Good morning,

As you prepare for tomorrow’s Election Day and your constitutional right to vote, we at the Frazier encourage you to please participate in the process. As Woody Guthrie so eloquently sang, “This land is your land, this land is my land”—but it’s only truly our land if the people elected to govern in our city, state, and country represent our interests. If they don’t, and you didn’t vote, you’re living in someone else’s idea of America.

In today’s issue of Frazier Weekly, Rachel Platt sits down with Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams to talk about the integrity of elections and the unprecedented nature of the 2022 ballot. Then manager of collection impact Hayley Rankin shares an automatic voting machine from the Frazier’s collection.

In honor of Veterans Day—a reminder that our right to vote came with great sacrifice from active-duty military, veterans, and their families—Mick Sullivan and Simon Meiners shed light on one of the Frazier’s most historic objects: the Bloedner Monument, the oldest surviving memorial to the American Civil War.

Our Heather Gotlib highlights a heroic figure featured in The Commonwealth exhibition: Medal of Honor recipient Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who, of all the medal’s 3,500 recipients, is the only woman.

Finally, in honor of our just-opened Kentucky Rivalries exhibition, Brian West writes about the historical significance of Kenny Payne’s first regular season game as coach of the Louisville Cardinals.

I sure do hope you enjoy.

Bridging the Divide

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams on Election Day 2022

When you head to the polls tomorrow, and I sure hope you do, get ready for one really long ballot.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams says it could be one of the longest ever, and he suggests printing a sample ballot from his website to familiarize yourself with before you vote.

Two amendments are on the ballot, and the wording on Amendment one is 744 words. He’ll explain why in our interview.

Adams had considered running for a higher office, but he talked to me about why he is needed right where he is in this critical time in our history.

It’s a time of misinformation, harassment of county clerks and poll workers and beyond, questions about election integrity and fraud, expanding voter access . . . I could go on and on.

I talk with Secretary Adams about this critical juncture and why he says Kentucky is ready for Election Day.

This Week in the Museum

From the Collection: Automatic Voting Machine Instruction Model, c. 1955

Cast your vote!

Throughout history, we have employed many different methods to count votes accurately and anonymously. From simple paper ballots and tokens to more advanced machines and scanners, voting is an essential part of our democratic society. Today, we use a variety of electronic machines that enable touch-screen votes and scanners that verify ballot sheets and absentee ballots. Which method would you prefer?

This voting machine belongs to our teaching, or study, collection, which is fitting because it is an instructional model that would have been used to show people how to use a lever machine before stepping into the voting booth. Lever machines first came into use around 1900 with the establishment of the US Standard Voting Machine Company after patented developments by Jacob Myers, Sylvanus Davis, and Alfred Gillespie. They grew in popularity by the 1950s and remained in use throughout the country, especially in New York where the company was headquartered, as late as the 1990s.

Whether we’re pulling levers behind curtains or filling in circles on paper, the act of voting itself is most important. Tomorrow is election day, so if you’re able, get out there and vote!

Commonwealth Collection: Bloedner Monument, January 1862

Did you know the oldest surviving memorial to the American Civil War is at the Frazier?

Carved by Private August Bloedner and completed in January 1862, the monument commemorates Bloedner’s comrades who died at the Battle of Rowlett’s Station in Hart County, Kentucky, December 17, 1861.

In observance of Veterans Day, communications and research specialist Simon Meiners shares a bit about the Bloedner Monument and why it’s his favorite object in the museum.

If you’d like to learn more, stop by soon! The Bloedner is a regular highlight on tours.

Off the Snead Shelves: Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley

In the Literary Kentucky section of the museum’s Cool Kentucky exhibition, there’s a selection of books by and about Kentucky figures. The books are stored on cases made by Snead Iron Works, the historic Louisville firm that manufactured the bookcases used in the New York Public Library. In Frazier Weekly’s Off the Snead Shelves series, museum staff members spotlight their favorite books from the collection.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker with her Medal of Honor, between 1873 and c. 1916. Part of the C. M. Bell Collection at the Library of Congress. Credit: Library of Congress.

I first came across the story of Mary Edwards Walker because I was drawn to the illustrations and message of individuality in a picture book I stumbled across at the library one day: Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley. In it, a little girl named Mary defies nineteenth-century expectations by wearing pants, the clothes in which she feels the most comfortable.

One afternoon, I walked into the Education Center and saw our interns putting together a presentation on the Kentucky women featured in the book Bluegrass Bold. They were creating a slide featuring none other than Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the heroine of Mary Wears What She Wants! It turns out that Mary, who was born in Oswego, New York, spent time in Louisville, Kentucky, as an assistant surgeon during the Civil War. She was unique in many ways. She practiced medicine when it was extremely uncommon for women to do so. One thing that’s important to note ahead of Veterans Day is that she is the first and only woman (one of only eight civilians) to have received a Medal of Honor. And, of course, she wore what she wanted, despite the punitive treatment she got in return.

You can catch us reading Mary Wears What She Wants during story times and camps with the education department—and you can read more about her story in the Frazier’s Commonwealth exhibition, where she is featured in the Civil War area.

Museum Store: Horse Soldier Bourbon

Dobby the dog with a bottle of Horse Soldier Bourbon, 2022. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

Drink good Bourbon and support veterans while you do it! Horse Soldier Bourbon was founded by US Army Green Beret veterans who took part in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 while on horseback. These brave men, who were the first to deploy in 2001, were actually in Kentucky on 9/11, training at Fort Campbell. Following their service to the country, these men have been making great Bourbon—in fact, they just broke ground on a new distillery in Somerset, bringing them back to Kentucky. We sell Horse Soldier Straight Bourbon in the Frazier’s Museum Store for $64.

Winter Break Camp and Holiday Family Day Coming in December

As we are running low on all our favorite candies from the Halloween haul and Daylight Savings has come to pass, we know that it’s TIME! Winter Break Camp will be here before you know it.

You know us and how much we love books. We know how much many of your children love books, too, and that’s why we wanted to make our last camps of 2022 a literary extravaganza! We’ll tackle any and every genre, from history to mythology and beyond.

Here are the details for this year’s camp, which we’re fondly calling Wrapped Up in Books:

Wrapped Up in Books
December 19–22, 27–30
9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Door Open: 8:45 a.m.
Grades: K–6
$55/day non-members ($52/day members)

This winter, we’re wrapping up the year with a celebration of one of our favorite things: BOOKS! We’ll spend the last two weeks of 2022 using literature as a jumping-off point to talk about history. From Percy Jackson to the American Girls, Ada Twist to Oliver Twist, you’re sure to see some of your favorites, too.

Our Winter Break Day Camps are customized to YOUR schedule: Come for one day or more—or join us for all eight!

Spaces are limited, and camps will fill up fast, so sign up today!

While you’re at it, save the date for our Holiday Family Day! On Saturday, December 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., we will be throwing a holiday bash in our galleries. Come prepared for music, games, and special guests. If you are a member, stop by after our Member Breakfast for a great time!

Heather Gotlib
Manager of Youth & Family Programs

Wade-Braden Peace Park Dedicated on Crums Lane in Shively

A portrait of Anne Braden is featured in the Frazier History Museum’s Hall of Unsung Kentuckians, commemorating her work in civil rights. Anne’s husband Carl is the second part of that equation.

In the 1950s, the Bradens helped a black family who was searching for a home. Andrew and Charlotte Wade met with realtors who didn’t want a black family living in Shively, which was an all-white neighborhood at the time.

Photographs of the Wade family and a burnt cross that had been installed the night before in a vacant lot adjoining the Wades’ property in the Shively neighborhood of Louisville, May 16, 1954. Originally published on page 12 of the May 17, 1954, issue of the *Courier Journal*. Credit: *Courier Journal*.

The Bradens bought the home and then deeded it over to the Wade family, an action that prompted violence against the Wades and their home. The Wades finally left after their home was bombed.

Now, all these decades later, both families are being honored with the Wade-Braden Peace Park—honored for having the courage to stand up for what was right. The park is located at the northwest corner of South Crums Lane and Hartlage Court in Shively.

Dignitaries from both sides of the aisle attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, October 29, to celebrate the courage of both families in their fight against segregation.

You can watch a short video from that special day.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

History All Around Us

IARP Hands Down Ruling in U of L Basketball Pay-to-play Scandal

The sound you heard may have been a collective “exhale” after the NCAA delivered its long-awaited and, yes, drawn-out decision (five years) regarding the University of Louisville men’s basketball program.

Aerial view of a University of Louisville men’s basketball game at the KFC Yum! Center, 2010s. Credit: Eric Crawford.

An Independent Accountability Review Panel, set up by the NCAA, added no major penalties for the program, or former head coach Rick Pitino, for its recruitment of Brian Bowen in a pay-to-play scandal.

It centered around U of L allegedly benefitting from a $100,000 offer to Bowen to play basketball for Louisville and to sign with Adidas after turning pro.

That scandal followed U of L’s probation for the Katina Powell stripping and sex parties case.

The IARP panel said it could not find sufficient proof that Adidas was acting in U of L’s interests or that the university had a role in its actions.

With that said, Louisville will receive two years of probation, a $5,000 fine, and some minor recruiting restrictions.

It could have been so much worse as a repeat offender school—but many say the five-year waiting period has been the real punishment for the program.

Athletics director Josh Heird says it’s now in the rearview mirror, and so are personnel decisions that happened during that time.

He says it’s a day to move forward for the program and its new coach, Kenny Payne.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

Wednesday Game to Mark Kenny Payne’s Debut as First Black U of L Men’s Basketball Head Coach

Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center Kenny Payne will make his official debut as men’s basketball head coach at the University of Louisville. Though he has coached the team in exhibition action (most notably in a losing effort against Lenoir-Rhyne, coached by former U of L player Everick Sullivan), Payne will coach his first regular season game this Wednesday. The opponent for this historic game will be none other than the Bellarmine Knights, coached by Scotty Davenport.

For both coaches and programs, the game marks a momentous occasion. For Louisville, the game represents the beginning of a new era in the history of the program: Payne will be the first former U of L player—and first African American—to coach as Louisville’s men’s basketball head coach (David Padgett and Mike Pegues during their respective stints were interim coaches only). Despite the upset to Lenoir-Rhyne, Payne stresses the season is “gonna be a marathon, not a sprint.”

Few coaches in Kentuckiana know that mantra better than Scott Davenport. His story, from native son to assistant coach to National Championship–winning head basketball coach at Bellarmine is “the stuff that dreams are made on”; and with the introduction of Bellarmine into NCAA Division I Basketball, Davenport’s story as Bellarmine head coach is still being written.

Davenport and the Knights will have a chance to make even more history Tuesday night, if they are able to come up with a game plan that is good enough to beat the Louisville Cardinals. U of L is 12-0 all-time in the series against Bellarmine. But, with a new head coach, new players, and a loss to a Division II school—even if the loss came during exhibition play—Louisville might not be as invincible now as they have been in the past. So, a loss against the Knights is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

That said, with recent news that U of L basketball has been cleared of major sanctions, Kenny Payne and the school can move on from the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over the program since the Adidas scandal. Payne will bring something into the regular season that no other Louisville head basketball coach has been able to enjoy since 2017: a clean slate.

Be sure to check out our Kentucky Rivalries exhibition, which is now open to the public. Also, please look into next month’s special event to honor legendary U of L basketball head coach Denny Crum. This will take place in person at the Frazier on December 8. To purchase tickets, click here.

Membership

Coffee With Casey and the Cave Wars to Explore Mammoth-Great Onyx Feud

With November now here, our next Member Exclusive Program, Coffee With Casey and the Cave Wars, is on the horizon!

On Saturday, November 19, director of exhibit ideation Casey Harden will present on the almost century-long rivalry between cave managers, guides, locals, outsiders, explorers, and loyal supporters of one cave over another in what became known as the Kentucky Cave Wars. Following the discussion, Casey will lead a tour of our newest exhibition, Kentucky Rivalries.

From the “pretty side” to the “important side,” bodies on display and cave hermits, get an inside look into the Cave Wars and the cultural significance it made on the Commonwealth.

Doors will open at 10 a.m. Coffee, tea, and other light refreshments will be served with the program and the program will begin at 10:30 a.m.

This type of programming is a benefit to our Contributor-level members and above.

Become a member today at the Contributor level or above in order to attend this member-exclusive program!

If you would like to upgrade your membership in order to unlock benefits like this program, give me a call at (502) 412-2263.

RSVP deadline is approaching: Email me at aegan@fraziermuseum.org by November 15.

Claim your seat before they’re gone!

1955 Automatic Voting Machine, 1862 Bloedner Monument for German-American Regiment, Wade-Braden Peace Park in Shively, and More

Decked Out for the Holidays, Red or Blue with Kentucky Rivalries, Elvis is in the Building, and More

Rivalries Opening, High Five Co-creator Wiley Brown, Denny Crum and 1980s U of L Basketball Teams Program Announced, and More