The headline for a recent book review in the New York Times reads “A Supreme Court Justice Who Moved from Defending Slavery to Championing Civil Rights.”

The Justice is Kentucky native John Marshall Harlan, the subject of a biography titled The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero.

The book’s author is Peter S. Canellos, Executive Editor at Politico, who will join us for a program here at the Frazier on August 24. There will be a book signing at 11:30 a.m. followed by the program, which will take place from noon to 1 p.m.

Harlan, who was born and raised in Kentucky, would become an associate justice on the Supreme Court and serve in that position for 34 years.

As Canellos writes, many cases during Harlan’s 34 years on the court came to be regarded as disastrous for the country, including Plessy v. Ferguson and Lochner v. New York — and Harlan dissented in all of them. But in the long test of time, Harlan’s views, not those of his judicial contemporaries, would provide the legal structure for the 20th century.

So the question has been asked: what made Harlan different? As Canellos says, the answers are in his Kentucky roots.

The book is about personal and political transformations.

Harlan was born into a slaveholding family, and as the New York Times states, he freed the people he himself held in bondage only after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which he had opposed.

That same man turned out to be a stalwart proponent of civil rights.

We will explore those complexities as we partner with the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, which has deep connections to Harlan, as well as the Louisville Bar Association.

Laura Rothstein, Professor of Law and Distinguished University Scholar, said this after recently finishing the book: “The narrative is storytelling at its best — bringing dry facts to life by telling about the people — family members and others — who shaped his experience and thinking and values and made him the person he was.”

The Great Dissenter is on sale in the Frazier’s museum store. Buy it, read it, and join us to learn more on August 24.

This Week in the Museum

Video: UK and U of L Basketball Championship Banners

“I'm not the first person to say this, but the state of Kentucky has pretty generally throughout history been mocked; people look down on Kentucky… The thing this state has always prided itself on is we do one thing better than you, and that’s basketball. We do it better than you.”

Though transplants to the Commonwealth may take issue with the hyperbole in this quote from media personality and Kentucky Sports Radio host Matt Jones, native Kentuckians know deep down what he said is true. People in the state live and die by the success of their respective college basketball teams each and every year. The passion for college basketball runs so deep that fans can — from time to time — resort to fisticuffs. (Who can forget that time in 2012 when an exchange of UK versus U of L trash talk between two patients receiving treatment at the Georgetown Dialysis Clinic erupted into a fistfight?)

However, despite such competitiveness and contentiousness — both during “the Tournament” and at Christmas time, when the two teams typically face off during the regular season — residents of the Commonwealth do often come together as one to show pride in the accomplishments of all the area schools. Former players still show their pride in playing for area schools, even years after the fact. Coaches still eagerly follow the exploits of former pupils. Arguably the most notable displays of such pride are the banners that hang in the arenas of the two main college basketball schools in the state: the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

Officially having 28 Final Four appearances and 10 National Championship victories between them, the Wildcats and Cardinals have had many banner years in both their men’s and women’s college basketball programs. Here at the Frazier, a new display has been installed in our Cool Kentucky exhibition honoring those achievements. In the following video, Exhibits Manager John Witzke gives me the inside scoop on the new additions.

Brian West
Teaching Artist

The First City-approved U of L Championship Banner

County employees at the Jefferson County District Courthouse fly the original “UL #1” banner, c. April 1, 1986. Credit: Sullivan family.

I’m told the members of my family were beside themselves with excitement on March 24, 1980 — the day University of Louisville men’s basketball head coach Denny Crum led his team to an NCAA championship, the first in the history of the program.

I say “I’m told” because I wasn’t actually there (I wouldn’t be born until the following year, 1981). However, there’s still a piece of solid, physical evidence from that celebration that attests to the Sullivan family’s Cardinal-red blood: a hand-made banner proclaiming “UL #1.”

On March 25, 1980, the day after the championship game, my grandmother, Shirley Sullivan, got permission from her boss, the Jefferson County Clerk, to take a long lunch. She spent the time buying red fabric and attaching iron-on letters with a pan she heated on the office hotplate. Later that day, she hung the makeshift championship banner from the window of her workplace, the County Clerk’s Office.

When Denny Crum and his team won the tournament again in 1986, my grandmother brought the banner back; in response, then-Mayor of Louisville Jerry Abramson requested to have it displayed in a more prominent window at the courthouse. In 2013, when the Cards men’s basketball team won their third championship, a plan was made for the historic banner to make a triumphant return; unfortunately, flood damage to the courthouse prevented that from happening. Perhaps it was fate.

Nonetheless, this historic artifact — the very first city-approved U of L basketball championship banner — remains in the Sullivan family, for now. It’ll go back on display whenever the Cards claim their fourth title.

Curator’s Corner: Rock Climbing in the Olympics

US Olympian Brook Raboutou competes in the 2016 Dominion Riverrock competition. Credit: Mobilus In Mobili.

Although I am not much of a sports fan (except for the Cards!), I tend to get pretty excited about the Olympics, which begin this week. There is just something special about watching all the best athletes in the world compete in both familiar and obscure sporting events. Though the Olympics this year have had a bit of controversy, there is one sport I can’t wait to watch: rock climbing. This will be competition climbing’s first appearance in the Olympics, along with surfing, skateboarding, and karate. The climbing medals will be awarded based on the combined scores from three different climbing disciplines: speed climbing, sport climbing (climbing taller walls with a rope), and bouldering (climbing shorter walls without a rope). The US is sending two men, Colin Duffy, 17, and Nathaniel Coleman, 24, and two women, Kyra Condie, 25, and Brooke Raboutou, 20.

Climbing - Red River Gorge.jpg — Climbing at the Red River Gorge, 2021

Though climbing competitions take place on artificial walls, rock climbing’s debut in the Olympics is likely to increase the popularity of climbing around the world, including in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. Rock climbing at the Red River Gorge began in the 1960s and only gained in popularity as sport climbing became a more widely accepted form of climbing. Climbing at the Red surged in the 1980s and was the featured destination in the 2007 RocTrip documentary by climbing gear company Petzl, cementing the Red River Gorge as one of the world’s premiere climbing destinations.

Climbing - Economic Impact Study.jpg — Results of Eastern Kentucky University’s Division of Regional Economic Assessment and Modeling economic impact study of climber expenditure. Credit: Red River Gorge Climber’s Coalition.

In 2020, Eastern Kentucky University’s Division of Regional Economic Assessment and Modeling conducted an economic impact study of climber expenditures in the Red River Gorge region. They found that climbers spend an estimated $8.7 million dollars with over 102,000 climbing visits per year. These expenditures support $2.6 million in local wages and an estimated 104 jobs per year. As is the case with many outdoor recreation areas across the country, climbing visits to the Red River Gorge surged in 2020 after many climbing areas reopened following COIVD-19 restrictions. Though climbing is already a growing sport, with the increase in exposure following the Olympics, the number of climbers in gyms, like Climb Nulu and Rocksport here in Louisville, and on outdoor crags, like the Red River Gorge, is likely to increase, as will the economic impact on those communities.

If you would like to watch climbing’s Olympic debut, the competition is scheduled to take place Tuesday, August 3 through Friday, August 6. And if you would like to learn more about the Red River Gorge and other natural wonders of Kentucky, check out the Natural Kentucky section of Cool Kentucky.

The Red River Gorge is located on Cherokee and Shawnee Territories.

Museum Store: Beer Fest Sartorial Solutions

A pair of beer socks sold in the Frazier’s Museum Store

We’ve got you covered — at least, we’ve got your feet covered — for Summer Beer Fest at Frazier. If you can’t decide on which pair, mix and match. Fun socks are available in the Museum Shop.

Beer Fest: Louisville Ale Trail and the HOP Foundation

Logo for Summer Beer Fest at Frazier

This week, as we get closer to Summer Beer Fest at Frazier on August 7, we’ve made a few announcements. First, the Frazier announced a special discount: we’re now offering 4 General Admission tickets for the price of 3! Our goal is to draw groups of friends downtown to enjoy a day filled with tasty craft beer and live, local entertainment. The discount is available for ticket buyers now through Friday, July 23, at 11:59 p.m., so don’t wait! Second, the good folks at Louisville Ale Trail will be leading live beer brewing demonstrations at the festival. At this interactive experience, festivalgoers will be able to see, smell, and ask questions about beer, all while sipping on their suds. And third, proceeds from the festival will not only support the museum’s exhibitions and educational programs, including free or reduced admission for Title 1 students, the “Let’s Talk: Bridging the Divide” series, summer camps, family days, and live storytelling offered by our teaching artists — they’ll also support the HOP Foundation, a charity organization. For more on that, our partners at Louisville Ale Trail have a brief statement.

Louisville Ale Trail is excited to partner with the Frazier Museum on Summer Beer Fest at Frazier. While the beer list will be perfect, we’re particularly drawn to this festival to celebrate Louisville’s beer history and Frazier’s ties to the HOP Foundation.

In 1934, the first Budweiser beer made available in Louisville post-Prohibition was distributed by Quest & Seaman in the same building the Frazier calls home today. This is something we want to celebrate with the community as we move forward in making Louisville a world-class beverage destination.

We’re also glad to hear that certain proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the HOP Foundation, a Kentucky-based organization that provides financial relief to brewery industry workers in Kentucky who are experiencing financial distress due to illness or injury.

Michael Moeller, David Satterly, and John Ronayne
Co-founders, Louisville Ale Trail
Guest Contributors

Beer Fest: Scout & Scholar Brewing Co.

On a sunny day this past May, my family drove to Bardstown to explore the center of town and visit My Old Kentucky Home for my dad’s birthday weekend. We’ve taken many trips like this over the years to enjoy the small-town atmosphere, tour the historic home, and dine at Kurtz Restaurant after seeing the Stephen Foster Story, but this time, I hoped to squeeze something a little different into the itinerary.

My husband and I are burgeoning local craft beer enthusiasts, so we couldn’t leave town before stopping in Scout & Scholar Brewing, Bardstown’s first-ever craft brewery that recently opened during the pandemic. As we approached the beautiful rebuild of the former Settles Home Supply, we quickly realized Scout & Scholar was the place to be. In fact, we had to come back at a later time in the afternoon just to get a seat! After tugging my parents across the threshold into the spacious taproom, a pleasant hostess led us to the adjoining dining room that opened out onto a welcoming beer garden-style patio. We settled into the seats of our high top table feeling relaxed, ready to embark on our journey with the Scout and the Scholar.

Logo for Scout & Scholar Brewing Co. Credit: Scout & Scholar.

First announced in 2019, Scout & Scholar Brewing Co. is the product of Bardstown community members who partnered to bring the first brewery to town and provide a unique experience for both locals and tourists. While Bardstown is in the heart of Bourbon country and known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World,” there’s plenty of room for a good brew, too. The brewery also provides an opportunity to share more about the town’s history through its name and overall theme, as “Scout and Scholar” represents the brothers William and David Bard, who founded the town in the late 1700s. William was a frontiersman who enticed settlers to build in the area by offering rent-free land, while David was an educated reverend and United States representative who owned the land grant. Together, the brothers played a central role in establishing what became known as “Bairdstown” or “Beardstown,” which was formally established as Bard’s Town by 1780.

Over 200 years later, Scout & Scholar brings to life the spirits of William and David through the brewery experience. When you scan the tap list, you have the option of choosing from the more adventurous “Scout” beers or the more traditional and refined “Scholar” ones. Not wanting to miss out on either, we ordered a flight from both! The best part was having the four selections from each menu come out as a surprise. We had such a fun time trying a combination of sours, lagers, ales, and a stout, especially when the glasses were placed on a flight board designed to look like an old map!

Scout and Scholar flights.jpg — Scout (left) and Scholar flights

Although Scout & Scholar updates their tap list regularly, several of the beers we tried back in May are still on the menu. From the Scholar list, we sampled Red Clover, Red Clover, a delicious Irish Red Ale; The Guide, a satisfying lager that would be my personal go-to; and Breathe & Stop, an amber-colored special bitter. Though I let my husband focus more on the Scout flight, I tried both Defiant and It Comes and Gose, two different refreshing sours with notes of grapefruit and orange zest, respectively. It’s important to mention, too, that the brewery offers a full food menu. While we weren’t there to order a meal, I can confirm the hummus platter is a yummy grazing option.

Scout - Hayley and Michael w beer.jpg — Hayley and Michael with beer flights and a hummus plate

All in all, Scout & Scholar was a wonderful and memorable stop along the Kentucky Craft Beer trail, especially for someone who loves history, beer, and a welcoming atmosphere. If you’re looking for day trip ideas, I highly recommend this one. Scout & Scholar is one of many Kentucky brewers we are excited to have at Summer Beer Fest at Frazier on August 7. Be sure to get your tickets and say hello to Head Brewer Lee Northcutt, who will have some great selections on tap.

For further reading about William and David Bard, see “The Bard Family: A history and genealogy of the Bards of “Carroll’s Delight,” together with a chronicle of the Bards and genealogies of the Bard kinship” andBardstown: Hospitality, History, and Bourbon by Dixie Hibbs, available at the Louisville Free Public Library.

Megaphone Monday: Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist

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.

In this week’s episode, Simon Meiners shares his love for the Los Angeles Clippers, country music legend Loretta Lynn, and 13th century poet Dante, with whom he would break bread(sticks) at Olive Garden.

Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience

History All Around Us

Recommended by Duncan Hines: Beaumont Inn’s Corn Pudding

Duncan Hines. Credit: Western Kentucky University Archives and Special Collections.

Looking for a good place to eat? Back in the day, a man named Duncan Hines could tell you — and when he made a recommendation, everyone listened. Yes, the same Duncan Hines whose name is synonymous with cake mixes. In addition to being represented in the Frazier’s “Cool Kentucky” exhibition, Hines is the subject of “Recommended by Hines,” an exhibition in his honor at the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University.

Installation in the exhibition Recommended by Duncan Hines at the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University. Courtesy of Western Kentucky University. — Installation in the exhibition *Recommended by Duncan Hines* at the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University. Courtesy of Western Kentucky University.

Get ready to learn more about this Kentucky original, a natural salesman whose recommendations put many establishments on the map!

Many of us grew up enjoying cakes, brownies, and muffins made from Duncan Hines boxed mixes. However, did you realize Duncan Hines is a real person and not a fictional corporate brand like Betty Crocker? At one time, Duncan Hines was one of the most trusted names in food. The brand began in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Hines was born in 1880. At the time, while the plots and the land on which the food was grown were pure, the pots and plates were dirty.

Hines eventually left Bowling Green for Chicago where, during the 1920s to the 1940s, he worked as a traveling salesman, selling paperclips and letter openers. For over 20 years, he traveled the backroads of America, averaging 40,000 to 60,000 miles per year. Road travel could be harsh and access to food and lodging was unreliable. No national restaurant rating system existed and restaurant inspections were almost nonexistent. Locating clean, safe places to enjoy a decent meal and room while on the road was difficult. This caused Hines to begin keeping in his coat pocket a small notebook in which he wrote down details of his favorite places to eat or stay.

Food safety was paramount to Hines. “The kitchen is the first spot I inspect in an eating place,” he writes. “More people will die from hit or miss eating than from hit and run driving.”

Friends and fellow salespersons persistently used Hines as a resource to locate safe places to dine when they traveled. This led Hines and his wife, Florence, to insert a little blue pamphlet in their annual Christmas card containing a list of 167 restaurants in 33 states that he recommended. By 1935, Hines decided to self-publish his first edition of Adventures in Good Eating with an expanded list of 475 restaurants that met his approval. Restaurants included in his annual guide proudly displayed metal signs in their front windows or a note that their establishment was “Recommended by Duncan Hines.” The phrase “Recommended by Duncan Hines” became the gold standard in dining by the 1950s, serving as midcentury America’s equivalent of the Michelin star. As Hines was America’s pioneer restaurant critic, the guide grew into one of the most respected and used travel guides in the United States.

According to Kentucky native Louis Hatchett, author of the book Duncan Hines: How a Traveling Salesman Became the Most Trusted Name in Food, the restaurant guide was followed by other annual guidebooks, including Lodging For a Night in 1938 and The Vacation Guide in 1948. Hines published his first cookbook Adventures in Good Cooking, which was based on recipes from family and friends or restaurants he endorsed, in 1939 followed by The Dessert Book in 1955. His many publications led to endorsements of numerous products that would bear his name or recommendation — everything from grills, sauces, and ice cream to the now-famous cake mixes. Interestingly, Hines was not a chef and could barely cook. Two years before his death in March of 1959, the entire franchise was sold to Procter & Gamble. Today, Duncan Hines is part of the ConAgra brands.

Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Credit: Beaumont Inn.

The memory of Hines’ guidebooks has faded and only a handful of the restaurants listed in the Adventures in Good Eating series remain open. However, within Hines’ annual list of recommended restaurants was the Beaumont Inn, located in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. That restaurant is still serving the same food Hines recommended so highly. “Now write this down for the people in Kentucky,” Hines writes. “I’ll be happy to get home and eat two-year-old ham, cornbread, beaten biscuits, pound cake, yellow-leg fried chicken, and corn pudding. And you can say what I think is the best place in Kentucky: Beaumont Inn at Harrodsburg.”

The Inn continues to rack up awards, including the James Beard Foundation’s American Classics Award in 2015, an award given to a restaurant for its timeless appeal and quality food that reflects the character of the region. The Inn still serves its “Classic Dinner,” a dish Hines praised: it includes a plate of yellow-legged fried chicken, two-year-old Kentucky-cured country ham, seasoned green beans, and corn pudding.

Today, the Inn, set in a former women’s college built in 1845, is still operated by the descendants of the founders. Below is the Beaumont Inn’s recipe for one of Duncan Hines’ favorites: corn pudding. This is also my go-to recipe for corn pudding because it yields a pudding consistency more so than most recipes do. Use fresh sweet corn that is just coming into season. It makes this dish even more delicious.

Beaumont Inn’s Corn Pudding

Makes 8 – 10 servings.

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons sugar

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups fresh or frozen whole kernel corn

4 large eggs

4 cups whole milk

Heat oven to 450 F. In a lightly buttered 2 ½ qt. baking or casserole dish, combine the flour and salt. Mix in corn and melted butter. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs and milk; stir into corn mixture.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes; then remove and stir with a long prong fork, disturbing the top as little as possible. Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes. Then repeat the stirring procedure, return to the oven once more, and bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the top has browned and the pudding is firm.

Mammoth Cave Historic Modified Tour

Postcard depicting people entering Mammoth Cave, undated. Credit: Postcard Collection, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

On Friday, June 18, a friend and I drove down to Edmonson County, Kentucky to take the Historic Modified Tour of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world.

As someone who struggles with claustrophobia, I was initially hesitant to take the tour. I had not set foot in a cave since October 2006, when, as a freshman studying geography at the University of Kentucky, during a guided tour of a cave in Rockcastle County, I experienced a bout of anxiety in the middle of a narrow passageway and had to turn back. Thus, even after taking a 15-year hiatus from caving, the idea of spending two hours underground — navigating tight spaces called “Fat Man’s Misery” and “Tall Man’s Agony” — gave me some pause. But I decided to go forward with it, and I’m grateful I did because I learned a lot about Mammoth Cave, Kentucky’s most iconic location.

As our tour guide Ranger Quentin explained, prior to European colonization of the continent, during parts of the late Archaic (8000 – 1000 BCE) and early Woodland (1000 BCE – 1000 CE) periods, Native American inhabitants of the region explored Mammoth Cave extensively, holding cane and weed stalks as torches while searching for gypsum, mirabilite, epsomite, and other minerals. For reasons that remain unclear, however, human exploration of the cave declined shortly after 200 BCE.

In the late 1790s, when frontiersmen first encountered Mammoth Cave, they quickly discovered an abundance of saltpeter, an ingredient used in gunpowder. White settlers thus established a commercial saltpeter leaching factory, forcing enslaved African Americans to operate it, thereby supplying gunpowder for American soldiers during the War of 1812. Seven vats from those operations dating back about 210 years remain in the cave today.

Over the course of our tour, Ranger Quentin shared a lot of illuminating stories about the timeline of human exploration inside the cave. Apparently, the class status of visitors in the 19th century is best evidenced by the pieces of apparel they discarded during their treks: top hats, corsets, and broken high heels have been recovered over the years, among other items. However, the figure about whom visitors learn the most is Stephen Bishop, whose exploration of the cave between 1838 and 1857 has had a significant impact.

With 80 spots offered per tour group, the Historic Modified Tour is geared toward history lovers — so if you’re more interested in stalactite formations, you’ll want to book a different tour. It has a duration of two hours, covers a distance of 2 miles, and includes a total of 540 stairs, 155 of which are in the Mammoth Dome. If you’d like to learn more about the tours Mammoth Cave offers, visit the National Parks Service website.

Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist

The Great Dissenter, UK and U of L Basketball Championship Banners, Beaumont Inn Corn Pudding, and More

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Discounted Beer Fest Tickets, Summer Camps and Story Time Tuesday, Artifacts of Beecher Terrace, and More