educators of the Commonwealth,” says Kent Whitworth, executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society.

Reservations for school groups are required. For more information contact Jennie Boyd, museum tour programs manager, 502-564-1792, extension 4424 or jennie.boyd@ky.gov.

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The Kentucky Historical Society, since 1836, has provided connections to the past, perspective on the present, and inspiration for the future.  KHS operates the Old State Capitol, Kentucky Military History Museum and its five-year-old headquarters, the Kentucky History Center.   Since 1999, the thirty-million-dollar History Center has welcomed almost one million visitors.   For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit the Web at http://history.ky.gov or call (502) 564-1792.