KCA member Gordon Hogg will be presenting a program at our Spring meeting entitled "Chasing a Ship that Almost Was: My LIfe and Times with the Second USS Kentucky". His paper revolves around his research about a ship which never really came to be, the second battleship bearing the name Kentucky. Hogg delivered this paper at the 14th Ohio Valley History Conference at EKU last October under the title "From Shipyard to Scrapyard: the Long Wait and Lost Future of the Second Battleship Kentucky."

For our presentation Hogg plans an illustrated (with slides) talk on the ship, and how he came to be struck by such an unlikely topic, and what drove him to pursue the fragmentary nuggets of information on the Kentucky through published works, anecdotal accounts, government and naval archives, and three newspaper libraries' clippings and photo files.

Note: To tie this occasion with our spring (1998) Henderson meeting Hogg has located several photos of Margaret Mitchell launching not one, but two U.S. Navy ships named Atlanta. The first Atlanta was lost in the battle of Guadalcanal, so a second one was named in its honor, and Mitchell was asked to reprise her role as ships's sponsor.

Everyone's invited to join the Kentucky Historical Society in celebrating the opening of the Kentucky History Center this April. Beginning on Saturday, April 10th, the Society will feature a parade, crafts demonstrations, food, Kentucky folk music, chautauqua performances, tours, exhibits, a Kentucky Headhunters Concert, the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and a laser light show.

The focus of the celebration, however, is the History Center itself. Many KCA members contributed materials to "A Kentucky Journey", the Society's new 20,000 square foot permanent exhibit. The exhibit boasts life-size environments, state-of-the-art technology, and interactive displays. Over 3,000 artifacts from the Historical Society's collection will be on display in this $2.8 million exhibit.

The Society's library will open its fine new research facility and staff will host orientation tours throughout Saturday and Sunday. The Society's special collections of maps, photographs, manuscripts, rare books, and oral history will move to the History Center later in the month--literally after the dust settles. Special collections staff will be on hand, however, to give behind-the-scenes tours of the new research, archival storage, and digital imaging facilities.

KCA members are especially encouraged to drop by on Monday, when the Society will host an open house for our peers. For more on the opening week festivities, please check our web site at:

http://www.kentuckyhistory.org/

Submitted by Mary Winter