Underground Railroad Month, Cool Kentucky Exhibition Updates, Free Family Day Next Saturday, and More
There are so many stories from the Underground Railroad that we don’t know enough about. Because the efforts relied on secrecy, much of that secrecy still obscures our view today. Despite this, there are many rich stories tied to Kentucky. Many are featured in our galleries. From the McCoy family in our Cool Kentucky exhibition to Henry Bibb in our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit and the Meachums featured in the Commonwealth, it’s easy to be moved by their dedication to freedom and inextinguishable will.
The Journey graphic.
Martin family siblings inspect a historical marker while taking the Frazier’s audio tour the Journey, March 2022. Credit: Tracy Martin.
September is International Underground Railroad Month, which is a great prompt to explore the history around us. Our self-guided walking tour, the Journey: Unsung Stories of the Underground Railroad, is designed to help someone do just this. The free experience was designed for listening at home, in a classroom, or while visiting six sites in downtown Louisville and across the Ohio River in New Albany. It’s a great way to learn or remember the role slavery played in a city like Louisville, how sites like a New Albany church played a role in freedom for many, and how a couple called the Blackburns made an enduring and international impact that began here in Louisville.
You can find all of the information you need here if you’d like to experience it for yourselves. We are open this Labor Day weekend—including today, September 2, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. So after you take the Journey, cool off in our galleries and explore more.
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Terry Chambers on Delia Ann Webster: the Petticoat Abolitionist
Have you heard of the “Petticoat Abolitionist” Delia Webster? She wasn’t born in Kentucky, but her ties to the Commonwealth run deep. She even served time in Frankfort for assisting freedom seekers. Terry Chambers was captivated by her story and has portrayed Delia on numerous occasions. We asked Terry to share more to commemorate Underground Railroad Month.—Rachel Platt, VP of Mission
Detail of tintype of Delia Ann Webster, c. 1858. Credit: Family of Delia Ann Webster, Public Domain.
Underground Railroad (UGRR) conductor Delia Ann Webster (1817–1904) was the first white woman in the US to be jailed for orchestrating the escape of the enslaved family of Lewis Hayden, his wife Harriet, and their ten-year-old son Joe. Her defiance of the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850, which made it a federal offense to help runaway slaves, characterized a lifelong journey as a freedom seeker for this twenty-six-year-old Vermont Yankee. Navigating the dangers of the UGRR with a keen sense of strategy and an unwavering moral compass, Delia always prioritized the safety and freedom of those she helped over her own.
Born in a time when women were expected to be pious, submissive, and domestic, the unmarried and childless Delia fought for the rights and freedom of the enslaved during the antebellum era. Lecturing at antislavery conventions to fund her cause, she had no issue with breaking the law that made national headlines in New York, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia alongside friends and fellow abolitionists Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Rankin, and Levi Coffin.
Webster’s notoriety began in 1843 as headmistress of the prestigious Lexington Female Academy when she and Reverend Calvin Fairbank successfully orchestrated the escape of the Hayden family. Their act of defiance was not without personal consequences, resulting in the pair’s arrest, trial, and imprisonment in the State Penitentiary in Frankfort.
After her release, Kentucky forced Webster to leave the Commonwealth, but she continued her work undeterred by the legal risks and social ostracism she faced. Ten years later, she returned to Kentucky, where she bought Mt. Airy, a 600-acre farm across the Ohio River from Madison, Indiana, which she turned into one of the most reliable UGRR’s escape routes. Jailed again in both Bedford, Kentucky, and Madison, Indiana, she faced repeated threats of violence, but remained steadfast to her cause.
Following the Civil War, Webster lived forty more years as a teacher in relative obscurity, passing away in 1904 in Des Moines, Iowa. It wasn’t until decades following her death that historians began to uncover the full extent of her contributions to the UGRR.
Today, Delia Webster’s life serves as a powerful reminder that the fight for justice often requires extraordinary courage and a willingness to face immense personal risk. Her legacy is preserved, not just as an UGRR conductor, but as a beacon of resistance against one of the darkest chapters of American history. A watercolor hangs in her honor in the Kentucky Capitol exhibit Kentucky Women Remembered, as well as two highway markers in Trimble County honoring her as the “Petticoat Abolitionist.”
Performance artist Terry Chambers is currently booking one-hour productions of the Delia Webster Story. Donations go to the Oldham County Historical Society. The cost for schools and nonprofits is $75; the cost for all others is $100. Contact Ms. Chambers at (502) 558-8717 or terry@terrychambers.net for details and scheduling.
Terry Chambers
Performance Artist
Guest Contributor
Highlights of 120: Gallatin County: Underground Railroad
120: Cool KY Counties graphic. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Did you know Gallatin County, Kentucky, was part of a popular route on the Underground Railroad? Find this and other unique stories from Kentucky history in our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
The Underground Railroad painting by Charles T. Webber, 1893. From the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes some enslaved people took while attempting to escape slavery. There were many people in this network who helped freedom seekers hide. Gallatin County was a popular route on the Underground Railroad because it lies between two of the largest ports out of Kentucky: Louisville and Cincinnati. We know the names and stories of some of these freedom seekers who escaped through Gallatin County. Harry, eighteen, and Mingo, twenty-four, escaped together in 1811. There was a $20 dollar reward for their return. Peter Shelley, forty-four, escaped to Indiana using a ten-year-old traveling pass. John Lewis was arrested in August 1831 and accused of being a runaway. Lewis produced free papers, but his arresters claimed they were fake and took them from him. He escaped slavery in September 1831. On May 10, 1861, a slave uprising, aided by two white men, was reported in The New York Times.
Curator’s Corner: Frazier Adds Southern Expo, Ruth Rabold Objects to Cool Kentucky
Southern Exposition case in the Frazier’s Cool Kentucky exhibition, August 29, 2024.
If you’ve visited the Frazier lately, you may have noticed exhibit and design manager Nick and preparator Lucas making various updates in the Cool Kentucky exhibition. This fall, we are completing small updates in many of the sections of the exhibition. We are so proud to be able to continually update this exhibition so that there’s always something new on display for our guests to see.
In the Natural Kentucky section, you can now find a replica of the Mammoth Cave map Stephen Bishop drew from memory and by hand. This map will allow visitors to understand how incredible Bishop’s work in the cave really was!
In the Historic Kentucky section, we’ve added several objects related to the Southern Exposition to go along with the Bain generator that is already on display. New objects include a replica Edison bulb, a mini souvenir jug, an exhibitor’s pass, and an award for the fifth wheel and front wheel on a dump cart. In the Historic Kentucky section, you can now also learn the story of Ruth Rabold, the first woman landscape architect in Kentucky. Her personal garden shears are on display in the case with objects from several other incredible Kentucky women.
Over the next few weeks, I will highlight more of the fun updates we’re making to Cool Kentucky. Be sure to keep an eye out for something new the next time you are in the Frazier!
Amanda Briede
Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Frazier Offers Free Admission to Community & Family Day, Saturday, September 14!
Join us Saturday, September 14, for a Community & Family Day! Everyone is invited to enjoy free admission to the museum from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can explore the galleries, take part in family-friendly activities and games, and talk to local authors and illustrators about their published books. Check the event schedule below to see which storyteller presentations you want to catch. Age recommendations are below, but folks of all ages are welcome.
Community & Family Day graphic.
Community & Family Day
Storytellers Showcase: Authors & Illustrators
Saturday, September 14, 2024
11 a.m.–2 p.m.
11:00 a.m. Activity stations open throughout the museum. Book shop opens in the first floor Great Hall.
11:00 a.m. Brittany J. Thurman presentation (story time and activity for ages 4–8).
11:30 a.m. MacKenzie Haley presentation (reading and activity for ages 3–8).
12:00–12:30 p.m. Picnic in the Frazier’s Gateway Garden (BYO lunch or purchase from the food truck)!
1:00 p.m. Deedee Cummings presentation (reading and discussion for ages 6–11).
1:30 p.m. Mick Sullivan presentation (for ages 7–12).
2:00 p.m. Activity stations close. Final book sales and signing.
The museum and museum shop will remain open until 5 p.m.
Admission is free during the event.
The guest list grows, but other guests include Tenesha Marshall Creations, who will bring books and balloons, and the Happy Birthday Circle, celebrating the legacy of Louisville’s own Hill sisters.
Special thanks to Louisville Metro Government Office of Arts & Creative Industries for their support!
Zach Bramel
Manager of Youth & Family Programs
Poet Silas House Launches Free Curriculum for K–12 Classrooms
Silas House speaks to the audience during the Frazier Museum’s Evening with Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House, May 30, 2024. Credit: Gioia Patton, Voice-Tribune.
Like many of you out there, we at the Frazier are big fans of Silas House. On May 30, we had the honor of hosting an Evening with Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House. Now, we’re thrilled to hear about his latest project through a recent email update from the Kentucky Arts Council.
Appointed as Kentucky Poet Laureate in 2023, House is also a New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, a Grammy finalist, and a faculty member at both Berea College and Spalding University’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing program.
Growing up in Laurel County in Southeastern Kentucky, House enjoyed and learned from the stories of the older generations in his community. This inspired him to create Listen Now! An Oral History Project, a curriculum rooted in cross-generational relationship building for K–12 classrooms.
“This project is meant to create easy opportunities for young people to mix with their elders,” he shares. “I fear that current young people are more segregated from elders than ever before and I want to encourage them to listen to them, to talk to them, to learn from them.”
Stories, history, and cross-generational conversations: that sounds great to us at the Frazier!
The project includes a letter and a video message from Silas House, guidelines for conducting oral histories, an opportunity for teachers to sign up for a virtual visit from Silas in their classroom, and more.
Megan Schanie
Sr. Manager of Educational Programs
Last Call for Tickets to Thursday’s Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier!
2024 Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier graphic.
There are new details emerging about this year’s Michter’s Speakeasy this Thursday, September 5, and there are only four days to get your tickets!
First up, for the Bourbon collectors and connoisseurs, our good friends at Michter’s Fort Nelson have arranged for a few cases of premium Bourbon to be available for purchase to our early arriving ticket holders.
There will be several bottles of Michter’s Toasted Barrel Finish on hand to celebrate ten years since its launch, along with a few cases of Michter’s Barrel Strength Bourbon. Michter’s team of spirits all-stars—including master distiller Dan McKee, master of maturation Andrea Wilson, and president Joe Magliocco—will all be on hand to autograph bottles and lead tastings.
For others, who are simply here to step into the Roaring Twenties to experience an era of opulence and clandestine revelry, we have some news for you, too. There will be awards for the best dressed person or couple and the top toe-tapping dancing duo or individual. Style icon Andre Wilson has agreed to judge.
Those contests will take place in the set breaks between the outstanding music performed live by the Derby City Dandies. And there’s gourmet grub from RK Bluegrass that’s guaranteed to have your taste buds dancing the Charleston.
Passed hors d’oeuvres will include: the Bootlegger, which is pulled brisket barbacoa set atop a mini jalapeño corn muffin garnished with chopped parsley; the Bee’s Knees, a mini brioche lobster salad with lemon caviar; the Big Cheese, a manchego mac n’ cheese arancini; the Hotsy-Totsy, heirloom tomato caprese skewers featuring local heirlooms and basil pesto; and the Rhatz, caramelized fig crostini with micro arugula, blue cheese, habanero and honey dust with a balsamic reduction.
I have personally tasted the great culinary offerings, and I can assure you, it’s the real McCoy!
I can’t wait to see you on Thursday.
Andy Treinen
President & CEO
Museum Shop: Rosie the Riveter Umbrella
Rosie the Riveter umbrella sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop.
Kentucky native Rose Will Monroe became the iconic face of Rosie the Riveter in a film promoting war bonds. Decades after her work building B-29 bombers, Rosie’s enduring spirit continues to inspire women with her empowering message: “We Can Do It.” Now, you can carry that spirit with you through our compact Rosie the Riveter umbrella—perfect for protection from both sun and rain. The umbrella is available now in the Museum Shop. We also take a moment to honor the laborers who paved the way for the fair labor laws we benefit from today.
20th Anniversary Photo: Norton Children’s Hospital Exhibition, 2017
Students simulate healthcare practices in the Frazier’s Hope and Healing: Celebrating 125 Years of Norton Children’s Hospital exhibition, December 15, 2017. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Did you know Norton Healthcare is the third largest employer in Louisville? To mark Labor Day, I’m sharing an image of a past Frazier exhibition devoted to the wonderful work Norton employees do in our community! From October 11, 2017, to February 4, 2018, the Frazier hosted Hope and Healing: Celebrating 125 Years of Norton Children’s Hospital. The 4,200-square-foot exhibition explored how the hospital has served the community in good times and in bad, all the while shaping the evolution and innovation of care for children and families.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Smithsonian Intern Belle Forrest on Mabel Graham Kelly
Over the summer, I had the privilege to work with two incredible interns through the Smithsonian Leadership for Change Internship program: Belle Forrest and Alexandria Groves. The main job of these interns was to work on research and writing for the upcoming exhibition Love & Marriage. They had the opportunity to work with me to build the exhibition from the ground up, creating the exhibition outline and layout and looking at objects from our collection. The article below is a tidbit of Belle’s research about Mabel Graham Kelly. Stay tuned to see what Alexandria worked on over the summer in a future issue. And if this sounds like something you’d like to spend your summer doing, check back with us next spring to find out more about the application process for the Smithsonian Leadership for Change Internship.—Amanda Briede, Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Hi! I’m Belle Forrest, and I was an intern at the Frazier through the Smithsonian’s Leadership for Change program! As one of the Frazier’s summer interns, I and my fellow interns were tasked with doing research for Love & Marriage, an upcoming exhibition about the history of wedding and relationship traditions in the Commonwealth. During her research on some wedding attire in the collection, longtime Frazier intern Railey Stonex came upon the story of Mabel Graham Kelly. We were both enamored by the brown skirt suit that she wore to her own wedding in the 1930s. Mabel was an amateur photographer and a teacher prior to her marriage to Wallace McElroy Kelly. Once she became Mrs. Kelly, she stopped teaching. It seems this may not have been her own decision, but rather a decision made by the government.
As early as the 1890s, certain states had a ban on hiring or continuing to employ women who were married. According to the defenders of this law, it was unnecessary for married women to work, since their husbands were already working. According to supporters of this law, women were taking jobs away from good able-bodied men who needed work. This sentiment only grew after the first World War when men began to return from combat. By 1940, twenty-six states restricted married women for holding employment in government. State bans generally affected teachers and clerical workers.
Despite the probable reason for her no longer holding a teaching position, she began accompanying her husband, Wallace, on his photography ventures. She even stars with the rest of their family in a short film directed and produced by her husband titled Our Day. Silent and shot in black and white, the film shows the daily life of a rural Kentucky family. My personal favorite part is the family dog who happily causes mischief throughout the film. He’s the real star of the show!
Belle Forrest
Smithsonian Leadership for Change Intern
Bridging the Divide
The Big Table Returns to Iroquois Park September 15
Attendees gather at Iroquois Park for last year’s Big Table, September 2023. Credit: the Big Table.
Big Table co-creator Cathy Berkey.
The table is about to be set for an unforgettable experience. It’ s called the Big Table and will happen at Iroquois Park on September 15 from 5 to 7 p.m.
The tagline is: Magical things happen when we share a meal. We talk. We connect. We heal. We build community.
Those are the powerful things that happen when community gathers at the table for Louisville’s largest potluck.
Cathy Berkey is the co-creator and director of the Big Table and invites you to bring a dish to share and sit with folks you don’t know (yet). Conversation cards are at each table to listen to each other’s stories. As their website says, you may find that your neighbor has more in common than you thought.
You’re encouraged to bring an instrument if you play. Join the drum circle or even the soccer pickup game that will happen after dinner.
Cathy is looking for participants, table hosts, ambassadors and even donors.
Click here to sign up and learn more about the Big Table.
The food will fill you up, but the sense of community will really hit the spot!
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
