As we count down to Independence Day, I am thinking about independence in a different light because of an upcoming program at the Frazier in July.

Let me tell you a little bit about the woman at the center of it, author Jenny Smith.

Imagine, at sixteen years old, attempting a tumbling routine—one you’d nailed countless times before—only, this time, because of some wet grass, it goes awry: you hit the ground, hear a pop, and instantly know you’ve broken your neck.

The year was 1989, and it happened at Seneca Park. In that instant, Jenny Smith’s life changed forever: she suffered a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the chest down.

I have followed Jenny’s story for years. Many of you reading this may remember when it happened.

But if you don’t know the rest of the story, we invite you attend our program on July 23 to hear from Jenny herself.

She has written a book, Live the Impossible: How a Wheelchair has Taken Me Places I Never Dared to Imagine—places like Afghanistan and Mexico, for wheelchair distributions, and the Ohio River, where she rows.

Our Frazier Summer Book Club is reading it now, and we’re selling copies in our Museum Shop.

Let’s talk about that word “independence” and what it means—to me, to you, and perhaps to Jenny.

Join us July 23 from 2 to 3 p.m. to meet Jenny as she shares her story.

We can all learn valuable lessons from how Jenny Smith has lived her life. As Jenny says, “We can all live the impossible even when life doesn’t go as planned.”

Also in this edition of Frazier Weekly, another award for our Commonwealth exhibition, thanks to the Courier Journal for sharing the important work we are doing with the elderly, we’re recognizing two amazing poets from now and then, and guest contributor DiAngela Harris recaps last week’s Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier!

This Week in the Museum

Curator’s Corner: Frazier’s Commonwealth Wins Kentucky History Award

This morning, I am so excited to share with you that we have won another award! We’ve been awarded a Kentucky History Award in Education for our exhibition The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall.

Each year, the Kentucky Historical Society sponsors the Kentucky History Awards to recognize the outstanding achievements of historians and history-related organizations throughout the state. On Saturday, June 3, exhibits and design manager Nick Cook and I traveled to Frankfort to accept the award. We were honored to be in the company of institutions such as the Filson Historical Society, the Kentucky Folklife Program, Camp Nelson National Monument, and so many more. In true Kentucky style, the award was an engraved mint julep glass!

As you may remember, The Commonwealth isn’t our first award-winning exhibition. Last year, we received national and regional recognition for West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation. I have to say, though, receiving this award for our permanent exhibition about Kentucky’s history from our state historical society really holds a special place in my heart. It was an honor to be included among Kentucky’s great historians and history institutions, the people who truly care about Kentucky’s history the most.

With the addition of Frank X Walker’s poems, and new updates coming soon (like the addition of objects gifted by the Kentucky Science Center!), this summer is a great time to visit, or revisit, The Commonwealth.

Poet Frank X Walker Inspires Audience at Frazier on Juneteenth

It was a Juneteenth commemoration to remember at the Frazier.

Powerful doesn’t begin to describe the work of poet Frank X Walker, who debuted new works from his new collection Load in Nine Times: United States Colored Troops.

Eighteen of those poems, which give voice to African Americans in Kentucky during the Civil War, are now on display in our Commonwealth exhibition.

Walker used photographs and archival documents as his inspiration, and they come with a sensitive content warning due to the subject matter of enslavement and trauma. As Walker says, this isn’t a sanitized version of history.

As he walked through the Frazier the night of the event, he talked about his mother, wishing she were alive to see it. Individual works of Walker’s have been displayed in museums, but this was the first time for a collection of his work.

We are humbled and grateful it is here.

Walker’s voice is unique, as he is the first African American Poet Laureate in Kentucky and the first to coin the phrase “Affrilachia.”

Keep reading to learn about another poet who made her mark on Eastern Kentucky, and on history. Susan Reed with our Stories in Mind program has the special introduction.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

Pike County’s “Singing Poet of the Cumberlands” Effie Waller Smith

O, Cumberland! O, Cumberland!

My own dear native hills;

For you, my dear old Cumberland,

With love my bosom trills.

So begins the poem “To the Cumberland Mountains” written by “the Singing Poet of the Cumberlands,” Effie Waller Smith. Smith is the first published African American woman poet from Kentucky and perhaps all of Appalachia. She pioneered a path for future feminists, environmentalists, and African American poets through her writing.

Frontispiece to *Rhymes from the Cumberland* by Effie Waller Smith, 1909. Credit: Unknown.

Born in 1879 at Chloe Creek in Pike County, Smith was born to formerly enslaved parents. Her father was both a blacksmith and a real estate speculator. The education of the children was a paramount consideration for her parents. Smith attended the Kentucky Normal School for Colored Persons in Frankfort, where she earned teaching credentials. She taught in Kentucky and Eastern Tennessee over the next sixteen years. Even as a teacher, she demonstrated her reverence for Appalachia by taking her students outside to observe the flowers and birds.

At the same time that she was teaching, Smith began writing poetry that was immediately well-received. She published two books of poetry and was published in several national magazines, an amazing accomplishment for an African American woman only fifty years after emancipation. Her poetry shows her love for her Appalachian home and its landscapes, but also her thoughts about race, class, and gender. Her feminist and environmental awareness can be seen in her poems “Apple Sauce and Chicken Fried” and “Bachelor Girl.” Her poem “In a Mountain Graveyard” referenced the African American mourning custom of placing stones, shells, and bits of glass on headstones as well as the challenges of interracial understanding:

Of the graves, are bits of glass

That with white shells mingled lie

Smile not, ye who passed them by

For the love that placed them there

Deemed that they were things most fair.

Smith never published a poem after 1917. When a religious mission group came to the mountains in 1918, Smith left Appalachia to join them in Wisconsin. However, she later became disillusioned and left this church. Smith remained in Wisconsin where she constructed an impressive rock and flower garden at her home. Her garden ledger showed thousands of visitors.

An important chapter of her story involves one of her former students, Polly Mullins Ratliff. Ratliff’s Pentecostal father refused medical treatment for his daughter who was dying. Ratliff asked Smith to look after her child if she were to die and to make sure that she received an education. Upon the death of Ratliff, Smith returned to Kentucky and took the girl back to Wisconsin and adopted her. This child followed in Effie’s footsteps and became a teacher. This daughter reported that Smith continued to write and that she had a box full of poems. These poems have never been located.

Smith, “The Pride of Pike County,” broke barriers of race and gender with her art and life, setting the stage for the Appalachian poets that would follow her.

For more on Effie, check out this video on the Pikeville History Moments YouTube channel.

Susan Reed
Stories in Mind Facilitator

Yosegaki Hinomaru Flag Back Home Safe in Usuki, Japan

Some of you might remember that in early April we wrote an article about a Japanese good luck flag from World War II, which was purchased at auction by the museum in 2011 for our Pearl Harbor exhibition. This flag came out of a barn in North Dakota to the auction house and had no ties to Kentucky servicemen or Kentucky, so we felt it should return home to Japan.

Here at the Frazier, we have been working with the Obon Society, an organization that helps return these important flags to the families of the soldiers to whom they were given. While we were unable to find the family of the soldier, we were able to find the city of origin: Usuki, Japan. So we packed up the flag and shipped it to the city of Usuki.

A memorial service is held at Kenshoji Temple in Usuki, Japan, June 7, 2023. In the background is the Yosegaki Hinomaru the Frazier Museum shipped to the city. Credit: *Yomiuri Shimbun*.

We are pleased to say that the flag made it back safely and is being honored in the museum and the city temple there. Our slogan at the Frazier is where the world meets Kentucky, and in this example, we are pleased to meet the city of Usuki, Japan.

For more information, check out this article on the flag’s return, which the Japan News published last week.

Courier Journal Covers Frazier’s Stories in Mind Program at Wesley Manor

Hey y’all, I hope your summer is off to a great start.

The week after Derby, I shared with you a story WDRB wrote about the Frazier’s Stories in Mind program. We wanted to show you what the program is all about.

Recently, journalist Maggie Menderski and photographer Jeff Faughender from the Courier Journal also attended one of our programs and reported on it! The article was published June 19 on the journal’s website and is scheduled to run in the June 30 print edition.

Maggie truly captured the essence and nuance of the program while sharing some of the fun banter between the facilitators and the residents. Our mission is to alleviate the feelings of loneliness, depression, and isolation. But we also seek to develop meaningful relationships and connections.

I hope you enjoy the article as much as we did. Cheers!

Michter’s Speakeasy a Night of Revelry, Style, and Exceptional Whiskey

Last Thursday we had the pleasure of hosting a very glamorous event, the 2023 Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier. Guests were whisked away to a bygone era of secrecy, style, and, of course, exceptional whiskey.

The night began with an air of anticipation as attendees, donning their finest vintage-inspired attire, gathered at the entrance of the museum. As the clock struck 6:30, the doors were opened to reveal a hidden world of speakeasy glamour within. Live jazz music from Billy Goat Strut Revue filled the room, transporting everyone to the iconic clubs of the era.

Michter’s Distillery, renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship and dedication to the art of whiskey-making, took center stage. Their extensive selection of meticulously aged spirits awaited attendees, each one a testament to the distillery’s commitment to producing only the finest whiskies. From smooth Bourbons to rich ryes, every pour delighted the senses, showcasing the legacy and passion behind Michter’s.

But the evening wasn’t just about indulging in exquisite libations. Guests ate delectable 1920s-inspired food from Bristol Catering and took part in a best-dressed contest hosted by Nitty Gritty and a dance contest hosted by Bravo Dance Studio. Hannah from Gibson Glam was on standby to help all the ladies touch up makeup faded from all the revelry.

This year’s Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier was an unforgettable experience that transported guests back in time. It was a celebration of the past, a tribute to the enduring spirit of those who persevered during Prohibition, and a testament to the craftsmanship that continues to thrive today.

As we bid farewell to this enchanting night, we eagerly await the next opportunity to raise a glass and toast together at Bourbon & Bites with Bulleit and Blade & Bow this Thursday, June 29.

To receive email notifications regarding upcoming Bourbon and Beer events at the Frazier Museum, become a Bourbon Insider.

Frazier Speakeasy Devotee DiAngela Harris Recaps Last Week’s Shindig

Hi, my name is DiAngela Harris. I have been coming to the speakeasies at the Frazier for six years. I’ve enjoyed every bit of it!

I bring more and more people with me every year. We’ve had so much fun. I enjoy putting on my 1920s attire and the whole speakeasy experience.

This year, the food was good, the Bourbon tasting was also good (I really liked the tasting glass we received as a gift), and the music was great. But let’s not forget about the staff who made all this possible. From the time I walked in the door to the time we left, everyone in between made the whole experience so GREAT. They were nice, friendly, polite, and helpful. And it was great walking around and learning.

I cannot wait until the next one. Who knows—I might even get picked to enter the costume contest . . . Until then, I will just keep trying!

See you at the next one. Don’t miss out!

Bridging the Divide

COVID Memorial Prompts Look Back at Coronavirus Capsule

It’s almost hard to wrap your head around: the once-a-century pandemic called COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, according to the World Health Organization.

I don’t know about you, but it has been great to exhale just a bit with that recent news.

But with that relief comes sorrow for our more than 18,000 fellow Kentuckians who died of COVID-related illnesses.

A new memorial, United We Stand. Divided We Fall, now sits at Capitol Monument Park in Frankfort as a reminder of our loss, but also our compassion.

It was designed by sculptor Amanda Matthews.

I know, for our family, we always lived in fear the illness would take our elderly mother, who never contracted it. But many others weren’t so lucky, and I think of all those older people in nursing homes who died alone.

As COVID hit in March of 2020, we started what became known as the Coronavirus Capsule, a way for the public to engage with us through art, words, and music—a way to come together in the midst of a pandemic.

Artwork by Meyzeek Middle School visual art teacher Patricia Watson, submitted to the Frazier’s Coronavirus Capsule project on May 4, 2020. Credit: Patricia Watson.

I remember this powerful drawing from visual art teacher Patricia Watson.

“I had a nightmare about someone dying, alone, afraid, and being sent off to a deserted area to be sent off into the atmosphere to die because there was no more room on earth for dead COVID patients,” Watson wrote in her submission. “This represents the dying patient’s fear, as she recalls her life, from being happy and carefree, and ultimately dying a lonely, painful death that could have been prevented.”

That nightmare is thankfully ending. It’s time to hug again.

Rachel Platt
Director of Community Engagement

How Frazier Weekly Emerged from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Did you know Frazier Weekly is a product of the pandemic?

Email announcing the launch of *Frazier Weekly*—originally called the Frazier’s Virtual Museum, then *Virtual Frazier Magazine*—sent by the Frazier History Museum on March 16, 2020, at 4:52 p.m. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

On the afternoon of March 16, 2020, the Frazier sent to its entire list of contacts an email president Andy Treinen penned announcing an abrupt pivot.

“We are introducing the Frazier’s Virtual Museum, a hub of free entertainment and educational content that you can access from your phone or computer,” the email reads. “Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, and continuing through this COVID-19 crisis, we are going to engage, educate, inform, and entertain virtually.”

The email includes a sneak preview of what would appear in the March 17 issue: Megan Schanie’s staff pick recommending the book I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land, a piece on midcentury makeup as a tool of women’s liberation, and Mick Sullivan’s video about the Annie EGGson Taylor Challenge.

The following day, my coworkers and I met over Zoom to plot content for the Wednesday email. This became a recurring meeting, every weekday, planning virtual content to be published each weekday and sent to our thousands of subscribers.

Then, when the brick-and-mortal museum reopened in June 2020, and many of us returned to the office, we scaled back the project: we decided to create one really big issue, each week, and send it out the following Monday morning.

Thus, Frazier Weekly!

We’re still providing you content each Monday, free of charge. We now reach 35,000 subscribers, and we’re so glad you’re one of them!

Thank you for your continued interest in the museum and our newsletter.

Jenny Smith Lives the Impossible, Pike County Poet Effie Waller Smith, Japanese City Receives Flag from Frazier, and More

American Revolution Cartridge Box, Patriot James Forten Performance July 4, I See Lincoln’s Underpants Wins IPPY, and More

Frank X Walker Poems Added, Latin Pop Artist Asly Toro to Perform, Introducing Shared Sundays, and More