PREFACE

I began my employment at White Hall State Historic Site in 1995, but my history with the place goes much farther back. My uncle manages the Bennett farm that surrounds the park, and when visiting my relatives as a young girl, I would glance eastward toward the brightly lit structure and wonder about the people who once lived there. Later, my family would move to the Bennett farm, and I could then gaze out of my own bedroom window at the house any time I wanted. Throughout the years, I had many relatives work at White Hall, and I would visit the park whenever I got the opportunity. White Hall has an annual event in October called Ghost Walk, for which the park partners with Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Theatre to perform a production based on the Clay family’s life. When I began college in 1994 at EKU, I felt privileged to be cast in this production. The experience was such a good one that I rode out to the park the following spring with a fellow theatre student who had worked at White Hall the previous year, and who had also performed in Ghost Walk, to apply for a job. I was blessed with a summer position.

Near the end of that first year, I remember that friend asked me how I liked working at White Hall, to which I replied, “It’s fun, but I won’t be back next year.” That was eighteen summers ago, and I have yet to be fully able to separate myself from the place. Upon graduating, I applied for a full-time position as curator, a title I have held since 1999. The young man with whom I had initially applied for a job married me on the steps of the mansion in that same year. In 2003, we moved to the park, and our children are able to run around and play in one of the loveliest backyards in Madison County.

Words cannot completely express what White Hall means to me. This house, this park, is not just a job for me—it is my life. A wise person once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Not necessarily so, as there has been a great deal of work involved over the years, but it has always been varied, rewarding and joyful. I honestly feel like one of the luckiest people around to be able to call this place home.

Because new information about the Clay family and the house is found almost on a daily basis, this book can never really be complete. In fact, I fully expect some great epiphany to occur right after the work is published. If I had been able to tell all that is known about this special place and the fascinating people associated with it, this book would be the size of a dictionary. Therefore, I had to pick and choose what I would share and what I would leave out. I hope the reader will enjoy the history as much as I do; it is a pleasure and an honor to be able to share it.

–Lashé D. Mullins

My first knowledge of White Hall goes back to the early 1990s. In the fall of 1993, I was an undergraduate student at Eastern Kentucky University majoring in speech communication and theatre arts. One day, a professor approached me about performing in a play at a local museum. I would learn that the museum was actually a state historic site, and the play was essentially a composition of scenes and monologues, mostly based on a man named Cassius M. Clay and his illustrious family.

I recall being part of a caravan of student actors trekking out to White Hall for the first time. It was nearing sundown, and as my carpool approached our destination, I remember feeling excitement and anticipation. Suddenly, after seeing nothing but a landscape of farmland and cattle out of the car window, I saw it for the very first time. I was in awe of the sheer grandeur of the mansion. I had never seen a house quite like it. It was truly love at first sight. The museum and the history made such a lasting impression on me that when that theatrical production ended, I approached the manager of the site about the possibility of a summer job. I was employed as a docent in the summer of 1994 and returned for many seasons to follow.

It was during my second season of employment in 1995 that I became good friends with a young woman named Lashé Dunn. Like me, Lashé had developed a special love for White Hall. In the not too distant future, I developed a special love for her as well. Lashé and I share a connection to White Hall that is difficult to describe in words.

I think back to that cold October night when I first visited “the Big House.” I had no idea that twenty years later, I would be living at White Hall with my wife and that we would be raising our children on its beautiful grounds. I’m eternally grateful for everything White Hall has given me over the years.

–Charles K. Mullins