Saving Stories

WUKY
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Doug Boyd, director of the UK Libraries' Nunn Center for Oral History shares stories.

  1. OCT 31

    Saving Stories: The unlikely resurrection of Lexington's Lyric Theatre

    October 28, the Lyric Theatre in Lexington's East End neighborhood celebrated 15 years of rebirth. The current iteration of the arts and cultural center was officially reopened in 2010. In a 2015 UK Nunn Center oral history interview local activist Tom Tolliver talks about the effort to revitalize the Lyric, which had been shuttered since 1963; a result of the end of city-wide desegregation of public spaces. At first Tolliver was not on board with the idea and he describes what actions changed his mind.

    5 min

  2. OCT 17

    Saving Stories remembers WUKY's first broadcast day

    October 17 is an important day in the history of WUKY. The station formerly known as WBKY signed on for the first time on October 17, 1940. To mark the station's 85th anniversary, this special edition of Saving Stories with Dr. Doug Boyd from the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in the UK Libraries, features an interview with Ruth Foxx Newborg, the first program director of the Beattyville, KY radio station.

    5 min

  3. SEP 19

    Saving Stories: Lexington native Bobby Flynn on making history with the Hustlers

    Saving Stories returns with a fresh episode on the integration of baseball. Not the Jackie Robinson story but another event that happened right here in Lexington. Nunn Center director Dr. Doug Boyd shares audio from an oral history interview with Lexington native Bobby Flynn, who in 1947 helped the Lexington Hustlers become the first integrated baseball team in the South. Flynn was white but had been rejected by the white teams because he was small. In the interview Bobby Flynn tells the story of being asked by manager John 'Scoop' Brown to join the Negro League team, and the reaction from members of the local white community.

    5 min

  4. SEP 12

    Saving Stories: Kentucky middle school student gets a bourbon history lesson from Jim Beam's Booker Noe

    WUKY's Saving Stories celebrates Bourbon Heritage Month with this special episode. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History Director Dr. Doug Boyd shares this 1991 interview with Frederick Booker Noe II, who discusses the bourbon industry and the history of Jim Beam. The Nunn Center has conducted more than one hundred bourbon-related interviews spanning generations of famous personalities, but it wasn't until recently that Boyd and staff discovered this rare conversation between Noe and a Kentucky middle school student. The interviews were part of an educational media project under the direction of Henderson County North Middle School teacher Roy Pullam.

    5 min

  5. AUG 8

    Saving Stories: Nagasaki bombing survivor gives harrowing first-person account during oral history class project

    This week marks the 80th anniversary of the US bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which essentially brought about the end of World War II. In this special edition of Saving Stories Doug Boyd, director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in the UK Libraries shares an interview from a survivor of the bombing of Nagasaki.

    5 min

  6. JUL 31

    Saving Stories: Prominent food entrepreneur 'Sav' on the journey from 'grill' to 'chill' to gourmet ice cream specialty

    As 250 Lex continues to celebrate Lexington's culinary traditions this month, we're highlighting this interview with Mamadou Savane. In 2018 the Nunn Center collaborated with Vanessa Grossl to interview immigrant entrepreneurs. The resulting project was called Savor, immigrant entrepreneur oral history project. Grossl conducted 20 interviews, many of which were conducted with food entrepreneurs here in Lexington. One of those individuals was Mamadou Savane. Better known to all of us as Sav. He talks about opening his West African restaurant (Sav's Grill) and starting a side ice cream business (Sav's Chill) that eventually became his primary venture which today we know as Sav's Gourmet Ice Cream.

    5 min

  7. JUL 24

    Saving Stories: Lexington - birthplace of Long John Silver's and the man credited for taking it national

    250 Lex is celebrating our culinary traditions. WUKY's Saving Stories serves up this behind the scenes look at Lexington's role in launching the Long John Silver's Fish 'n Chips restaurant chain. The very first Seafood Shoppe was located on Southland Drive. In 2009, the Nunn Center worked with Mike Hammonds to interview Warren Rosenthal; the business entrepreneur credited with taking the experimental fast food concept nationwide.

    5 min

  8. APR 25

    Saving Stories: 25 years of professional baseball in Lexington hinged on a game winning pitch and a tap dance for the ages

    The Lexington Legends baseball team has seen its share of ups and downs – including a head-scratching name change (anybody remember the Counter Clocks?) But now as the city gets ready to celebrate 25 seasons of professional baseball, WUKY’s Saving Stories has this look back at how it all began. Nunn Center for Oral History director Dr. Doug Boyd shares audio from a 2019 interview with Alan Stein, who along with other prominent members of the community, led an effort to bring minor league baseball to Lexington. In this portion of the conversation Stein recalls a literal 11th hour curveball his group had to handle before presenting its best case to an MLB franchise expansion committee. It’s a story you have to hear to believe.

    5 min
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About

Doug Boyd, director of the UK Libraries' Nunn Center for Oral History shares stories.

Information

  • Channel
    WUKY
  • Creator
    Alan Lytle, WUKY
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2025
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Saving Stories

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