Lexington Tobacco Warehouse Workers

A group of women at work in an unidentified Lexington tobacco warehouse.  Often African American women in the tobacco industry could expect to earn as little as $6.50 a week.  In the warehouses, women were perpetually sweeping up scraps of tobacco and taking them to other women to pick out the best of the scraps and throw out the dirty of ragged leaves.  The warehouses tended to be poorly lit and had little ventilation. 1939 December.


-John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs

2013 Women's History Month exhibit by Deirdre Scaggs

Ralph Barker Richlawn Farm film

The MediaPreserve at Preservation Technologies just delivered another amazing digitized film! This is just a brief clip of the original 19 minute amateur film.

In 1879, Myron Barker, a major tobacco broker, set up residence on land that he called Richlawn Farm in Carrollton, Kentucky. He raised tobacco and operated as an independent broker until 1902 when he sold his interest to the American Tobacco Co. In the early 1900’s, after Myron’s death, the farm land was owned by Adelaide (Barker) Fisher, Myron’s daughter. She and her husband, William Fisher, built a summer home on the property. In 1918, Adelaide and William lost their house to a fire and they began a rebuilding process over the next five years. Sadly, nearly one year before the home was finished, Adelaide became ill and passed away. At that time, William Fisher sold the land along with the nearly completed home to Adelaide’s brother, Ralph M. Barker (married to Nell Long Barker), whom completed work on Highland House in 1923. Richlawn Farm was significant to citizens of Carroll County as it was a place of social events and gatherings. During holidays such as Christmas and Fourth of July, the Richlawn yard would be elaborately decorated. Ralph M. Barker owned the R.M. Tobacco Company, started the Carrollton Phone System, the Carrollton Cannery and was a prominent local businessman. In addition, he was known for his love of dogs and at one time owned 37 Great Danes.


The Ralph Barker, Richlawn Farm Film Collection, ca. 1935-1964 consists of 121 films; 47, 8mm films and 74, 16mm films. The bulk of the collection is amateur home and vacation movies in color and black and white; there are also two Castle Films News Parade reels. The amateur films document the family life of Ralph M. Barker, his friends, and family on Richlawn farm in Carrollton, Kentucky. Common scenes include: Mr. Barker and his dogs; visiting friends; scenes around the home; floods and high water; the Kentucky River and river transportation; Easter activities; Christmas scenes; farm work and activities; setting tobacco; Birthday parties; and Fourth of July celebrations.

The films also document Cincinnati Reds baseball games, Florida training sessions and other baseball games and players including: The 1939 World Series; Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh; Boston Bees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers, 1940; the Yankees and Cardinals in 1940; Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer, Don Lang, Whitey Moore (Lloyd Albert Moore), and others.

Reynolds Buildings

On July 31, 2008, the Lexington Herald-Leader carried a story on the front page about UK’s plans to partner with a developer to renovate the three Reynolds Buildings on the west edge of campus. The buildings have been used by the university since about 1953 and were officially acquired in 1959 for $100,000.

Before this, they were owned by the R.J. Reynolds Company and functioned as tobacco warehouses. The School of Architecture was briefly housed in Building #1 before moving to Pence Hall, and the buildings have been mostly used for storage and art studio classes including sculpture, photography, metalworking, painting and videography since then. The Barnhart Gallery is also housed in building #1.

The buildings have always elicited a mixed response. Their distant location from central campus makes them inconvenient and potentially unsafe, but students and professors who work in the buildings enjoy the spaciousness and the feeling that they are free to make a mess. However, safety has also been an ongoing issue in the buildings. The two interior photos show an early morning fire which occurred in 1970. Interestingly, the image of a studio shows an armoire and dresser filled with clothes, documenting a long-standing practice of virtually living in the buildings. In 1989, a staircase collapsed, injuring four students, and in 1990, noxious fumes from chemicals used to repair the roof caused complaints of nausea and headaches. Security concerns resulted in a “controlled campus-to-campus walkway” between the Taylor Education and Reynolds Buildings in 2003.

What are your thoughts on the Reynolds Buildings? If you were there when the staircase collapsed or have fond memories of working there all night, you can share them with us by using the comment feature.

All photos from the Lexington Herald-Leader files held by University of Kentucky Archives.