History proves that
In British minds, Colonel Sanders casts a substantial shadow over Kentucky. The fame of the KFC founder is emphasised by the life-sized white statue of him sitting on a bench that greets you upon landing at Louisville Airport. You half expect him to ask: “Would you like fries with that?”
But, as my recent trip to the archetypal mid-western state reveals, there’s way more to Kentucky than the Colonel and his finger-lickin’ good chicken.
For a start, two mighty and historic figures tower over the state. First, Kentucky was the home of Muhammad Ali.
The Olympic gold medallist, three times world heavyweight champion and hugely significant civil rights leader is commemorated in the name of Louisville airport and in an outstanding museum at the Muhammad Ali Center in the city.
It reminds us of Ali’s enduring influence. It also demonstrates that he lived up to his boast that “I shook up the world!”
For example, the museum recounts the moment when the then Cassius Clay came back from the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Still wearing his gold medal around his neck, he tried to go for a celebratory dinner at a restaurant in Louisville.
However, it was a whites-only establishment, and he was not permitted to enter. Furious, the young boxer tossed his medal into the nearby Ohio River.
After retiring, Ali dedicated his life to the civil rights movement, declaring: “Service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on earth.” Just wow.
Kentucky was also the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, widely regarded as the greatest of all US presidents.
Lincoln, who went on to defeat slavery in the Civil War, was born in a log cabin. That tiny, one-room home is preserved as a national park just outside Hodgenville.
This remote spot was on the Cumberland Trail, a trading route where the young Lincoln saw legions of black people being transported to slave markets. It affected him deeply and later led him to state that: “If slavery isn’t wrong, nothing is wrong”.
Another key part of the Kentucky story is bourbon. The state produces 95% of the