KYGMC hosts 146th annual charter reception

The Kentucky Gateway Museum Center hosted its 146th annual charter reception earlier this week.

Executive Director Robert Boone opened the reception’s events by welcoming guests to the reception. He noted the importance of the museum’s history.

“For 146 years now, it’s hard to believe, 146 years, the association, or in more recent history the association doing business as the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, has served both the preserved history in our region and to provide excellent educational programs for both our residents and visitors alike,” Boone began.

Boone said that last year, KYGMC served over 20,000 individuals through outreach.

According to Boone, all 50 states of the nation were represented by visitors at KYGMC in 2023.

He noted the museum also welcomed guests from 23 foreign countries.

“That would not be possible without our staff,” Boone remarked. “Our future’s bright here at the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center.”

He went on to list several “highlights” of the museum’s future.

According to Boone, there are some events planned for April. He noted the KSB miniatures workshop and a collaboration with Kentucky Living Magazine to celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary.

In June, the museum is expected to host a Kentucky Museum and Heritage conference titled “Gateway to Museums: How Institutions Remain Relevant and Accessible in an Ever-Changing World.”

Boone noted some KYGMC staff will present at this conference. He continued to discuss the future of KYGMC.

“This year, the museum has taken major steps in ensuring our relevancy and accessibility,” Boone said. He noted some recent new hires, including Matthew Brown of Wandering Kentucky.

“We’re creating a social media channel to both record and broadcast our seminars and programming via the web, and really across the globe, to make our reach even more accessible,” Boone said.

He continued, “Finally, our newest addition, which will be officially announced next quarter is the creation of a dedicated space in the Limestone building to serve as an oral history and documentary film lab where our museum will continue to increase our capacity to record oral history, develop a podcast program, and soon move into an entirely new area for us which is short term documentary film making. So very excited about that.”

Boone noted his delight to be the executive director of the oldest Kentucky state-chartered organization, KYGMC.

“In doing this, I stand on the shoulders of many individuals who have given much in terms of their vision, their passion, their time, and their treasure in making the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center a world-class destination,” Boone said.

He noted several past and current staff, board members, and trustees of KYGMC. As Boone concluded, he welcomed Steve White and Louis Browning to the podium to discuss the history behind the painting awaiting to be unveiled.

As they gathered at the front of the room, White and Browning were joined by some KYGMC staff members who served as models for the covered painting. They revealed a painting that depicts Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Maysville.

White painted the image and had several staff members modeling period-accurate clothing, he said. Browning said the painting scene was envisioned using Paxton Inn in Washington.

“I think that’s a pretty significant thing to have memorialized in the painting even though Marquis de Lafayette never got out there in Washington,” Browning remarked.

They went on to discuss the history behind the painting of Lafayette. According to White, he knew very little about Lafayette before starting on the painting.

“We spent a lot of time and a lot of energy talking about our really early position in our history when we were the Western Frontier,” Browning said. He noted that Lafayette’s visit to Maysville was “accidental.”

As the project progressed, White gathered a more thorough understanding of who Lafayette was.

According to White, the painting depicts a meeting with Lafayette at Eagle Tavern. In designing the painting, Browning suggested some details regarding military attire for the period.

White said he tried to “work” some of the people who may have been at the meeting into the painting in every way he could. He mentioned the efforts of KYGMC staff who dressed in period-accurate attire for the painting.

White continued to discuss the details of the painting.

He noted the focus of the painting, Lafayette, was painted on stairs to depict his importance at the time. The others in the painting “stand out” through their clothing, he said.

According to White, he learned several common fashion trends during the time while he was researching Lafayette. He included several of those details in the clothing and hairstyles of those in the painting.

Following the presentation of the commissioned painting, Browning introduced a map from the early 1820s of Ohio to be displayed at the museum. He noted Ohio is not disconnected from KYGMC, regardless of state borders.

“Southern Ohio is part of our history,” Browning said. He continued to describe the map.

On the map, there is a notation toward the Limestone area and Maysville. Browning noted the person who made the map knew how “important” Maysville and Limestone was in the history of the area’s settlements.

Following Browning’s comments on the map of Ohio, Education Coordinator Tandy Floyd began to discuss the book chosen for Community Read 2024.

She noted KYGMC does not typically unveil the title “this early” in the year. Floyd suggested they did so because of the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s visit to Maysville.

The book chosen for this year’s Community Read is “A Girl Called Samson” by Amy Harmon, Floyd said.

She noted the title would inspire the theme for several activities and exhibits throughout the fall, as Community Read titles have done in the past.

Boone concluded the reception by thanking guests for attending KYGMC’s 146th annual charter reception.

To learn more about KYGMC, go to kygmc.org.

To learn more about Lafayette’s visit to Maysville, contact KYGMC at 606-564-5865 or visit the Research Library on the second floor of the museum.