I had the opportunity this past week to take one of my children to the state HOBY Camp that was held at EKU. While visiting EKU, a rare event for someone living in Mayfield some 300 miles away, I took the time to visit the EKU Crabbie Library where they house the KHSAA sports Archives buried deep within the bows of the library basement. Here is where the KHSAA has deposited everything they have ever collected since their inception in 1917. Most of what they have deposited is still undiscovered in some gazillion boxes that the EKU staff has never had the time to sort through and document as of yet but they have identified what year and school each box contains. I only had time for a hour or so but I did walk away with copies of the 1978 and 1986 state title game videos and a 1978 highlight video. Those years are significant to any Mayfield fan. I had hunted for videos of both those years state title games for years and had all but given up on ever finding either until this visit. I plan a return trip in my future to discover what all lies in the many unopened boxes concerning Mayfield and the former all black Dunbar High School that is now part of Mayfield High School. Sadly, the volume of boxes is likely to never be completely gone through unless others follow suit and visit the KHSAA Archives to discover what is there from their schools past. I encourage anyone that gets the chance to go there and do it. It is bound to contain long lost treasures. I hope this post leads to some of you doing just what I did and it leading to uncovering some of our lost past.

Didn't know this existed. Pretty cool. I'd love to just wander around all that stuff and figure out what all is down there.

Do you pay for the items or is it like a library?

Sounds like it might be worth a trip to Richmond.

I had no idea that was there. That's awesome. How much were the film copies?

 

I could lock myself down there for a week...

Do you pay for the items or is it like a library?

 

Yes you pay for copies. DVD's are $15/copy. They can also copy photos and articles, stats, ect. If you decide to go plan ahead or you will be disappointed. The staff does not just turn you loose, have to have a idea of what you are looking for and that will allow them to have a reasonable idea of which box and folder you will need and they can bring it out of storage for you to look through. Many of the older videos are on 16mm and have never been converted. They hope to someday convert. I actually took them a year they had on 16mm but did not have on DVD. There are categories, ect.. This may help

 

Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) Records, 1917-2004 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Scope and Contents of the Materials

 

These records on deposit with EKU have been divided into seven series: the Audio Visual Series (16mm films and video tapes of KHSAA sponsored championship athletic contests - mostly basketball and football); the Board of Control Series (consists of correspondence, meeting minutes, and subject files) - Note: the Board of Control Series is currently being reorganized; the Newspaper Clipping Series (original and photocopied clippings covering the years 1930-1994; the Photograph Series (contains the official photographs of the Boys State Basketball Tournament, 1952-1955, and photographs of KHSAA office staff and official functions, 1957-1970); the Publication Series (official publications of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association are included in this series - four main publications are The Athlete, the Constitution, By-laws and Tournament Rules, the Directory of Member Schools, and the State Tournament Programs); the Schools Series (contains team eligibility lists and correspondence between the KHSAA office and the member schools); and the Tournament Series (documents the history of district, regional and state tournaments and includes tournament results and score books.

 

Box and Folder Listing

 

Browse by Series:

 

[series 1: Board of Control],

[series 2: Newspaper Clippings],

[series 3: Photograph],

[series 4: Publication Series],

[series 5: Schools Series],

[series 6: Tournament Series],

[series 7: Film and Video Series],

[All]

 

Here is an example of a point of interest for me the 1952 Cuba Cubs State Title BBall team:

 

Series 3: PhotographAdd to your cart.The Photograph Series contains the official photographs of the Boys State Basketball Tournament taken by the photographers of the Lexington Herald Leader between 1952 and 1955. Also included are photographs of KHSAA office staff and official functions.Box PH-001Add to your cart.Folder 1: Miscellaneous, 13 photographs, 1950-1970Add to your cart.Folder 2: State Basketball Tournament, 18 photographs, 1952Add to your cart.Item 14: Hindman vs. Newport, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 15: Vine Grove vs. Breckinridge, 3/19/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 16: Cuba with Championship Trophy, 3/22/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 17: MMI vs. Madisonville, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 18: Somerset Cheerleader, 1952Add to your cart.Item 19: Hazard vs. Caverna, 1952?Add to your cart.Item 20: Corbin Girls with Balloons, 1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 21: Tournament Visitors, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 22: Cuba vs. Corbin, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 23: 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 24: 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 25: 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 26: Newport vs. Hindman, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 27: MMI vs. Madisonville, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 28: Cuba Cheerleaders, 3/22/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 29: Manual vs. Cuba, 3/22/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 30: Clark County Cheerleaders, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 31: Young Fans, 3/20/1952Add to your cart.Creator: Herald-LeaderItem 32: Cuba, 3/24/1952Add to your cart.Creator:

 

 

Here is a example of a records search for Mayfield:

expand/collapse Results Found Within Box List

Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-037 right-pointing arrow Folder 9: Dunbar High School (Mayfield, KY), 1956-1963Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-091 right-pointing arrow Folder 9: Mayfield High School, 1920-1936Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-091 right-pointing arrow Folder 10: Mayfield High School, 1936-1950Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-091 right-pointing arrow Folder 11: Mayfield High School, 1950-1954Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-091 right-pointing arrow Folder 12: Mayfield High School, 1954-1959Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-091 right-pointing arrow Folder 13: Mayfield High School, 1959-1970Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-092 right-pointing arrow Folder 1: Mayfield High School, 1970-1990Series 5: Schools Series right-pointing arrow Box S-123 right-pointing arrow Folder 16: St. Joseph School (Mayfield), 1964-1965

A quick note, you will notice that the site says add to your cart as if you can have a shopping cart and buy they items but that is a work in progress and you can not use that function as of now. It is likely to be years before they can get to that point in my opinion and I think they would agree with me on that. Currently most of the stuff is just sitting there with nothing currently being done. Also many of the articles and photos of teams are not found in boxes pertaining to their school but are in the photos, videos, newspaper clippings or publications categories and are filed under a specific time and event. For example, in my previous post I displayed photos of the 1952 Cuba Cubs and that was taken from the photos category. This archive is a work in progress that is in its infant stages and you will have to take a lot of time to find the many treasures. I do hope some of you will do it though. For me it was very rewarding getting some cool photos of the local Cuba Cubs to bring home and the Mayfield title game video that I thought I would never get to see again.

Im shocked no history majors have catalogued that yet as a school project.

It's awesome. I've been in several times. I have historical standings for Kentucky football from 1959 to present and a vast majority came from those files. Great stuff!