Juneteenth Jubilee, Lexington Drag Legend Sweet Evening Breeze, 1821 Madison County Estate Sale Bill, and More
For the first time in the city’s history, Louisville will honor Juneteenth as a holiday for all Metro government employees.
Juneteenth logo
Mayor Greg Fischer signed the executive order last year, saying it’s an important moment in U.S. history that every American should commemorate. He’ll hold a news conference this morning to talk about events for the week.
That moment in history is June 19, 1865, when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached slaves in Texas.
Juneteenth marker in Galveston, Texas
The Civil War had come to a close, but many African Americans remained enslaved, as in Texas.
Their celebration of freedom became the foundation for Juneteenth.
For Kentucky though, slavery didn’t officially end until the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865.
A Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration Commission was formed this year to organize Louisville’s commemoration.
Wanda Mitchell-Smith
In this week’s Bridging the Divide interview, the head of that commission, Wanda Mitchell-Smith, talks about the history of Juneteenth and how you can take part in the city commemoration, events for which are listed at juneteenthlou.com.
As part of the Juneteenth commemoration, there will be a site dedication for the (Un)Known Project, an initiative that involves the Frazier History Museum and many other community partners. The mission of the (Un)Known Project is to share the stories of those formerly enslaved in Louisville.
The site overlooking the Ohio River will include reconciliation benches that tell some of the countless stories.
Limestone reconciliation benches
We have a special program tomorrow night where you can learn more about the (Un)Known Project by registering here.
Our Megan Schanie takes a closer look at Juneteenth and Kentucky’s complicated history in this week’s Virtual Frazier Magazine. Mick Sullivan has also found some images of Juneteenth celebrations in Louisville dating back decades.
June 19th — Juneteenth, the combination of two words, the month “June” and the day “nineteenth” — is a date we should all know.
Here’s my interview with Wanda Mitchell-Smith.
Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Video: Dresses at the Frazier
This summer, we are offering new tours and engagements every single day. To give you a taste, we continue our thematic look at some of the objects we often highlight with a collection of dresses on display around our galleries. We hope you’ll join us for a tour soon!
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience
Sippin’ With Stephen: Old Forester Old Fashioneds
The current installment of “Sippin’ With Stephen” is focused on the history and enjoyment of Louisville’s signature cocktail, the Old Fashioned. In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with guests Vickie Yates Brown Glisson, Jim Gerhardt, and Steve Mattingly. Vickie is a Frazier Museum Board Member, attorney, farmer, member of the Pendennis Club, and recurring guest contributor to Virtual Frazier Magazine. Jim Gerhardt is the General Manager and Chef at the Pendennis Club and Steve Mattingly is the Executive Bartender at the Pendennis Club. The common denominator to these three folks is their association to the Pendennis Club and that historic venue’s connection to the Old Fashioned, the classic Bourbon cocktail that was invented here in Louisville.
Vickie and Jim will be giving their perspectives on how, when, and why the Old Fashioned came to be crafted at the Pendennis Club, and eventually was taken to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and then became a cocktail classic. This story could not come at a more appropriate time as Louisville Tourism is finishing up their Old Fashioned Fortnight celebration on June 14, which also happens to be National Bourbon Day! I can think of no better way to celebrate National Bourbon Day than to make an Old Fashioned using the original recipe that was crafted at the Pendennis Club. Steve will demonstrate how to make this classic and truly Kentucky cocktail.
Note: For the recipe, check Vickie’s article on the origin of the Old Fashioned below.
Stephen Yates
Community & Corporate Sales Manager
Photo of the Pendennis Club in Louisville, September 15, 1928. Credit: The Pendennis Club.
Louisville lies in the heart of Kentucky’s Bourbon industry and is the spot where one of the quintessential Bourbon cocktails — the Old Fashioned — was created. The Old Fashioned was declared the official drink of Louisville in 2015, and the city celebrates by hosting the Old Fashioned Fortnight and highlighting the cocktail through Bourbon-related events and promotions during the first two weeks of June each year. The celebration culminates on June 14, the national day of Bourbon.
The term “cocktail” likely had its beginnings in Britain, but became popular in the U.S. in the early 1800s as a drink concoction similar to the Old Fashioned made of bitters, sugar, water, and a spirit of choice, such as brandy or rum. By the mid-1800s, cocktails were being embellished with syrups, fruits, and other garnishes, which led some individuals to ask for their libation “the old fashioned way” to describe the cocktail they preferred.
Directions for a whiskey cocktail are included in Jerry Thomas’ 1862 publication titled Bartenders Guide: How to Mix Drinks using whiskey and gum syrup as the sweetener. By using whiskey as the ingredient in the cocktail, the drink could be made with Irish, Bourbon, or rye whiskey. However, based on the “old fashioned recipe” of bitters, sugar, water, and Bourbon as the requisite spirit of choice, it is generally accepted that the Old Fashioned drink was created by a bartender at the Pendennis Club in Louisville during the late 1880s. No one has been able to determine the identity of the person who created the cocktail at the Club. The cocktail became known outside of Louisville when Colonel James E. Pepper, a flamboyant entrepreneurial distiller from Kentucky who was a member of the Pendennis Club, introduced the Old Fashioned cocktail to the staff of the Waldorf Astoria during a trip to New York City.
Interestingly, Tom Bullock, a bartender at the Pendennis Club who was the first Black person to publish a cocktail recipe book, included directions for the Old Fashioned in his cocktail manual, The Ideal Bartender. The recipe published in 1917 specifically calls for sugar, water, Angostura Bitters, a twist of lemon, a lump of ice, and, importantly, Bourbon whiskey. This is essentially the same recipe used by the Club today, except for the addition of fruit, which became fashionable in the 1930s.
The bartender at the Pendennis Club today, Stephen Mattingly, kindly shared the classic Old Fashioned cocktail recipe that was created at the Club in the 1880s and is still served at the Club today.
Old Fashioned
2.5 oz. Bourbon
Simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Maraschino cherry
Slice of orange
Lemon twist
Place the bitters, orange slice, and cherry in an Old Fashioned glass and pour just enough simple syrup in the glass to cover the bottom. Muddle the ingredients until the orange slice releases its fragrant oils. Fill the glass with ice and pour the Bourbon over the mixture to the rim of the glass. Slice a piece of lemon peel from the rind of a lemon over the glass and run the peel over the rim of the glass. Discard the lemon rind.
Vintage print ad for Old Forester, undated. Credit: Mac Brown.
The Pendennis Club uses Old Forester as its Bourbon of choice, unless a patron requests a different brand. Old Forester was also the late Owsley Brown Frazier’s “go-to” Bourbon of choice. Mr. Frazier, the founder of the Frazier History Museum and a longtime executive at Brown-Forman, would usually toast to one’s health by quoting the early advertisement used by Brown-Forman for Old Forester before taking the first sip of his Bourbon cocktail:
“Many, many times a day, Discriminating doctors say: / “Old Forester” will life prolong, And render old age hale and strong.”
Here’s to your health!
As we emerge from a pandemic, it is the perfect time to toast to one’s health by attending Louisville’s Old Fashioned Fortnight celebration and enjoying one of the oldest known cocktails.
Vickie Yates Brown Glisson
Board Member, Frazier History Museum
Guest Contributor
Curator’s Corner: Lexington Legend Sweet Evening Breeze
Sweet Evening Breeze by John Ashley, 1972. Image provided by the Faulkner Morgan Archive.
This month, our curatorial team is installing a new section of the “Cool Kentucky” exhibition called “LGBTQ+ Kentucky.” The section will highlight four Kentuckians who’ve made an impact on LGBTQ+ rights, both nationally and in Kentucky. Each Monday in June, Curator Amanda Briede will share the story of one of these four figures. Be sure to stop by the Frazier to see the artifacts and wall panels of this section in person.
James Herndon (c. 1892 – 1983), or Sweet Evening Breeze, is an incredibly interesting figure in Lexington’s history whose story I first discovered when reading through the Kentucky African American Encyclopedia in search of some “cool” people to add to Cool Kentucky. Sweets definitely fits the bill.
James Herndon was born in Scott County, Kentucky in the late 1800s. At a young age, he was abandoned in Lexington at the Good Samaritan Hospital where he lived and began working as a teenager, eventually becoming the head orderly. Locally known as Sweet Evening Breeze, or Sweets, he was known for his effeminate style, often wearing makeup, scarves, and jewelry, and at times dressing in full drag. As the movement for gay equality began in Lexington in 1969 – 70, Sweets was instrumental in helping to overturn Lexington’s cross-dressing ordinance, which required people to wear a minimum number of articles of clothing reflecting the gender associated with their sex organs. Despite being a gender non-conforming Black man in a racially tense Lexington of the Jim Crow era, Sweets was well liked in the community and was known for random acts of kindness such as baking cakes or giving shoes to poor families.
The Kentucky LGBTQ Historic Context Narrative 2016, prepared by the University of Louisville’s Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, describes Sweets’ unique relationship with the University of Kentucky football team, serving as the bride in a “womanless wedding,” a practice that was fairly common across Kentucky in the 1920s to ‘40s:
“He was especially close to the then-all-white University of Kentucky football team, where he played the part of the bride in an annual mock wedding to that year’s quarterback. Indeed, in one of the few surviving photographs of Sweets, taken in 1954 or 1955, he is pictured on a couch, wearing a white dress and seated next to a University of Kentucky football player.”
The new “LGBTQ+ Kentucky” section of Cool Kentucky, now on view at the Frazier History Museum
I am happy to let you know we have completed the installation of the new “LGBTQ+ Kentucky” section of Cool Kentucky. Be sure to stop by and see it in person the next time you’re visiting the Frazier!
Amanda Briede
Curator
Object in Focus: Madison County Estate Sale Bill, 1821
Estate sale bill from Madison County, Kentucky, 1821. On display in Border State: Kentucky and the Civil War at the Frazier History Museum.
One of the ways individual lives and stories are preserved and passed down through history is through documents. A name on a deed, marriage license, will, or contract marks where someone has been and how they’ve spent their time on earth.
But what happens when a system of white supremacy and racist individuals take away not only freedom, but also a name? Look closely at the 1821 estate sale bill from Madison County located in the Frazier’s Border State: Kentucky and the Civil War exhibition and you’ll see a list of first names that ends with “woman and child” — along with a monetary value assigned to each. The enslaved Kentuckians listed on this document were likely sent to new owners as part of an estate. None of the individuals listed include a last name, and the “woman and child” are stripped of their names on the document altogether.
This Juneteenth, we acknowledge and honor the lesser-known and unnamed individuals who endured enslavement in America. Their stories are a part of the American story.
Megan Schanie
Manager of Youth and Family Programs
Megaphone Monday: Andy Treinen, President & CEO
Want to know more about the folks who make the Frazier tick? Tune in to Megaphone Monday! In each episode, Curator of Guest Experience Mick Sullivan interviews one of the Frazier’s staff members — across the room, through megaphones. It’s a fun and silly way to learn about the good folks who work here at the museum.
Today’s episode features Frazier President Andy Treinen.
While yelling across a room, Andy recounts his eye-opening sandwich discoveries, making a mistake in front of Jerry Springer, playing baseball against Ken Griffey Jr., and more.
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience
History All Around Us
Musical Liquor Pourer: A Popular Father’s Day Gift in the 1940s
With Father’s Day right around the corner, I find myself looking for gift inspiration — something I’m sure many of you are doing, too. In today’s times, we have the convenience of countless online gift guides to scroll through, whether it’s Amazon or your favorite lifestyle magazine; but in decades past, gift guides like “Let’s Go Shopping with Helen Hunt” were printed in the local newspaper.
Shopping ad published on page 11 of the June 11, 1947 issue of The Courier-Journal. Credit: newspapers.com.
On June 11, 1947, Helen’s top picks featured several fun (and certainly unique!) gifts for dads from stores like Burdorf’s and Dolfinger’s. From unbreakable poker chips and a midnight snack platter to a portable “picknicker” grill and a crystal pilsner glass, these vintage presents aren’t too different from the kinds of things we think to give on Father’s Day now: entertainment, food, and drinks. But one particular item on the “Let’s Go Shopping” list is like nothing I’ve seen before.
Ad for Musical Liquor Pourer on page 11 of the June 11, 1947 issue of The Courier-Journal. Credit: newspapers.com.
The “Musical Liquor Pourer” from Thorens of Switzerland and Silverite boasted of playing tunes such as “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here” while your father pours Bourbon into his glass. This musical spout was apparently a popular barware gadget at the time, wherein liquid would trigger the mechanism of the attached music box when tilted through the bottle stopper’s spout. What a way to start the party!
Vintage Thorens Musical Pourers still exist for purchase on sites such as eBay. Credit: WorthPoint.
Even though I doubt I’ll be getting my dad a gift as interesting as the Musical Liquor Pourer, I certainly hope he will enjoy what I’ve picked. I can’t tell you here (to maintain the surprise), but I’ll give you a hint: he loves the pool and reading!
As you prepare to celebrate the fathers and father figures in your life, take some time to reflect on the best Father’s Day gifts you’ve ever given or received. Hopefully, our trip back to the ‘40s will give you some creative inspiration.
Happy shopping!
Hayley Harlow Rankin
Administrative Chief of Engagement
1999 Juneteenth Celebrations in Louisville and Lexington
Detail of page 5 of the volume 12, number 6 issue of Community Voice Newsjournal, June 25 – July 9, 1999. Pictured in the foreground of the top left photo is civil rights icon Evelyn Glass.
While working on our exhibition What is a Vote Worth? Suffrage Then and Now, a relative of Evelyn Glass dropped off an envelope of photos and clippings from Evelyn’s life. We were very excited to find a clipping from a June issue of the Community Voice Newsjournal that highlights the Juneteenth celebrations held back in 1999 both in Louisville and Lexington. The document is an important reminder that although not everyone in Kentucky is familiar with Juneteenth, celebrations have been happening here for decades.
Evelyn Glass, who is featured prominently in the Civil Rights section of our suffrage exhibit, is in the foreground of the top left photo.
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience
Staff Pick
The Underground Railroad
When it comes to portraying Black American history, many period piece movies and TV shows fall in the category of “Black Trauma Porn” — meaning, they exploit the brutal truths of our painful racist past and present in order to get an emotional reaction from the viewer. So it’s with some relief that I can recommend the new Amazon Prime Video miniseries The Underground Railroad, which avoids making this misstep.
Based on Colson Whitehead’s 2016 novel of the same name, The Underground Railroad allows the viewer to travel through time with each character, getting to know their complexities and watch them grow over the course of each episode. The show follows the main character Cora, a slave born on a plantation in Georgia, who escapes and comes across an actual underground train that takes her north with a fellow slave, Caesar. As the two go along their journey toward freedom, the narrative jumps around in time, making connections to the atrocities that have happened to Black people throughout history such as the Tuskegee experiments. The series also makes the connection to the racism Black Americans experience today and how we have gotten to this point through systemic racism, white supremacy, and policies that remain in place.
The series is also intentional about humanizing the enslaved characters, showing the multiple layers of their being. Those enslaved are not depicted as emotionless chattel with no control over their actions and thoughts. Rather, they frequently rebel in small and large ways to maintain their sense of self, rejecting the belief that their status as property defines them.
I really recommend this series and encourage you to support the cast and director by streaming it.
LaPrecious Brewer
Marketing Manager
Calendar of Events
Cheers to Beers at the Frazier!
(L to R) Frazier Museum Marketing Manager LaPrecious Brewer leads a toast alongside Kentucky Guild of Brewers Executive Director Derek Selznick, Louisville Tourism Chief Operating Officer Cleo Battle, and SummitMedia President and Market Manager Steve Fehder at the press conference announcing Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, June 9, 2021.
If there’s one thing I missed most during COVID-19, it was the notion of looking forward to something. The anticipation of an upcoming sporting event, concert, or party was often just enough to get me through a crappy day.
As you might imagine, our June 9 announcement about the inaugural Summer Beer Fest at Frazier put a bit of a pep in my step for the rest of the week. An outdoor festival featuring over 200 beers, food trucks, live music, and great friends has me once again planning for fun. Let’s face it, looking forward is as much about today as it is about tomorrow. Beer me!
If you haven’t heard, on Saturday, August 7, 2021 the Frazier will host an outdoor beer festival in our pop-up Beer Garden with VIP access to our Gateway Garden. Ticket holders will enjoy as many as 40 craft beer tastings and great Kentucky music during one wonderful afternoon with their closest friends. If you’d like to attend, we’d love to have you! Tickets are discounted for folks who buy early. VIP opportunities are limited to just 500. Secure your tickets and find out what perks that VIP ticket will get you here!
Andy Treinen speaking at the press conference
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be announcing the great bands and sharing a bit about our building’s rich history in beer. We’re proud to be the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, but 67 years ago, 829 West Main Street also played a pretty significant role getting the King of Beers back in the hands of Kentuckians. More to come soon.
Andy Treinen
President & CEO
