The Filson Historical Society

Join us for the inaugural The James J. Holmberg Lecture Series – "The Cutting-Off Way: Indigenous Warfare in Eastern North America, 1500-1800" by Wayne E. Lee. Incorporating archeology, anthropology, cartography, and Indigenous studies into military history, Wayne E. Lee has argued throughout his distinguished career that wars and warfare cannot be understood by a focus that rests solely on logistics, strategy, and operations. Fighting forces bring their own cultural traditions and values onto the battlefield. In this volume, Lee employs his “cutting-off way of war” (COWW) paradigm to recast Indigenous warfare in a framework of the lived realities of Native people rather than with regard to European and settler military strategies and practices. Wayne E. Lee is the Bruce W. Carney Distinguished Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We'll see YOU on October 15th at the Filson! Reception begins at 5 pm, lecture to follow promptly at 6 pm. More information: https://lnkd.in/gEnDEpjW Sponsored by the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the General Society of Colonial Wars.

Truths revealed, major historical findings unearthed, and skeletons uncloseted! Join author Daniel Gifford and incoming Filson President & CEO Patrick Lewis as they discuss the surprises and discoveries from the new book: "Benefactors of Posterity: The Founding Era of the Filson Historical Society 1884-1899." Written during the organization’s 140th anniversary, "Benefactors of Posterity" is an explicit and intentional reckoning with the Filson Historical Society’s past, one that reverberates with the challenges facing our communities in the twenty-first century. Copies will be available for purchase at this event! October 8, 2024 at 6 pm! Click here for more information: https://lnkd.in/gEnDEpjW

Join us as we welcome author Clara Bingham! Bingham will present "The Movement: How Women's Liberation Transformed American 1963-1973" on October 3, 2024 at the Filson. For lovers of both Barbie and Gloria Steinem, "The Movement" is the first oral history of the decade that built the modern feminist movement. Through the captivating individual voices of the people who lived it, "The Movement" tells the intimate inside story of what it felt like to be at the forefront of the modern feminist crusade, when women rejected thousands of years of custom and demanded the freedom to be who they wanted and needed to be. Clara Bingham is an award-winning journalist and the author of Witness to the Revolution, Women on the Hill, and the cowriter of Class Action. A former Washington, DC, correspondent for Newsweek, her writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, among others. Participants are invited to a reception from 5:00-5:55 pm in honor of the author given by Eleanor Bingham Miller, Tom Weinberg, Emily Bingham, and Stephen Reily. The lecture will begin at 6:00 pm. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gEnDEpjW

This year, as the Filson celebrates our 140th anniversary, your gift through the 2024 Give for Good Louisville campaign ensures that the Filson can continue its vital mission to preserve our history and provide accessible, invaluable, and historically relevant insights into our world through educational programming for everyone in our community and region. #GIVEFORGOOD tomorrow, September 12! Click here to learn more about our campaign:https://lnkd.in/gixvqBSq

ALERT ALERT! ?? We have SUCH exciting news to share with YOU! In the fading years of the Gilded Age, Louisville emerged as an important center of Kentucky history, thanks to the efforts of the Filson Club (now the Filson Historical Society). Founded in 1884, the Filson Club fostered discussions and launched public history initiatives that can seem strikingly modern today. Dubbed “Benefactors of Posterity” by one founder, the Filson was often in the vanguard of collection and commemoration, rivaling more established historical societies in the East. Its output was also deeply mired in systemic racism and Jim Crow culture, and members actively worked to distort and erase the history of African Americans and Native Nations. Written during the organization’s 140th anniversary, historian Daniel Gifford recreates a 360-degree view of the Filson’s founding era. Benefactors of Posterity revises our understanding of key moments in Louisville and Kentucky history, including Enid Yandell’s Daniel Boone statue; the Southern Exposition; Louisville’s public parks; and the Ku Klux Klan. It is an explicit and intentional reckoning with the Filson Historical Society’s past, one that reverberates with the challenges facing our communities in the 21st century. Purchase YOUR copy today from Butler Books: https://lnkd.in/gxkdqjpD More information and other purchasing options forthcoming!!

ICYMI, here is the link to the full interview with Louisville Visual Art about Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard, opening September 13 The Filson Historical Society! https://lnkd.in/gvJNpyNN

Dr. Ann Glazer Niren is thrilled to join the staff of the Filson Historical Society as the Curator of Jewish Collections. Previously, she worked at Indiana University Southeast, where she primarily taught music history and appreciation courses, for which she won three awards for excellence in teaching. Additionally, she has served as a piano accompanist for dozens of performers, as well as playing for social and life cycle functions. Niren’s research centers on Jewish music, specifically on Leonard Bernstein’s life, career, and music, a topic which served as the basis for her Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Kentucky. Additionally, she has investigated a variety of subjects including jazz, Kentucky music history, minimalism, and, with her research partner, Dr. Rebekah Dement, the connection between creativity and mental illness and the use of humor in the classroom. Her research appears in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Journal for the Society of American Music, Notes: Journal of the Music Library Association, The American Jewish Archives Journal, and Ohio Valley History Journal, among others. She also contributed a chapter to the recent book, Bernstein in Context. This spring, Niren received a Filson Research Fellowship for her upcoming biography of Louisville native, Mildred Hill, the composer of “Happy Birthday.” Welcome, Ann! She is pictured here with our dear Jewish Community Archive volunteer Rabbi Stanley Miles.

We're thrilled to present to you our latest exhibition, "Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard," curated by Jessica K. Whitehead. Writer, artist, and sustainability pioneer Harlan Hubbard (1900-1988) lived an unassuming life, only to find himself embedded in the historical memory of Kentucky. Based on the upcoming, comprehensive biography, "Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard," this exhibition brings to life the story of a man who, though beloved by his fellow Kentuckians, deserves broad recognition in the disciplines of American landscape painting, writing, and environmental advocacy. Through an eclectic exhibition of paintings, photographs, ephemera and other artifacts—many of which will be displayed publicly for the first time—step into a vivid portrait of Hubbard and the traces he left behind: books, journals, paintings, sketches, handcrafted and unique structures, and a template for a sustainable life in our modern ecological landscape. The opening reception will be held on Friday, September 13th from 5:00-6:00 pm with short remarks from the curator, sponsors, and Filson staff beginning at 5:15 pm. Refreshments will be available. All participants are encouraged to register in advance: https://lnkd.in/gEnDEpjW Sponsored by Stock Yards Bank & Trust, Bob & Charlotte Canida, Cincinnati Art Galleries, LLC, and Payne Hollow on the Ohio.

Join the Filson for an unforgettable musical experience with the Dick Sisto Trio, featuring Dick Sisto on vibraphone and piano, Jeremy Allen on double bass, and Mike Hyman on drums. The Trio will celebrate the timeless music of American jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans (1929-1980), whose music is featured on Sisto’s upcoming Steeplechase album release with Evans’s protégé, pianist Andy Laverne. The music performed will be straight out of the “cool jazz” era founded by Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and John Coltrane, and it is still cool today. We will see YOU on Sunday, September 8 at 3 pm here, at the Filson. Secure your tickets today! https://lnkd.in/gEnDEpjW This program is brought to you by the generosity of the Kentucky College of Art + Design.

A proud day for us over at the Filson! Our incoming President Dr. Patrick Lewis' publication, "Playing at War: Identity and Memory in Civil War Video Games" is now out in the world! "Playing at War" features fifteen essays by historians who analyze the emergence and prevalence of video games that topically engage the period surrounding the American Civil War. Edited by Patrick A. Lewis and James Hill Welborn III, this work traces the drift of Civil War memory into digital spaces and gaming cultures, encouraging historians to engage more extensively with video games as important cultural media for examining how contemporary Americans interact with the nation’s past. Purchase your copy here: https://lnkd.in/gFVXWzcu Stay tuned for upcoming talks and engagement opportunities with this work!