Pikeville 200 is thrilled to present Spirits of Pikeville Past, theatrical performances of influential people of the past 200 years. These original scripts were written by Kentucky playwrights and produced by Br. Christian Matson, Ph.D. and directed by Crockett Ward, Appalachian Center for the Arts Director of Education.
Free Sunday Performances at 3:00 pm Sunday, Nov. 17 and Sunday, Nov. 24 Appalachian Center for the Arts 218 Second St., Pikeville
Fiddlesticks & Dynamite:
A monologue in the voice of Dr. William C. Hambley by William H. McCann, Jr.
The man who envisioned the Pikeville Cut-Through, a 15-year, multi-million- dollar project that turned into one of the largest civil engineering projects in the western hemisphere.
Katherine’s Hat by Donna R. Phillips
Katherine Gudger Langley was the first woman from Kentucky to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Katherine ran for and won her husband’s vacated seat in Congress in 1926 and served until 1931.
John Paul Riddle by Steve Moulds
An aviation pioneer best known for training Allied air crews in WW2 and co-founding Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, he also founded an air package service which later became American Airlines.
Songbird of the Cumberlands
by Larry Muhammad
In the early 1900s, a young Black woman from Pikeville, Effie Waller Smith, published two books of poetry, Rhymes from the Cumberlands and Songs of the Months.
Miss Effie’s patron was a white woman, Mary Elliott Flanery, a teacher, newspaper columnist, mother of five and wife of Pike County Judge William Flanery. She was an advocate for women’s righs, desegregation and civil rights for Black citizens.
The Last Song of John Dils, Jr.
by Cris Eli Blak
One of the most successful men in antebellum Pike County. As a vocal Unionist, he raised his own regiment for service in the Union cause. He started the first school in Pikeville and established one of the first integrated cemeteries in eastern Kentucky.
Dr. Record & Mr. Oliver Talk by Nancy Gall-Clayton
Dr. James Record accepted the principalship of Pikeville Collegiate Institute in 1899. He is best remembered for his faith in the institution and for the growth of education in Pike County.
T.W. Oliver was a progressive superintendent of the Pikeville Independent schools. He was a tireless recruiter, riding up the creeks and hollows on horseback, en- couraging prospective students to attend school in Pikeville.
