Upcoming Events

Add Our Events to Your Calendar

Please see below for details and descriptions of upcoming events at the Filson. All event times are in EST or EDT depending on the season. Click here to register and pay for programs, tickets are required. Filson members will need to log in to access the member pricing for events. Many of our past events can be viewed on the Filson YouTube Channel. If you have any issues with registering via our ticketing solution please call (502) 635-5083.

Recent Filson events have regularly been reaching our capacity limits. If members or non-members wish to attend an event please register beforehand. We cannot guarantee a space for walk ups on the day of the lecture.

Dine & Dialogue – The Iron Horse in Indian Country: Native Americans and Railroads in the US West

Date: February 19, 2026

Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Location: The Filson Historical Society, 1310 S. 3rd St., Louisville | Virtual option still available

In-person Tickets are Sold Out - Virtual Still Available

Cover of "The Iron Horse in Indian Country" by Alessandra La Rocca Link, featuring trains and Native American silhouettes on a beige background.

Historians have long pondered the railroad’s profound and far-reaching role in transforming the United States’ economic, political, social, and physical landscapes. Join Dr. Alessandra La Rocca Link in a dynamic discussion with Filson President and CEO, Dr. Patrick Lewis, as they examine the relationships between Indigenous peoples and railroads that unfolded in the American West during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Iron Horse in Indian Country reframes this scholarship by spotlighting both the inner workings of railroad colonialism and how Indigenous peoples incorporated railroads into their own networks.

This project begins with a study of Indigenous contributions to the Pacific Railway Surveys of the 1850s and extends through to the rise of automobile travel and the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in the 1920s.

Alessandra La Rocca Link is a Louisville native and teaches at the Upper School at Louisville Collegiate School. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Colorado Boulder and was a fellow at the Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University.

Exhibit Open House – Black Homecoming: Kentucky Kinship in Photography

Date: February 28, 2026

Time: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Location: The Filson Historical Society, 1310 S. 3rd St., Louisville | In Person Only

Free - Registration Requested

Exhibit flyer for Black Homecoming: Kentucky Kinship in Photography. Exhibit sponsored by Stock Yards Bank & Trust. Image of a black couple with sunglasses smiling.

Filson curatorial staff will be on hand to chat with visitors for this special last-look open house for our photo exhibit. Join Dr. Jacqueline Hudson, curator of our African American History Initiative as we explore the many forms family takes and the development of the family unit through history. Hundreds of photographs and objects are on special display through April 9 as part of our Black Homecoming exhibit and this open house is your chance for a special viewing.

Theodore Sedgwick Distinguished Lecture Series – Celebrating America on its 250th Birthday

Date: March 17, 2026

Time: 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Location: The Filson Historical Society, 1310 S. 3rd St., Louisville (In Person only)

Free - Reservations Required

Presented by the University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute in collaboration with the Filson Historical Society.

As our nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary this summer, join Dr. R. Scott Stephenson, President & CEO of Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution, for an exploration of the Museum’s award-winning exhibitions and programs from George Washington’s original Revolutionary War tent and conflict on the western borders of the fledgling United States to the ongoing global impact of the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Stephenson will share how the Museum, which has welcomed nearly 2 million visitors since opening in 2017, weaves stories of America’s founding and founding generation into a rich narrative that has garnered widespread praise and recognition.

Scott Stephenson received his MA and PhD in American History from the University of Virginia. Over the past three decades, he has developed public history exhibitions, programs, films, and other media for such institutions as Colonial Williamsburg, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and the Museum of the Cherokee People. He was the founding Director of Collections and Exhibitions for the Museum of the American in 2007 and has served as President and CEO since 2018.

The Gertrude Polk Brown Lecture Series – Awakening the Spirit

Date: March 31, 2026

Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Location: Actors Theatre of Louisville, 316 W. Main St., Louisville

awakening-the-spirit-of-america-9781639366675_hr

The Filson kicks off our 2026 Gertrude Polk Brown Lecture Series with Paul Sparrow discussing his latest work, Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR’s War of Words with Charles Lindbergh. This amazing new book brings to life a largely forgotten but crucial moment in American history where the very existence of our democracy hung in the balance. As the former director of the FDR Presidential Library, Mr. Sparrow brings expertise combined with captivating storytelling to illustrate the perils of the Lindbergh/FDR public opinion battle and how we can continue to learn lessons from events nearly 80 years later.

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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