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11 hours ago
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Remembering Brenda Cowan, Lexington's first Black woman firefighter
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and 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. Lexington's first Black woman who was a firefighter, Lieutenant Brenda Cowan, died in the line of duty. She died Feb. 13, 2004, when she was shot at the scene of a domestic dispute. She had been a firefighter for 12 years and was 40 years old, and had been promoted to lieutenant just days prior to her death. Cowan grew up in Sturgis and graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in psychology. An avid fan of the Lady Cats basketball team, she was a Wildcat Lodge Little Sister and became lifelong friends with members of thewomen's basketball team. After graduation, she joined the Lexington Fire Department, where she was widely respected. 'She just had an affectionate smile and personality that just made you feel good, and it was a joy to work with her,' Lt. Gavin McMenama told the Lexington Herald-Leader. 'She was a very good fireman. She was just an even better human being and just a pleasure to be with and make doing our jobs, sometimes when it's tough, made a lot easier for how she handled things and how she approached things.' Lexington's first Black female firefighter honored on 20th anniversary of her death Cowan had just been promoted to lieutenant when sheresponded to a domestic violence call in south Lexington. Fontaine Hutchinson had been shot in the head by her husband, Patrick Hutchinson. When other emergency crew members arrived on scene, Cowan and another firefighter, Jim Sanford, approached the house to get to the injured woman. However, Patrick Hutchinson fired on them, striking both multiple times. Hutchinson told Herald-Leader reporter Janet Patton he was staging a coup against alien-created human clones, and that he shot his wife because she had been taken over by the aliens and had a radio in her head. According to him, aliens had taken over the federal government. 'There's only 735 humans left in Lexington, and about 3 million left worldwide,' he told reporters. His actions, he said, were the beginning of an Armageddon, and he had been told by a snake carrying a branch he was the leader of the 'tribe of the stick,' with more than 250 panther-tiger and thousands of cobra members. Hutchinson barricaded himself in his house on Adams Lane near I-75. Police negotiated with Hutchinson as four first responders trapped in their vehicle were rescued. Crews extracted Cowan and Sanford as law enforcement began negotiations with Hutchinson. After a six-hour standoff, chemicals shot into the building forced Hutchinson from his home. Cowan died at the hospital. Her death marked the first Black woman firefighter to die in the line of duty in the United States. Her loss and legacy were felt throughout the community. An elementary school in Lexington, Brenda Cowan Elementary, was named after her and the Lexington Fire Department began hosting an annual fire camp for girls in her honor. Hutchinson was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill in 2008 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He is currently 66 years old and lodged at the Kentucky State Reformatory. Hutchinson is eligible for parole in 2028, and his sentence ends Dec. 3, 2033. Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
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3 days ago
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How Lexington's first food bank was founded and continues to help across KY today
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and 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. Mim Hunt, Lexington's first food bank founder, couldn't escape her calling to help others. Mildred 'Mim' Salmon Lunsford Hunt spent her life helping people in Lexington and beyond. Although at one point she vowed to leave 'the heartbreaking profession of social work,' the desire to help those in need pulled her back in. Born on Feb. 24, 1914, Hunt grew up in Lexington. In the 1940s, Hunt moved to New York City to pursue a career as a child welfare worker. After several years in the city, she moved back to her hometown, vowing to leave social work behind. In the early 1950s, though, that would change. In a 'History of God's Pantry,' Hunt wrote that she realized that Lexington had its own empoverished areas just like New York City. Enlisted to help those in need by Dr. Harriet Marble, Hunt raised money to help Black patients at Eastern State Hospital. Later, she and her husband Robert started a retail space selling health food, gifts and antiques named Mim's. Instead of leaving social work behind her, she started collecting food, clothing and bedding for those in need just blocks away from her and distributing them directly to people. By 1955, her basement had become the first organized 'food bank' in the city. Soon, neighbors were bringing donations to what they called 'Mim's Pantry' in her Parkers Mill Road home. Hunt was quick to point out it wasn't her pantry. 'I don't fill these shelves,' she said. 'God does. This is God's Pantry.' Thus, God's Pantry Food Bank was born. It remained mobile until the first brick and mortar location opened in 1959. Since then, the pantry has grown to serve 50 counties in Central and Eastern Kentucky, with a dedicated staff committed to helping those experiencing food insecurity. Between July 2023 and June 2024, the food bank served more than 264,000 individuals and distributed nearly 47 million pounds of food with the help of more than 32,000 volunteer hours. The food bank estimates that one in six Kentuckians and one in four children in Central and Eastern Kentucky experienced hunger during that 12-month period. Hunt, who died in 2005, said she was called to make a difference. 'I have never felt that life was a popularity contest and as I read my bible's marching orders 'to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give a cup of cold water to the thirsty,' I listened to my own drumbeat and with God's help — forged ahead!' she wrote on the pantry's 40th anniversary. 'I truly believe that one day someone will be celebrating a 100th anniversary if we continue to have faith!' Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
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05-04-2025
- General
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Tragedy struck 58 years ago when an airplane crashed at Blue Grass Field, killing 9
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and 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. It was the worst aviation accident in Central Kentucky's history at the time, and it left nine people, including four University of Kentucky professors, dead. Reports indicate that it was a clear, breezy Monday afternoon on April 3, 1967, when a twin-engine Beech 18, called '37 George' crashed 1.5 miles off of the end of a runway at Blue Grass Airport. The plane was a chartered flight that had just returned to Lexington from Louisville. The plane had been rented as one of two planes to fly a group of people back to Louisville to catch a connecting flight to Roanoke, Virginia. It was considered a routine flight, officials said at the time. Around 4 p.m., eight passengers boarded 37 George and taxied out to Runway 33, facing Keeneland. The plane took off without incident. Directly behind the plane was a small Cessna flown by Don Duckworth, a former police officer who flew the Cessna for a local radio station as a 'traffic watch.' Duckworth said 37 George looked sluggish as it took off, like it was struggling to gain altitude. After it took off, he said the left wing of the plane dipped, then the plane disappeared. According to Duckworth, the next thing he saw was a ball of fire and smoke. The fire was engulfed in flames. All eight passengers and the pilot perished. Officials later determined that during the plane's initial climb, the left engine caught fire. The pilot decided to return to the airport for an emergency landing, but when he made the turn lost control of the plane. The plane dove into the ground and crashed on the field. According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives, the plane was improperly loaded which was considered to be a contributing factor to the crash. Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
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01-03-2025
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The day Cherokee warriors attacked settlers in the fledgling frontier community of Lexington
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and 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. March 1, 1781: Lexington was little more than a blockhouse fort during its early days, and its residents risked their lives to settle it. One man, a German immigrant, lost his life after coming here to be a part of the frontier. This story comes from Brad Canon, a retired University of Kentucky political science professor and a member of the Lexington Historical Society. He said one of his ancestors is the only member of the original settlement to die at the hands of the Cherokee. In 1779, Johan Wimmer immigrated to the Lexington township from Germany by way of South Carolina. Wimmer and his family lived in one of the original 26 cabins located inside the blockhouse that made up the Lexington township at the time. On March 1, 1781, Wimmer and another settler left the blockhouse to gather wood. The blockhouse at that time was located where the Radisson Hotel is now, and the trees and bushes around it had been cleared for about 100 yards on all sides. The two men were tasked with chopping down trees to shore up the fence, as well as to build more cabins. As they were setting about their task, Wimmer's companion saw some Cherokee Indians, Canon said. The two men started running, but Wimmer, who was 50 at the time, was slower than his companion and captured by the Indians. The Cherokee killed Wimmer about where the old courthouse stands now, Canon said, and started to remove his scalp. Wimmer's companion had reached the blockhouse gate and turned around. Seeing what was happening, he shot the Indian, killing him and scaring off the rest of the band that had set upon Wimmer. In turn, the settlers dragged Wimmer and the dead Cherokee into the blockhouse and hung him from the blockhouse tower to ward off future attacks. Canon said his ancestor was the only settler killed by the Cherokees in Lexington. Other who had started farms outside of the blockhouse area were killed by Indians during the 1780s, but Wimmer was the only one from inside the blockhouse area. Wimmer's son, Martin, was seven when his father died, anglicized his surname to Wymore and lived in Fayette County until his death in 1857. His children moved to Wisconsin, and it is there at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison that Martin's memories as an early settler to Kentucky became part of the Draper manuscripts. Canon said Martin was buried in the Wymore-Downing cemetery on his farm on the east side of Nicholasville Road. In 1972, a shopping center was built there, and the cemetery's remains were reburied in the Lexington Cemetery, Canon said. Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@
