FRANKFORT, Ky. — A group of storytellers in Frankfort is working on a multi-modal showcase at the city’s historic Grand Theatre. They’re highlighting the memories of people who visited the theater during its segregated past.
Sheila Mason grew up in Frankfort. Her memories at the Grand start around 6 years old and continue through her teens, with separation among her white-counterparts.
Mason remembers it as a place to escape, and now three women in Frankfort are uncovering its challenging history and its once segregated past to highlight their experiences.
“People that are trying to remember things that got us to where we are today and things that we see in racial equality now started somewhere, and the Grand was one of those places,” said Kayla Bush, historian for “Stories from the Balcony.”
The women are forming a multi-platform project that opens conversations at the Grand. They largely focus on the reality of the time and changes since then.
Katima Smith-Willis and Kayla Bush are joining producer and community leader Joanna Hay for its creation. Hay, who is leading the project, began the footwork nearly a decade ago by speaking to many people like Mason.
“The most memorable part of that interview was walking up the stairs to the balcony, which I hadn’t done in about 40 years,” Mason said.
During her childhood until her mid-teens, Mason said Black people could only sit on the balcony.
While she says she didn’t consider it at the time, it bothers her knowing how difficult it was for her older relatives.
However, Mason believes they still had a grand time as their parents, who went through the harshness of Jim Crow, found some comfort in them enjoying the public theater.
“There were some good times at the Grand Theatre. We realized the conditions, and we realized that our parents were very protective of us,” Mason explained.
It’s why Hay and the team want to use their differing stories as a part of a project that will bring the memories back to life.
With a future film, educational learning plans that share these stories and what once was a factor in many generations on its way, the group hopes the project will give a glimpse into a part of the Grand lost in time.