Announcements

Upcoming Exhibits at The Filson WWI Photography Exhibit Opens at The Filson

From April 6 through July 27, 2018, The Filson Historical Society will exhibit a selection of World War I images from its Speed family photograph collection. Through a Soldier's Lens: Jack Speed's WWI Photography features images taken by Louisville native John "Jack" Speed, an officer in the 150th Field Artillery. Speed's prior service with the Indiana National Guard made him an ideal candidate for military service when the United States entered WWI. He was among the first 40,000 Americans sent abroad, arriving in France in September 1917, a mere 5 months after the U.S. declared war. His regiment saw action on the Western Front in some of the most lethal battles in which American soldiers fought: Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and especially, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Speed was not only a soldier, but also an amateur photographer. During his training and time abroad he snapped numerous photographs, most likely with "the soldier's camera," a Vest Pocket Kodak. Speed and his fellow soldiers had cameras that were more portable and accessible than ever before; they documented their wartime experiences with numerous candid shots. The Speed family photograph collection at the Filson contains several hundred images from Jack Speed's WWI service. Through a Soldier's Lens features Speed's images of war, exploring the experiences of one Kentuckian afield during global conflict.

The Evolution of Camp Zachary Taylor

Manager of Collections Access Jennie Cole is continuing The Filson Historical Society's commemoration of World War I with her exhibit The Evolution of Camp Zachary Taylor, which opens in The Filson's Bingham Gallery on January 26 and runs through July 27, 2018.

In 1917, nearly three thousand acres of farmland and open fields outside of the city of Louisville, Kentucky were transformed into an active military camp with around two thousand buildings. Four short years later the land, buildings, and equipment were auctioned off, and the Camp Taylor neighborhood was born. Images and documents from the Filson's collection illustrate the changing ownership and landscape of the Camp Zachary Taylor area and illuminate the history of Louisville's World War I cantonment.

Bird's Eye View of Camp Zachary Taylor.

filson photographic collection

What's Old is New: Recent Additions to the Collection

It is amazing how much wonderful and historically important material makes its way to The Filson each year. Those who have researched at The Filson and viewed Filson exhibits over the years—and especially since the opening of our expanded campus in October 2016—know the breadth and historical importance of our collection. Drawing almost exclusively from our collection, The Filson can present capsule histories of Kentucky and United States events. January of 2018 marks the premier of what is planned to be a periodic exhibit dedicated to recent additions to The Filson's collection. What's Old is New is dedicated solely to additions to the collection over the last several years. Over the course of each year, a variety of material across all formats of our collection—manuscript, photograph, print, painting, book, artifact, and more—is acquired. Most material is donated by generous and historically minded people who appreciate the importance of preserving it; and most is rarely seen in an exhibit setting. This exhibit allows The Filson to showcase some of these wonderful additions to our collection. The exhibit will run from January 26 through March 16, 2018. For more information on current and upcoming exhibits at The Filson visit http://filsonhistorical.org/exhibits.

Laundry Day. Helen La France, undated.

filson museum collection

Blog offers inside look at collections and preservation

Off the Shelf

With millions of collection pieces at their fingertips, Cincinnati Museum Center's curators have more stories to tell than can fit on the museum floor. Off the Shelf is a tour inside the stacks of Cincinnati Museum Center, a closer look at the tools and techniques of preservation and research.

Cincinnati Museum Center's collections include Archaeology, Archives and Manuscripts, Ethnology, History Objects...