Another good and chilly morning to y’all!

For those of us with an affinity for warm sunshine, evenings on the deck, and any color other than grey, January has been a bit of a slog.

My Dad used to say, “it's colder than a well digger’s heels out there.” While I’m not certain Dad ever knew a well digger, the phrase stuck with me—and I’ve thought of it often over the last few weeks.

But now, with below-freezing temperatures starting to subside, it’s time to tackle that cabin fever head-on.

From Saturday, February 1, to Monday, February 10, Hometown Tourist Celebration takes place in downtown Louisville—and the Frazier is an excited participant, offering half-off admission prices for ten straight days. We’re not alone: many of our downtown partners including the Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, Bourbon attractions, hotels, bars, and restaurants are also taking part and offering discounts for locals.

What a great time to be a tourist in your own town and to discover why millions of out-of-town travelers visit Louisville each year.

In today’s Frazier Weekly, Rachel Platt celebrates Louisville’s latest hometown heroes, a Holocaust survivor in Floyd County is featured in our 120 exhibit, and our Better Together Bourbon program is getting better by the minute. Better get your tickets now!

And finally, if you need a little help warming up, Valentine’s Day is just eighteen days away and our Museum Shop is selling LucKY Valentine gifts online.

Enjoy!

This Week in the Museum

2025 Hometown Heroes Class has Ties to Frazier History Museum

Muhammad Ali’s Hometown Hero banner hangs on the LG&E Building at Third and River Road. Credit: Hometown Heroes.

Since we’re talking about our hometown, the list is out for seven new faces to grace our Hometown Hero Banners.

This new 2025 class is deserving of applause and our recognition, and some have ties to the Frazier History Museum.

Mike Sheehey with the Greater Louisville Pride Foundation says all of the honorees possess grit, resilience, talent, determination, and “can do spirit” that our city is known for.

Oksana Masters, who was born in Ukraine and grew up in Louisville, is on that list and is featured in our Cool Kentucky exhibition because of her inspiring story. The effects of Chernobyl were suspected to play a role in birth defects that led to both of her legs being amputated. By the time she was thirteen, she discovered newfound freedom in adaptive rowing in Louisville, and the rest is history. She is a Paralympic medalist in rowing and many other sports.

Will Smith is another athlete on that list. The catcher for the LA Dodgers is now a two-time MLB World Series Champ. And yes, I have already reached out to him to see if he can loan us something to be on display at the Frazier. Stay tuned.

Teddy Abrams is the Grammy Award–winning music director for the Louisville Orchestra and also featured in a Frazier+ video talking about the origins of the Orchestra. Come see how the ’37 Flood had something to do with its creation.

Also on the list is Dr. Kevin Cosby who has been the pastor at St. Stephen Church for forty-five years and is the President of Simmons College of Kentucky.

Ken Clay is another Hometown Hero, and the Founder of the Corner of Jazz, Louisville’s first cultural cooperative, Legacies Unlimited, and the Renaissance Development Corporation in the 1960s and ’70s. He has been part of several Frazier programs on music and activism and always elevates any conversation.

Nicole Scherzinger, a graduate of the Youth Performing Arts School at duPont Manual High School, is part of this class. She is a singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and TV personality.

And last, but certainly not least, is the late Jimmy Ellis. The Central High School graduate was a middleweight amateur boxer who became a successful professional heavyweight boxer. He was inspired by the greatest, Muhammad Ali.

Congrats to this incoming class. You make us proud!

Curator’s Corner: Violins of Hope Exhibition, 2019

Each year, Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on January 27. On this day in 1945, eighty years ago, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated. Over 1 million people were killed at this concentration camp and 17 million people were killed during the Holocaust in total.

This year, and most years, I have been thinking back to the Violins of Hope exhibition we had on display in the fall of 2019. For ten days, the Frazier was able to display more than fifty violins that had survived the Holocaust. It was one of the most emotionally difficult exhibitions that I have ever worked on, but also one of the most uplifting. To see the resilience of these instruments and to hear them played by members of the Louisville Orchestra was an incredibly moving experience. During the approximately two weeks the violins were in Louisville, there were more than thirty events surrounding the exhibition and the community rallied around it.

There are many things about this exhibition that I will never forget: galleries packed with visitors, a secret swastika hidden inside one of the violins, having to write text panels about many horrible aspects of the Holocaust, and closing the gallery a few minutes early so that a violin could be whisked away to its next destination on a private plane. But I think the most important thing to remember about this exhibition is the hard work the late Amnon Weinstein put into preserving and protecting these instruments, the musicians whose talents allowed them to survive the Holocaust, and the many more than didn’t.

Highlights of 120: Floyd County: Holocaust Survivor John Rosenberg

Did you know there’s a Holocaust survivor who lives in Floyd County, Kentucky? John Rosenberg was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1931. On November 9, 1938, John, age seven, and his parents were pulled from their home by Nazis and stood in the courtyard of the adjacent synagogue, where they were forced to watch the holy scriptures burned and the building interior blown up. For a year afterward, John and his family stayed in an internment camp in Rotterdam, Holland, before coming to the US in February 1940. In the decades since, John and his wife Jean have become tireless advocates for legal clients in Eastern Kentucky. Learn more in the following story, one of hundreds of stories featured in our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

John Rosenberg was born in 1931. He fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1938. In the 1960s, he worked as a civil rights lawyer in the Deep South.

In 1970, Rosenberg moved to Prestonsburg in Floyd County, Kentucky. He became the director of Kentucky operations for the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (AppalReD). In 1973, the Kentucky office became independent. It now covers an area of thirty-seven counties in Eastern Kentucky.

Rosenberg assembled a staff of dozens of lawyers, interns, and volunteers. They serve up to 7,000 clients a year. AppalReD deals with family law, consumer matters, housing, health law, and more. In 1988, the state legislature passed a constitutional amendment that Rosenberg and his staff wrote. The amendment bans surface mining that takes place without the landowner’s consent.

Rosenberg retired in 2002. AppalReD continues to serve clients throughout Eastern Kentucky.

Museum Shop: LucKY in Love Valentine and Kentucky Hug

Share the love this Valentine’s Day with a touch of Kentucky! Surprise your Valentine with our LucKY in Love Valentine Horseshoe or treat them to a “Kentucky Hug” Bourbon tasting at the Frazier. This unique experience features an all-Kentucky lineup of Bourbons, paired with history and lore. Plus, your tasting ticket includes museum admission! To sweeten the experience, we’re offering a $2 discount on February 13, 14, and 15. Celebrate love the Kentucky way!

History All Around Us

The Cards and the Cats Shine

Louisville player J’Vonne Hadley goes to the basket against North Carolina in the first half, January 1, 2025. Michael Clevenger, *Courier Journal*.

I’ve always really appreciated the adage “when things are going well, work hard. When things are not going well, work hard.” That may be one reason this year’s U of L men’s basketball team is quickly becoming one of my favorites of all time. Considering the success and storied history of Louisville basketball, that’s saying a lot.

If you’ve spent any time listening to first year U of L head coach Pat Kelsey, you know from the jump that he’s all about culture. This is not a new concept in coaching, but he feels unique with his laser focus on process over results and intentional habit of never dwelling on the past or the future.

It’s such a simple concept, but when executed well, it’s a joy to watch come together. If you believe in your system, find the right people, and stick with your process—good things will happen.

And that they are. As of last week, the men’s team broke into the top 25 for the first time in years and are on a nine-game winning streak. Individual players are finding their groove, as well. Chucky Hepburn is now Louisville’s all-time leader for assists in a single game. Reyne Smith hit ten three pointers against SMU, breaking the Louisville record for three-point field goals made in a game. But it could be any player, on any night, who shines—and everyone dogs it on defense no matter the score. How fun is that!

But the U of L men’s team is not the only one worth cheering for this year in the Commonwealth. The U of L women’s team went on a streak of their own, recently beating #13 ranked Georgia Tech at home and ranking fourth in the ACC conference. The UK men’s team, under new head coach Mark Pope, sits at #9 in the country during the writing of this article, and are sharpening their teeth against the top teams in the country in the highly competitive SEC conference. Rounding things out with the best record of all four teams, UK women’s basketball is 16 and 2 under new head coach Kenny Brooks. And if you don’t have your tickets yet to see their upcoming game versus LSU in February, you waited too long. The game is sold out.

It’s a great time to be a basketball fan in the state of Kentucky.

Hometown Tourist Celebration, Oksana Masters and Teddy Abrams Banners, Holocaust Survivor in Floyd County, and More

Cool Kentucky Thurby, ear X-tacy Sign, Grayson County’s Dungeons & Dragons Artist, and More

Dreaming of Spring, New Field Trip Presentations, Sunshine Joe Mallard’s Quilts, and More