Fenwick Lecture Series
Jason Fenwick
Each November, the Louisville Historical League is proud to host the Fenwick Lecture series, which has been presented since 2003.
Jason McCool Fenwick, in whose memory this annual lecture is held, died in March of 2000, at the age of 53. Jason was a native of Kosciusko Mississippi. The Commonwealth of Kentucky was his adopted state.
After receiving a BA in Anthropology from the University of Mississippi in 1970, he attended the University of Kentucky, where he was awarded an MA in Anthropology.
Early professional pursuits included fieldwork in archaeology in both Mississippi and in England. While employed by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works in Great Britain, he worked on archaeological restoration projects as diverse as Iron Age hill forts, Roman villages, and Medieval buildings.
In 1977, Jason returned to the United States and joined the staff of the KY Heritage Commission, now known as the KY Heritage Council, as staff archaeologist.
As the years progressed, Jason became increasingly interested in the restoration of historic structures. From 1981 to 1983, Jason served as state curator and coordinated the restoration and rehabilitation of the KY Executive Mansion for Governor John Y. Brown and First Lady Phyllis George Brown. Jason relished all of the detailed work it took to restore this Kentucky landmark.
When Jason died in 2000, after a short but valiant battle with liver disease, he was working for the National Parks Service in Washington D.C., where he worked with the historic tax credit program as an architectural historian.
Jason was a remarkable individual, known equally as much for his impeccable taste, love of champagne, great Christmas parties and for his wonderful collection of Kentucky art. He was also known to be opinionated, cantankerous and a bit cranky, especially when someone dared to violate the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
He certainly had an uncanny ability to reinvent himself: after all, Jason started his professional career as a pre-historic archeologist but went on to become a self-taught architectural historian. Jason’s memory is honored every year through the Jason M. Fenwick Lecture in Historic Preservation.
Previous Fenwick Series Lectures
2018 Charles Cash, Vital Sites Historic Preservation, Downtown Library
2017 Scott Erbes, Curator, Decorative Arts & Design at Speed Museum: “Art & Mystery of Kentucky Antiques” at Calvary Episcopal Church, 821 S. Fourth Street
2018 Tom Owen, Ph D: "Taking Stock: Forty-one Years as a Local History Practitioner" at
J B Speed Art Museum
2015 Janie Rice-Brother: “From the Bluegrass to Britain and Back Again: Lessons of the English Country
House” at Chao Auditorium
2014 Carolyn Brooks: “Distillery History of Louisville” at Brown Forman Distillery
2013 Daniel Vivian, Assistant Professor of History: “Rethinking Historic Preservation for a New Age” at the old Marcus Lindsey church
2012 Daniel Carey, Executive Director of Historic Savannah Foundation: “ Historic Preservation in the 21st Century: Not Your Grandmother’s Movement (…but maybe it should be)” at Gardencourt
2011: Mark Hewitt, FAIA: "Preserving the Country House for the 21st Century" at Gardencourt
2010: Sam Thomas and Gwynne Potts: Interior restoration of historic Locust Grove
2009: Donovan Rypkema: “Historic Preservation: The Core of Sustainable Development” at Glassworks
2008: Jay Stottman: “Privy to History: Public Health and Sanitation of Louisville” at the old Medical School, First and Chestnut Streets
2007: Winfrey Blackburn and R. Scott Gill: “The Kentucky Houses of Stratton Hammon” at Gardencourt
2006: Rex Lyons on “Historic Interiors” at the Henry Clay
2005: Ken Von Roenn, Architect and Stained Glass Sculptor at Calvary Episcopal Church
2004: Prof. Patrick Snadon on "Kentucky's Contribution to Neo-
classical Interiors in America" at the Scottish Rite Temple
2002: Historic Interior panel discussion at Speed Art Museum