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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Doors open at 6PM; program begins at 6:30 PM
Rosemary Clooney portrayed by Bet Stewart
from the Kentucky Humanities Council
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Rosemary Clooney
Sentimental Journey
1928—2002
What makes Rosemary Clooney's life so fascinating, so charmed and charged with intrigue and great challenge? First and foremost, it is the sheer power of her talent, her girl-next-door appeal, her love of music, art and drama, and her love for her home state of Kentucky. But behind this small-town-girl-rises-to-fame story is also one of extraordinary perseverance and dedication, one that teaches that it is possible to overcome the worst to become the best.
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Rosemary was born in Maysville in 1928 and became an internationally known singer of pop, big band and jazz music. She recorded with big-name labels and some of the greatest musicians of her time—Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, Nelson Riddle, and Frank Sinatra. However, through her rise to fame she encountered many obstacles—having a constantly traveling mother and alcoholic father, raising five children through the turmoil of a failed marriage, witnessing the assassination of friend and presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy, and eventually suffering from drug-induced psychosis. Yet, she always rebounded with resilience, just as her mother told her she would. "You're the oldest, Rosie. You'll manage," her mother would say. Before her death in 2002, Clooney resurrected her career, married the love of her life and continued to keep her family and her love of Kentucky as her top priorities.
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
Doors open at 6 PM; program begins at 6:30 PM
Anna Mac Clarke portrayed by Haley Bowling McCoy
from the Kentucky Humanities Council
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Anna Mac Clarke
Military Pioneer
1919—1944
Anna Mac Clarke didn't put up with second-class treatment from anybody, including the U.S. Army. A native of Lawrenceburg, Clarke graduated from Kentucky State College in 1941. Rejecting domestic work—the only job a black college graduate could get in Lawrenceburg in those days—she left Kentucky to work at a Girl Scout Camp in New York state.
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After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Clarke volunteered for the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (renamed Women's Army Corps in 1943). During officer's training in Iowa, she led the successful opposition to a proposal to segregate black soldiers into their own regiment. At Douglas Army Airfield in Arizona, Lieutenant Clarke made history when she became the first black WAC officer to command a white unit. And she made national news after her protest against segregated seating in the base theater convinced the commanding officer to ban segregation on the base. Just a few weeks later, Clarke died of complications from a ruptured appendix. She was 24.
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