The Frankfort Heritage Lecture Series explores themes in Frankfort and Franklin County cultural history - the big, small, and tangential - including the people, places, events, industries, and organizations that shaped our community and environment. The series also includes topics in historic preservation such as architecture, archaeology, public policy, and more.
Registration opens one month prior to each event. For more information, contact Diane Dehoney at (502) 352-2665 x108 or diane@pspl.org.
Sponsored by the Frankfort Heritage Week Coalition and PSPL.
Dr. William "Drew" Andrews
The rivers and streams around Frankfort have not always flowed in their present courses. This presentation will use new digital resources to examine the landscape evidence for the ancient shifts and changes in the local stream valleys that have sculpted the Frankfort landscape.
Dr. William "Drew" Andrews is the Section Head of the Geologic Mapping Section for the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS), where he has worked since 1996. Most recently, he was the Acting Director and State Geologist of KGS. With expertise in geographic information systems (GIS), geomorphology, and geologic mapping, William is also an adjunct assistant professor of geology at the University of Kentucky's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
A life-long Kentuckian born in Frankfort, William received his Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Kentucky, is a member of the Geological Society of America, serves on the US National Committee for the International Union of Geological Sciences, and is licensed as a professional geologist in Kentucky.
Dr. Daniel Gifford
Join Dr. Daniel Gifford as he discusses his latest book, Benefactors of Posterity: The Founding Era of the Filson Historical Society, 1884-1899. Founded in 1884, the Filson Club quickly grew into a preeminent arbiter of Kentucky history, eventually becoming today’s Filson Historical Society. Benefactors of Posterity reexamines this crucial founding era, pulling back the layers of accomplishment and disappointment, illumination and obfuscation. Drawing from a wide range of sources, Gifford places us in Gilded Age Kentucky at a time of heady opportunity for some and growing subjugation for others. In the middle of it all was the Filson Club, whose multifaceted origin story provides a window into Louisville, Frankfort, and the evolution of historical study at the dawn of a new century.
Dr. Daniel Gifford is a public historian who focuses on American popular and visual culture, as well as museums in American culture. He received his PhD from George Mason University in 2011. His career spans both academia and public history, including several years with the Smithsonian Institution. Gifford currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky.
Past Presenters
Sylvia Sousa Coffey
One of the most dramatic but little-known episodes in our state history – a seventy-year battle fought nationwide and in every state, finally won with nary a shot fired.
James M. Prichard
Frankfort occupies a unique place in the annals of the Civil War. In 1862, it became the only loyal state capital to be occupied by Confederate forces during the war. In 1864 the capital was attacked by elements of Morgan's raiders in a sharp action in which Governor Thomas E.
Freddie Johnson
Freddie Johnson shares the life history of a young boy growing up in an environment surrounded by legends in the world of bourbon. Join us as he creates a narrative allowing you to enjoy this journey while leaving footprints in bourbon history!
Daniel J. Phelps
This presentation will be an overview of the various types of fossils found in Kentucky, discussing specimens from the Late Ordovician (450 million years ago) to the Pleistocene (ending about 12,000 years ago). There will be numerous fossil specimens on display before and after the talk.
Dr. Gwynn Henderson
After laying to rest the myths that continue to circulate about Kentucky’s ancient Native Peoples, this presentation will discuss Native history prior to the arrival of non-Native people, paying particular attention to information collected from Franklin County’s archaeological sites.
Robbie D. Jones, Sydney Schoof & Carolyn Brackett
In 2023, the City of Frankfort received a Certified Local Government grant from the Kentucky Heritage Council to complete a National Register nomination for the Green Hill Cemetery.
Tressa Brown
American Indian communities have been in Kentucky for more than 11,000 years. When Euro-Americans settled here, Shawnee, Cherokee, and Chickasaw, among others, already lived here. Myths and misconceptions about American Indian people permeate many sources of information.
Dr. Drew Andrews
The rocks under our landscape play a critical role in defining the shape and the characteristics of the land we live on. Landforms, streams, resources, and natural hazards are all related to the geology of an area.
Christopher T. Hall
Audiences are in for a treat as they sit back and listen to a candid discussion about the discipline of archaeology and what it tells us about our own history.