Our exhibition West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation closes at 5 p.m. on Labor Day, one week from today. To mark the occasion, our Frazier Weekly team has asked me to reflect on what the exhibition means to me. This is a pretty hefty task because West of Ninth is one of the most important exhibitions of my career thus far.

Personally, I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to curate West of Ninth. The protests of 2020 really affected me, and like so many others, I wanted to understand how my city got to this place: incredibly segregated and an epicenter of a national movement. Curating the exhibition gave me the opportunity to deeply research Louisville’s African American history, for which I am incredibly grateful. I hope West of Ninth has helped visitors as much as it has helped me understand some of the many factors that contributed to the social justice movement in 2020.

I have only been the curator here at the Frazier for about three years, and West of Ninth has truly helped shape my curatorial work. It has showed me the impact my work can have, and the importance of representation on museum walls. It has showed me the importance of telling our true history, no matter how hard it may be. And perhaps most importantly, it has showed me the power a community has when it comes together.

I believe West of Ninth has shaped not only me, but the Frazier as well. This exhibition let us show that, when we say we want to “mean more to more people,” we mean everyone. This includes the residents of West Louisville, whose voices are traditionally absent from institutions like ours. The Frazier’s Bridging the Divide programs started in 2019 and have dealt with some of the same issues brought up in the exhibition. However, West of Ninth is the first time we have been able to dedicate an entire gallery space, for an entire year, to such issues as redlining, urban renewal, and pollution in Black neighborhoods.

Walt and Shae Smith, undated. Credit: Walt and Shae Smith.

One of the best parts of curating West of Ninth has been working with Walt and Shae Smith. Their incredible blog, for which the exhibition is named, was our inspiration and starting point. We could not have created such an impactful exhibition without their help. I’m incredibly grateful to have had their guidance and friendship.

We asked Walt and Shae to reflect on what West of Ninth has meant to them:

“When we started West of Ninth [the website], the sole intent was to create this sense of unity across neighborhoods within and outside of West Louisville. We just wanted to give our neighbors a chance to tell their story and change the narrative about the community. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we would be partnering with the Frazier History Museum! This experience has been nothing short of amazing and we’ve had the best time working with the phenomenal staff to bring the West of Ninth exhibition to life. It has been such an honor. It brings us so much joy to see the amount of people visiting the West of Ninth exhibition. Not only that, we’ve received messages from people telling us that they’ve left the exhibition with a fresh perspective on the place we call home, West Louisville. That’s the goal!”

Originally scheduled to open in spring 2020 on the first weekend when protests took place, West of Ninth was planned to be a photography and narrative exhibition only—a physical representation of Walt and Shae’s blog. I am so proud of the Frazier for seizing the moment and changing the original plan to create something even more meaningful for our community. For this, we have received national recognition. The American Association of State and Local History gave the Frazier a Leadership in History Award of Excellence, the most prestigious award in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history, for West of Ninth.

“This is the most important exhibit that Louisville will ever have,” Louisville Metro Council District Four Councilman Jecorey Arthur said on Instagram after attending the September 18 exhibition opening. I may be biased, but I really do think this exhibition is incredibly important for our city.

If you haven’t seen it already, I hope that you will take some time to come see our national award–winning exhibition before it closes Monday evening.

And though West of Ninth is coming down, we have continued our work to represent more diverse Kentuckians in our new permanent exhibition The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall. I recently wrote about some of the steps the museum has taken with that exhibition for the Southeastern Museum Conference.

Thank you for reading.

This Week in the Museum

Museum Store: Last Chance for West of Ninth Neighborhoods T-shirt

West of Ninth neighborhoods t-shirt sold in the Frazier’s Museum Store and online. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

It’s the last chance to visit our West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation exhibition to learn about the nine historically Black neighborhoods in West Louisville. Grab your West of Ninth t-shirts or magnets celebrating these neighborhoods while they’re still available! We sell them in the Frazier’s Museum Store and online.

West of Ninth Eats: West Lou Coffee in Russell

As part of our West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation exhibition, we wanted to go west and explore, taking time to visit local restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries. Each month, we showcase a place our staff members have visited. We hope you will visit, too!

For all of us coffee drinkers . . . you have GOT to make West Lou Coffee a part of your daily routine!

Founder Sean Roberson and his coffee have become a staple at the Frazier. All of us here on staff rave about it and because of the unanimous reviews, we use their catering services!

Born and raised in the Shawnee neighborhood, Roberson feels like he grew up in both Shawnee and Russell because his family also shopped and spent a lot of time in Russell as well as attending Central High School.

“I have a deep love for coffee not only because it gives me that extra boost I need to start my day,” he told me—“it also helps me think clearer, be bolder, and constantly look for ways to improve myself and help others around me get better.”

Now finding himself in the deep end of securing renovation funding for his property in the Russell neighborhood, he has plans written out with a local west end architecture firm to help bring his visions for the space to life.

“The building is over 6,000 square feet,” he said. “It is part residential and part commercial. My goal is to leverage the residential for short-term housing and utilize the commercial space for a tenant, flex office space, as well as a roastery and a tasting space for West Lou Coffee. I think most people think I am planning to open a coffee shop, but I am a roaster. There is a difference. But this doesn't mean we won’t have space to have coffee shop vibes.”

Gaining the renovation funds “would mean progress,” he added. “Our journey is one of many in the West End and places like it throughout the world. I would be thankful and grateful to see West Lou Coffee, and businesses like it, thrive . . . I created West Lou Coffee because I love coffee and I love where I am from. After I understood coffee’s history and origin I realized how connected we are to this great commodity. I created a coffee brand that represents something good from a place that is often misunderstood. This place, the West End of Louisville, despite our challenges, is full of hope, perseverance, and good people.”

With eyes set on renovation funding, buying local has even more meaning! When we buy local, we provide so much more to our neighbors, community, and economy.

I’ve bought my five-pound bag! You can, too: visit westloucoffee.com to order today! Not a coffee drinker but would still love to support? Think about gifting a bag or donating your bags. The possibilities to support are endless!

Commonwealth Collection: Lincoln Assassination New York Herald Issue, April 15, 1865

We return with another highlight from our exhibition The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall. In this installment, preparator Nick Cook reflects on a newspaper from a very important date in American history. Compared to the past, there are certainly stark differences in how we consume the news today!

Think Humanities Podcast Tours The Commonwealth

There are a lot of podcasts for Kentucky history buffs—Kentucky History, Old Kentucky Tales, and Tales From the Kentucky Room are three of my favorites. But when it comes to arts, literature, and social sciences—including history—Think Humanities offers some great educational content. In a recent episode, host Bill Goodman tours the Frazier’s new exhibition The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall with president Andy Treinen. Check it out here!

Collection Impact: Frazier Brings Korean, Vietnam War Artifacts to Veterans Group

Logo of MOAA. Credit: MOAA.

Recently, the Frazier collections team had the privilege of visiting a meeting of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). We sat together, talked, and listened to stories they shared from their time in service. In turn, we shared a few artifacts from our military collection with them, including a commemorative medal from the Korean War and an airman’s bag from the Vietnam War.

UN Service Medal issued in 1953. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

This United Nations Service medal recognized the multi-national defense forces during the Korean War. It was given to US Army Pvt. Nevitt G. Benham (c. 1933–2008) of Brandenburg, Kentucky, who served for three years. He is one of seven Kentuckians wounded in Korea named in a list of wounded and killed Army men the Department of Defense released December 15, 1951.

Bag with a gas mask, a USAF Flight Crew Check List, and a Controlled Area Badge that belonged to Garnett C. Brown Jr. c. 1973. Credit: Frazier History Museum.

This gas mask, flight crew checklists notebook, and Controlled Area Badge issued in February 1973 belonged to US Air Force Col. Garnett C. Brown Jr. (c. 1939–2021) of Louisville, Kentucky.

A graduate of Eastern High School, Col. Brown attended the University of Kentucky and Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, before graduating from the National War College in Washington, D.C. He spent a thirty-year career in the US Air Force: He was a command pilot and flew sixty-five combat missions in Vietnam. He later served at the Pentagon and the US State Department specializing in arms control negotiations.

After his career in the government, Col. Brown retired to Bourbon County, Kentucky, where he farmed and wrote. He penned a weekly column for the Paris newspaper The Bourbon County Citizen and authored several books and magazine articles.

The Frazier Museum maintains a strong military collection that builds upon the collection of our founder, Owsley Brown Frazier. Mr. Frazier’s love of decorative arms, armor, and historic weaponry is still felt today in our Founder’s Gallery and permanent collection. Knowing this, we aim to expand our collection of military artifacts intentionally as our wider permanent collection grows with a focus on Kentucky history. Specifically, our collections department has interest in the following categories: the Korean War, the Vietnam War, recent conflicts and times of service, letters to or from home, service records, souvenirs, and unique objects tied to a person or place of significance. Ideally, all objects would connect to stories about people, places, or events directly tied to Kentucky.

The collections team is also developing a themed storage tour for early 2023 to share our growing military collection with visitors. If you are interested, please email hrankin@fraziermuseum.org.

If you have items you would be interested in the museum considering for donation, please contact collections manager Tish Boyer at tboyer@fraziermuseum.org.

Sources

“7 Kentuckians are Wounded in War.” Courier Journal. December 16, 1951: 10.

Mastin, Bettye Lee. “Holiday Tea in a Home With a Past.” Lexington Herald-Leader. November 28, 1993: F1.

“Benham, Nevitt.” Courier Journal. May 21, 2008: B7.

“Garnett C. Brown Jr.” Courier Journal. May 30, 2021: A25.

History All Around Us

Smoketown-native Journalist Steve Crump on his Kentucky Roots

A shout out today to a Louisvillian—who calls himself a kid from Smoketown. Either way, you can now refer to him as the recipient of the 2022 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities in North Carolina. Steve Crump is being honored for his lifelong dedication to creative documentary storytelling and truthful, in-depth news reporting. Steve will tell you he has a passion for storytelling, and stories that are often ignored. He has worked at WBTV in Charlotte for nearly forty years, but he always comes home to visit, and to work, often at Derby. The award will be presented to Steve in October. I asked him to write something for us about the honor. Congratulations, Steve!—Rachel Platt, Director of Community Engagement

From left, journalist Steve Crump and photographer Terry Allen in Mogadishu, Somalia, 1993. Credit: Steve Crump.

It began with a phone call which was followed up by an email alerting me that I was the winner of the state’s most cherished humanities award.

The John Tyler Caldwell Award is the highest honor given by the North Carolina Humanities Council.

Past recipients from its inception include Charlotte’s former mayor, the former chancellor of the University of North Carolina system of schools, and journalist Charles Kuralt.

Sharing the news with my colleagues back in the Bluegrass State is a blessing, but I would be remiss by failing to acknowledge my very deep Kentucky roots linked to this honor.

My awareness in the arts, history, and storytelling began with tours of renowned places of learning.

In my youth, I was jazzed by trips to the city’s old museum at the corner of Fifth and York with memories of a draped mummy resting in a coffin.

Other gratifying moments came from visits to the Filson Club as well as the Speed Museum.

However, I’ve also managed to have a very positive relationship with the Frazier Museum.

It began when I was selected to participate on a panel connected to Spirits of the Passage: The Story of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, a 2013 exhibition at the Frazier featuring artifacts salvaged from the slave ship Henrietta Marie, where I got meet the museum’s founder Owsley Brown Frazier. Several years later, I was invited back to be part of a panel discussion connected to Fontaine Ferry Park.

Earlier this year, it was heartwarming to be at the Frazier to see the outreach connected to Tyler Gerth and the Building Equal Bridges initiative carried out by his remarkable family.

Louisville and Kentucky have always been close to me in the projects I’ve worked on for KET: programs such as Louisville’s Own Ali, Sojourn of the Strings, Smoketown, A Tradition To Treasure, and Facing an Uncomfortable Truth, to name just a few.

Even though my craft led me through this journey of being a practicing journalist and documentary filmmaker in Charlotte for nearly forty years, I’m still one of you.

I’m very proud to be Smoketown raised, a Trinity High School alum, an Eastern Kentucky University graduate—and born and bred in Louisville.

Bridging the Divide

Negro League All Star Felton “Skipper” Snow Gets Headstone at Eastern Cemetery

Felton Snow. Do you know the name? He is currently in an unmarked grave at Eastern Cemetery, but that will change on Thursday at 1 p.m., and you’re invited to be part of the celebration to remember him and his contributions to baseball. He was part of the lineup of some of the all-time greats, so join us as we tip our caps to the “Skipper.” Local baseball historian Tad Myre shares the story of Felton Snow in this article, which originally appeared in the Courier Journal.—Rachel Platt, Director of Community Engagement

Snapshots. That’s about all we have left of Felton “Skipper” Snow. There’s that photo of him kneeling, front row center, in a team picture labeled “Barnstorming Champions in Caracas, Venezuela, 1945.” Among those gathered ‘round are Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Buck Leonard, and Sam Jethroe, all wearing jerseys with “American All Stars” emblazoned across the front.

Snow was a professional major league baseball player, an All Star, with a long and storied career that started with the Louisville White Sox of the 1931 Negro National League and ended with the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1947 when he was a forty-one-year-old player manager. Meanwhile, young Jackie Robinson returned from that Venezuela tour and signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers that very year, first joining Brooklyn’s top minor league team, the Montreal Royals, where he tore up the circuit in 1946, then making his historic debut with the Dodgers in 1947.

The MLB ballplayer most famous for befriending him was Louisville’s own Pee Wee Reese. For his part, Felton Snow is credited with helping Jackie as he prepared to break through that daunting color barrier, so it fairly can be said that one Louisvillian escorted Jackie right up to the line, while another greeted him on the other side, changing the sports world forever.

If you pay a visit, as you should, to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, you will see, in the outer hall, a portrait of Felton Snow. Inside the museum, you’ll see photographs of “East-West All-Star” teams, with Mr. Snow appearing in several of those. They know all about Felton Snow there in Kansas City, but here in this tradition-rich baseball town we seem to have forgotten him.

After Felton retired, he came back to his hometown, and for a good stretch was a minor celebrity, working in a barbershop in Saint Matthews and gaining a burr-headed fan club of starry-eyed little leaguers who he regaled with stories of days past, telling them how far Josh Gibson could hit the ball, how Cool Papa Bell was so fast he could turn off the light and be in bed before darkness fell, and all about the great and unhittable and joyfully irrepressible Satchel Paige. Those little leaguers, now older than Snow was at the time, remember him as warm and personable with a deep resonant storytelling voice, generous with coaching tips they dutifully absorbed; they later commemorated that unique friendship by naming a team after him at St. Matthews Little League that lasted for twenty years.

When Mr. Snow died in 1974 at age sixty-eight, he was buried in an unmarked grave at Eastern Cemetery, a former pauper’s field. In 1989, it came out that the cemetery’s owners had reused graves and committed other abuses, and since that time the property has been tied up in liability and litigation. With the help of Larry Lester, cofounder of the Negro Leagues Museum, the Louisville Urban League, the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Louisville Bats, the Frazier History Museum, Felton’s nephew Billy Snow, the Friends of Eastern Cemetery, numerous members of the Pee Wee Reese Chapter of SABR, and others, we are now in a position to correct that injustice.

On September 1, at 1 p.m., a gravestone dedication ceremony honoring Mr. Snow will take place that will be open to all. The Louisville Bats game the following evening will also honor Mr. Snow, along with Negro Leagues baseball in general, as part of “The Nine,” a multiyear minor league baseball initiative that takes its name from Jackie’s number with the Montreal club.

The ballplayers in that 1945 team picture were All Stars, that’s undeniable; but despite the words stitched across their jerseys, they may not have believed they’d yet been granted full status as Americans. Late can be heartbreaking, but for Felton Snow, it’s better than never.

International Festival WorldFest Returns to Belvedere for Twentieth Year

WorldFest returns to the Belvedere for the twentieth year this Labor Day weekend with a full lineup of fun and activities for the whole family! WorldFest presented by Louisville Third Century is a Labor Day tradition that brings in more than 160,000 people over the course of four days.

WorldFest was founded on the traditions of the Heritage Weekend events that began in Louisville during the US and Louisville Bicentennials (1976–78) under the Chamber of Commerce, headed by Dell Courtney, and ran from 1976 through the early ‘90s. Heritage weekends occurred nearly every weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day. A Louisville–Jefferson County merger group proposed creating a weekend event that honored the traditions, people, and cultures of the Heritage Festivals. Originally a one-day Friday event, it became a Friday and Saturday festival the next year. Mayor Fischer, when first elected, expanded the event to three days, then to four.

The event showcases over 120 cultures from around the globe through crafts, food, and music. Kicking off the weekend is the Naturalization Ceremony, at which several individuals will become US citizens, that takes place in the Muhammad Ali Center Friday. This ceremony has helped to welcome thousands of immigrants to Louisville over the years and continues to be a cherished tradition. This ceremony is put on with the help of the Office of Globalization who will be at WorldFest all weekend long handing out free Global Passports which highlight all the incredible international cuisine Louisville has to offer.

The Parade of Cultures returns this year on Saturday at noon and has always remained a wonderful way to learn about all the different cultures we have in Louisville and brings us all together. Throughout the weekend, attendees will also be able to visit the Global Village (Saturday and Sunday only) and World of Information which will take them around the world! More than 100 vendors will be ready to welcome guests as they walk through to check out their native goods and textiles that are available for purchase and try foods from around the world, from Thailand to Ireland, Guatemala, and beyond!

Three stages welcome more than seventy musical performances with themed nights on Saturday and Sunday on the Overlook Stage. Saturday night enjoy Fiesta Latina and on Sunday night stick around for Junkanoo Reggae Jam! Free children’s activities are available on Saturday and Sunday on the Overlook from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., as well. So bring the family out for a memorable Labor Day weekend!

Emily Martin
Event Coordinator, Mayor’s Office of Special Events
Guest Contributor

Membership

Labor Day Weekend Trip Suggestions

Here is what you need to know when you travel this summer!

Being a Contributor ($106) level member or higher to the Frazier means you have access to over 1,200 museums throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico!

This benefit is called the North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM). When you become a member with us, you essentially become a member to all of the art galleries, historical museums, botanical gardens, children’s museums, zoos, and many more institutions that participate within this program.

With popular destinations for this holiday weekend having plenty of participating institutions, your whole party is bound to find something everyone can enjoy!

For many of us, a getaway may need to happen closer to home—and that’s okay! With your NARM benefits, you still have access to many institutions within a driving distance from Kentucky!

If you find yourself in the mountains of Tennessee this Labor Day, take your Frazier membership card with you! There are over ten participating NARM institutions within the state!

So save money . . . support your favorite local historical museum (that’s us!), become a member, and you’ll automatically be connected to some of your favorite places to visit, and some that you’ll be able to discover the next time you travel.

We mean it when we say Members Experience More!

Experience the benefits of your Frazier Membership even while you are away!

*Certain museums have restrictions, so please check online or with the specific institution for any current restrictions that may be in place.

Exhibition Closing Next Week, 1865 Lincoln Assassination New York Herald Issue, 1973 Vietnam War Air Force Pilot Gas Mask and Flight Checklists, and More

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Best Museums in Kentucky Award, Libbertt’s Pineapple Whip, 1932–Present; Fire Dept. Diver on 1997 Belle of Louisville Rescue, and More