The Truth Regional News » Museum Corner

Museum Corner

Administrator — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:16:08 +0000

By Janie Griffith, director

There are a lot of things happening this summer at our local museum. We have several new workers who are part of some special programs. They include Mrs. Brindle McGuin of Lost Creek and Dell Rose from Saldee. Both are learning to clean and access new artifacts and make the museum more presentable to visitors.

We have also been receiving some very interesting artifact. Mr. Bill Kane of Little Leatherwood Road recently donated prehistoric artifacts. This is the third time Mr. Kane has been kind enough to donate items to the museum. This recent donation includes crinoid fossils, also known as Indian trade beads, arrowheads & drills, broken potsherds and blanks. Also included in this donation is a wooden bucket and a drinking gourd.

Mary Jane Dunn also donated items. These included a newspaper, dated December 14, 2000 with headlines telling about the election of George W. Bush. She also donated a large medical book, Domestic Medical Practices, dated 1913.

Sheila Sharpe of the Breathitt County Health Department donated several items which included, an old home-health medical bag with medical tools inside, and an old stool and mop bucket from old post office building on Broadway Street.

Marilyn and Bill Brown donated handmade wooden toys to the museum which were made by Marilyn’s grandfather, Eli Troyer. Included in this donation was also an old apple butter stirrer which belonged, Rebecca Good-Troyer of Ohio.

Carrie Crank and Bob Back of Jetts Creek recently donated military items to the Breathitt County Museum. These items included a Vietnam US Army uniform and an old US Airforce songbook. The museum is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 - 3:00.

Our last donation, which has a picture included with this article, came from Bob Back and Carrie Crank of Jetts Creek. The items included in this donation were military in nature and included a Vietnam Army uniform and an old US Airforce songbook. Mr. Back obtained the uniform from a church yard sale on Route 30. Inside the pocket of the uniform was a cleaners receipt with the name “Richard Oaks” written on it.

The museum would like to thank all of the above individuals for their donations. If you would like to visit, or donate to the museum, we are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 – 3:30. Our phone number is 606/666-4159 and our website, which contains hundreds of old photos, is breathittmuseum.com.

Photo donated to the Breathitt County Museum

Administrator — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:52:35 +0000

Rice Davidson Noble pictured here in 1977 (Click image to enlarge)

JOHN CLAY RICE, PROFESSOR CLYDE DAVIDSON, & CHARLES BROWN NOBLE photographed during the 1977 Jackson High School Reunion. Clyde Davidson was a former teacher, principal, and superintendent at the school. He also coached basketball from 1948-49 when Rice and Brown were ball players. All are now deceased. This photo was donated to the Breathitt County Museum by Mrs. Geraldine Rice. The next Jackson City School Reunion is scheduled for May 28th and 29th. All former students & teachers are urged to attend. For more information, call 666-4396.

The Breathitt County Museum recently received a donation

Administrator — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:08:19 +0000

Mr. Watts sitting on porch (Click image to enlarge)

The Breathitt County Museum recently received a donation from Mr. Wayne Watts of Greenville, Indiana which included an old plane and a brace and bit. Mr. Watts is pictured above relaxing on his front porch. The tools were delivered to the museum by Lee Watts during a recent visit back home to Kentucky. While here, Lee also donated both a carbide light and a tin containing carbide. The museum would like to thank both Wayne and Lee for their donations.
Janie Griffith, director
Breathitt County Museum
329 Broadway
Jackson, KY 41339
(website) breathittmuseum.com

Old Postcard Donated to Breathitt Museum

Administrator — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:37:12 +0000

Recently I was contacted by a former student, who has recently donated a very old postcard to the museum. I am submitting both front and back of this card. Please print it and perhaps we might be able to find out something about the woman was who mailed it and her connection to the recipient. – Janie Griffith
The following letter was enclosed with the donation:

Front of donated Postcard (Click image to enlarge)

Back of Panbowl Post Card (Click image to enlarge)

“This postcard was purchased on February 6, 2010, in a Michigan City antique store by Lisa Howard Melton, a native of Jackson. The card shows a “Picturesque scene on the Pan Bowl, near Jackson, KY.” It was mailed on June 11, 1912 from a woman named “Mary Jo” to Miss Hazel Ryan of Omaha, Nebraska.
I feel the card has come full circle now and the Breathitt County Museum can give it the best home possible. Thank you so much for preserving my mountain heritage so that one day I will be able to bring my grandchildren in and say, “This is where you come from. Learn of it, and most of all, be very proud of it.” – Lisa MeltonNote: Lisa is the daughter of Ms. Pearlie Howard of Laporte, IN, formerly of Jackson, and the late George Howard. Lisa attended Jackson City School until 1985 when she moved to Laporte. She is the wife of Ernie Melton, also formerly of Jackson.

Kentucky Barn Square Workshop at Breathitt County Extension Office

Administrator — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:19:42 +0000

By Breathitt County Museum Director Janie Griffith

Log Cabin (Click image to enlarge)

Monkey Wrench (Click image to enlarge)

Grannys Fan (Click image to enlarge)

A very exciting workshop, designed to promote our quilting heritage, is being planned for Wednesday, February 17th. The event will be held at the newly renovated county extension office on Main Street in Jackson. Mrs. Martha Yount County Extension Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences is in charge of the workshop which will take place at 12 noon. Members of the homemaker club and others interested in creating barn squares are invited. The workshop is being presented by Perry County Family and Consumer Science Extension Agent, Ms. Glenna Wooten.

Ms. Wooten’s Kentucky Quilt Trail lesson will begin with a brief history of how quilt trails first began, and how the movement has spread across Kentucky. Included is a PowerPoint slide presentation showing quilt blocks from various counties. During the class, participants will receive handouts consisting of existing trails guidelines and will learn how to set up guidelines for a trail in Breathitt County. Funding for this project will also be discussed.

Recently, quilt trails have been organized in Perry and several other area counties. In 2006, Ms. Wooten received a grant for the quilt blocks in Perry County. Since that time, volunteers have painted and mounted around 30 quilt blocks throughout the county. Ms. Wooten’s lesson was made possible through a joint effort of the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities. During the month of February, Ms. Wooten will travel through eight neighboring counties, teaching the lesson to other homemaker clubs and interested individuals.

The February 17th meeting in Jackson will consist of a light luncheon, followed by the quilt trails presentation. After the program, participants will visit the Breathitt County Museum to view first hand examples of barn squares during various stages of creation painted by museum director and local artist Janie Griffith.
If you are interested in joining in and becoming part of this exciting project, be sure and attend this special workshop. Mark your calendars for 12 noon, Wednesday, February 17th and be at the extension office prepared to roll up your sleeves and get started on a bright and colorful Kentucky barn square!

Museum Corner

Administrator — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:30:21 +0000

Happenings at the Breathitt County Museum By Janie Griffith, Director

The holidays are here and the Breathitt County Museum is decorated with candles and handmade Appalachian decorations. Our special exhibit features dolls, marbles, and other toys from bygone years. We would like to thank Wanda Rose, Twilla Haddix, and Dorothy Marshall of the Jackson Woman’s Club for helping with these beautiful old-fashioned decorations. With their help we were ready for the 2009 downtown Christmas celebration. We provided tours and a special program for all youngsters who attended.
The museum would like to thank several individuals who donated items to our collection this month. Archie Johnson and Burnam Hudson, Jr. from the Jackson Unit of the Kentucky National Guard donated three large black and white photographs. These photos, from the late 1970s, show Breathitt County guardsmen constructing a pond overflow drain near the Emergency Operation Center at Frankfort.

Arch & Burnham donate to museum (Click image to enlarge)

Lee Watts visits Museum (Click image to enlarge)

            Lee Watts visited us on December 14th and brought with him two books he has recently written Truth, Memories and Tears and Lost Creek, I Still Call it Home, contain poems and short stories dealing with the author’s memories of Breathitt County. These publications are available at amazon.com or may be purchased directly from Mr. Watts who lives at 71 South Wendshore Drive, Lexington, KY, 47138.
            If you would like to visit the museum, we are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00-3:30. You may contact us at 666-4159, or visit our website at breathittmuseum.com. Our email address is breathittmuseum@bellsouth.net. We will be closed both Fridays on, December 25th and January 1st.
            On behalf of the Breathitt County Museum, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and may God Bless EVERYONE during 2010!

(Photos – Archie Johnson and Burnam Hudson, Jr. from the Jackson Unit of the Kentucky National Guard recently donated several photographs to the Breathitt County Museum. These photos, from the late 1970s, feature Breathitt County guardsmen constructing a pond overflow drain near the EOC (Emergency Operation Center) at Frankfort, KY.

Lee Watts of 71 Wendshore Drive in Lexington with two of his recent books, Truth, Memories and Tears and Lost Creek, I Still Call it Home to the Breathitt County Museum. These books deal with the author’s memories of growing up in Breathitt County.)