Cool Kentucky

Select Objects

On display is American Pearl, the motor-less and sail-less plywood boat with which Louisville’s Tori Murden McClure became the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1999, as well as skis and apparel from her 1989 trek to the geographic South Pole; a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette C6 on loan from the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green; Kentucky Colonels uniforms and shoes Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore, and Louie Dampier wore; and a tree stump in which pioneer Daniel Boone allegedly carved his name.

Each section of the exhibit is organized around a particular theme. In any given section, visitors will find a number of notable objects, including:

• Apparel rapper Jack Harlow has worn in his “WHATS POPPIN” and “Industry Baby” music videos and shoes actress Jennifer Lawrence has worn on the red carpet (“Entertaining Kentucky”)

• Gypsum specimens from Mammoth Cave, a mastodon tusk and projectile point found in Big Bone Lick State Park, and a large model replica of the Louisville Water Tower (“Natural Kentucky”)

• Oars and equipment used by Paralympic rower Oksana Masters and a horseshoe worn by Secretariat (“Competitive Kentucky”)

• A section of the Belle of Louisville’s paddlewheel, a Bain generator that powered Thomas Edison’s light bulbs at the 1883 Southern Exposition, and a plaster cast of 7’8” Kentucky giant Jim Porter’s hand (“Historic Kentucky”)

• Half dollar coins Isaac Hathaway designed, sheet music for the 1909 folk song “Casey Jones, the Brave Engineer,” and a letter RNA splicing co-discoverer Phillip Sharp wrote (“Great Kentucky”)

• A still from horror film director Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931) and posters for John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) and The Thing (1982) (“Horrifying Kentucky”)

• Fishing reels, Doll Baby dolls, and reproductions of patents issued to Abraham Lincoln for a method of buoying vessels (1849), John Thompson for the Tommy Gun (1922), and Garrett Morgan for the smoke hood (1914) and the three-position traffic signal (1923) (“Inventive Kentucky”)

• A map of headquarters and manufacturing facilities for AirHeads, Dippin Dots, Hot Pockets, Jif peanut butter, Post-it notes, duct tape, charcoal, and other popular products (“Made in Kentucky”)

• Magician Lance Burton’s straitjacket and Mac King’s suit with secret pockets (“Magic Kentucky”)

• An ad for Glier’s Goetta, a matchbook from Kaelin’s Restaurant, “Birthplace of the Cheeseburger;” and a case with Ale-8, Big Red, Derby pie, Modjeskas, and Moonlite burgoo (“Tasty Kentucky”)

• A packet of Aunt Jemima Pancake Flour and a vintage Aunt Jemima ad (“Iconic Kentucky”)

• Penguins from 21c Museum and Heading West by sculptor Ed Hamilton (“Artistic Kentucky”)

• A Snead Iron Works bookcase and a set of 1st ed. Sue Grafton mystery novels (“Literary Kentucky”)

• A First Model 1851 Colt Revolver owned by Owsley Brown Frazier (“Philanthropic Kentucky”)

Visitors will also get to learn the stories of Kentucky’s most fascinating figures, past and present, including astronaut Story Musgrave, ballerina Wendy Whelan, primatologist Dian Fossey, chemist Saint Elmo Brady, gravedigger King Solomon, town founder Free Frank McWhorter, Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis, outlaw Jesse James, swimmer Mary T. Meagher, ovariotomy survivor Jane Todd Crawford, KFC founder Harland “Colonel” Sanders, and the real-life individuals after whom Aunt Jemima and Rosie the Riveter are modeled.

*Although the exhibit is permanent, several objects are on short-term loans.

120: Cool KY Counties is a new exhibit housed in the Cool Kentucky exhibition on the first floor of the museum. It consists of two touch screen maps of Kentucky: when you touch a county, you’re shown content—an interesting text story, a video, and a song by a local artist—from that county. The content will continue to be expanded.

“The 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit is collecting hundreds of stories from across the Commonwealth—including histories, legends, and oral traditions curated at the local level,” senior director of engagement Casey Harden said.

Stories featured in the exhibit span a range of subjects, including the birthplace of Dollar General (Allen County), the first iron ore furnace west of the Alleghanies (Bath County), the only US city built inside a meteorite crate (Bell County), the 2023 Softball Pitcher of the Year (Carter County), the world’s largest apple pie (Casey County), a famed NASCAR mechanic (Edmonson County), the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872 (Hardin County), a Hungarian mining co-op (Martin County), a Top Chef contestant (McCracken County), the town of Whoopflarea (Owsley County), the lost town of Creelsboro (Russell County), and Kentucky’s first woman State Bacteriologist (Warren County).

The exhibit was made possible by support from the James Graham Brown Foundation and Team Kentucky.

“With generous support from the James Graham Brown Foundation and Team Kentucky, we look forward to celebrating and empowering communities via opportunities for cross-promotion and tourism—especially those who often go overlooked in small, rural counties,” president and CEO Andy Treinen said. “By sharing these “hidden stories,” we want to promote exploration, cultivate respect, and bridge urban and rural divides on the basis of Kentucky’s extraordinary history and heritage.”

The software for 120 was developed by IT services and consulting firm CBTS.

“We were very fortunate to work with CBTS,” Harden said. “They’ve adapted this content in such a way that museum visitors can now access it at their fingertips. Now our visitors can chart their own path and discover something new about Kentucky.”

The exhibit also includes cases in which a handful of real objects from different counties will be displayed on rotation. When the exhibit opens Friday, the case will feature a wool coat (Adair County), a Mammoth Cave Hotel image (Barren County), minerals (Crittenden County), a Lincoln image (Fayette County), a WPA model (Henderson County), a miners image (Letcher County), a dress (Marion County), a tobacco artifact (Nicholas County), and woodcarvings (Wolfe County).

In the 120 exhibit, visitors can also access our Musical Kentucky: A Song from each County playlist. Musicians with songs featured in the exhibit include Native American flute player Fred Keams (Anderson County), bluegrass artist Dale Ann Bradley (Bell County), gospel singer Larnelle Harris (Boyle County), Psychedelic Furs bassist Tim Butler (Casey County), opera star Riccardo Martin (Christian County), coal country balladeer Aunt Molly Jackson (Clay County), cowpunk band Nine Pound Hammer (Daviess County), folk musician Senora May (Estill County), techno-funk group Midnight Star (Franklin County), Latin pop singer Asly Toro (Jefferson County), Chinese pipa player Hong Shao (Jessamine County), yodeler Phoebe White (Laurel County), prison rock group RISK (Lyon County), American Idol contestant Layla Spring (Marion County), Irish harpist Lorinda Jones (Monroe County), turntablist Yared Sound (Nelson County), roots musician Joan Shelley (Oldham County), hard rock group Gravel Switch (Russell County), ambient pianist Our Transient Lives (Simpson County), country singer Chase McDaniel (Taylor County), emo duo JamisonParker (Todd County), Southern hip hop group Nappy Roots (Warren County), and feminist hillbilly musician Sue Massek (Washington County).

If you are a resident of one of five counties who won a free membership to the Frazier, click here.

Cool Kentucky Programs

As a part of our ongoing programming, we explore the many people and topics represented in our Cool Kentucky exhibition. Go back in time and take a look at some of our previous programs.

The Frazier History Museum is grateful for the Generous support of Cool Kentucky from: