Archive for category: Press

LOUISVILLE, 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.l1733491117aciro1733491117tsihn1733491117oslif1733491117@ofni1733491117.

About the Native American Heritage Commission

T​he 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.

LOUISVILLE, 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.l1733491117aciro1733491117tsihn1733491117oslif1733491117@snav1733491117ej1733491117. For more information on this and other Filson events, please visit filsonhistorical.org.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society will host the Gertrude Polk Brown Lecture Series on Wednesday, April 10 at 6:00 p.m. at The Kentucky Center – Bomhard Theater, featuring “New York Times” bestselling author Evan Thomas’ book, “Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II.” This program will be moderated by his wife, Osceola Freear Thomas.

At 9:20 a.m. on the morning of May 30, General Groves receives a message to report to the office of the secretary of war “at once.” Stimson is waiting for him. He wants to know: has Groves selected the targets yet?

So begins this suspenseful, impeccably researched history that draws on new access to diaries to tell the story of three men who were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb—and Japan’s decision to surrender. They are Henry Stimson, the American Secretary of War, who had overall responsibility for decisions about the atom bomb; Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific, who supervised the planes that dropped the bombs; and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, the only one in Emperor Hirohito’s Supreme War Council who believed even before the bombs were dropped that Japan should surrender.

Henry Stimson had served in the administrations of five presidents, but as the U.S. nuclear program progressed, he found himself tasked with the unimaginable decision of determining whether to deploy the bomb. The new president, Harry S. Truman, thus far a peripheral figure in the momentous decision, accepted Stimson’s recommendation to drop the bomb. Army Air Force Commander Gen. Spaatz ordered the planes to take off. Like Stimson, Spaatz agonized over the command even as he recognized it would end the war. After the bombs were dropped, Foreign Minister Togo was finally able to convince the emperor to surrender.

To bring these critical events to vivid life, bestselling author Evan Thomas draws on the diaries of Stimson, Togo and Spaatz, contemplating the immense weight of their historic decision. In Road to Surrender, an immersive, surprising, moving account, Thomas lays out the behind-the-scenes thoughts, feelings, motivations, and decision-making of three people who changed history.

Evan Thomas is the author of eleven books: “The Wise Men” (with Walter Isaacson), “The Man to See,” “The Very Best Men,” “Robert Kennedy,” “John Paul Jones,” “Sea of Thunder,” “The War Lovers,” “Ike’s Bluff,” and “Being Nixon,” “First,” and “Road to Surrender.” “John Paul Jones,” “Sea of Thunder,” “Being Nixon,” and “First” were “New York Times” bestsellers. Thomas was a writer, correspondent, and editor for thirty-three years at “Time” and “Newsweek,” including ten years (1986–96) as Washington bureau chief at Newsweek, where, at the time of his retirement in 2010, he was editor at large. He wrote more than one hundred cover stories and in 1999 won a National Magazine Award. He wrote “Newsweek’s” fifty-thousand-word election specials in 1996, 2000, 2004 (winner of a National Magazine Award), and 2008. He has appeared on many TV and radio talk shows, including “Meet the Press” and “The Colbert Report,” and has been a guest on PBS’s “Charlie Rose” more than forty times. The author of dozens of book reviews for “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post,” Thomas has taught writing and journalism at Harvard and Princeton, where, from 2007 to 2014, he was Ferris Professor of Journalism.

Osceola Freear Thomas met her husband Evan at the University of Virginia law school, where they were classmates. In 1977, she joined Donovan Leisure, a litigation firm, in New York and Washington DC, before moving to AT&T, retiring as a Federal Government Affairs Vice President in 2000. Since then, she has worked with Evan on his books as an editor and researcher.

The Gertrude Polk Brown Lecture Series will be held on Wednesday, April 10 at 6:00 p.m. at the Kentucky Center – Bomhard Theater, 501 West Main St., Louisville. Tickets are free for Filson members and $26.62 for non-members (taxes and fees included). This lecture is offered both in person and virtually. Parking fees are separate. Tickets for this event must be purchased from The Kentucky Center Ticket Service. Please call (502) 584-7777 or visit kentuckyperformingarts.org for tickets.

Initiated in 1993 as a memorial to the life of Gertrude Polk Brown and made possible by the generous support of her children and grandchildren: Dace Brown Stubbs, Marshall Farrer, Dace Polk Brown, Laura Lee Brown, Garvin Deters, Polk Deters, Laura Lee Gastis, Garvin Brown IV, and Campbell Brown. The Gertrude Polk Brown Lecture Series has brought both nationally and internationally recognized historians and journalists to Louisville, many of them Pulitzer Prize winners. Speakers are selected based on their overall excellence in research, writing, and speaking and are not restricted to historians. The Filson hosts up to three lectures per year in this series.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It might be hip to be Square, but you’d be a total Dork to miss this rad party!

Join the Filson Historical Society on Friday, February 23 at 6:30 pm for the “Back to the 80s Party,” a 1980s themed blast to the past. You’ll have plenty of time to dance the Thriller or Pogo to your favorite music videos from big hair bands to cutting edge New Wave hits. An upstairs Food Court with period-appropriate entertainment and snacks will be available. Costumes are encouraged, so dust off your leather pants, pop that preppy collar on your Izod shirt, get out the hairspray, and participate in the costume contest, where you could win a free membership with tickets to the Filson music event of your choice in 2024.

This event is sponsored by The Nitty Gritty. Filson members receive a discount on costume rental for this event.

The “Back to the 80s Party” will be held on Friday, February 23 from 6:30-9:00 pm. Tickets for the event must be purchased in advance and are $45 for Filson members, $55 for non-members. Included in the price of admission are appetizers, entertainment, and a drink ticket. A cash bar will be available for additional drink purchases. For more information about this event and to purchase tickets, please visit filsonhistorical.org.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Filson Historical Society is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 History Inspires Fellowship (HIF). This unique program will allow 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 2024 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, four were selected to receive the fellowship. The candidates are as follows:

John Akre is a stop motion and digital animator who creates films in his home studio using a variety of materials and techniques, including paper cutouts, and drawing directly on movie film.  He also enjoys creating animation in public places with the help of anybody who passes by. His History Inspires project will use the Louisville Transit Company Records, survey plats, architectural records, streetcar photographs and maps to find imagery in the Filson collections to create an animated short film about the connections created by and inherent in the streetcars that once tied together the streets and citizens of Louisville, and the single screen cinema palaces that once gave Louisvillians their gathering spaces.  Because his animation work is often created with community collaboration, a temporary stop motion studio will be set up in the Filson’s Carriage House where the public will be able to help as part of the summer cultural pass programming at the Filson.

Tammy Burke is a contemporary artist and garment maker for a costume company. During her fellowship, she plans to examine two common decorative practices, mosaic and quilting, and create versions of them that counter their traditional forms. Gathering inspiration from the patterns of the mosaic tile work featured in the Fergusion Mansion, she will take what is otherwise an immobile solid artwork and design an article of clothing that can be viewed outside of the mansion, making the mosaic flexible and more accessible.  In turn, she will study the Filson’s extensive quilt collection to find inspiration from the various historic patterns and designs of these delicate items to translate into weather resistant glass mosaic panels to be displayed outdoors.  This project will showcase parts of the Filson collection that may seem out of reach and not only take the collections outside of the physical location, but outside their material limits.

Zed Saeed is a photographer and writer who is deeply invested in historical research. Many of his projects start out with weeks, and sometimes months of in-depth research into a topic.  As a History Inspires fellow, he intends to create a photo showcase drawing on the Filson’s manuscripts, photographs, library, and museum collections to gain understanding of the history of race relations in Louisville and the heyday of Walnut Street. The archival research will be incorporated into his creative process by photographing specific locations along what is now known as Muhammed Ali Boulevard to tell the tragic story of Walnut Street’s rise and fall, of race relations and the grand dreams of urban renewal that destroyed it.  Saeed’s project will culminate with an article in “Ohio Valley History,” a peer-reviewed scholarly journal jointly produced by the Filson Historical Society, the University of Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Ashley Thursby is an artist in her 16^th season with Louisville Ballet.  A dancer and choreographer, she plans to delve into the archives of Alun Jones-Helen Starr, and Vincent Falardo collections to create a dance piece where individuals can experience the power of storytelling that is built through connecting the mind and body with movement. By utilizing both visual and written design excerpts from the archives, she plans to create a work that can be performed in a non-traditional dance venue and incorporates audience participation.  Through this process of sharing, the stories of Louisville Ballet’s history will strengthen the ties of past and present within our arts community.

The History Inspire Fellows will begin their research in January 2024 and meet with Filson staff on a regular basis to discuss their progress. Each project for this cycle will conclude in Fall 2024 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.

A second round of History Inspires Fellowships for the 2025 cycle will open in the spring of 2024 with a fall submission deadline. To learn more about the Filson’s fellowship programs, please visit filsonhistorical.org/about-us/fellowships.