Love & Marriage Exhibition, Origin of Lincoln Logs, Horse Cave’s Harlem Globetrotters, and More
Good Monday morning!
As I am sure you’re aware, this Friday is Valentine’s Day! It’s a day to celebrate love of all kinds, and the perfect opportunity to tell you about our next exhibition.
Love & Marriage will showcase courtship and wedding traditions in Kentucky over the past 150 years. This exhibition will feature the largest number of historic costumes that we have ever had on display, with nearly sixty mannequins in all, including fifty dresses. But this exhibition is so much more than just clothing. Love & Marriage discusses the fight for marriage equality among interracial and same-sex couples. It features cultural traditions from around the world that have made their way to Kentucky. You will learn about the historic origins of enduring wedding traditions and about the ways dating has changed over the past century and a half. We truly believe that it is going to be one of our best exhibitions yet, with a little something for everyone.
The Frazier’s exhibitions team works on Love & Marriage, February 2025.
These last couple of months before an exhibition opens are always the most exciting. Everything that we have been planning for more than a year is becoming reality: all my writing is complete, Tish is beginning to dress mannequins, Nick is finalizing designs for panels, and Lucas is constructing a huge number of platforms. Nearly every dress is on site and hanging in collections storage, and it’s so exciting to see them all together. Love & Marriage officially opens at our Night at the Frazier gala this year on Saturday, April 5. Stay tuned for more details about tickets so that you can be one of the first to see this incredible exhibition!
In today’s issue of Frazier Weekly, Tish previews a beautiful piece to be featured in Love & Marriage, Mick looks back at Abraham Lincoln’s 100th birthday in 1909, and Erine teases our February 22 event spaces open house.
Make it a great week!
Amanda Briede
Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
From the Collections: Rosamond Solinger’s Wedding Dress, 1935
Rosamond Solinger’s wedding dress from 1935. Part of the Frazier History Museum collection. Inset is a photo of Rosamond wearing her dress published on section 3, page 5, of the December 22, 1935, Courier Journal. The photo caption identifies the bride as “Rosalind”; however, her wedding announcement identifies her as “Rosamond.” Credit: Walton Jones, Courier Journal.
Now that we’ve announced our next exhibition, Love & Marriage, we’d like to preview some of the wedding dresses to be featured in it!
Today’s bride is Rosamond Solinger, who married Max Goldberg on December 1, 1935, right here in Louisville, Kentucky. The bride and groom were married on the rooftop garden of the Brown Hotel by Rabbi J. J. Gittleman and Rabbi Brilliant officiating. The bride wore this cream-colored velvet dress with a Queen Anne corded velvet collar, a high neckline, and a beaded belt. We know from her December 15 wedding announcement in the Courier Journal that she wore orange blossoms in her veil and her bouquet was made of gardenia and lilies of the valley. We also know that her matron of honor wore a fuchsia velvet dress, her maid of honor wore a turquoise velvet dress, and her bridesmaid wore a purple velvet dress.
After the wedding, the bride and groom honeymooned in Florida and Cuba before returning to Louisville on Christmas Eve. They settled at 1514 Norris Place near Eastern Parkway in the Deer Park neighborhood.
We are excited to show you this dress and even more excited for you to see it in our upcoming exhibition!
Tish Boyer
Registrar & Manager of Collections Engagement
Last Chance for a Kentucky Hug!
Kentucky Hug Bourbon tasting experience graphic.
Looking for the perfect Valentine’s, Galentine’s, or BFF date? Don’t miss out on the Kentucky Hug Tasting Experience! Savor exclusive Kentucky Bourbons, explore the Frazier Museum, and discover what makes Kentucky cool. Plus, for a limited time, enjoy $2 off your ticket! Book now before it’s gone!
Are Lincoln Logs Inspired by Abraham Lincoln?
A box of Lincoln Logs on display in the American Presidency: A Glorious Burden exhibition at the National Museum of American History (NMAH) in Washington, DC, June 5, 2009. Credit: Wally Gobetz. Flickr.
In the years after World War I, Lincoln Logs found their way into American homes in vast numbers. Original sets of the toy came with plans to build reproductions of the fictitious Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as well as the not-so-fictional log cabin that sheltered young Abraham Lincoln. That cabin was located at Sinking Spring Farm outside Hodgenville in what is now LaRue County, Kentucky. The era’s growing fascination with Lincoln, coupled with the ease of building a simple wooden home similar to the Lincoln cabin, probably led the inventor to the name “Lincoln Logs.”
But there’s perhaps another connection.
The inventor was John Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1917, John was working in Japan with his famous father, who had been asked to design an earthquake-proof hotel in Tokyo. The resulting Imperial Hotel was built for stability with giant interlocking timbers, very similar to the basic concept of Lincoln Logs. During the job, the father and son had a blow-up and John returned to America. With the ideas of the Imperial Hotel fresh in his mind and joyful memories of the building blocks of his youth, he developed the new toy. He was officially awarded the patent in 1920. Lincoln Logs were an immediate hit and remain popular today.
There is some belief that Frank Lloyd Wright’s name at birth was actually Frank Lincoln Wright—which might add a slight twist to the Lincoln Logs story. This detail is apocryphal, though, so we don’t know for sure that this served as inspiration for John’s blocks. What we do know for sure is that there was an intense interest in Abraham Lincoln and American identity at the time. To a great degree, that exploded just a decade before in the celebrations around Abraham Lincoln’s 100th birthday in 1909. The center of that centennial celebration was Hodgenville, LaRue County, Kentucky.
As part of our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit, we created a video with friends at the Lincoln Museum that details some of the history of the centennial. You can watch it here or find it in our 120 exhibit.
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience
Highlights of 120: Hart County: Harlem Globetrotters
120: Cool KY Counties graphic.
Did you Hart County, Kentucky, has produced not one but two Harlem Globetrotters?
Settled in the 1840s, Horse Cave, Kentucky, was allegedly named for a horse that fell into a cave.
In the 1940s, Carl “Kingfish” Helem (1926–2001) and Clarence “Cave” Wilson Sr. (1926–96) each lived on the west side of town and attended Horse Cave Colored School. They each went on to play basketball for the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters.
In 1957, Horse Cave integrated its schools—eighteen years before Louisville did. At the time, Black residents made up about eleven percent of the 2,500-person town.
“I’ve been told from the state level this is one of the smoothest integrations this side of the Mason-Dixon line,” Mayor of Horse Cave Randall Curry told the Frazier.
Learn more about Horse Cave, Helem, and Wilson in the following video. It’s one of hundreds of stories featured in our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Frazier’s Events Team to Host Open House February 22
Frazier Event Spaces Open House flyer.
Unlock the door to endless possibilities and join us at our Open House to discover the ultimate event destination for your special day!
Enjoy guided tours of our eight unique spaces, meet our expert event coordinators, and get exclusive insights on how to customize your event.
Mark your calendars—we can’t wait to see you there between Saturday, February 22, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.!
Walk-ins are of course welcome, but we do encourage scheduling an appointment to avoid waiting. So please contact us at events@fraziermuseum.org.
Erine Sato
Sr. Director of Events
Bridging the Divide
Candy for Caring, Inc., has Donated Thousands to Local Charities
Candy for Caring, Inc., volunteers make candy.
Candy for Caring, Inc., Director Debra Kehl delivers donation to Uniting Partners for Women and Children, March 2024.
As we look ahead to Valentine’s Day, I can’t help but think if we lead with love and compassion, the world will be a better place. I am going to add chocolate to that list to bring those three concepts together for this following article. Candy for Caring is a ministry through chocolates. Share a little love, compassion, and chocolates this week and keep reading to learn more about the nonprofit.—Rachel Platt, VP of Mission
Our History. Sister Margaret Regina Murphy, SCN, was urged by the Spirit in 1996 to do something to help those in our community who are hungry, homeless, and sick. Her thoughts turned to what she could do to impact these lives. She liked to make candy and so began her ministry in the convent above St. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital. Within a year she had outgrown the space and moved the facility to a house two blocks away on LaSalle Avenue. In 2021, from that location, the business moved again a few blocks away. Today, we are located at 4335 Hazelwood Avenue on the campus of St. Simon and Jude Church. Imagine, we looked at and renovated some old classrooms where we operate. We have over sixty volunteers who work year-round to make Sisters’ delicious homemade chocolates. Those who know us continue to support our sales and those who have never heard of us are amazed at our history, our ministry, and our candies.
What We Do. Our volunteers make a variety of candies such as: almond brittle, turtles, bourbon balls, fudge, and much more! These are sold through direct orders, sales at hospitals in lobby areas, annual craft shows, and other events. Volunteers work three to four hours once a week. We have a committee of ten who gather for monthly meetings. We are a 501(c)(3) small business. We make candy and sell it, and all proceeds after expenses are donated to local charities. Since the beginning, we have donated thousands of dollars to approved local charities. A list of charities we help through our candy sales includes: the Healing Place, South Louisville Community Ministries, Hildegard House, St. John Center, and more.
Visit Us. Website: CandyforCaring.org. Address: Candy for Caring, Inc., 4335 Hazelwood Ave., Louisville, KY, 40215. Phone: (502) 625-5412. Email: info@candyforcaring.org.
Debra Kehl
Director, Candy for Caring, Inc.
Guest Contributor
Kentucky Opera Shines a Light on Fannie Lou Hamer
This Little Light of Mine graphic. Credit: Kentucky Opera.
Get ready for Kentucky Opera’s first commission since 1988. Its upcoming show on February 21 and 23, This Little Light of Mine, is a project Barbara Lynne Jamison, the General Director and CEO of Kentucky Opera, has been working on since 2016. Tickets are available online.
The show centers on the story of Fannie Lou Hamer, a courageous woman who championed the rights of all American citizens to vote. She stood up against voter suppression of eligible Black voters in the 1960s and used her voice to educate, empower, and inspire all Americans to use their voices at the ballot box.
And wherever Fannie Lou Hamer spoke, she also sang. This opera includes many of the familiar spirituals that she sang at her public speeches.
As Barbara Lynne Jamison says, Hamer’s legacy shines as an extraordinary reminder that each of us has a light with the power to illuminate the world.
Shine on!
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
