Meet Rachel Platt, Today’s FACE of Louisville
After retiring from TV journalism, Rachel Platt accepted a role as Director of Community Engagement at the Frazier History Museum. We spoke to her about her time at "Good Morning Kentuckiana" and making the jump to a totally new career!
This week we’re honored to feature Rachel Platt, a well-known journalist who was a part of Louisville’s media scene on WHAS-TV for nearly 30 years. Growing up, Rachel lived in quite a few cities and several states due to her father’s career in the Air Force. In fact, she refers to herself as ‘America’s Child.’ Her family finally settled in Florida, where she began her journalism career, eventually moving to Louisville in 1989. While at WHAS, Rachel was a news reporter, anchor, and show host for two popular programs, “Good Morning Kentuckiana” and “Great Day Live.” She is a multiple Emmy Award winner and an inductee into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.
Rachel’s career trajectory took a new path in 2018 when she retired from television journalism and accepted the Director of Community Engagement role at the Frazier History Museum, a position she enjoys immensely. Let’s meet this week’s FACE of Louisville, Rachel Platt.
What made you decide to pursue a career in TV journalism?
I went to college for two years at Brevard Community College and then attended the University of Central Florida. It was actually a teacher at my community college who recommended journalism to me. He changed my life. I knew I wanted to do communications, but I wasn’t exactly sure [what]. He said, “Have you ever thought about journalism?” I said, “A little,” because my sister was in the newspaper business, but he suggested radio and television. He lined up a visit for me at the University of Central Florida with the broadcasting department, and that is how it came to be.
What was your path once you graduated from college?
My first job was in radio in Melbourne, Florida, at WMEL. It was not a lot of pay, and I lived at home and worked terrible hours, but it was my first entry. I thought it was the best thing to ever happen. Then, they started a new TV station, WMOD, a year and a half later in the Melbourne/Orlando Market. That was my first TV job. I did news reporting and anchoring. I was very lucky. After that, I went to a job reporting and anchoring in West Virginia.
How did your job at WHAS come about?
Someone I knew at the station in West Virginia had a connection with someone who was at WHAS, and they just said, “You should apply for it.” I started as a weekend anchor with Doug Proffitt. He was my first co-anchor.
Was it difficult adjusting to Louisville and WHAS?
The air force was a great training ground for my profession in journalism. I could always show up in a new town and never know a soul, and that was the way it was traveling in the air force. You were always the ‘new girl,’ and you just made friends. It doesn’t bother me in the least to go to an event and not know a soul.
What type of news stories did you enjoy working on?
I loved hard news stories and did quite a few of them, but the ones that probably brought me the most satisfaction were the in-depth people stories. I always had a fascination with what made people tick, and people I saw firsthand who’d had enormous tragedy, and what they did with that to impact change. Those are some of the stories that moved me most, and I’ve become friends with those people.
Do you have a favorite news story?
I did one with a group of veterans from Vietnam. That one was certainly a highlight of my career. They had lost many fellow soldiers in Vietnam, and they went back to the exact battle site, and it was their way of saying goodbye. It was also a connection to my dad, who had done two tours there. I’ve stayed in touch with a lot of those gentlemen.
What inspired you to transition to your new career at the Frazier History Museum?
I call this chapter two. At the end of my run at WHAS, I knew I wanted to do something else. I wasn’t ready to quit the workforce, but I knew it was time for me to try something different. I wanted to figure out what I could do with my skill set. Luckily, this door opened.
Were you nervous about starting this new job?
I was, but I knew it was time … They were looking for someone to start a line of programming at the Frazier Museum, and they reached out and asked if it was something I’d be interested in. It developed after talking for a little bit. I thought This might be a really, really good fit.
What does your position as Director of Community Engagement entail?
Basically, I’m telling stories in a different way and doing it with public programming. It started because the Frazier History Museum sits on the Ninth Street divide — it was to address divides that we see in our community, be it racial or any other kind of divide you can think of, and how to bring people together in this community space, to talk, exchange ideas, have a safe space for conversation and diverse voices, and try to move the needle to make us become a better community.
What are some of the programs you’ve held at the museum?
One recent program was on ‘The Black Six,’ which was a piece of history that happened fifty-some years ago involving six people who were charged. The case was later thrown out. It really showed a racial divide in this community and some protesting that happened back then in a neighborhood west of Ninth. We have an exhibit in the museum called “West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation.” I didn’t know the history of it, so I started asking questions as a reporter. Most people I know had never heard of it, and I started doing my homework. So, we held a panel discussion, and we found the common thread of what happened then is still happening today.
How do you come up with the ideas for the programs?
Luckily, I’ve really had a lot of control over it. [The program ideas come] from what I read, and that’s where the journalism part comes in — the contacts I’ve made, people I know and talk with, and certainly, people at the museum give me ideas. But, a lot of it is [having a] pulse on the community, what’s important, what makes sense to do now, and what conversations should be had.
What advice do you treasure?
My parents were the epitome of hard work and public service, and their lessons were very simple: work hard and be kind. That’s just always stuck with me my entire life.
Besides faith, family, and friends, what are three things you can’t live without?
My six a.m. walks with my husband, trips to the beach, which connects me with my childhood, and McAlister’s unsweetened tea.
Thank you, Rachel! All photography submitted unless otherwise noted.
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Julie Engelhardt
Julie Engelhardt is a California transplant who moved to Louisville nearly a decade ago and still loves discovering her vibrant city.