At risk of irking those in the “IT’S TOO EARLY” camp, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Frazier!

Santa Claus takes the wheel of the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 in the Frazier’s Great Hall, November 3, 2021

Yup, Santa is already making his rounds — and by the look of things, his traditional reindeer sleigh may be facing some high-octane competition. You have to admit, the jolly old elf looks pretty rad cruising in our Cool Kentucky Corvette at the Frazier.

To spice up our bi-monthly staff meeting last week, we held a chili making competition (mine only got one vote) and then began preparing the museum for the holidays. If you want to get a jump on your Kentucky- or Bourbon-themed Christmas shopping, I recommend you get here soon.

Staff members pitch in to decorate the museum, November 3, 2021

Here’s a quick video showcasing why I think our team here at the Frazier is so special!

We also just launched our next Bourbon program and this one has a holiday hook. In partnership with Kentucky Hall of Fame author Peggy Noe Stevens and Susan Reigler, the Frazier will host Michter’s Bourbon for a tasting, pairing, and book signing event on December 15.

In this week’s Virtual Frazier Magazine, Casey Harden lays out the 2022 exhibition schedule with help from Brian West who, in support of our Rivalries exhibit, writes about some of the trash-talking clashes that have made competition in Kentucky so special.

We also debut two new Bourbon features this week. Kentucky Peerless kicks off our Kentucky Bourbon Distillery Spotlight; then, our curator Amanda Briede offers up the first of our staff-picked favorite Bourbon brands. Toss in an education initiative inspired by a recent visit from Presentation Academy and a little “History All Around Us” from Rachel Platt and this VFM will have you busy reading through Thursday.

But we start with details about how you can get involved in an upcoming toy drive, the Clothe the West initiative, here at the Frazier, in December. I hope you enjoy!

Bridging the Divide

Rebecca Ward on Clothe the West

With our exhibition West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation, part of our hope is to get people to bridge the divide in our city by visiting the nine neighborhoods west of Ninth Street. They can visit one of the many beautiful parks, or perhaps go out to eat in that area, to make a connection in some way.

We want to provide you with another way to connect: It’s called Clothe the West. The Frazier History Museum is partnering with the organization for a toy drive leading up to Christmas.

The creator and founder of Clothe the West, Rebecca Ward, wants children, specifically children of color in the west end, to know they aren’t forgotten.

Ward began the organization in the midst of COVID-19 and social unrest in our city in 2020. Clothe the West is still going strong with an army of volunteers trying to keep up with the need in our community — “our” community.

It began with providing new clothing. Donations came pouring in, but so did the need for them.

Ward continues to assess those needs, and fulfill them, no questions asked of those who need a helping hand.

And we want to help by putting out the call for items for babies to young adults — that could include new items like toys, clothes, electronics, accessories, or stocking stuffers.

You can start dropping those items off now at the Frazier at the front door, where we have a decorated container inside. And if you bring an item on December 18 for our Holiday Family Day, you will receive one free admission to the museum that day.

I hope you are inspired as much as I am by Rebecca Ward, who is deciding to do something to help others. Thanks for the interview, and thanks for making us better!

This Week in the Museum

Curator’s Corner: Preview of 2022 Exhibitions The Commonwealth and Rivalries

Artwork depicting University of Louisville and University of Kentucky mascots facing off

This May, the Frazier will unveil its next permanent exhibition, The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall. The exhibit will explore Kentucky’s rich history with the aim to tell the stories of diverse Kentuckians so that all visitors, no matter their background, can see themselves in the story of Kentucky. This immersive exhibit will explore the Kentucky-Indigenous people, frontier life, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the people of Kentucky. We are proud to partner with the (Un)Known Project, led by artist-run IDEAS xLab, to include a specific space to discuss and reflect on the stories and history of the enslaved individuals that lived in Kentucky. This exhibit is supported by the James Graham Brown Foundation and the National Endowment of Humanities.

In the fall of 2022, Rivalries will open at the Frazier History Museum. This will be a fun, experiential exhibition, one that highlights the most iconic competitive clashes in the history of Kentucky along with the most memorable trash-talking moments of those titanic struggles. From the Cats and Cards to historic high school rivalries, if you don’t hold a degree of respect for a rival, it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying to knock them on the seat of their pants. From the Hatfields and McCoys who inspired the TV show Family Feud to rival newspaper editors who settled their disputes with a duel, the first state west of the Appalachian Mountains is chock-full of heroes, villains, players, coaches, companies, fans, and historical figures who take competition to a higher level. Love them or hate them, you’ll meet them in this exhibition.

Five Notable Sports Rivalries in Kentucky History

It looks like sports fans in the Commonwealth are ready to turn the page on college football, after disappointing losses by both of the state’s major schools the weekend before last. But, before that happens, it might be worthwhile to take stock and marvel at the myriad sports rivalries that have made our collective sports landscape what it is today.

So, in honor of this diverse heritage, and to celebrate the announcement of the Frazier’s upcoming Rivalries exhibition, here are my top five sports rivalries in the Commonwealth — in no particular order.

University of Kentucky vs. University of Louisville Men’s Basketball

With no long-lasting professional sports culture in Kentucky, this rivalry between the state’s two most populous cities is as close as the Commonwealth has gotten to date to match the passions and intrigue of those rivalries found in the so-called big leagues. Nowhere is this more evident than in the rivalry between the men’s college basketball teams of both schools.

Beginning sporadically in the 1910s, the rivalry was mostly a one-sided affair with Kentucky winning the majority of the contests through the mid-20th century. And outside of postseason play, the two schools did not play one another for twenty years. However, with the rising prominence of the NCAA tournament and the concomitant success of the Cardinals, the rivalry reared its head in the 1983 NCAA Elite Eight game, with Denny Crum’s Cardinals besting Joe B. Hall’s Wildcats in overtime 80 – 68

Since that time, the schools have faced off each December. The next match-up will be near Christmas 2021 in Lexington.

All-time Series lead, Wildcats 37 – 17

Kentucky Colonels vs. Indiana Pacers

Though a short-lived rivalry, this professional basketball battle was one the most storied in the history of the American Basketball Association of the late 1960s to mid-1970s. The two teams were natural rivals by virtue of proximity and league configuration. The two teams were in the same division. There were only 110 miles separating the home courts of the Pacers (Indianapolis) from that of the Colonels (Louisville). As a result, the teams could not resist becoming heated rivals.

The Pacers were the Team of the ABA, winning three world championships in five ABA Finals appearances, the most by any ABA squad. And with the Colonels being in the same division as the Pacers, the Kentucky squad were the perennial bridesmaids to the Pacers in the playoffs in 1969, 1970, and 1973. In 1975, the Colonels finally bested the Pacers 4 games to 1 in the 1975 ABA Finals.

Unfortunately, the Pacers might have had the last laugh as an organization, with the Pacers surviving the ABA folding, and joining the rival NBA in 1976, with the Colonels being the odd man out of the expansion of NBA and folding that same year.

All-time playoff series lead, Pacers 4 series wins – 3 series losses

Muhammad Ali vs. “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier

This rivalry was both perceived, and contested, at various levels. First, there was the competitive aspect. Ali, who was forced to relinquish his Heavyweight Boxing title in 1967, was eager to regain his crown in 1971 from the defending champion, Philadelphia native Joe Frazier.

Yet, Frazier thought that he was not given the respect from the general public due him, despite winning the title in an elimination tournament after Ali had abdicated his crown. To add gas to the fire was the perception that Ali was “The People’s Champion,” symbolically and literally. The scores were settled on 1971 at Madison Square Garden in what was called the “Fight of the Century,” in which Ali and Frazier fought toe to toe for fifteen rounds, with Frazier walloping Ali with a left hook that broke Ali’s jaw and knocked him down for only the fourth time in his storied career.

Frazier won the fight by unanimous decision, earning the Louisville Lip’s respect and admiration. However, Ali demanded a rematch, which Frazier eventually granted in 1974. Ali won this time by unanimous decision in eleven rounds.

The rubber match occurred in the Philippines on October 1, 1975. This last bout, nicknamed “the Thrilla in Manila,” took a much more sinister turn, as Frazier accused Ali of insulting him when he compared Frazier to a “gorilla” in the lead up to the match.

This fight nearly went the distance too before the thirteenth round, when Ali landed a right hand punch that sent Frazier’s mouth piece flying. This convinced Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch that Frazier had had enough. And though Frazier lasted one more round, Futch threw in the proverbial towel at the start of the fifteenth round, conceding victory to Ali.

Later in life, Ali was quoted as saying that the third and final fight with Frazier was as close as he ever had gotten to a near death experience in a match, so ferocious a beating he received at the hands of Frazier in Manila. And, though the two men began their rivalry as friends, the two would leave their last bout as bitter enemies, remaining so for the rest of their lives.

Ali is congratulated by his fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco, left, and Bundini Brown, behind Ali, after winning by TKO against Joe Frazier, October 1, 1975. Credit: *Courier Journal*.

Centre College vs. Transylvania University

Two of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the state also happen to share the distinction of having staged the first ever intercollegiate football game in the South. On April 9, 1880, Centre played then-named Kentucky University at City Park in Lexington. The squad from Danville bested the team from Transy, 13 ¾ to 0.

These days, the two schools are better known as being among the best bargains to pursue a liberal arts education in the South, with Centre ranking twenty-sixth in US News & World Report’s 2022 edition of Best Value Schools of the United States, and Transy coming in at fifty-eighth.

Male High School vs. duPont Manual High School

This Louisville high school rivalry is older than many professional sports leagues. It dates back to 1893, in fact, and is considered one of the oldest prep school rivalries in the United States.

The winner of each contest gets the right to house the barrel, a wooden barrel painted on one side with the colors and logos of Male High School and the logo and colors of Manual on the other.

Until 1980, the Male-Manual football game was played on Thanksgiving day. Nowadays, the two schools play one another at the end of the regular season in high school football.

All time series lead, Male at 81 wins – 45 losses – 6 ties

So, those are my top rivalries. What are some of your favorite local rivalries? What are some of the under-discussed and underreported rivalries (non-sports are welcome too) that deserve to be spotlighted? Which rivalries do think might be worthy of inclusion in our upcoming Rivalries exhibit next fall?

Drop a line or two at info@fraziermuseum.org to chime in.

Kentucky Bourbon Distillery Spotlight: Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co.

We currently offer three different experiences.

First, our Distillery Tour and Tasting is a behind-the-scenes experience where guests hear the history and see the process. Peerless Bourbon and Rye whiskey are made under one roof from grain to bottle. This experience ends with a curated tasting of our Small Batch Bourbon, our Small Batch Rye, a distillery-select Single Barrel Bourbon, and a distillery-select Single Barrel Rye. This experience lasts approximately 1.25 hours and is $24 a person or $12 for Veterans and guests 55+. Tours are complimentary for Active Military. The tours do require reservations, which can be made on our website.

Second, the Sensory, or Tasting, Experience is a 45-minute guided tasting of our Small Batch Bourbon, our Small Batch Rye, a distillery-select Single Barrel Bourbon, and a distillery-select Single Barrel Rye. There will be some history included and the guide will go over the process of our whiskies and what makes them different. The Tasting Experience is $12 per person or $8 for Veterans and guests 55+. The tastings do require reservations and can be made on our website.

Third, the Heritage Tour experience is a specially curated experience for a special occasion, Bourbon connoisseurs, or those simply looking for a private and elevated experience. This tour begins with either Corky Taylor, CEO and Fourth Generation, or Carson Taylor, President and Fifth Generation, giving the family history portion of the tour. The guests will be led through the process of cooking, fermentation, distillation, bottling, and barrel-making. Master Distiller Caleb Kilburn guides guests through the distillation and dumps a barrel for guests to taste. The tour then ends in our Speakeasy with a specially selected tasting with products with limited availability. This experience is $75 per person. The Heritage Tour is only offered Monday through Thursday, by request and availability only. Requests for this experience can be made through our website.

Our current offerings are as follows:

Small Batch Bourbon: $79
Small Batch Rye: $89
Chocolate Manhattan Single Barrel Bourbon*: $124
Double Oak Small Batch Bourbon: $134
Double Oak Single Barrel Rye: $139
Rye Tai Single Barrel Rye*: $124

For more information, visit kentuckypeerless.com.

*Names based on tasting notes. No flavor added.

Engaging Students and Educators With West of Ninth

How does where you live affect how you live? What story does West Louisville tell? The Frazier Museum education team will be exploring these questions and many others with local students and teachers throughout the school year.

During a field trip to visit the West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation exhibition, students will experience an introduction to the exhibit and its central themes, investigate the artifacts, stories, and historical policies shared in the exhibit, and view a screening of the documentary The Beecher Terrace Story created by local filmmaker Lavel D. White which shares the history and stories of the people who lived in the Beecher Terrace Housing Community in West Louisville. Pre- and post-visit resources will include a video interview with Frazier exhibits staff covering the inspiration behind the look of the exhibition and logo design as well as an interview with Walt and Shae Smith, creators of the West of Ninth blog and guest curators of the exhibition. Free visits are available for Title 1 schools as funding allows.

“Transformative, thought-provoking, moving” — those are just a few of the words students from Presentation Academy shared with us as part of the student feedback process after their recent visit. Below I’ve include just a few more of the many impactful student statements:

“The film [The Beecher Terrace Story] we watched . . . made it feel more real and in touch with the actual people and issues, rather than a person speaking on their behalf.”
“It was eye-opening to see what’s going on in our own city that many are oblivious to.”
“The West of Ninth exhibit was one of the most powerful displays of information I have ever seen… I want my parents, my aunts, my uncles, and my cousins to see this exhibit. I want my family to learn the information that I learned.”
“Something tiny can change your point of view about your life.”
“The portion that resonated with me was the [redlining] map of different parts of Louisville. It was hard to see and acknowledge but it was an important map to relate to.”

Free viewing for educators: On November 20, 2021 from 12 to 5 p.m., teachers are invited to a free educator viewing of the West of Ninth exhibition in combination with a complimentary visit to the Muhammad Ali Center to experience their Truth Be Told exhibition on the same day. To learn more or make reservations, click here.

If you have thoughts or questions about educational opportunities related to the Frazier’s exhibit, please feel free to reach out at education@fraziermuseum.org.

What a Frazier History Museum Membership Means

What does it mean to be a member? We know the dictionary’s description — but to us at the Frazier Museum, being a member means so much more. You and your family mean so much more to us and our community.

At the Frazier, when you become a member, you encourage the growth in our mission.

You amplify our abilities to ignite the human spirit with thoughtfully crafted stories that spark curiosity about who we are and our connection to the future.

Becoming a member means something different for everyone. But the outcome of building a connection to our futures as individuals, families, and a community becomes our north star. When you step inside the Frazier, it is easy to be overcome with awe as you dive head first into the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®. Continuing through the museum, an overwhelming sense of pride and joy begin to surface. Those emotions, that feeling you cannot seem to put into words, that curiosity and sense of elation is easy to explain. That is what happens when you experience the stories of Kentucky. That is what happens when your spirit is ignited.

Come experience more — become a member of the Frazier today!

Everyone belongs and is included within our stories of Kentucky. Membership and access to those stories should be no different.

We have made membership prices more affordable than ever before, and the benefits and savings are noteworthy!

Individuals can become a member for $20 and families for $50!

Individual or Family Membership Benefits

Free admission for one year
Subscription to our weekly Virtual Frazier Magazine email
10% discount on purchases in the Museum Store*
50% discounted parking in the Frazier Museum parking lot
Optional Smithsonian Affiliate Membership for an additional $15
Discounted registration to Education camps

*Exclusions Apply

Memberships can be purchased online, in person, or over the phone.

Give us a call at (502) 753-5663.

Staff Pick

Bourbon Staff Pick: Amanda Briede on New Riff

The Frazier History Museum is the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, so it seems only fitting we should lift a glass to the holidays and say cheers. From November 8 through December 27, each issue of Virtual Frazier Magazine will feature a different staff member’s Bourbon pick for the holidays. Keep in mind, not everyone is a Bourbon expert; however, we all have our reasons for what we like, and we’ll share those with you. And yes, every featured product is sold in our Museum Store, so thank you for asking — and buying!

It is my distinct honor to bring you the very first Bourbon Staff Pick of this holiday season! I started seriously drinking Bourbon while in graduate school in Virginia (because I missed Kentucky) and since have made it a mission to try as many as I can. My boyfriend and I have amassed a fairly large and diverse collection. He prefers hot, high-proof Bourbons, whereas I tend to like mine a little on the sweeter, smoother side. I never drink Bourbon without being transported to my mom’s kitchen, helping her make Bourbon-chocolate-pecan pies for a certain horse race on the first Sunday of May. And I have very strong opinions that Bourbon should be enjoyed neat.

When I first started getting into Bourbon, many of the distilleries were centered around Frankfort and Bardstown. But now, with the popularity of Bourbon ever rising, distilleries are starting to spring up all over the state. For my Bourbon pick, I decided to choose one from Northern Kentucky, where I grew up. There are several distilleries there to choose from: Second Sight Spirits in Ludlow, Boone County Distilling Co. in Independence, the Neely Family Distillery in Sparta, and the Old Pogue Distillery in Maysville. But my favorite comes from New Riff Distilling in Newport.

Though I have had a few of New Riff’s Single Barrel Bourbons, I prefer their standard one, with a mash bill of 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. The Bourbon is bottled in bond without chill filtration and aged four years in a toasted and charred oak barrel. I think that it is the high proof (100) and complexity of this Bourbon that makes it so popular in my house, with tasting notes of caramel and vanilla that quickly fade into cinnamon and black pepper. On the nose, I find notes of apple, vanilla, cinnamon, and other baking spices, perfect for sipping in the fall and winter (or any time, really).

The Frazier gift shop sells New Riff for $45 a bottle, a pretty good price for a Bourbon that is not only one of my favorites, but also one that won a Double Gold Medal at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, one of the world’s most respected whiskey awards competitions.

Amanda Briede
Curator

Holiday Staff Pick: Simon Meiners on Frazier Facade Ornaments and Stickers

We take great pride in the Frazier’s Museum Store, which has unique offerings that celebrate our state, our heritage, Frazier exhibitions, and so much more. It may be the perfect place to do your holiday shopping, and we are here to help you. From November 8 through December 20, each issue of Virtual Frazier will feature a different staff member highlighting their favorite items sold in the store.

When it comes to the goods in our gift shop, I’m partial to the official Frazier History Museum souvenirs. Not only do we sell Frazier-branded baseball caps and orange- and cobalt-colored pencils, we’ve got nifty renderings of the “Doerhoefer Building” — the building the museum occupies.

Fun fact: D. X. Murphy and Bros. — the architectural firm that designed the iconic Twin Spires atop the grandstand at Churchill Downs — also drew the plans for the Doerhoefer!

Established in 1898 and built of cast iron and yellow-buff brick, the Doerhoefer is in fact a complex of four adjoining buildings with common walls and a single façade. It spans four typical Main Street fronts (827 – 833) before it rounds the corner of Ninth Street with an oriel topped with a cornice roof.

We stock both woodcut tree ornaments and stickers — designed by local artist Bri Bowers — that illustrate the exterior of the Doerhoefer, including its defining copper-topped cupola. These small artworks would make great holiday gifts for any architecture nerd or Louisville history buff in your life.

Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist

Sculptor Ed Hamilton’s Statue of Julius L. Chambers

There is no one cooler than sculptor Ed Hamilton, who is part of our Cool Kentucky exhibition at the Frazier History Museum. And now, Ed has made his mark again, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ed’s newest statue, honoring civil rights lawyer Julius L. Chambers, was unveiled recently along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway in midtown, as part of the Trail of History.

Chambers is the trail’s ninth statue.

Ed’s family was by his side for the ceremony, along with friends Elmer Lucille Allen and Ed White. We thank Elmer Lucille for sending us these pictures.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

2022 Exhibitions Preview, Kentucky Bourbon Distillery Spotlight, Sculptor Ed Hamilton’s Statue of Julius L. Chambers, and More

Playlist of Louisville Music, 1924 – 2020; Edgardo Mansilla on Americana, 190th Anniversary of Presentation Academy, and More

Rachel Grimes Film Screenings, Tyler Gerth Photography Exhibit, Frazier Museum Permanent Collection Web Pages, and More