LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society is pleased to announce that an article in “Ohio Valley History” has been awarded the prestigious A. Elizabeth Taylor Prize from the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) for the best article published during the preceding year in the field of southern women’s history. “Virginia Penny’s ‘State of Desperation’: Anger, Insanity, and Struggles for Justice in Nineteenth-Century Kentucky,” authored by Pippa Holloway, ran in the Winter 2023 issue of “Ohio Valley History.” A summary of the article can be found below.
Desperate to protect her brother Henry, who had spent his life in and out of psychiatric institutions, nationally recognized Louisville journalist Virginia Penney was, herself, confined to the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum in 1882. Pippa Holloway’s article examines Penny’s efforts to push the boundaries of genteel Southern womanhood. “Penny’s experiences…offer historians a unique opportunity to consider how aberrant behavior, especially anger, became evidence of insanity in women and to wrestle with how we characterize mental distress in historical subjects,” Holloway writes. “Rather than communicating this distress in socially acceptable ways, she expressed mad rage.” Working from an incomplete and problematic archival record, Penny’s story demonstrates “how the project of defining and treating mental illness has served to enforce social conformity with norms of race and gender.”
Pippa Holloway is the Cornerstones Chair in History and Chair of the History Department at the University of Richmond. She is the author of “Living in Infamy: Felon Disfranchisement and the History of American Citizenship” (OUP, 2013). She is currently researching 19th century limitations on the ability to testify in court.
According to Dr. Patrick Lewis, Director of Collections and Research of the Filson Historical Society, “SAWH members are leading the most important conversations in US history at the moment, especially in regional history. Having the prize committee recognize an Ohio Valley History article as the pinnacle of the field in 2023 validates the Filson’s 140-year-old reputation as a leading archival and research institution.”
“Virginia Penny’s ‘State of Desperation,’” can be found online at Project MUSE. A limited number of print copies of the Winter 2023 issue of “Ohio Valley History” are available at the Filson Historical Society at 1310 S. 3rd St. in Louisville.
For more information about “Ohio Valley History,” including access to the article and issue, please contact Jamie Evans, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, at gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@snav1745474846ej1745474846.
About SAWH
Founded in Louisville in 1970 during a meeting of the Southern Historical Association, the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) supports the study of women’s and gender history of the American South. The organization today has several purposes: to stimulate interest in the study of southern history and women’s history, to advance the status of women in the historical profession in the South, to provide a forum for women historians to discuss issues of professional concern, and to publicize and promote issues of concern to SAWH members.
About Ohio Valley History
“Ohio Valley History” is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the history and culture of the Ohio Valley and the Upper South collaboratively edited and published by The Filson Historical Society, Cincinnati Museum Center, and the University of Cincinnati. In addition to a print circulation of over 3,000, the entire run of OVH is globally available on Project Muse. In addition to articles, “Ohio Valley History” features historiographical and review essays, notes and documents, and reviews of books, exhibits, and historical sites.
The Filson Historical Society Responds to Termination of Federal Grant
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society announced that it received notice at 10:00 p.m. on April 9, 2025 that the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has terminated its Museums for America grant. The Filson is in the final year of a two-plus year grant from IMLS, which supports museums and libraries through grantmaking, professional development, and research.
Awarded in 2023, the grant was to provide $130,133 through December 2025 to support payroll costs for staff working to expand access to the organization’s unprocessed manuscript collections. These letters, diaries, financial records, and other paper materials represent the untold or forgotten stories of families, churches, businesses, and community groups from across Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. As of April 9, $35,152 in awarded funds remained unused.
This grant termination is one of several affecting cultural institutions and library systems across the country. Beyond the Filson, they will reduce the services of state and local library systems across the nation, weakening the healthy environment of literacy, civics, art, and history that has sustained our republic for 249 years. Despite the loss of federal funding, the Filson remains committed to retaining staff members hired through the project’s scheduled conclusion in December.
“The preservation and accessibility of our region’s history is essential—especially in times of uncertainty,” said Filson leadership in a statement. “We remain steadfast in our mission to tell the stories of the people who built, shaped, and protected this city, region, and nation.”
The Filson intends to pursue all available appeal mechanisms in the terms of the grant and will follow due process in an effort to reverse this decision. A detailed FAQ sheet about the grant and its termination is available on the Filson’s website.
“The Filson is more than an archive,” the statement continued. “It is a space where all voices come together—our quilts and correspondence, portraits and uniforms tell the full, rich story of our shared past. At the Filson, we all belong.”
For additional information or to support the Filson’s ongoing mission, please visit www.filsonhistorical.org.
Opening our closets: Filson provides rare look at historic garments in upcoming exhibit
/in PressLOUISVILLE, KY – The Filson Historical Society will display portions of its rarely seen garment collection in the upcoming exhibit, “ .” Curated by Brooks Vessels and Hannah Costelle, the exhibit opens Friday, April 25, 2025, and runs through August 15, 2025.
The Filson’s museum collection contains over 5,000 garments from as early as the 1810s worn for every occasion—Victorian weddings and roaring ‘20s parties, baseball games and cycling trips. In the past year, the collection has grown with a huge influx of new pieces recently transferred from the Kentucky Science Center. While the manuscript and photograph collections are seen often in social media posts, publications, and reading rooms, the public has only been able to view a tiny fraction of the Filson’s fashion archive over the years. This April, the Filson is providing a rare peek into this extensive collection, showing off some of the most unusual, storied, and beautiful garments—from ball gowns to bathing costumes, bustles to blue jeans.
“We preserve so many beautiful historic garments in our museum collection, but we rarely get the chance to show them off. It’s been so exciting to take these pieces out of their boxes and display them as they would’ve originally been worn. Some of the garments you’ll see haven’t been worn for 150 years,” said Hannah Costelle, co-curator of “Bustles to Blue Jeans.”
The opening reception for the exhibit will be held on Friday, April 25, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. The opening will feature refreshments from CULTURED and Hip Hop Sweet Shop with short remarks from the curators and sponsors at 5:45 p.m. All participants are encouraged to register in advance. To register for this event, please visit www.filsonhistorical.org. This event is free and open to the public, however, registration is requested.
“Bustles to Blue Jeans” will be open for viewing Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm through August 15, 2025, at the Filson Historical Society, 1310 S. 3rd Street, Louisville. Tours of the exhibit and grounds are free, but reservations are strongly encouraged.
For more information on Filson events, please visit filsonhistorical.org.
‘“She’s Your Queen to Be!” Black Women in the Kentucky Pageantry Circuit’ discussion comes to the Filson April 8
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Filson Historical Society will join with prominent Black women in Kentucky’s pageantry circuit for a panel discussion in “She’s Your Queen to Be!”: Black Women in the Kentucky Pageantry Circuit on Tuesday, April 8.
There is a long history of the modern beauty pageant dating back to the early 20th century with the installation of the Miss America Pageant in 1921. Most of the composition of its competitors have been white women, but there has been an increase in the shift in the number of Black women contestants and winners. In 2019, Black women held 5 major beauty pageant titles: Miss World, Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Universe, and Miss Teen USA. While these titles were on a national and international level, how does the pageantry space look on a local and regional level?
This program will discuss the historical, social, and political implications of American standards of beauty for Black women in the pageantry circuit in Kentucky. A panel of local former and current beauty queens will discuss their experiences about the origins and consequences of such standards. The discussion will also include their experiences about how culture and race center into this pageantry circuit. The panelists are current and former Black pageant queens including Dr. Estella Conwill Majozo, former Miss Exposition; Erica McPheeters, 2024-2025 Miss Kentucky State University, Jordan Ponder, 2024-2025 Miss Simmons College. This panel will be moderated by Ms. Kentucky USA Ambassador 2025 (who is currently vying for the National USA title) Andrea Bolden.
Dr. Jacqueline Hudson, the Filson’s African American Programs Manager, said, “The Filson is excited to present a program that will highlight the beacon of empowerment for Black women in Kentucky in a space where beauty standards have been dictated by the dominant culture. Our goal for this program is to show first-hand accounts on Black women’s perspectives in navigating through the pageantry circuit at a local level.”
“She’s Your Queen to Be” will be held on Tuesday, April 8 at 6:00 p.m. at the Filson Historical Society, 1310 S. 3rd St, Louisville. This program is offered in person and virtually via Zoom and registration for is requested to assure seating. Tickets are free for Filson members and $18 for potential members. If the cost to attend is a barrier, please contact the Filson to receive a code for free registration. Please visit filsonhistorical.org/events/upcoming-events to register or call (502) 635-5083.
For more information about the Filson’s upcoming events, please visit www.filsonhistorical.org, call (502) 635-5083, or email gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@ofni1745474846.
The Filson Historical Society names Benjamin Moore as Director of Guest Experience
/in PressLOUISVILLE, KY – The Filson Historical Society is thrilled to welcome Benjamin Moore as its first Director of Guest Experience. A lifetime Louisvillian, Moore is a Jefferson County Public Schools alum, University of Louisville McConnell Scholar, and holds a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Louisville with a specialization in historic preservation. He brings nonprofit experience with Leadership Louisville, the nonprofit wing of Norton Healthcare and significant government experience, culminating in being the Director of Economic Development for Louisville Metro Government from 2021 to 2024.
“From spending countless hours at the historic Ferguson Mansion as a child to studying urban planning and building a career growing an environment of more equitable economic opportunity, my appreciation and passion for my hometown’s history has always inspired me,” Moore said.
The newly created Guest Experience team at the Filson brings together events, communications, and visitor services to ensure the highest quality engagement with the Filson for longtime members and first-time visitors. The team is dedicated to making the Filson a welcoming environment that delivers the vital perspective and inspiration that our community deserves—through the Filson’s lineup of award-winning author events, film screenings, musical performances, and community roundtables; supporting researchers and visitors to the organization’s exhibits; and engaging new audiences in print and online. “Expanding access to our shared history is fundamental to charting a brighter, better, more inclusive future,” Moore believes.
“We couldn’t have been more fortunate than to find Ben to lead this new Guest Experience team for the Filson,” said President & CEO Patrick Lewis. “From his personal passions around restoring classic cars and historic homes, decades of business and government relationships, a strong track record of creating great teams and work environments, and a lifelong commitment to service and the improvement of this community, Ben simultaneously fits right in with our staff and membership and also gives us the platform to amplify our impact and find new partners and audiences for the important work we do.”
Moore began his tenure at the Filson on March 25. For more information or to schedule an interview with him, please contact Jamie Evans, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, at gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@snav1745474846ej1745474846.
The Filson Historical Society Awards Three History Inspires Fellowships for 2025
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 History Inspires Fellowship (HIF). This unique program allows artists to interpret the Filson’s collections with a creative filter.
In recent years, the Filson has established relationships with regional artists, either through the artist’ donations of materials to its collection or by artists conducting research for creative projects. The HIF program will build upon those relationships by promoting the Filson Historical Society as a resource for artistic scholarly research and inspiration while strengthening the bond with the creative community.
For the 2025 cycle, 13 applications featuring a wide array of creative project ideas, were reviewed by a cross-departmental committee made up of six Filson staff members. Of the 13, three were selected to receive the fellowship. The candidates are as follows:
Lori Larusso is an American visual artist working primarily with themes of domesticity and foodways. Lori will find inspiration from the H. Harold Davis collection of food photography and the KY cookbook collection to create a series of paintings and small installations.
Moria Magre is a Mixed Media and Cosplay Artist and will explore articles of clothing in the Filson’s collections predating the ready-made paper sewing patterns that began in the late 1910s and virtually deconstruct the clothing and create downloadable patterns for sharing.
Sarah Pennington an artist and writer will research the Filson’s materials related to suffrage in Kentucky and use a docupoetic approach, a style of writing that incorporates poetic techniques such as erasure, collage, found poetry and poetic retellings of events to create a manuscript that will showcase the history of voting rights and disenfranchisement in the region.
The History Inspire Fellows began their research in January 2025 and meet with Filson staff on a regular basis to discuss their progress. Each project for this cycle will conclude in Fall 2025 with an event sharing their project. These events will be open to the public and dates will be announced in the second half of the year. In 2026, an exhibit will be planned that will feature several of the artists’ work alongside the items utilized from the Filson’s collection.
To learn more about the Filson’s fellowship programs, please visit filsonhistorical.org/about-us/fellowships.
The Filson Historical Society announces the 2025 Filson Institute
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society is pleased to invite scholars to apply for the 2025 Filson Institute, a one-week immersive program designed to spark innovation, foster connections, and drive impactful research on topics related to the history and culture of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. The theme of the 2025 Filson Institute is reflecting on 25 years of “Ohio Valley History,” the institution’s scholarly journal that is produced in partnership with the Cincinnati Museum Center and the University of Cincinnati. How has this unique regional framework facilitated scholarship? What perspectives remain underrepresented? How have understandings of American regionalism evolved since 2000? As we approach America250 in 2026, how are Kentucky and its neighboring states uniquely situated to tell a compelling national story that breaks up popular and scholarly conventions about North, South, West, urban, and rural?
From June 23-27, 2025, a select cohort of five fellows will gather at the Filson’s campus at 1310 S. 3rd St., Louisville to engage with the organization’s extensive manuscript, print, photo, and museum collections. In addition to working with the Filson’s expert archival and curatorial staff, the cohort will work alongside the “Ohio Valley History” journal editorial team, benefiting from their insight to shape their research for publication. Participants in the Filson Institute will be encouraged to contribute to a thematic issue of “Ohio Valley History”, with editorial support throughout the process, culminating in a scheduled publication in late 2026.
A detailed timeline can be found at https://filsonhistorical.org/about-us/fellowships/. For more information, please contact Jennie Cole, Director of Collections Access, via email at gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@eloc1745474846j1745474846 or by phone at (502) 653-5083.
Kelly Hyberger appointed to Native American Heritage Commission
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society is pleased to announce that Director of Curatorial Affairs Kelly Hyberger has been appointed by Governor Andy Beshear to the Native American Heritage Commission. Hyberger replaces Mason Bishop, who has resigned, and will serve for the remainder of the unexpired term expiring Sept. 1, 2025.
Joining the staff in 2022, Hyberger first served as the Native American Collections Specialist for the Filson, guiding the organization through repatriation efforts as they complied with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). In July 2024, she was named the Director of Curatorial Affairs for the organization.
For more information about the Filson, please visit www.filsonhistorical.org or email gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@ofni1745474846.
About the Native American Heritage Commission
The Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission was established in 1996 (KRS 171.820-171.822) to recognize and promote Native American contributions and influence in Kentucky’s history and culture. The commission has 17 members (the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary or designee, plus 16 members appointed by the Governor), eight of whom are required to be of Native American heritage. The commission also includes representatives from institutions of higher learning, archaeology, Native American arts and the public.
OVH author awarded A. Elizabeth Taylor Prize
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society is pleased to announce that an article in “Ohio Valley History” has been awarded the prestigious A. Elizabeth Taylor Prize from the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) for the best article published during the preceding year in the field of southern women’s history. “Virginia Penny’s ‘State of Desperation’: Anger, Insanity, and Struggles for Justice in Nineteenth-Century Kentucky,” authored by Pippa Holloway, ran in the Winter 2023 issue of “Ohio Valley History.” A summary of the article can be found below.
Desperate to protect her brother Henry, who had spent his life in and out of psychiatric institutions, nationally recognized Louisville journalist Virginia Penney was, herself, confined to the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum in 1882. Pippa Holloway’s article examines Penny’s efforts to push the boundaries of genteel Southern womanhood. “Penny’s experiences…offer historians a unique opportunity to consider how aberrant behavior, especially anger, became evidence of insanity in women and to wrestle with how we characterize mental distress in historical subjects,” Holloway writes. “Rather than communicating this distress in socially acceptable ways, she expressed mad rage.” Working from an incomplete and problematic archival record, Penny’s story demonstrates “how the project of defining and treating mental illness has served to enforce social conformity with norms of race and gender.”
Pippa Holloway is the Cornerstones Chair in History and Chair of the History Department at the University of Richmond. She is the author of “Living in Infamy: Felon Disfranchisement and the History of American Citizenship” (OUP, 2013). She is currently researching 19th century limitations on the ability to testify in court.
According to Dr. Patrick Lewis, Director of Collections and Research of the Filson Historical Society, “SAWH members are leading the most important conversations in US history at the moment, especially in regional history. Having the prize committee recognize an Ohio Valley History article as the pinnacle of the field in 2023 validates the Filson’s 140-year-old reputation as a leading archival and research institution.”
“Virginia Penny’s ‘State of Desperation,’” can be found online at Project MUSE. A limited number of print copies of the Winter 2023 issue of “Ohio Valley History” are available at the Filson Historical Society at 1310 S. 3rd St. in Louisville.
For more information about “Ohio Valley History,” including access to the article and issue, please contact Jamie Evans, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, at gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@snav1745474846ej1745474846.
About SAWH
Founded in Louisville in 1970 during a meeting of the Southern Historical Association, the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) supports the study of women’s and gender history of the American South. The organization today has several purposes: to stimulate interest in the study of southern history and women’s history, to advance the status of women in the historical profession in the South, to provide a forum for women historians to discuss issues of professional concern, and to publicize and promote issues of concern to SAWH members.
About Ohio Valley History
“Ohio Valley History” is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the history and culture of the Ohio Valley and the Upper South collaboratively edited and published by The Filson Historical Society, Cincinnati Museum Center, and the University of Cincinnati. In addition to a print circulation of over 3,000, the entire run of OVH is globally available on Project Muse. In addition to articles, “Ohio Valley History” features historiographical and review essays, notes and documents, and reviews of books, exhibits, and historical sites.
The Filson Historical Society confronts its own past in new book
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – What happens when one of the nation’s most venerable historical societies confronts its own legacy, including the distortion and erasure of African American and Native Nations history? That question lies at the heart “Benefactors of Posterity: The Founding Era of the Filson Historical Society 1884-1899” (Butler Books, 2024). Written by Dr. Daniel Gifford during the Filson Historical Society’s 140th anniversary, “Benefactors of Posterity” is an explicit and intentional reckoning with the Louisville organization’s past, one that echoes the challenges facing our communities in the 21st century.
In the fading years of the Gilded Age, the Filson Club (now the Filson Historical Society) fostered discussions and launched Kentucky history initiatives that can seem strikingly modern today, including the role of female, Jewish, and Catholic members. Dubbed “Benefactors of Posterity” by one founder, the Filson was often in the vanguard of collection and commemoration in Kentucky, rivaling more established historical societies in the East. But its output was also deeply mired in systemic racism and Jim Crow culture, topics that are directly addressed in the new book.
Written as an accessible and exciting 360-degree look at Louisville and Kentucky history, “Benefactors of Posterity” is filled with unearthed surprises including Enid Yandell’s Daniel Boone statue; the Southern Exposition; the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893; the aftermath of the Civil War; Louisville’s public parks; the tornado of 1890; and even the Ku Klux Klan.
When asked about his experience researching and writing the book, Dr. Gifford had this to say: “It was a pleasure and a privilege to write ‘Benefactors of Posterity’. The research led me to very real, very human stories about ideals and shortcomings; noble instincts and blinding prejudices all rolled together inside people that are brought to life 140 years later. This is an eye-opening window into what it meant to preserve Kentucky history in the late 1800s.”
“The time and talent embodied in this book are a significant gift from Dan to the Filson,” said Dr. Patrick Lewis, Director of Collections and Research and incoming President and CEO of the Filson. “Knowing our institutional past lets us move ahead with confidence, seeing how we have always been at the forefront of our fields, nationally, and letting us reflect on how we can always work harder to better and more inclusively live our mission to preserve and share the history and culture of this region.”
The Filson Historical Society will host a book event on Tuesday, October 8 at 6:00 p.m. Dr. Lewis will interview Dr. Gifford about the truths revealed, major historical findings discovered, and skeletons uncloseted in “Benefactors of Posterity’s” 272 pages. This event is free for Filson members and $18 for potential members. All participants are encouraged to register in advance. To register for this event, please visit filsonhistorical.org/events/upcoming-events.
For more information about the book or to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Jamie Evans, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, at gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@snav1745474846ej1745474846. For more information on this and other Filson events, please visit filsonhistorical.org.
The Filson names African American History Program Manager
/in PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society is pleased to announce that the search for the African American History Program Manager has concluded with the hiring of Dr. Jacqueline Hudson. A museum professional and historian, Dr. Hudson earned a doctorate in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University and received a public history graduate certification at the same institution.
Jacqueline Hudson, PhD is a museum professional and historian with experience in the museums and historic preservation fields. She earned a doctorate in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University and received a public history graduate certificate at the same institution. (She also has certification in historic preservation from Goucher College.) Dr. Hudson has written scholarship on the fields in publications such Henrietta Wood: The Enslaved Woman Who Sued for (and Won) Reparations, Discovering Activism and Advocacy in Historic Preservation Through My Grandparents’ Furniture, a blog on jazz music and Chillin’ Like It’s 1986: Successes, Setbacks, Philosophical Considerations in the Immersive Rec Room Space of Growing Up X that will appear in Exhibition magazine in Spring 2024. As one of the TEDxTalk presenters in March 2024, she explored Black history and culture’s rightful place in the history of the United States. She also produced exhibitions on social, musical, cultural, and historical interventions in the United States and consulted on three historical markers in the state of Ohio.
According to Dr. Patrick Lewis, the Filson’s Director of Collections and Research, “The Filson has been building towards this day for years, decades in some sense, but the most exciting part is that this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see the ways that Dr. Hudson will touch families, inspire students, and bring the power of perspective to our city.”
Richard Clay, President and CEO of the Filson, had the following to say about Dr. Hudson: “This has grown from a dream into reality with the generosity of so many people. Dr. Hudson will do a magnificent job in leading this project into the future. I am so excited.”
Dr. Hudson joined the Filson’s staff on July 1, 2024. For more information, please contact Jamie Evans, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, at gro.l1745474846aciro1745474846tsihn1745474846oslif1745474846@snav1745474846ej1745474846.