About The Filson

Mission Statement

Collect, preserve, and tell the significant stories of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley history and culture.

Vision Statement

The Filson Historical Society becomes a nationally recognized center for the study of the Ohio Valley region's history and culture.  The region's history will become a recognized field of study and The Filson will be the gathering place for scholars to research and document this history and culture.  The Filson will have in place creative and fully-funded programs to share its collections and its scholarship in ways that attract diverse public audiences.  In doing this The Filson will become an integral recognized part of Louisville's strong cultural and arts sector.
 

In May 1884, ten prominent Louisvillians gathered at the home of Reuben T. Durrett and founded The Filson Historical Society. Kentucky's oldest, privately supported historical society was named to honor Kentucky's first historian, John Filson. An early pioneer of Kentucky, Filson was best known for his book, The Discovery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucke, and his map, the first to focus solely on Kentucky. The Filson grew through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries from its beginning in the library of Durrett's house to a professionally staffed and fully operating historical society.

The Filson has continued the mission of its founders by building and maintaining four permanent collections to serve and educate the public: a library (50,000 titles), a manuscript collection (1.5 million items), a photographs and prints collection (50,000 images), and a museum (10,000 items). The collections contain such items as original manuscripts, portraits, landscapes, photographs and prints, genealogical materials, printed family histories, local business records, and other primary historical materials with nationally recognized strength in the history of Kentucky, the Ohio Valley, and the Upper South.

Today our membership numbers over 5,000, and we have over 12,000 people visit the society annually to conduct research, attend programs, and tour the building and museum.

Take a Virtual Tour of the Ferguson Mansion

The Filson Historical Society
1310 South Third Street - Louisville, KY 40208
Phone: (502) 635-5083 Fax: (502) 635-5086