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Become A Member

All members receive free or reduced admission to events, subscriptions to Filson publications, and research access, all while supporting local history preservation.

Join Today

Make a Gift

Your financial contribution provides powerful support for everything the Filson does, including historical preservation, educational programs, publications, and exhibits.

Donate

Featured Event

The Gertrude Polk Brown Lecture Series

The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier

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Date: October 1st 6:00 – 7:00 PM

Location: Actors Theatre of Louisville

The Westerners tells two richly detailed and interwoven stories. The first reveals the captivating lives of women and men moving through the American West—Indigenous peoples, Black Americans, Mexican Americans, and Canadian and Asian immigrants—in the 19th century. The second tracks the attempts of many Americans to erase these westerners from history, through a frontier myth that lionized individualism and conquest and celebrated white settlers traveling west in search of prosperity.

Nelson’s vivid, eye-opening account centers on seven extraordinary individuals whose lives capture the true history of the frontier: Sacajawea, not just Lewis and Clark’s guide but an explorer who forged her own path; Jim Beckwourth, a biracial fur trader whose sharp cultural insight made him indispensable; María Gertrudis Barceló, a Hispana gambling saloon owner who broke every stereotype to become the wealthiest woman in Santa Fe; Ovando Hollister, a gold miner, soldier, and newspaper man who championed Western expansion; Little Wolf, a Northern Cheyenne chief whose courageous leadership secured his people’s future; Canadian immigrant Ella Watson, who strove to become a ranch woman in a male-dominated world; and the defiant Polly Bemis, a Chinese immigrant who carved out a life in Idaho despite federal expulsion efforts.

Born and raised in Colorado, Megan Kate Nelson is a writer and historian now based in Boston, Massachusetts. She has written about US western history, the Civil War, and American culture for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate, Time, and Smithsonian Magazine. Nelson earned her BA in history and literature from Harvard University and her PhD in American studies from the University of Iowa. She is the author of Saving Yellowstone; The Three-Cornered War, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Ruin Nation; and Trembling Earth.

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Current
Exhibits

Museum exhibit featuring a banjo in a glass case.

Ferguson
Mansion
Tour

Research

Current Exhibits

From the Same Cloth (Nash Gallery) Each stitch in a quilt, coverlet, or sampler tells a story—a story of physical necessity, artistic expression, and cultural tradition. From the Same Cloth: Textiles of the Ohio Valley explores 250 years of textiles and the diverse narratives they share. Through historic and contemporary works, this exhibit reveals how fiber arts express identity and connect families across time. As our nation reflects on its 250 year history, we invite you to come experience that history woven into the rich fabric of the Ohio Valley.

This… Is Black Louisville (Carriage House) For over 200 years, African American people have shaped the city’s social, political, and cultural fabric. Beginning with free Blacks migrating from rural Kentucky in search of work, safety and community, their population surged between 1870 and 1900. Today, they make up about 24% of the city’s population. This…Is Black Louisville celebrates the resilience, creativity, and enduring impact of the Black experience in forming the River City’s identity.

History Inspires Showcase (Carriage House) In 2023, we launched the History Inspires Fellowship to encourage makers of all kinds – visual artists, musicians, poets, quilters, dancers, and more – to use the collection as inspiration for new creative work. So far, seven artists have participated in this program. Over the coming months, our History Inspires spotlight exhibition will individually showcase their projects.

Three vintage magazine covers that the Filson holds in its collections.

Inspired by history? Wear It.

Check out our online store to get T-shirts, posters, and more.

Your purchase supports the Filson’s mission of collecting, preserving, and sharing the history and culture of the Ohio Valley Region.

Ferguson Mansion Tour

The Mansion finished for the Edwin Hite Ferguson family in 1905 is now the home of the Filson Historical Society. Edwin Hite Ferguson commissioned the Louisville architectural firm Cobb and Dodd—the same firm responsible for designing the Seelbach Hotel and the Kentucky capitol building—to design his home in 1901. Learn more about the Mansion’s history and architecture from our online exhibit or sign up for a tour today.

Research at the Filson

The Filson has been collecting for almost 140 years, preserving the history of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley in order to share it with current and future generations. We welcome in-person and remote researchers to explore this website to discover our access points and to find answers to their questions! Set up a research appointment at the Filson, email our reference desk, or explore our collections online.

Visit the Filson

The Filson will be closed to the Public on Friday 9/18/26.

Open Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4:30 pm

The Filson is closed to the public the 3rd Friday of every month.

1310 S. 3rd St., Louisville, KY 40208
(502) 635-5083

Plan Your Visit to the Filson! To register or purchase tickets for our events, please visit our Events Page.

The Research Library is open Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4:30pm; we are closed on the third Friday of each month. Appointments are not required, but feel free to reserve a seat online – learn more here. We also provide remote research services; please complete our research request form online here.

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