Membership Campaign, Mary Dowling Book Launch & Tasting, Fern Creek Librarian’s 1945 Wedding Dress, and More
We are incredibly excited to announce our new Membership levels for 2025! We thank our current members and hope to provide the best membership experience possible with this change. Based on the feedback from our members, we’ve enhanced our current membership levels and created our new Traveler level. With our Individual, Family Contributor, Traveler, and Sustainer levels, members get more! Becoming a member at any level gives you:
Free admission to the museum
Invitations to exhibition previews
Discount in the Museum Shop
Discount or free admission for public programs (benefit varies by level)
Invitation to quarterly member-exclusive events
Subscription to Frazier Weekly and our monthly member newsletter
Subscription to Kentucky Monthly magazine for new members during the first year
With all the benefits listed above, the Individual Membership is ideal for those eager to explore Kentucky’s rich history. With member-exclusive events and free admission to the Frazier, the Individual Membership merges value and experience.
Perfect for couples and families, the Family Contributor Membership offers enriching experiences for all ages. In addition to the benefits listed above, a 20% discount on all Frazier camps and the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Membership gives Family Contributor members rich cultural experiences while getting unlimited access to the Frazier.
Our brand new Traveler Membership is catered to those with a love for culture and a curious mind. With the membership benefits listed above, combined with access to the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association and a Smithsonian Affiliate Membership, Travelers have access to hundreds of museums across North America. The Traveler Membership is the perfect combination of convenience and exploration that is ideal for those who seek to experience the world.
Our Sustainer Membership is the heartbeat of the Frazier History Museum. Designed for those who place high value on the importance of historical education, the Sustainer Membership receives all the benefits of membership and exclusive discounts on annual fundraising events. Our Sustainer members provide vital support that makes what we do possible.
To see the full breakdown of benefits and comparison between the levels, head to our membership web page.
And stay tuned: you’ll soon be seeing ads for our new membership campaign on local TV stations! Thanks to Kertis Creative for these “It’s All Here” at the Frazier ads.
We rely on the generous support of all our members to make what we do at the Frazier possible. From maintaining and updating exhibitions to organizing our educational programs, our members have a direct impact on what we do every day. By becoming a member of the Frazier, you become a part of our mission: to introduce the world to Kentucky. Our members help us tell the story of Kentucky.
If you’re interested in becoming a member, call me at (502) 753-1031 or email me at ggray@fraziermuseum.org. Also, you can come see me in person this Friday, March 14, from noon to 2 p.m. I’ll be near the front desk to answer all of your membership questions!
In today’s Frazier Weekly, Andy announces a Mary Dowling book launch and Bourbon tasting, Hayley teases the music at our April 5 Night at the Frazier gala, and Tish spotlights a 1945 wedding dress in our upcoming Love & Marriage exhibition. Jason pays tribute to Frazier-featured yodeler Billie Willow, who just passed away at 97. Simon looks at the origin of U of L basketball forward James Scott’s “Bane” mask. And Rachel plugs free tours of the Town Clock Church.
Have a great week!
Gwendolyn Gray
Membership Coordinator
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Join Us April 9 for Mary Dowling Book Launch & Bourbon Tasting with Kaveh Zamanian
Mary Dowling: The Mother of Bourbon Book Launch & Tasting flyer.
It’s Women’s History Month and today we’re launching a program highlighting the mother of Bourbon, Mary Dowling.
Dowling was the first woman to run a major distillery in Kentucky and a trailblazing female distiller in a male-dominated world of pre-Prohibition era Kentucky.
Born to Irish immigrants in Bourbon County, Kentucky, in 1859, the first of ten children, Mary Ann Murphy grew up in Lexington. She married Irish immigrant John Dowling in 1874 and the couple settled in Lawrenceburg, Anderson County, where John established himself as a cooper and distiller. Mary had keen business acumen and soon became a partner to John in the ownership of three distilleries, including Waterfill & Frazier.
A maverick by nature and mother of eight, Mary Dowling stepped in to lead the Dowling empire after John passed in 1903. She became the wealthiest woman in Lawrenceburg, a civic leader, and a champion for bringing healthcare services to the rural poor. Undaunted by stereotypes and unbroken by the challenges of managing a woman-run business, Mary was in all respects a Bourbon Badass.
For those reasons, and many more, Rabbit Hole and Mary Dowling Bourbon founder Kaveh Zamanian co-wrote a book about Dowling. He is launching a nationwide book tour and tasting at the Frazier on Wednesday, April 9.
Guests will get a signed copy of that book and enjoy tastings of all three Mary Dowling expressions along with apps and a welcome cocktail. The book is included for all program attendees and the cost for all of it is only $35 per person. I expect this one will sell out in a hurry, so get your tickets now.
I look forward to sitting back and enjoying this one with a sold-out crowd as Kaveh shares stories about fighting Prohibition, surviving a warehouse fire, overcoming conviction, and ultimately moving the business to Juarez, Mexico.
Dowling died at the age of seventy-one in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1930. But her legacy lives on, and her story is more alive than ever, through the book, Mother of Bourbon: The Greatest American Whiskey Story Never Told. Folks attending on April 9 will be the very first to get the book and the first to taste the Bourbon while listening to the man who distilled it in her name.
Andy Treinen
President & CEO
Bluegrass & Boogie at our Second Annual Night at the Frazier!
Night at the Frazier on April 5 is bringing the vibes, the music, and the party! Our biggest annual fundraiser of the year will feature some amazing local musicians sure to get you moving!
Guests dance at last year’s Night at the Frazier gala, April 12, 2024.
Guests dance at last year’s Night at the Frazier gala, April 12, 2024.
Tony and the Tan Lines.
Kick off the evening with live bluegrass from the Esteemed Colleagues as you experience the newly opened Davis Jewelers Love & Marriage exhibition, enjoy food and drinks, and explore the museum galleries. Our dinner guests will have the pleasure of listening to jazz piano from DeQuan Tunstull during our seated program. Then, at 9 p.m., Tony and the Tan Lines takes the stage to turn up the heat for our Late Night Party! Dance the night away until midnight with Bourbon tastings, snacks, and an unforgettable celebration. Secure your spot while tickets remain!
All proceeds from Night at the Frazier support our exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach across the Commonwealth. Join us for a night of history, music, and impact!
Please contact me at hharlow@fraziermuseum.org or (502) 753-1693 with any questions.
See you on the dance floor!
Hayley Harlow
Sr. Manager of Fundraising
From the Collections: Fern Creek Librarian’s Wedding Dress, 1945
Anna Frances (Reichart) Korfhage’s wedding dress from 1945.
There is something very exciting about opening an exhibition. Stressful, yes, as deadlines loom before you, but exciting to see the cumulation of all your hard work come to fruition. Our upcoming exhibition Love & Marriage, opening April 6, is no exception. Today, from the collection, we highlight a bride’s dress that is not going to be in our Love & Marriage exhibition but will instead go on display next week in our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit.
The dress we have chosen is the wedding dress for Louisville woman Anna Frances Reichart who married Frank Alford Korfhage of Shively, Kentucky, on November 15, 1945. Anna wore a gown of white duchess satin—which I can tell you, because I get to touch the dresses, is simply a beautiful luxurious material of the most divine color. The dress is made with princess lines and a long train. It was handmade at home by the bride who also wore her mother’s veil and her grandmother’s wreath of wax orange blossoms.
Anna and her husband Frank moved to Fern Creek where she helped found the Fern Creek Community Library. The library would become a part of the Louisville Free Public Library system. Anna served as its librarian for twenty-nine years.
Tish Boyer
Registrar & Manager of Collections Engagement
Museum Shop: Herstory Puzzle
Herstory puzzle sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop.
Mark Women’s History Month with the Herstory Museum’s exclusive 1,000-piece foil puzzle! Embracing the idea that “Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History,” this puzzle highlights a remarkable collection of trailblazing women. It’s available in the Frazier’s Museum Shop and online.
From left, musician Billie Willow poses with the Frazier’s Jennifer Jones at a long-term health campus in Louisville, November 21, 2024.
From left, musician Billie Willow poses with the Frazier’s Mick Sullivan at a long-term health campus in Louisville, November 21, 2024.
Every person has a story to tell. It is also true our stories often intersect in unexpected ways. Such was the case with Billie Willow (born Bessie Mae Willoughby) and the Frazier’s Stories in Mind team. Our team brings history to residents in senior living facilities, and this time the history came to us with a chance encounter with Billie Willow—a story we recounted in the December 23 Frazier Weekly issue.
We are all the more fortunate for having heard Billie’s story, and you will be too. Billie unfortunately passed away on February 19 following an extraordinary life of ninety-seven years.
Growing up on a tobacco farm in Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky, she discovered her passion for music at a young age—teaching herself to play guitar by ear when not planting tobacco or attending school. In fact, Billie never took a single guitar or singing lesson. Nonetheless, her talent was undeniable—in particular, her ability to yodel. It was not long before she was performing alongside her father, Ora Lee, at the famed Renfro Valley Barn Dance in Mount Vernon, Kentucky.
A few years later, Billie made her way to the bright lights of New York City. There she entered into amateur contests, where she claimed to have “won some and lost a few.” Now known as the “Yodeling Cowgirl,” Billie persisted until finally landing her big break with country music stars Shorty and Smokey Warren—joining their band as a backup singer. From then on, Billie’s legacy grew and grew. Over the next several decades, she met and performed with such legendary artists as the Everly Brothers, Patsy Cline, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and even the King himself, Elvis Presley. The world was her oyster, as she found herself touring most of North America and eventually Europe. Truly remarkable for a self-taught, self-proclaimed “hillbilly” from rural Kentucky—the only one of twelve siblings who ever felt the need to create music.
And yet, we here at the Frazier Museum might not have heard of Billie Willow or her contributions to country music if not for that chance encounter with our Stories in Mind Team. We create and deliver story-based programming with an emphasis on Kentucky history. More importantly, each of us works tirelessly to build and nurture personal relationships with our senior residents. In many ways, history is only a tool in service to this outcome. What’s more, the Stories in Mind team often finds itself as the audience. Billie Willow was a shining example of this, gladly sharing her life story with myself, SIM facilitator Jennifer Jones, and Curator of Guest Services Mick Sullivan—who conducted an exceptional oral history interview of Billie for our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit.
Here is the video story we recorded back on November 21.
As for the interview, Jennifer Jones would say that “Billie shined in the spotlight, as if she was made for it . . . [and that] it was an honor to capture her spirit on video so her story can be shared with future generations.” And, of course, she is absolutely correct. We learn from the lives lived before us and the lessons they teach us. This is the essence of heritage—that is to say, history made meaningful to new generations. After all, what is history? I believe it to be a complex tapestry of personal histories given meaning through the tradition of storytelling. Even the BIG dates and IMPORTANT events commonly found in textbooks must resonate or risk dying on the vine.
And now the Frazier Museum not only has the honor of sharing Billie Willow’s story, but becoming a very small part of it, as well. For this reason and others, we are honored to have given her one last, richly deserved, spotlight. And boy, how she shined! Her voice filling the room and hearts of those present at both the facility and her interview. Mick Sullivan, an accomplished musician and performer himself, commented that “her sense of melody and harmony were so natural . . . clearly music was in her soul.” And how true that was for a spark plug of a woman who exclaimed, quite proudly, that she was simply carrying on a “hillbilly tradition.” So, in honor of Billie Willow and the singular life she led, I would ask that we ALL become oral historians in our own fashion, listening to and learning from the lives lived by loved ones and strangers alike. Take it from me: wherever there is a voice, there is a story—one that might just bring us closer together, now when we need it most.
Jason Berkowitz
Stories in Mind Facilitator
History All Around Us
How U of L’s AMIST Designed and Built a Custom Face Mask for James Scott
James Scott plays during the U of L–NC State men’s basketball game in Raleigh, February 12, 2025. Credit: U of L.
Rendering of James Scott’s face mask. Credit: U of L.
Injuries have dogged what has otherwise been a legendary, one-of-a-kind University of Louisville men’s basketball season. On February 8, while fighting for a loose ball with a Miami Hurricane, Louisville forward James Scott slammed his face into Denny Crum Court. Both his front teeth were knocked out. Pieces of teeth were driven up into his gums. He underwent emergency dental surgery. And by the time he returned to action on February 12—having not missed a game!—he was sporting what fans have dubbed the “Bane Scott” mask. The name pays homage to the mask Tom Hardy’s character Bane wears in the 2012 Batman film The Dark Knight Rises. The best part: the mask was designed and built by James’s fellow U of L students! We asked engineering coordinator Justin Gillham to write about the mask and its origin.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
On Monday, February 10, we received an email from U of L Health Sports Medicine that there was a men’s basketball athlete who was injured over the weekend and they were wondering if we could make a face mask for him. We previously made custom face shields for other athletes, like the women’s field hockey team captain Julie Kouijzer in 2022 and a few other basketball players, so at this point we had our process well figured out. I replied saying that if they could get him to our lab that week, I could have a mask for them early the following week, but they responded that they needed the mask for a game on Wednesday and would need the mask to be ready before they left for North Carolina on Tuesday. That gave us about thirty-six hours to develop the face mask.
Right away, James Scott came to the lab and we got started. The first step in making the mask was 3D scanning James’s face. This is done using an industrial 3D scanner typically used for quality inspection and reverse engineering, but we use it mostly for creating digital replicas of real-world objects. The scan for James only took about ten minutes and after that we processed the scan file into the shape of the mask. This means that the mask is created to fit the exact features of James’s face. This includes his nose and his mouth where the injury occurred. After the rough shape of the mask is finished, slots were added around the mouth and nose so James could breathe and communicate better on the court. Strap locations were added to fit above and below his ears. Then the mask was offset to create a thickened part file. We then 3D-printed the mask on a Nexa XiP 3D printer and had the mask ready to deliver about twenty-four hours after we met with James for the scan. After a quick test fit at our lab, James took the mask and was on the court playing the next day.
The mask-making process is something unique to the University of Louisville from the collaboration between U of L Sports Medicine and the JB Speed School of Engineering’s Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science and Technology (AMIST). The 3D scanners and 3D printers at AMIST are critical to the process, and the expertise provided by both sports medicine and the engineering school led to a unique process for creating protective equipment for athletes at U of L.
Justin Gillham
Engineering Coordinator, U of L AMIST
Guest Contributor
Bridging the Divide
Underground Railroad Hub Town Clock Church Offering Free Tours Saturday
Exterior of Town Clock Church in New Albany, Indiana, June 2022. Credit: Duke Marsh.
The Journey: Unsung Stories of the Underground Railroad graphic.
We write about the Town Clock Church often in Frazier Weekly because of its historic significance, and because of its significant place in our Commonwealth exhibition.
The historic church’s antebellum congregation was involved in the Underground Railroad before, during, and after the Civil War.
This Saturday, March 15, there will be public tours each hour, on the hour, beginning at 10 a.m. with the last tour beginning at 3 p.m. Tours last about one hour.
It is free and open to the public, and reservations are not required.
The church is now the home of the Second Baptist congregation at 300 East Main Street in New Albany.
The tour is sponsored by the Friends of the Town Clock Church, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the ongoing maintenance, beautification, funding, and long-term planning for this historical building.
If you have questions about the tours, you can call (502) 645-2332.
And aligning with this history, the Frazier offers The Journey, a free drivable, walkable audio tour exploring significant locations and landmarks tied to the Underground Railroad on both sides of the Ohio River.
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
