Renovated “Hall of Governors” Will Open on Boone Day!

Boone Day, the KHS event that takes place annually on the first Saturday in June, will be even better than usual this year.   

On Saturday, June 4, the renovated “Toyota Kentucky Hall of Governors” will open in conjunction with Boone Day.  Boone Day will take place at the Center for Kentucky History, and KHS guests that day will be the first to experience the new Hall of Governors, along with related programming that day.  

Why is this renovation such a big deal? 

Well first, a word on the history of the Hall of Governors—affectionately referred to as the HoG. 
Re-opening the HoG on Boone Day closely mirrors the roots of the Boone Day tradition and the existence of the exhibition itself.  On June 7, 1897, Gov. William O. Bradley presided over the first annual meeting that reestablished KHS after it was nearly abolished in 1889. (Each governor also serves, by statute, as the Chancellor KHS during his/her term.) 

During the meeting, Bradley requested that the Society’s portraits of Governors Letcher, Metcalfe, Scott, Powell and Blackburn be assembled for display.  

Now, portraits are commissioned during each governor’s term and are hung when he leaves office. The previous configuration of the HoG was becoming crowded, and did not allow for the addition of more portraits.  

The new, improved exhibition, however, allows for these additions and much more!  KHS is lucky to hold many governor-related artifacts, including personal items that belonged to many governors. The new HoG will allow for the display of these items, and will let KHS tell the story of the commonwealth’s heads of state more fully. 

For example, KHS holds in our collections the watch Isaac Shelby carried when he fought the English in the War of 1812.  We also have the ring Luke Blackburn presented his wife on their wedding day in 1857; a cane Thomas Bramlette carried during the Civil War; and, perhaps most infamously, the shirt William Goebel was wearing when he was shot by an assassin in 1900. All of these will be on display in the newly renovated exhibition. 

 And on Boone Day, our guests will have the opportunity to hear from the living governors, from Ford to Fletcher, on a variety of topics relating to the governorship. This panel discussion will be moderated by Bill Goodman from KET. 

Tickets for Boone Day are $18 for KHS members and $23 for all other guests, and include the exhibition opening, the panel discussion and lunch.To purchase your tickets, email Julia Curry or call Julia at
502-564-1792. 

While we anxiously await Boone Day, stay tuned to the KHS Facebook page for governor-related trivia!

--Laura Coleman

Top image: The HoG has been painted, and KHS staff are reinstalling portraits today. Second image: The upper text rail in the exhibition contains the oath of office.