Summer is upon us!

Camps are off to an amazing start, Father’s Day programming is just around the corner, and preparations for our August 6 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier are on full blast. We are also very excited about a recent award, several brand new program offerings, as well as an oldie but goodie coming back for the first time in years.

Premiering this month will be our inaugural Refresh at the Frazier: Teacher Appreciation Day. We have the utmost respect for our local teachers, administrators, and support staff and would like to give back by inviting local educators in on June 18 for a day to relax and recharge. Educators will enjoy: free museum access along with one guest of their choice; time to enjoy all museum exhibitions; guided tours; prize drawings for museum memberships and Bourbon tastings; light refreshments; chair massages from 1 to 3 p.m.; and restorative music sessions provided by music therapist Allison Cross! Reservations are not required. You can learn more by clicking here.

In today’s issue of Frazier Weekly, we’d like to give a shout out to the education team for a job well done on The Journey: Unsung Stories of the Underground Railroad, which recently won a Kentucky History Award. We also announce two new programs—one honoring Louisville’s Western Branch Library and Thomas Fountain Blue and another for Bourbon and fishing lovers titled Hooked on Baitcasting and Bourbon Stories. We have info on Louisville’s Juneteenth Jubilee, which is now underway. And we refresh your knowledge of 1920s fashion as you plan your outfit for the Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier—a popular series returning after a four-year hiatus.

There’s a lot to choose from! We hope to see you here soon.

This Week in the Museum

Frazier Education Team Wins Kentucky History Award for The Journey

Last Saturday, I, along with fellow members of the Frazier’s education team, took a little road trip to Frankfort, Kentucky, to celebrate the 2022 Kentucky History Awards. Each year, the Kentucky Historical Society honors individuals and institutions who “promote the value of Kentucky history through awareness, preservation, and appreciation of state and local history.”

Graphic for The Journey. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

The Frazier Education Team was recognized in the Special Projects category for The Journey: Unsung Stories of the Underground Railroad.

The Journey is a walkable and drivable audio tour that leads participants to significant locations along both sides of the Ohio River in order to uncover local connections to the Underground Railroad. At the center of the stories are Lucie and Thornton Blackburn, a couple who escaped enslavement in Louisville in the 1830s. The Blackburns’ story allowed us to link together important locations and people encountered on their long trek to freedom.

There are six stops in total on the tour, with the first four covering two miles in Louisville and the last two being a short drive away in New Albany, Indiana. There is between six and eight minutes of audio at each stop along the way. (Plus, the tour is completely FREE!)

Visit the Frazier’s website or check out the promotional video below in order to learn more about The Journey.

Congratulations to my fellow members of the education team and thank you to the Kentucky Historical Society for the recognition!

Honoring the Louisville Western Branch Library and Thomas Fountain Blue

Do you know the name Thomas Fountain Blue?

We certainly want you to—and we want you to know a whole lot more about him, too.

Born in Virginia in 1866, the son of former slaves, Blue came to Louisville where in 1905 he became the first African American to head a public library, the Louisville Western Branch Library.

Blue is featured in our West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation exhibition.

Graphic for the Frazier’s July 16 “Honoring the Western Branch Library and Thomas Fountain Blue” program. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

The Frazier, along with the Louisville Free Public Library, Lean Into Louisville, and Friends of Eastern Cemetery, wants you to join us on July 16 for a free bus tour and public dedication to learn all about Thomas Fountain Blue.

The bus tour has limited seating, but there is a public dedication at 1:30 p.m. at Eastern Cemetery to which everyone is invited.

To learn more about the bus tour and the program, click here.

Brief History of Baitcasting, Bass Fishing, and the Kentucky Reel

I’m excited to share with you an upcoming program here at the Frazier, brought to us by my predecessor and friend, former Frazier president Penny Peavler. The Frazier’s July 14 Hooked on Baitcasting and Bourbon Stories program combines history about how the Kentucky Reel revolutionized fishing all around the world with a few fish tales inspired by some of the best Bourbons money can’t buy. Stagg Jr., E. H. Taylor, and Blanton’s are often too hard to find, but guests to this program will get to taste all of them as they hear about Kentucky Bourbon legends who used these reels to fish Kentucky waterways. Ticket prices also include a signed copy of the book, A Brief History of Baitcasting, Bass Fishing, and the Kentucky Reel by William Hinkebein and Art Lander. Thanks to Penny, who will co-host the program with me, for bringing me this story—and thanks to the authors for the Bourbon! I’ll let Penny take it from here.—Andy Treinen, President & CEO

One of the lesser-known stories highlighted in the Frazier’s Cool Kentucky exhibition is that of the level-line multiplying gear fishing reel, generally known as the Kentucky Reel: the forerunner of today’s modern baitcasting reels. More than 200 years ago, Kentucky was—and still is—a fisherman’s paradise. Early settlers found the fish to be abundant in Kentucky’s waters, with large numbers of black bass found in the rivers and streams of central Kentucky. Thus the bass became an important early source of both food and sport for Kentuckians.

Early bass fishing in Kentucky was stream fishing, and James A. Henshall, author of Book of the Black Bass (1881), wrote that this style of fishing “constituted” the pleasure and perfection of bass angling. Three towns, all located on high-quality streams, and settled early in Kentucky history, figure prominently in the story of early bass fishing in Kentucky and the birth of the Kentucky Reel: Paris, Cynthia, and Frankfort. Later, Louisville figured into the equation as reel makers spread throughout the Commonwealth.

The anglers who came to Kentucky after the Revolutionary War were eager to catch the black bass that were so abundant in the region’s streams and rivers. However, they soon discovered that the fishing tackle and techniques with which they were familiar were not well suited to the challenges of their new environment. What anglers really needed was a multiplying reel, one that was geared so that its spool rotated multiple times with each turn of the reel’s crank. Multiplying reels made it possible to cast a baited hook farther because the line flowed more freely off the reel’s spool. Over time an ideal gear ratio of a multiplying reel used for bass fishing was found to be four-to-one, which meant that the reel’s spool rotated four times with every turn of the reel’s crank. Multiplying reels also offered another important advantage over single-action reels: a faster retrieve. If a hooked bass decided to charge, the angler could keep a tight line on a darting, acrobatic fish.

Kentucky is where the practice of casting live bait originated. This technique, and the Kentucky Reel that it spawned, revolutionized the sport of angling forever. Kentuckians made design improvements and elevated the level of precision craftsmanship to a fine art, so much so that it became one of the ways in which the state was identified worldwide.

Kentucky Reels were handmade, produced before the introduction of interchangeable parts, so each reel was a unique creation. No two had the same dimensions and they were assembled one at a time. These early reel makers, George W. Snyder (1810), J. F. and B. F. Meek (1835), and others, were all trained in fields that required precision engineering: They were watchmakers, jewelers, locksmiths, and silversmiths. The reels were highly prized and are highly collectible still today. Fashionable gentlemen of the nineteenth century ordered and fished with custom-made reels which were often engraved with the owner’s full name.

Many connections exist between the early distillers and early reel makers and Frank Stagg, the son of famed distiller George T. Stagg, married the granddaughter of B. C. Milam, Ann Milam Keenon. These reels were passed down for generations. Frank Stagg, who was the financial director of Stagg’s OFC Distillery, fished with a reel passed down for generations, eventually becoming part of the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort.

On July 14, at a very special evening at the Frazier, authors William Hinkebein and Art Lander will read from and discuss their new book, A Brief History of Baitcasting, Bass Fishing, and the Kentucky Reel. They will be joined by Tim Luscher of Sig Luscher Brewery, founded in 1866, and himself the owner of a generationally held Kentucky Reel. In addition to a copy of the new book, and the swapping of big fish stories, guests can taste some of Sig Luscher’s Pre-Prohibition Porter aged in 15-year George T. Stagg Bourbon barrels, a Kentucky Common, the Official Beer of Kentucky, E. H. Taylor Small Batch Bourbon, Blanton’s Bourbon, and Stagg Jr. Bourbon.

Join us! Click here for more information.

Object in Focus: Eleanor Dawson’s Inaugural Ball Flapper Dress, 1919

Famous for Prohibition and lively parties, the 1920s was a time of dapper pin-striped suits, feathers and fedoras, and, of course, the flapper dress. For more on that iconic piece of attire, manager of collection impact Hayley Rankin provides some historical context below. And if the Roaring Twenties aesthetic speaks to you, be sure to snag a ticket to our June 23 Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier! In addition to tasty food, Black Manhattans, and live music, there will be awards presented to the best-dress guests! We recommend 1920s attire.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

Originally, the term “flapper” or “flap” was used as slang for young prostitutes; but over time, it evolved into a word people used to describe young women who pushed against tradition by wearing their hair down as well as shorter, knee-length dresses.

The word flapper also drew upon the jazz age culture of dancing and lively music. It was a unique time in which the political movements of temperance and suffrage converged with modern consumerism, fashion, and art, resulting in a dramatic shift in women’s behavior and appearance. In place of corsets and propriety were the boyish “bob” hairstyles and dresses that emphasized a flat, loose shape. Flappers were the visual representation of the spirit of spontaneity, sexual liberation, and independence that followed the combined trauma of the Great War and influenza epidemic.

Flapper dress Eleanor Sharp Hopson Dawson wore at Governor Edwin Morrow’s inaugural ball in Frankfort, Kentucky, on December 9, 1919. Part of the Frazier History Museum Collection. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

One hundred years later, we today have entered the ‘20s following a significant global pandemic—perhaps with a similar renewed sense of freedom and the importance of living in the moment. On June 23, the return of the Frazier’s Speakeasy series—this time brought to us by Michter’s—presents the perfect opportunity to embrace a bit of excess and excitement in 1920s fashion. To provide inspiration for a memorable outfit, here is a flapper dress from the museum’s permanent collection.

If the flapper dress was the attire, then speakeasies were the place you went to escape the rules and push the limits. Get your tickets to the Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier if you haven’t already!

Subscribe to LOUtoday for Chance to Win Michter’s Speakeasy Tickets

Graphic for LOUtoday’s offer to win two tickets to Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

Sign Up to Win Now

Museum Store: Handcrafted Barrel Stave Pens for Special Occasions

We are proud to feature these handcrafted barrel stave pens in the Museum Store. They’re excellent for both dads and grads—and the gift box is so nice you don’t have to wrap it! Purchase one here and have it delivered at no charge.

Louisville Family-owned Wooden Pen Maker Roots & Jones

Roots & Jones is a storytelling company my grandfather Jim Cantrell and I founded. A hobby that started in an old barn wood shop in the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky, it has been passed down from one generation to the next. Now, it’s growing into something everyone in the world can appreciate.

The name Roots & Jones comes from me getting back to my roots with my grandfather. I learned his craft of wooden pen making. I went to my grandfather one weekend and asked him to show me how to make a pen. It was a classic Grandpa day: the patient craftsman guiding the eager learner. We had no clue what that pen would lead to.

My grandfather is a master woodworker, pipefitter, and plumber, who can handle pretty much anything that requires tools. He used a lathe to turn pens as a hobby for many years. But he never sold a single pen for profit. He gave them away as gifts. After many weekends at his side, I started turning on the lathe myself. I was hooked on the art of pen turning.

Flash forward three and a half years. We’ve made thousands of pens, traveled coast to coast selling them, and collaborated with some of the state’s most prominent brands such as Buffalo Trace Distillery, Keeneland, and Pappy & Company.

Our goal goes beyond crafting beautiful pens. We hope we’re inspiring personal stories. Here in Kentucky, where few things are more ingrained into our culture than Bourbon whiskey, our best-selling pens are our Bourbon Barrel collection. A Bourbon barrel does more than just serve as a liquid container for up to twelve years: The charred oak gives Bourbon both color and flavor. In Kentucky, there are twice as many barrels aging in warehouses than there are people. We’re doing our part to take care of the barrel surplus.

One of our greatest pleasures in the whole pen making process comes when we turn what others consider scrap into upcycled functional objects of beauty. To make a pen, all you need is a small block of wood no bigger than three quarters of an inch wide and five inches long. We’ve taken old military teak boat decks, historic stadium seats, tobacco barns, and even Rupp Arena basketball flooring and repurposed it into something you can actually use. That’s a story worth telling.

In May of 2021, I said goodbye to my very comfortable corporate day job to take Roots & Jones to the next level. It's been three and a half years since I turned my first pen. Roots & Jones is by no means a side hustle, and it’s not just about the writing instruments: It’s a pursuit to inspire and develop storytelling.

Our mission is to craft the best pens the world has ever seen, worthy of the best stories anyone can write. More than that, I want to enable a new generation of writers to pick up their pens and begin. We all have a story to write—and the story of Roots & Jones has only begun.

Limited Spots for “Into the Vault: Father’s Day at the Frazier” Remain

Graphic for Into the Vault: Father’s Day at the Frazier. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

Looking for a fun activity to do on Father's Day weekend? On Saturday, June 18, step “Into the Vault” with museum staff as we launch an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of our permanent collection before embarking on a guided tour through our brand new Kentucky history exhibition The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall. Your final stop will take you back to the 1900s in our themed bar, the Knight Owl, for an Old Fashioned cocktail-making experience. Limited spots are available at both 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Purchase tickets here!

Hayley Rankin
Manager of Collection Impact

Kentucky Bourbon Distillery Spotlight: Wilderness Trail Distillery

As the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, the Frazier History Museum shares stories of the people, places, and producers of the Kentucky Bourbon industry. To learn more, visit our Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center or tour our Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

If you’ve done a double take when seeing “Small Batch Bottled in Bond” on Wilderness Trail Distillery’s yellow label wheated Bourbon and green label rye whiskey, don’t head to the optician. The label is correct.

All three of our whiskeys will be small batch, bottled in bond expressions at 100 proof. Our black label high rye Bourbon always has been small batch, bottled in bond.

One positive aspect for your wallet is that, as a bottled in bond, our rye whiskey will be offered a lower price point than when it was offered as barrel proof.

There’s also a lot of ambiguity concerning a small batch. At Wilderness Trail, it’s a true small batch offering of twenty or fewer barrels.

If you’re a fan of higher proof whiskey, our Family Reserve program will continue to offer our three recipes at single barrel, barrel proof.

And if you’re a fan of older Bourbon, Wilderness Trail’s first release of an eight-year-old high-rye Bourbon happens July 8. The distillery gift shop will have 5,000 bottles to sell and another 5,000 bottles will be distributed in Kentucky only.

Some other cool changes happening with Wilderness Trail involve our new bottle. We have a new mold that offers the same style, but improved handling of our bottle.

So if you’re looking for Wilderness Trail on the shelf, you may notice a few changes on the outside, but the contents of the bottle remain our fine, sweet mash whiskey.

Sample our Bourbon Whiskey and find out more about how we make it using our sweet mash process by taking a tour of the distillery. Tours are offered Tuesday through Saturday. Visit wildernesstrailky.com.

Wilderness Trail Distillery is a proud member of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® and Kentucky Distillers Association Heritage member. Wilderness Trail is recognized as the fourteenth-largest Bourbon Distillery with award-winning Kentucky Bourbon and rye Whiskey brands known as Wilderness Trail Small Batch Bottled in Bond, six- and eight-year Bourbons, and Settlers Select rye Whiskey.

Louisville Ale Trail Passports Capture Louisville’s Historic Beer Scene

Summer is here, which means Louisville beer events galore! Over the weekend, some Frazier colleagues and I were at Kentucky Craft Bash at Waterfront Park offering discount codes for tickets to our upcoming Summer Beer Fest at Frazier. If you missed us, you’re still in luck: the discount is still available! We’re offering two packages for General Admission: 2 tickets for $100 and 4 for $150. So secure your tickets today. Festivals like these are a part of Louisville’s enduring beer scene, which dates back to the nineteenth century. For more on that, here’s Louisville Ale Trail co-founder David Satterly.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

Fun fact: Louisville has always been a beer city.

From 1808 to 1919, the year the US government ratified the Eighteenth Amendment—which prohibited the making, sale, or transportation of alcohol—Louisville was home to roughly fifty breweries, making our city one of the largest producers in the nation.

Nestled along the Ohio River with ample transportation options, Louisville was home to several large brands such as Fehr’s, Oertels, Falls City, and more. Prohibition crippled Louisville’s beer and spirits industry, however, erasing many of the brands that were once mainstays.

Thankfully, in 1933, Prohibition ended.

We’ve come a long way since 1933 and the damage Prohibition caused to our beer scene; but our team at Louisville Ale Trail strives to restore Louisville to its beer throne by way of our Louisville Ale Trail passport. The trail is a self-paced, interactive passport guide to every single brewery taproom in the city featuring stops from historic Old Louisville to Jeffersontown. We firmly believe this is one of the best ways to explore the city.

A resurgence of the Louisville beer scene is evidenced by the nearly thirty new breweries and taprooms that have opened in the last ten years. We hope to see that number double or even triple in the next ten years.

How do we celebrate Louisville Beer’s growth? With bigger and better beer festivals, of course. Frazier History Museum will hold its second annual Summer Beer Fest at Frazier on August 6, featuring local beers, food trucks, live entertainment, and more!

For tickets and additional information, visit their website.

Note: Louisville Ale Trail Passports are available for purchase at several local breweries and online. Head over to louisvillealetrail.com and follow on social media for a complete listing of trail stops and events.

Bridging the Divide

Wanda Mitchell Smith and Councilwoman Paula McCraney on Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration

Louisville’s Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration—a weeklong slate of events this year, many of them free and open to the public—is underway.

Banner for 2022 Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration in Louisville. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

The actual date of “Juneteenth” is June 19. The holiday originated in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, when soldiers gave residents notice of the end of slavery, nearly two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

A sixteen-member commission has worked for months on Louisville’s celebration, the theme of which this year is “Our Story, America’s Glory.”

Make sure you stop by “On the Banks of Freedom” on Louisville’s Waterfront Tenth Street on June 19 from 1 to 2 p.m. for a special ceremony as part of the Juneteenth Celebration. The Frazier is proud to be part of the (Un)Known Project.

To learn about the city’s celebration, how it came about, and what to expect this year, I spoke with Wanda Mitchell Smith, who is the Metro Council Liaison, and Councilwoman Paula McCraney, District 7, who is member of the Jubilee Commission.

I also asked them about the banner, pictured above, which got some pushback. You’ll hear what they had to say.

So let’s get started. You can find a complete listing of Juneteenth events for Louisville by visiting juneteenthlou.com.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

In Memoriam: “Black Six” Defendant Walter T. “Pete” Cosby

So many of you came to our recent program The Black Six and learned about the case that dated back fifty-four years ago in Louisville. It’s why we wanted to make sure you knew of the passing of Walter T. “Pete” Cosby.

He was among the Black Six, arrested on conspiracy charges, then later acquitted.

*The Black Six Trial* by Mary Cobb, undated. The subjects depicted are, from left, Walter T. “Pete” Cosby, Manfred G. Reid, Ruth Bryant, Robert Kuyu Sims, Samuel Hawkins, and James Cortez. Part of the Mary B. Cobb Collection at the Filson Historical Society. Credit: Filson Historical Society.

Cosby, a minister and businessman, was to be part of our program on May 24, but because of health issues, he wasn’t able to attend. But members of his family did, including his daughter Karen, who heard Mayor Greg Fischer apologize for those arrests and the toll it took on their lives all those years ago.

She told me the apology was sincere, and says even though it took a long time in getting, it’s better to get it, than not get one at all.

Cosby passed away on June 4. His funeral service was held this past weekend. I talked with Manfred Reid, who was also arrested as part of the Black Six and was a panelist on our program. He said Pete will be missed. Reid added he played a great role in developing events in Louisville, and all his contributions and dedication to our community will live on.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

Membership

Remember to RSVP to Our Summer Book Club!

Summer Book Club discussions are eligible events for our ALL Member Exclusive Program: Frazier Frequent Flight. Be sure to become a member today so you can be one step closer to receiving free Frazier merchandise! Use the promo PASSPORT to save $14 off a Contributor level membership. This special offer will expire on June 30, 2022.

Join us on June 26 at 2 p.m. for our second book of the program. We will be discussing the title I’ve Got A Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad by Karolyn Smardz Frost.

Graphic for Frazier Summer Book Club. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

During the discussion, the author will be joining us via Zoom for a Q & A.

After the discussion, you can enjoy a tour of our new exhibition The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall.

Act fast: RSVP to aegan@fraziermuseum.org by tomorrow, Tuesday, June 14.

Take this opportunity to dive into a good book!

Book Club Member Perks for each of our Summer Titles:

ALL members are welcome to participate in this program.

Enjoy your annual museum member benefit of 10% off in the Museum Store when you purchase the book(s)*.
Members and (1) guest may be included in your RSVP**.
A door prize entry (to be pulled at the end of the Summer Book Club program.***)

*All book selections are available to purchase through the Museum Store. The title The Book Woman's Daughter will be available soon.

**The same guest cannot attend more than one book discussion.

***The door prize entries for The Book Woman's Daughter will be pulled at the end of that specific program.

Find more information about our Summer Book Club here.

Want to join our book club but not a member? Become a member today! As little as $20 will allow you access to our Summer Book Club and other member exclusive events throughout the year!* Did I mention that for the $20 Individual membership you would also get year-round access to the museum, a 10% discount in the museum store**, and discounted parking!?

*Not all member exclusive invitations apply to the Individual and Family membership levels.

**Exclusions apply.

Come experience more!

More Ideas for Father’s Day!

Not sure what to get someone who is unable to make our Into the Vault: Father's Day at the Frazier experience?

Father’s Day Comic. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

No problem! Our simple solution? Gift a membership! Our memberships are affordable, valid for a WHOLE YEAR, and the benefits keep on growing! With our membership prices beginning at $20, it’s an easy choice!

Amanda Egan
Membership & Database Administrator

LFPL Western Branch Librarian Thomas Fountain Blue, Baitcasting and the Kentucky Reel, Eleanor Dawson’s 1919 Flapper Dress, and More

1852–65 Town Clock Church Clock Face, Louisville Doctor’s 1925 Medicinal Alcohol Prescription, Title IX Turns 50, and More

Old Fashioneds With Jackie Zykan, Step-by-step Tour of The Commonwealth, Teacher Appreciation Day at the Frazier, and More