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All members receive free or reduced admission to events, subscriptions to Filson publications, and research access, all while supporting local history preservation.

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Your financial contribution provides powerful support for everything the Filson does, including historical preservation, educational programs, publications, and exhibits.

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Become A Member

All members receive free or reduced admission to events, subscriptions to Filson publications, and research access, all while supporting local history preservation.

Join Today

Make a Gift

Your financial contribution provides powerful support for everything the Filson does, including historical preservation, educational programs, publications, and exhibits.

Donate

Featured Event

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Panel Discussion – I’m Glad About It: History of Gospel Music in Louisville

This program is produced in partnership with the Louisville Story Program.

June 12, 6 pm – 7 pm at The Filson.

The Filson Historical Society and the Louisville Story Program will co-present a gospel music event to commemorate Black Music Month. Taking place at the Filson on Thursday, June 12th, 2025, the program will feature a panel of contributing writers and their project partners discussing their experience working on content for the book, I’m Glad About It: The Legacy of Gospel Music in Louisville, 1958-1981, produced by the Louisville Story Program.

The panelists for this event are community members who provided content for the book include: Wilma W. Clayborn, Raoul Cummingham, & Rev. Della Porter.

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Current
Exhibits

Ferguson
Mansion
Tour

Research

Current Exhibits

Kentucky Unsettled: The Erasure of Native Homeland explores how competing Native, colonial, and American interests shaped property ownership in the Commonwealth. (Carriage House exhibit)

People Passage Place Graphic

People Passage Place: Stories of the Ohio Valley (Nash Gallery) Semi-permanent exhibit. You are invited to engage with the Filson’s collections and to think critically about how history shapes your lives and communities.

Bustles To Blue Jeans: Highlights from the Filson’s Fashion Archive (Bingham Gallery) The Filson’s clothing collection contains over 5,000 objects from as early as the 1810s worn for every occasion. This April, we’re opening the closets wide with this new exhibit. We’ll be showing off some of our most unusual, storied, and beautiful garments.

Inspired by history? Wear It.

Check out our online store to get T-shirts, posters, and more.

Your purchase supports the Filson’s mission of collecting, preserving, and sharing the history and culture of the Ohio Valley Region.

Ferguson Mansion Tour

The Mansion finished for the Edwin Hite Ferguson family in 1905 is now the home of the Filson Historical Society. Edwin Hite Ferguson commissioned the Louisville architectural firm Cobb and Dodd—the same firm responsible for designing the Seelbach Hotel and the Kentucky capitol building—to design his home in 1901. Learn more about the Mansion’s history and architecture from our online exhibit or sign up for a tour today.

Research at the Filson

The Filson has been collecting for almost 140 years, preserving the history of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley in order to share it with current and future generations. We welcome in-person and remote researchers to explore this website to discover our access points and to find answers to their questions! Set up a research appointment at the Filson, email our reference desk, or explore our collections online.

Visit the Filson

Open Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4:30 pm

The Filson is closed to the public the 3rd Friday of every month.

1310 S. 3rd St., Louisville, KY 40208
(502) 635-5083

Plan Your Visit to the Filson! To register or purchase tickets for our events, please visit our Events Page.

The Research Library is open Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4:30pm; we are closed on the third Friday of each month. Appointments are not required, but feel free to reserve a seat online – learn more here. We also provide remote research services; please complete our research request form online here.

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