Local Notables Electronic Exhibit
Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 2026
A Digital Exhibit to Highlight Local Heroes
How do you present a museum-curated encyclopedia to the public, for browsing endless interesting rabbit holes? How do you give it a simple interface that provides users multiple points of entry and easy-to-use content filters?
Alissa Keller, historian-curator-director of the Pennyroyal Area Museum in Hopkinsville, Kentucky has been compiling a list of notable county residents for her whole life. She conducts oral histories and combs old newspapers and county records for stories of the weird, the wonderful, and historically significant. She wanted to share her research with the public, but her database of local notables includes hundreds of people — and at least one horse.
F&W designed and produced a solution: a bespoke interactive desktop, inspired by local antique styles, exhibiting a touchscreen with a custom graphical database browser.
Visitors can browse idly, or in a couple clicks, narrow their search. Categories include “educator,” “musician,” “radio personality,” “psychic,” “outlaw,” or "horse." Spans of years can be adjusted, so a user can focus on people of a particular time in history.
Importantly, the exhibit is easily updatable. Ms. Keller can add and edit to the database of local notables, add and replace images, or select to highlight particular categories or demographics during special events.