Brenda Hughes

Brenda Lee Garner Hughes officiating a Kentucky High School Athletic Association Girls' State Basketball Tournament. Hughes was the first African American woman to do so. 1973 February 11.


-John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs.

2013 Black History Month exhibit by Reinette Jones

Sesquicentennial Stories: The Promise of UK #113

Ab Kirwan (left) speaking into  microphone for KRLD Television on New Year's Day, 1952, after the University of Kentucky's victory over Texas Christian University in the Cotton Bowl.

 Have you ever wondered why Euclid Avenue turns into the Avenue of Champions from Rose to Limestone Streets? In 1952, the name was changed after UK won the Cotton Bowl championship in Dallas, Texas. UK Alumnus, T. Jere Bean of Louisville, suggested the name change to recognize the championship UK football and basketball teams.  The Lexington Board of City Commissioners renamed the street under a suspension of rules and Mayor Tom Mooney presided at the official hanging of the sign.

Quarterback Vito "Babe" Parilli holding the new street sign "Avenue of Champions"

During this time Bernie A. Shively was the UK Athletics Director. Shively came to the University of Kentucky in 1927 as an assistant football and head track coach.  He served as Athletics Director from 1938 until his death in December of 1967. The athletics program grew substantially under the direction of Bernie Shively.  He directly supervised doubling the seating capacity of the football stadium, the construction of a sports center to provide top facilities for spring sports and football practice, and moving the basketball team into Memorial Coliseum, which at the time was considered the finest collegiate basketball arena in the nation upon its completion in 1951.  

Celebration dinner after UK victory over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, New Year's Day, 1951; pictured from right, Charles Grenrod, Ab Kirwan, Betty Kirwan, Governor A. B. Chandler, Athletics Director Bernie Shively, Mrs. Chandler, UK President Herman Donovan; others are unidentified.

Shively played a key role in bringing Paul “Bear” Bryant to UK as football coach in 1946, and was critical in promoting harmony between Coach Bryant and Coach Adolph Rupp. During the Bryant and Rupp years, the Wildcats won four NCAA, one NIT, three Bowl and 19 SEC championships.  They also won the collegiate bracket of the Olympic Trials, sending five basketball players and Rupp to gold medal victories in the 1948 Olympics. Bernie Shively was a major influence in UK Athletics. 

Turkey and the Tennessee Game

While Thanksgiving will undoubtedly be on the minds of all of us in the Bluegrass next week, in the back of many minds will be the UK vs. Tennessee football game on Saturday. Tennessee has beaten the Cats 23 consecutive times, including a four overtime thriller last year, stretching back to 1984. Many a wishbone will be used to help ensure a UK victory this year. This photograph, taken in 1963, shows that balancing the holidays and sports has long been a tradition at the University of Kentucky.

1955 Ky vs DePaul

A clip from the 1955 DePaul game. This original film was donated by Vernon Hatton and digitized this year by The Media Preserve — a division of Preservation Technologies.

In Memory of George Blanda

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George Blanda passed away on Monday at the age of 83. Blanda, who played from 1945-1948, helped the University of Kentucky win the school's first bowl game, the 1947 Great Lakes Bowl. He went on to play 26 seasons in the National Football League, the longest career in the league's history.

A framed image of George Blanda is also part of a current exhibition on UK football being presented by UK Libraries. The exhibition, which includes several images of legendary UK athletes like Blanda, early team pictures, and a 1900s football, is on display through the fall semester in the foyer of the M.I. King Building.

Oral Histories with UK Basketball Coach Adolph Rupp

Nunn Center interviews were featured on WUKY highlighting oral histories with the great UK basketball coach Adolph Rupp.

Saving Stories Remembers "The Baron of The Bluegrass"

The Nunn Center recently uploaded 15 hours of interviews with Coach Rupp to the Kentuckiana Digital Library.

If you want to hear the whole collection, search for what Coach Rupp had to say about your favorite player go to the Kentuckiana Digital Library and click on oral history.

This is great collection to listen to during NCAA tournament. Go Cats!

To all Kentucky Basketball Fans

HOLD THE DATE – Tuesday, October 13^th for a celebration of the life of legendary broadcaster Claude Sullivan – and benefit for the Big Blue Archives at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort in Lexington! The evening kicks off with a Reception at 5:30 pm, Dinner at 6:30 pm and the Celebration begins at 7:30 pm. Ralph Hacker will emcee; Coach John Calipari will be speaking.

You won’t want to miss this exciting evening with many other local sports figures in attendance, while helping UK Archives continue to preserve the history of UK athletics dating back to the 1890s.

A reserved table for 10 is $1,000; individual tickets are $115 each. Cocktail attire. For more information, contact Esther Edwards at eedwards@uky.edu or 859-257-1742.