Christmas Shopping at Frazier, 1805 Lewis and Clark Expedition to Pacific Ocean, Winterfest Homeschool Day, and More
Happy Monday, museum friends!
Love is in the air this week with our Is This Love That I’m Feeling? program celebrating the Davis Jewelers’ Love & Marriage exhibition—complete with cocktails, a game show, and a sparkling prize! And since we’re talking about love, why not share some with your holiday list early this year?
Now that Halloween is history, our Christmas decorations are up and we’re ready for the holiday shopping season with wonderfully unique gifts.
Frazier staff model sweatshirts sold in the Museum Shop.
Our Museum Shop is brimming with Kentucky charm and Louisville pride. We’ve got t-shirts for every personality, thick cozy sweatshirts embroidered with Louisville, and gifts for the Bourbon lover on your list—from pajama bottoms and socks to cheeky tees and a wall featuring over ninety-nine Bourbons. You’ll even find a Corvette jigsaw puzzle, an Ale-8 dog toy, and signed copies of A Pearl in the Storm by Louisville’s own Tori Murden McClure.
When you shop at the Frazier History Museum, you’re giving back: Proceeds support lifelong learning through our exhibitions and educational programs, helping us fulfill our mission of igniting the human spirit. Spend $50 and shipping’s on us! Shop early, shop local, and shop with purpose.
In today’s Frazier Weekly, a special invitation to Thursday’s Is This Love That I’m Feeling? program, look into the eyes of York this week in our Lewis and Clark Experience, we’re rolling out another homeschool day, and our Mick Sullivan announces a podcast swap with Kentucky History Podcast.
Mindy Johnson
VP of Operations
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Frazier Museum Gets Decked Out for the Holidays
Dare I say it? It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Frazier!
Susan Lin puts up Christmas decorations in the Frazier’s Museum Shop, October 30, 2025.
Brett Lowen puts up Christmas decorations in the Frazier’s Museum Shop, October 30, 2025.
Our “elves” have been busy decorating for the holidays. So, I wondered, are we early for decorations? We’re just about right. Some places wait until right after Thanksgiving; others start as early as July and August. We hit right in the middle decorating in late October and early November. I’m not going to show you any more: Come and see it for yourself. And while you’re here, go ahead and shop and visit what was recently voted the Best Museum in Kentucky!
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
Don’t Miss Thursday’s Program on Love, Marriage, and Jewelry!
Is This Love That I’m Feeling? flyer.
14K white gold curved bar diamond necklace from Davis Jewelers worth a retail value of $2,995.
What do Taylor Swift’s love life, Mary Dowling Bourbon, and a 14K white gold diamond necklace have in common?
All will be on the table this Thursday at the Frazier’s Is This Love That I’m Feeling? program.
If there’s one thing I love about this job, it’s that no two days are alike—and this week is just the latest example as our partners Davis Jewelers, Jewelers Mutual, Jenkins & Wheatley Law, Shahla Karimi Jewelry, Mary Dowling Bourbon, Mash & Mallow, Michaelis Events, and Rebecca’s Bridal team up to throw a party like no other.
Not only will one lucky ticket buyer win this diamond necklace, every attendee will have the chance to try on jewelry, get jewelry appraised and cleaned, and learn the latest in precious stones, industry trends, and protecting your most treasured gemstones, from the most respected voices in the industry.
Folks will also get to meet Oldham County native and University of Louisville graduate Shahla Karimi, whose jewelry was worn by Taylor Swift at Super Bowl LVIII in support of her then-boyfriend Travis Kelce.
Ain’t love grand?
Andy Treinen
President & CEO
On this Date: Lewis and Clark Expedition Sees Pacific Ocean, November 7, 1805
Original clay bust, plaster cast of feet, and maquette from Ed Hamilton’s sculpture of York, on display in the Frazier Museum’s Lewis and Clark Experience, October 28, 2025.
On November 7, 1805, 220 years ago, the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition first laid eyes on the Pacific Ocean, reaching it two weeks later. Clark and the Corps of Discovery left Camp Dubois in Illinois on May 14, 1804, and met up with Lewis in St. Charles, Missouri, six days later. It took the Corps of Discovery only nineteen months to travel from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean via boat, horseback, and on foot.
The Corps of Discovery included up to forty-five members, including military personnel, civilian volunteers, and York, a man who was enslaved by William Clark. Sacagawea was only around sixteen and pregnant when she joined the expedition in North Dakota. Miraculously, only one member of the party died during the expedition. Charles Floyd died from appendicitis in what is now Sioux City, Iowa. You can learn more about the members of the Corps of Discovery and their expedition in our kid-friendly exhibition The Lewis and Clark Experience located on the third floor.
A recent addition to the exhibition includes sculptural depictions of York by local artist Ed Hamilton. Hamilton is most well-known for creating the African American Civil War Memorial in Washinton, DC. While his larger-than-life bronze version of York stands on the edge of the Ohio River at the Belvedere, in our exhibition you can get an up-close look at the original clay version of York’s bust, as well as plaster casts of his feet and a maquette of the entire sculpture.
So, the next time you visit the Frazier, be sure to take another look at The Lewis and Clark Experience. Take in the incredible artistry of Hamilton’s depiction of York and imagine what it must have been like to see that great expanse of water after nineteen months of rigorous inland travel.
Amanda Briede
Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Inspire, Engage, Educate: Support the Frazier with Year-End Giving!
At the Frazier History Museum, every exhibition, program, and partnership begins with a mission: to inspire, engage, and educate our community through Kentucky’s stories.
Join us this giving season as we raise essential support for lifelong learning.
Dancers perform at the Aflora exhibition opening and free family day, September 13, 2025.
Family members of the late Chippewa athlete Joe Guyon pose after a program honoring Guyon at the Frazier, September 16, 2025.
As we enter the final months of 2025, we’re celebrating the moments that brought our mission to life this year—from uncovering hidden histories of the Pack Horse Librarians and Joe Guyon to celebrating cultural traditions through exhibitions such as Aflora and Davis Jewelers’ Love & Marriage.
Each story shared with a student, and each connection made with a senior care resident, is possible because of people like you who believe in the power of history to bring us together.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we highlight the impact of your support and share exciting ways you can help shape the Frazier’s future. Our next story begins now.
Hayley Harlow
Sr. Manager of Fundraising
Frazier to Host 2025 Lights on Main Winterfest Homeschool Day
2025 Lights on Main Winterfest Homeschool Day flyer.
If your life looks anything like mine, one moment you’re cheering at a football game sweating in the heat and downing bottles of water—and the next you’re bundling up on the way into work and announcing winter programs. Time flies, but luckily the coming months have lots of fun things in store!
I’m very pleased to announce that our next homeschool day will align with the Frazier’s Lights on Main holiday exhibition. On December 11, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., homeschooling families are invited to come check out the beautifully decorated trees on all three floors of the museum, enjoy craft and activity stations, stop at our historic holiday touch carts, and view a brand-new presentation on toys created for the theatre!
Spaces are limited and advanced registration is required. Learn more or book your spaces today by visiting the Lights on Main: Winterfest Homeschool Day page on our website.
And if you have questions, feel free to reach out to education@fraziermuseum.org.
Megan Schanie
Sr. Manager of Educational Programs
Frazier’s Kentucky Wide and Kentucky History Podcast Swap Episodes
Kentucky Wide graphic.
If you subscribe to our podcast Kentucky Wide, you’ll find something new in the feed today. While we’re busy working on a new batch of episodes, we’re sharing a few of our favorite Kentucky podcast creators.
Today, we’re excited to partner with Kentucky History Podcast. Host Jameson Cable shares one of his most-listened-to episodes: “Shawnee in Kentucky.”
In this engaging conversation, Jameson is joined by Dr. Stephen Warren, author of The Shawnees and Their Neighbors, 1795–1870 and The Worlds the Shawnees Made: Migration and Violence in Early America. Together, they explore the Shawnee people’s history, their interactions with governments and borderlands, and the preservation of cultural identity through centuries of change.
Launched in 2019, Kentucky History Podcast has become a leading resource for exploring Kentucky’s rich past. With more than 200 podcast episodes, over 300 videos, and 1 million views on YouTube, the show dives deep into early Kentucky history—from Native peoples and frontier settlements to politics, culture, and everyday life in the Bluegrass. Check out Kentucky History Podcast on platforms such as Apple and YouTube.
Mick Sullivan
Curator of Guest Experience and Co-host of Kentucky Wide
On the Trail with Abby: Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in Downtown Louisville
On the Trail with Abby graphic.
Bourbon tourism is booming—and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® is growing faster than ever! Each week, the Frazier’s Abby Flanders takes readers on a digital stop-by-stop tour of this expanding adventure, spotlighting the distilleries, stories, and expressions behind America’s native spirit. Ready to hit the trail in real life? Start your journey at the Frazier History Museum, the Official Starting Point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®.
Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
Long before Louisville was known as Bourbon City, Evan Williams started laying the foundation for it all. In 1783, Welsh immigrant Evan Williams opened Kentucky’s first commercial distillery, “KSP #1,” on the banks of the Ohio River, just a short walk from where the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience stands on Whiskey Row today. His whiskey, made with local corn and limestone-filtered water, built on a tradition that would become synonymous with Kentucky itself.
At the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, his legacy comes to life. Visitors step into a recreation of Louisville at the turn of the nineteenth century, a time when wooden barrels rolled along the docks and flatboats carried Bourbon downriver. Through interactive exhibitions and storytelling, you’ll learn how Williams’s pioneering spirit set the stage for the generations of distillers who followed.
And of course, no visit would be complete without a tasting. Each pour, whether it’s the classic Black Label, 1783 Small Batch, or 5x “Whiskey of the Year” Single Barrel Vintage, pays tribute to the man who started it all.
For Bourbon lovers, this stop isn’t just about flavor—it’s about standing where part of Kentucky’s Bourbon story truly began!
Abby Flanders
Administrative Chief of Engagement
Louisville Academy of Music Presents Bourbon & Brass Fundraiser at Locust Grove
Dan Callaway and Susan Reigler play alto horns during a Bourbon tasting.
Exterior of the Louisville Academy of Music, located at 2740 Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky.
We love our partnerships with the community, and when you add music into the mix, we are so in! We’re toasting the Louisville Academy of Music with its upcoming fundraiser at Locust Grove. And very soon, we’ll roll out our annual Lights on Main exhibition featuring 100 holiday trees at the Frazier. And guess who will be performing at some of those events providing music? You guessed it: the Louisville Academy of Music. Keep reading to learn how you can support this organization that hits all the right notes.—Rachel Platt, VP of Mission
For more than seventy years, the Louisville Academy of Music (LAM) has been quietly serving the needs of Louisville’s musical community. From our cozy home on Frankfort Avenue, we have taught nearly a million music lessons on just about every instrument, at every skill level, and to all ages—and yes, we mean all ages. Our youngest student is three years old and our oldest is eighty-seven. We aren’t usually big on flashy to-do’s or social extravaganzas, but after all those years we sure do appreciate the chance to sit with a nice glass of Bourbon and enjoy the music around us. And that’s exactly what we’ll do on Thursday when we present Bourbon & Brass, a musical fundraiser, concert, and Bourbon tasting at Historic Locust Grove.
LAM will be joined by Bourbon aficionados and musical bravados Susan Reigler and Dan Callaway for a guided tasting with musical interludes between each pour. Susan and Dan are both Bourbon industry pillars who also happen to play brass instruments, and as far as we know this is the only place where your Bourbon guide also plays music for you.
Our gracious hosts at Historic Locust Grove will also provide tours of their Farm Distillery, one of only two fire-heated stills operating in Kentucky. This is a rare opportunity to see a piece of history in action, producing white, unaged Kentucky whiskey, a precursor to the Bourbon we know and love, and a ubiquitous product of Kentucky estates preserving their corn crops.
Whether you’re a music lover, a Bourbon enthusiast, a pot still historian, or just looking for something to do on a Thursday evening, we’d love to see you at Bourbon & Brass!
Kent Klarer
Program Director, Louisville Academy of Music
Guest Contributor
History All Around Us
Louisville Water Tower to Host Fall Open House Sunday
Flyer for Louisville Water’s Third Annual Open House.
Our friends at Louisville Water Company recently celebrated their 165th birthday! That’s right: On October 16, 1860, the local utility began pumping water, providing drinking water to the Louisville community. Today, it delivers roughly 131 million gallons of water each day to nearly a million people. We’ve asked Louisville Water’s Kayla Hanak to tell Frazier Weekly readers about the historic company’s third annual Fall Open House, which is this Sunday. Don’t miss it!—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
Louisville Water is thrilled to invite you to our Third Annual Fall Open House! This free community event is set for Sunday, November 9, from noon to 5 p.m. at Louisville Water Tower. Learn about your drinking water and get to meet some of the people who make it happen—talk to a scientist, touch a truck, tour the WaterWorks Museum, and admire the Tower up close! In addition to visiting a National Historic Landmark, visitors will enjoy interactive displays, fun activities for all ages, tasty snacks, prizes, and even an appearance from our beloved mascot, Tapper! This free, family-friendly event is a “splash” for all ages. We hope you’ll join us!
Kayla Hanak
Supervisor-Community Relations, Louisville Water Company
Guest Contributor
