Lexington’s lesser-known stories are on display at history museum
Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
Some of Lexington’s lesser-known stories from the past 250 years are on display at the Lexington History Museum.
As part of 250Lex, the city’s year-long celebration of its founding in 1775, the museum has opened a new temporary exhibit, “Intersections: 250 Years of Lexington History.”
The exhibit explores the city’s rich heritage as an integral part of Kentucky and an important part of the United States. Starting with its founding by a group of settlers on the banks of what is now known as McConnell Springs, the exhibit outlines the city’s rising influence as Kentucky became a state.
The exhibit also looks at different areas where Lexington had influence – not just in the horse industry or basketball, but also in medicine, engineering, literature, art, and politics.
“We wanted to encapsulate 250 years of history. What we came up with was this idea that so much of Lexington is created because we’re always one person away from the next person we want to meet,” said Mandy Higgins, the museum’s executive director. “We’re all connected in interesting and powerful ways. So, we’re telling 250 years of Lexington’s history through those connections.”
But the museum wanted to highlight many of the lesser-known stories of the city, she said. While you’ll find information about Henry Clay and Belle Brezing, you’ll also find stories about figures in the city’s past you might not be as familiar with.
For instance, Margaret Ingels is one of the reasons you’re so comfortable in your air-conditioned house right now.
Ingels graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1916 with a degree in engineering – the first woman to do so. After working in traffic engineering for the Chicago Telephone Company, she moved to Pittsburgh and furthered her education with an advanced degree in mechanical engineering.
She also turned her attention to air and spent a decade working on a portable machine that measured dust in the air. In 1931, she went to work for the Carrier Engineering Corporation, where she developed the sling psychrometer, a device that measured relative humidity.
Before Ingalls’ work, air conditioning was relegated to large spaces like office buildings and movie houses. But with Ingels’ invention, air conditioning in homes became more viable and made living in warmer climates more tolerable. Ingles became the spokesperson for the value of air conditioning and its use in homes, which spurred the move to the suburbs after World War II.
After retirement, Ingles returned to Lexington in the early 1950s and devoted her time to helping organizations that focused on the welfare of children. Ingles Hall, on UK’s campus, was named after her in 2016.
Other panels in the exhibit highlight businessmen and horsemen, like William T. Young, who returned to his native Lexington in 1946 to start “Big Top” brand peanut butter, which he developed into one of the leading producers of peanut butter in the U.S. After selling the company to Procter and Gamble in 1955, it was renamed Jif, which is now the largest producer of peanut butter in the world.
And there’s Anita Madden. She’s known as a horsewoman who held extravagant parties, but the exhibit looks more at her influence in the city’s planning and zoning commission in the late 1970s, and her influence in the development of Hamburg Pavilion.
Madden’s Derby parties may have become local legend, but they raised millions for charities like the Bluegrass Boys Ranch, the Lexington Fund for the Arts, and the Kentucky Heart Fund.
From doctors and politicians to writers and reporters, the exhibit tries to show the breadth of the city’s 250-year-old story, Higgins said. And many of the exhibits feature more interactive elements.
“As you can see from the timeline, we give you a little taste, and then some of those stories are further developed, like James Ben Ali Hagan, who ran Elmendorf Farm,” she said. “You can view Elmendorf farm in our Viewfinder.”
Higgins said the museum hopes visitors will offer their thoughts on the city’s history as well.
“We ask people to come and reflect with us, and take a selfie,” she said. “The whole point of the exhibit is that these are normal people who do things that make the city what it is today.
“We want visitors to reflect on what they are going to do in the next 25 years to help shape Lexington’s history. And then tell us maybe what we missed or who they think we should include in a future exhibit, and why. We know that we could fill every square inch of the space that we have with incredible Lexington stories. So, we’re asking visitors to help us do that.”
The exhibit runs through July 6, 2026, to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. The museum is open Thursday and Friday from noon to 4 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 and includes the Intersections exhibit.
Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.
This story was originally published July 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Lexington’s lesser-known stories are on display at history museum."