Welcome

Thanks for joining our mailing list! Here’s what is happening at the Filson:

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.

Image: Untitled (moored shantyboat), Harlan Hubbard, 1930s, watercolor and pencil on paper, original 8” x 5.5”, courtesy of the Caddell Collection.

Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard (Bingham Gallery) Writer, artist, and sustainability pioneer Harlan Hubbard (1900-1988) lived an unassuming life, only to find himself embedded in the historical memory of Kentucky. Based on the upcoming, comprehensive biography, Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard, this exhibition brings to life the story of a man who, though beloved by his fellow Kentuckians, deserves broad recognition in the disciplines of American landscape painting, writing, and environmental advocacy.

Upcoming Events

An Escape from Slavery and a President’s Ancestors: How the Filson Made an Unexpected Discovery Possible

Date: May 22, 2025

Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Location: The Filson Historical Society (In person and Zoom options available)

Charles Holman grew up on bedtime stories of ancestors who escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad. But those stories were riddled with gaps. Decades later, DNA testing yielded a match with a descendant of his ancestor’s sister, a widow whose husband had served as a Black Civil War soldier. Her widow’s pension records revealed an even […]

Book Discussion with Dr. Patrick Lewis

Date: May 29, 2025

Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Location: Oxmoor Farm, 720 Oxmoor Ave. (In Person Only)

Sold Out

This event is now sold out. Join Dr. Patrick Lewis for a book discussion for Rick Atkinson’s The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780. This unique opportunity will allow participants to help shape the upcoming Gertrude Polk Brown lecture on June 16, giving them opportunities to help develop […]

Interested in helping the Filson’s mission to collect, preserve, and share

the history and culture of the Ohio Valley Region?

Background is image of museum storage at the Filson Historical Society. Text reads "Become a Member"

Background image of child sitting on small carriage with a goat pull them. Words read "Become a Volunteer"

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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