Spring Free Family Day, Women’s History Month Tours, 1876 Kentucky Meat Shower, and More
It’s the first Monday in March, which means spring is just around the corner! Or does it mean we should expect one last snowstorm? Or is it two weeks in the seventies then a deep freeze followed by a pollen explosion and a swarm of cicadas? I’ve lived in Louisville for more than a decade and I still can’t figure out this weather.
Two things I know for sure, though, are that spring will officially begin on Thursday, March 20, at 5:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and that the Frazier History Museum will host our Spring Free Family Day this Saturday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.!
Spring Free Family Day flyer.
Young visitors pose with the Colonel Sanders mannequin at the Frazier, November 5, 2024.
When you come to the museum this Saturday, and I hope that you will, you’ll experience hands-on learning activities, musical history performances, electronic beat–making house plants (more on this below), practical jokes, Mexican food, community enhancements, and a museum-wide scavenger hunt—all completely free of charge thanks to our friends at Kosair for Kids.
Our guests for the day will include Waterfront Park, who will preview an upcoming park expansion right across the road from the Frazier; Louisville Grows with a seed planting table; and music educators/producers/deejays Rhythm Science Sound, who will lead audiences through a fascinating musical program you’ll have to hear to believe. Through the power of science, facilitators Jared and Scz will find the natural rhythms and harmonies produced by all living things. You’ll have two chances to hear the music of soil and potted plants at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and in between those performances, the Frazier’s own Mick Sullivan will perform a unique musical history show of his own creation all about John Banvard and the Longest Painting in the World.
The Frazier’s education staff will also prepare you to play the perfect April Fools’ Day prank on your family with a table of easy, silly, harmless jokes for all ages. You’ll also have the chance to sign up for the Frazier’s Spring Break Camp where kids can put those skills to good use. And when you’ve seen it all, completed the scavenger hunt, danced with a philodendron, and worked up an appetite, Ramiro’s Cantina will be on site ready to serve you.
In today’s issue of Frazier Weekly, Membership Coordinator Gwendolyn Gray introduces herself, Hikes Point native Deanna O’Daniel speaks on the fight for women’s freedom, and Mick Sullivan celebrates the anniversary of the 1876 Kentucky meat shower, which took place in Bath County 149 years ago today.
Happy (almost) spring, everyone!
Kent Klarer
Sr. Manager of Youth Programs & Education Advancement
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Museum Shop: Spring Free Family Day
Assorted items sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop.
Be sure to pop in the Frazier’s Museum Shop during the Spring Free Family Day this Saturday! Browse our collection of fun books and history-themed toys to take home a special souvenir from your visit. You can also visit the Museum Shop online.
Curator’s Corner: Frazier’s Cool Kentucky Section Highlights Women’s History
Detail of photograph of landscape architect Ruth Rabold, 1933. A pair of her gardening shears are on display at the Frazier. Credit: Kentucky Monthly.
During Women’s History Month every year, I find myself thinking back to our 2020 exhibition What is a Vote Worth? Suffrage Then and Now. It was one of the first exhibitions that I curated, and it was incredibly meaningful for me to spend so much time learning about women’s history nationally and in Kentucky. I learned about so many incredible and inspiring women and even had the opportunity to visit the grave of Elizabeth Cady Stanton with her great-great-granddaughter. While not every exhibition can be focused on women’s history, I always try to include women’s stories whenever I can and honor women in ways they have not been previously. For example, in our upcoming exhibition Love & Marriage, many of the old accession records for the wedding dresses refer to the bride only by her husband’s name. We have taken great pains to research the couples and find out the brides’ names.
In Cool Kentucky, there is a special section that focuses on women’s history. It features the stories of some of the coolest Kentuckians that just so happen to be women: Ruth Rabold, Kentucky’s first female landscape architect; Henrietta Bingham, a jazz-age LGBTQ+ icon; Georgia Davis Powers, the first African American elected to the Kentucky State Senate; and more. This case is far from being the only inspiring female stories in Cool Kentucky, but it’s a great place to start if you want to learn more about women’s history in Kentucky. I also recommend paying close attention to the framed profiles in The Commonwealth: Divided we Fall. Women’s stories are featured throughout that exhibition as well.
When you visit the Frazier this month, I hope you take some time to learn more about the stories of some incredible Kentucky women!
Amanda Briede
Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Frazier to Adapt Guided Tours in March for Women’s History Month
Our galleries are filled with some of the most amazing women in history, and no surprise—they’re Kentuckians!
During the month of March, our daily tours will include highlights of some of these incredible women—from Oksana Masters to Mary Merritt to the Hill sisters and beyond.
Tours run Monday–Saturday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m., so come join us. No matter what tour you join, you’re going to hear some great stories of Kentuckians! Secure your admission tickets today.
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience
Introducing the Frazier’s Membership Coordinator Gwendolyn Gray
Gwendolyn Gray, February 7, 2025.
Hello everyone! My name is Gwendolyn, and I am the new Membership Coordinator here at the Frazier. I grew up in Louisville and graduated from duPont Manual High School before going to college at a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania for history.
I am so excited to be working as the Membership Coordinator. As a history lover and a bona fide extrovert, this job is the best of both worlds. My role is to not only serve as a point of contact for our members, but to do everything I can to enhance the membership experience. I am always happy to answer questions or talk about concerns, so feel free to contact me! My email is ggray@fraziermuseum.org and my office phone is (502) 753-1031.
Next week we are rolling out some exciting new levels for 2025, which offer more benefits than ever before. With our Individual, Family Contributor, Traveler, and Sustainer levels, members get more.
I look forward to meeting you here at the Frazier! Make sure to read the March 10 Frazier Weekly to get the full scoop on membership.
Gwendolyn Gray
Membership Coordinator
ABA Marketplace Boosts Motorcoach and Tour Business at the Frazier
Stephen Yates leads a group tour of the Frazier’s Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition, April 16, 2022.
For the last seven years, I have had the privilege of representing the Frazier at the ABA Marketplace. This past February was no different as I attended the ABA Marketplace in Philadelphia. The ABA stands for the American Bus Association, and it is the largest annual travel show in the motorcoach industry. Marketplace is the iconic show to expand your motorcoach and group travel or tour business in North America. ABA uses proven events and innovative technologies for an individualistic experience and the greatest return on investment for the Frazier.
The nuts and bolts of the Marketplace are the prescheduled appointments that put you face to face with tour company owners and planners. Think of a speed dating setting where you get seven minutes to make your pitch to convince your appointment to not only to come to Louisville but more specifically bring a group or groups to the Frazier. For a point of reference, at the first ABA Marketplace I attended, I was only able to secure thirteen appointments. Over time and by continuing to go to the Marketplace on an annual basis, I have established relationships and built the Frazier to be a must-visit destination for groups coming to Louisville. This year, I had forty-five appointments—half of which were existing customers while the other half were future customers. Travel planners now know the Frazier by name and all the wonderful offerings we have for groups. This event also offers numerous networking opportunities that have allowed me over the years to establish relationships that have translated into business.
Below are some facts from the 2025 marketplace that illustrate how vital this show is for my motorcoach business.
2,880 people attended the show
1,033 motorcoach and tour operators were in attendance
289 motorcoach and tour operator delegates took appointments all week
40 appointments on average were prescheduled for each seller (1,816 manual appointments scheduled)
In conclusion, I wanted to inform our readers about the biggest travel trade show for motorcoaches and how it helps to keep buses rolling into the Frazier on a regular basis. Marketplace has been the number one way for me to cultivate business nationally by establishing and maintaining relationships that I utilize on a regular basis.
Stephen Yates
Community & Corporate Sales Manager
Frazier-Featured Blues Musician Nat Myers Fighting Stage IV Cancer
Nat Myers performs at the Huercasa Festival in Riaza, Spain, July 6, 2024.
Nat Myers plays guitar in his hospital bed, February 2025.
On February 9, rising star musician Nathan “Nat” Myers entered the emergency room. He spent the next two and a half weeks in the hospital being treated for stage IV cancer.
“As many of yall know I have been laid low by a rare cancer called a sarcoma,” Nat announced in a February 24 Instagram post. “What I thought was a prolonged lung infection turned out to be much more sinister, with growths round my heart and pulmonary artery. Doctors of varying humanity have given me days or weeks to live but I live by my odds and not theirs.”
A native of Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky, and a University of Louisville alum, Nat is a Korean-American blues guitarist and vocalist. His debut album Yellow Peril came out June 23, 2023.
I connected with Nat that same year when I was curating the Musical Kentucky: A Song from each County playlist for the Frazier’s 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit. (He tells me we used to ride the TARC together to U of L’s campus years ago, but sadly I can’t recall.) After listening to the title track from Yellow Peril, I chose to include that song in the exhibit, representing Kenton County.
Since then, Nat’s music has been a staple on my Kentucky road trips—much like John Prine, Loretta Lynn, and the Local Honeys. His song “75-71” is peppered with references to Northern Kentucky—including Anderson Ferry, Kenton Vale, and Rabbit Hash.
Many of the other musicians featured in the Frazier’s exhibit—including Kelsey Waldon, the Kentucky Gentlemen, Nicholas Jamerson, and S. G. Goodman—have shown their support for Nat’s fight on Instagram.
“I refuse to speak from the past tense, because there is beauty and life in the struggle I am currently fighting, and I will overcome this,” Nat says. “I do not know how long this fight will take, but I know so long as my heart beats I will overcome this.”
On March 1, Nat announced he is headed to Ohio State University where the sarcoma team will continue his treatment.
You can help Nat by supporting his GoFundMe. Listen to his music in the Frazier’s 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Bridging the Divide
Hikes Point Author Deanna O’Daniel on the Fight for Women’s Freedom
Flyer for Deanna O’Daniel’s Author Visit at Louisville’s Crescent Hill Library on June 12, 2025.
She was born into a generation of children, especially women who were often characterized by their tendency to be reserved, and not openly express themselves. You know, “be seen and not heard.” As we venture into Women’s History Month, local author Deanna O’Daniel reached out to me about the different stages of her life, and three books she has written to reflect her own evolution. Keep reading to learn more about her books and her own personal journey.—Rachel Platt, VP of Mission
As a member of the “Silent Generation” (the generation born between 1939 and 1945), I have watched and participated in unbelievable changes for women! I grew up on a farm in Hikes Point. Yes, that was a rural area until the mid-1950s. As the oldest of eleven siblings, I had seven brothers under my charge, as well as three sisters. I soon noted that my brothers had many more privileges and fewer chores than I did—hence the title for my first book, Kiss your Elbow. As a youngster, I asked my grandmother, who lived with us on the farm, “When am I going to get to be a boy?!” She used a phrase for making the impossible happen: “Kiss your elbow before you go to sleep at night and you will awake as a boy!” Desperately trying her plan, I soon realized that women had to do more than wishing to gain the powers desired.
In my books, I use my life as a representative of the movement of women in the Louisville area, as we pulled away from the kitchen stove and went out into the world! Determined to have my own career, I was the first member of my family to go to college. Reaching adulthood in the early 1960s, I found that getting a degree changed my life! I joined NOW—the National Organization of Women—and the Woman’s Metropolitan Caucus, where we struggled to get credit cards in our own, and not our husband’s, name! I joined in on rallies, marches for women’s equality, and the fight for the ERA. These were not always safe—I was cursed at and had many things thrown at me. We endeavored! I admire our continuing fights for freedom!
I have recorded all three of my books. They take women from the 1940s to the present day: Kiss your Elbow, Changing the Sheets, and Opening a New Window.
I give talks on my books and the “Silent Generation” itself at libraries, churches, book clubs, and by invitation.
They can be purchased on Amazon or at any bookstore! You can also contact me over email at dodselfseek@gmail.com.
Deanna O’Daniel
Author
Guest Contributor
History All Around Us
On this Date: the Kentucky Meat Shower, March 3, 1876
Illustration of the 1876 Kentucky meat shower published in the 2019 book The Meatshower. Credit: Shae Goodlett.
Today I am not alone in celebrating 149th anniversary of the Kentucky Meat Shower, an unusual day when mysterious chunks of meat fell from the sky in Bath County, Kentucky. Back in 2019, I published a picture book with my friend and artist Shae Goodlett about the strange event. At the time, there was one known specimen surviving, and it remains at Transylvania University in Lexington. That chunk is the narrator of our story.
My favorite thing about the 1876 event is that it remains a mystery today despite scientists at the time trying to figure it out. Recently, I had an unprompted discussion about it with my eight-year-old son Owen. You can hear his thoughts here.
Last year, I interviewed Frank Reiser, a retired professor in New York who found a second specimen—on eBay, of all places! It was fun to talk to him and get his expert opinions.
If you’d like to find out for yourself you can find my book, The Meatshower, at the Frazier’s Museum Shop and online.
I’ll also do my sixth annual live reading of the book tonight at 7 p.m. to celebrate the occasion. That will happen here on YouTube Live.
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience
