There has been no shortage of talk lately about “preserving history.”

While there are many different perspectives on how history should be preserved, and recently, where it is displayed, there is no doubt that understanding history is important.

Spanish philosopher and novelist George Santayana summed up this thought best when he said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Thankfully, the Clark County Public Library has dedicated a week annually for 15 years to allows patrons to learn more about Clark County, Winchester and Kentucky history.

The events started as a way to promote the library’s local history room but expanded to its current four-night format with various speakers and re-enactors as interest grew.

The library started with local historians, but branched out to include all types of Kentucky-based history.

This year’s speakers include:

—Dr. Amanda Higgins from the Kentucky Historical Society, who will speak Monday about travel in Kentucky for African Americans during the Jim Crow era.

— Ronald Wolford Blair, a Civil War scholar who will present a program about Col. Frank Lane Wolford, Cavalry Commander of the First Kentucky, and his Wild Riders on Tuesday.

— Mel Hankla, who will portray George Rogers Clark, a Revolutionary War hero, and namesake of Clark County on Wednesday.

— Eastern Kentucky University professor Jacqueline Hamilton will speak about strong women in Kentucky’s history on Thursday.

Each presentation should last about 45 minutes with 15 minutes or so for questions at the end. The programs are free and begin at 6:30 p.m. with light refreshments.

While we might not all agree on what history we want to share or where we want it shared, we can agree that it is important to know where and who we came from, so we can better understand where we are going.

Attend one or all of these special presentations at the library to learn more about Winchester-Clark County’s rich history.