Filson Club Founded

Print of Reuben Durrett, founder of the Filson, Filson Historical Society

The Filson was founded on May 15, 1884, in Louisville by ten Kentuckians with a shared passion for collecting history. The primary founder and first president was Col. Reuben T. Durrett (1824-1913), who was joined by George M. Davie, John Mason Brown, Basil W. Duke, Thomas W. Bullitt, Alex P. Humphrey, William Chenault, James S. Pirtle, Richard H. Collins, and Thomas Speed. The early Club was comprised of both Union and Confederate sympathizers and to avoid the contention of the Civil War, focused on historic accounts of Kentucky’s pioneer era, primarily relating to white settlement.