There’s great news for those of us who enjoy searching the marvelous Margaret I. King Library in Lexington, - a new process for getting temporary parking permits at UK and visiting the archives there! There’s a brand new multi floor Parking Garage! It’s also the place to get your temporary parking permit. The building is on the corner at 721 Press and Virginia Avenues, and is accessible from S. Limestone (take Virginia off Limestone). The parking permit entrance is on Press Avenue, at ground level. This is really new, so don’t go to the old Security Office off Rose St. and Avenue of Champions. If you drive with a handicapped permit as I do, it’s really easy to park close (about 1 block), to get into the archives entrance. This is wonderful - I used to sneak into the faculty parking lot, with help from an old friend, and even with my handicapped permit, I worried. They have wonderful stuff there, you’ll enjoy it.

Hallowe’en may be over, but genealogists throughout Kentucky have come up with a brand new way to celebrate that you may want to think about for next year. “Dinner with the Dead” was the brainchild of the Fayette County Cemetery Trust, and I have it on good authority that it will be copied in other central Kentucky locations next year. This year’s dinner was held at the old Episcopal Burial Ground in Lexington. The lives and contributions of several of the “residents” were described, and there were performances depicting the lives of early Kentucky pioneers as well. The fund raiser was to benefit the Trust whose mission is identifying, documenting and preserving the county’s historical, rural graveyards. Unlike a lot of our local fundraisers, this one was eminently affordable - dinner was only $5 per person and the event also included a tour of the cemetery. Donations, of course, were gratefully accepted. What a great thing for those of us here to do.

Here’s an update on the Arts & Sciences Centennial at UL. Here are the names of those first graduates in 1911 - B. M. Brigman, Louise S. Baird, Olive B. Catlin, Kate Chamberlin, Vera Cone, Miss Marion Campbell, George Burbridge Frazee, Alice L. Greene, Ralph Hill, Edward L. Poulson, Arthur C. Slifer, Florence P. Witherspoon, Inga Werness, Dr. Virgil Simpson, Grace A. Kennedy, Nellie S. Ward, and Forrest or Frederick Thwing. We know a little bit about some of them, but not nearly enough. Vera Cone and George B. Frazee eventually married. They had twins in 1919, but lost the boy. Later they moved to Grand Rapids, MI, where he became principal of a vocational school. Arthur Slifer moved to Wisconsin. Marion Campbell’s father was superintendent of a local cemetery, probably Cave Hill, as they lived on Cherokee Road.

Grace Kennedy taught at UL. It appears that Mr. Thwing changed the spelling of his surname to Thering. Most of the women graduates were teachers in the Louisville public school system, which means they probably remained single. And yes, we know that Bennett Mattingly Brigman was indeed the first Dean of Speed School, and Brigman Hall on Belknap Campus was indeed named for him. The Fine Arts Department at UL was also founded in 1907. We’ve identified many of the first faculty, but we need to know more about these two women: H. Keith Sperry, and Edna Dolfinger. Help us out here, please. From 1907 until the move to Belknap Campus, Arts & Sciences (then called Liberal Arts) was housed in the incredible Silas Tucker mansion at 119 W. Broadway, across from St. X. Even before the move, Greek letter organizations were part of the picture at UL. We’ll learn more about those and let you know next time.