Reprint from Collections & Connections
Spring 1999, Vol. 3, No. 2

These headlines are from issues of Bowling Green's Daily News, which the Kentucky Library will soon have microfilmed for posterity: "For Kukluxing, Fourteen Men from the Galloways Mill Country [Warren County] Are Being Tried," (3 July 1899); "Two Desperate Prisoners Form a Bold and Sensational Plan to Escape from the County Jail," (21 Dec. 1930); "5,000 People Witnessed the Twin Unveiling of Monuments Yesterday at Fairview Cemetery," (28 Sept. 1908); "College Street Bridge Burned by Mob, Denhardt's Life Threatened," (12 Feb. 1915).

Historians use newspapers in interpreting community history. Without them these histories rest strictly on government documents, cultural analysis and oral tradition. The newspaper adds written commentary, advertising, society happenings, hard news, gossip, and features. They flesh out the skeleton of chronologies. "Newspapers chronicle the day to day events in a community's life." said Connie Mills, Kentucky Library coordinator. "In a sense they are the town's diary."

Many patrons who visit the Kentucky Library are dismayed that Bowling Green does not have a continuous newspaper available for research. Many of these people are genealogists searching for obituaries or other information related to their kin. Students use newspapers in completing assignments related to local history and how Bowling Green reacted to national events. Still others are serious researchers mining these information lodes for just the right quote or story for their articles or books. Although the Kentucky Library owns a number of Bowling Green newspapers, it does not have a significant run of any except the Daily News which is available on microfilm from December 1920 through 1979, the Times-Journal from 1920-1942, and the Bowling Green Messenger from 1910-1918. Helm Cravens Library owns the Daily News from 1980 to the present.

In order to help alleviate this problem, the Kentucky Library will have approximately 100 stray issues of the Daily News from 1886 to 1920 microfilmed. Presently the deteriorating condition of the papers does not allow for public use. These issues have dribbled in one or two at a time for the last sixty years. Local history reveals that Bowling Green's newspaper office burned in the 1920s and with it a great deal of Bowling Green's recorded history went up in smoke. The Kentucky Library continues to solicit donations of any pre-1920 Bowling Green newspapers for the collection. Every newspaper represents a piece of the local history puzzle; every found issue makes the picture clearer. Next year the Library has committed to microfilm stray issues of other Bowling Green titles.

Preparing the newspapers for microfilming is tedious work due to their fragile condition. The serials librarian cleans each issue and flattens it prior to repairing major tears. The Micrographics unit of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in Frankfort will microfilm the papers.

~ Jonathan Jeffrey

During the next few months visitors to the Kentucky Museum can view two exquisite kimonos and obi as well as a pair of tabi (split-toed socks) and zori (sandals). This attire offers clues to Japan's past, as clothing in Japan evolved over hundreds of years. Today, kimonos and obi continue to hold an important place in Japanese society, typically representing the wearer's social status and upbringing, and many young women attend kimono school in order to learn how to wear such garments correctly.

Traditionally, a mother gave her oldest daughter some of her kimonos when the daughter married. The obi and kimonos in this exhibit were ordered from a maker in Kyoto, since the donor, Miko Muragachi, was the second daughter. They are, in the words of the donor, a blend of old and new ideas. One of the kimonos features rather contemporary designs produced using the wax resist dye process, and the other has chrysanthemums accented with gold and silver thread. The obi were woven in the Nishijin Textile District of Kyoto, a place famous for its brocade obi.

These garments represent a bridge to old and modern Japan. More specifically, they symbolize the recent ties between the sister cities of Bowling Green, Kentucky and Kawinishi, Japan, and the efforts of the donor, Mrs. Muragachi, to help establish the relationship. In April 1997, she donated this clothing in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the city of Bowling Green. Mrs. Muragachi also made her gift as a way to honor her mother's memory.

~ Sandy Staebell