In 1927, 26-year-old Alex Runion, a World War veteran and criminal with charged in three states, was charged with the murder of automobile salesman Louis Riley near Newport, Kentucky. It was alleged by local police that Runion “fired the fatal shot after Riley had been ‘taken for a ride’.” A year later in 1928, while…
Category: Louisville
UofL Health – UofL Hospital
The following information has been re-published as a courtesy per the request and approval of UofL Health – UofL Hospital. Kentucky Historic Institutions does not own the proceeding information and photographs; UofL Health – UofL Hospital retains ownership and all rights and privileges. If you request to use any information or photographs from this page…
A Brief Look at Public Health Nursing in Kentucky
In the early 20th-century in Kentucky, a growing movement to educate the public about communicable and preventable diseases began taking place. Kentuckians and, arguably, many other Americans were reluctantly content with allowing the progression of diseases for any number of reasons; largely due to a lack of public health education and tools needed to combat…
The 1918 “Spanish” Influenza Pandemic
Quick Facts About Kentucky and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic Approximately 13,000-14,000 Kentuckians were casualties of the first and second waves of the pandemic. According to one newspaper report, “R.G. Potter of Louisville, who was a teenager at the time of the pandemic, drove a truck part-time at Camp Taylor” and recalled how the dead were…
Louisville’s 1902 Morgue Scandal
In 1894 the Board of Public Safety and Kentucky legislature passed sweeping changes to Kentucky’s laws regarding the morgue in Louisville, Kentucky and unclaimed bodies. The former held that the morgue shall be in charge of the janitor at the University of Louisville and shall be open at all hours of the day and night…
Kentucky Historic Institutions 