2020 LHL MOnthly programs
Information on LHL Programs
The Legue holds at least 9 monthly events each year, and usually more than 9. THe meetings are typically held on the 3rd Sunday of each month but due vary such as June where it is held on the 4th Sunday to avoid Father's Day on the 3rd Sunday of June. No meetings are held in January, February or July. But, this also varies depending on special events in these months.
Meetings are free for LHL members. Guests are invited and some events require a $10 fee for guests to attend where seating is limited.
Meeting topics and locations do sometimes change and therefore the League always sends out a post card a few weeks prior to the event that verifies the topic, location, and time. Thus, we encourage everyone to pay attention to the post card announcements. If you do not receive a post card, please email the League at LouHist@Hotmail.com
February 16, 2020: ROOTS 101 African American History Museum
Located at 819 West Main Street, this is a new museum dedicated to Louisville's African American heritage
March, 2020, POSTPONED: LHL Annual Meeting, Northeast Library
The League's Annual meeting where we will recognize individuals and groups for their history efforts in 2019, as well as announce our 2020 monthly programs. We also will review our 2019 events and achievements.
April, 2020, POSTPONED: Women's Suffrage history, Woman's Club of Louisville, 1320 S. Fourth Street
Louisville women were in the forefront of the national suffrage movement in the early 1900s. This program will feature several re-enactors who will portray several of these remarkable local women such as Susan Look Avery.
POSTPONED Annual Meeting, Northeast Library
The League's Annual meeting where we will recognize individuals and groups for their history efforts in 2019, as well as announce our 2020 monthly programs. We also will review our 2019 events and achievements.
POSTPONED, Sunday, 2 pm, Cherokee Park Tee Pee: Ice Cream Social
This is the League's annual Ice Social with refreshments of lemonade and ice cream. It will be held at the Cherokee Park Tee Pee, which is adjacent to Hogan's Fountain.
POSTPONED, Women's Suffrage history, Woman's Club of Louisville, 1320 S. Fourth Street
Louisville women were in the forefront of the national suffrage movement in the early 1900s. This program will feature several re-enactors who will portray several of these remarkable local women such as Susan Look Avery.
POSTPONED, 2020, Sunday, 2 pm, Fenwick Lecture: Details to be determined
Details of this year's Fenwick Lecuture have not yet been determined. Scroll down this webpage to read more about the history of the Fenwick Series.
POSTPONED 2020, Sunday, 2 pm, Neighborhood Walking Tour: To be determined
Each September, the League features a walking tour of one of Louisville's distinctive neighborhoods. Recent neighborhoods visited include Shelby Park, Jeffersonville riverfront, and St. Joseph's. This year's neighborhood walking tour has yet to be determined.
POSTPONED, 2020, Sunday, 2 pm, Cemetery tour: To be determined
Each October, the League takes a tour of a local historic cemetery. Past cemeteries visited include St. Michaels, several Jewish cemeteries, Fariview in New Albany, Portland, and St. Louis. This year's cemetery tour has yet to be determined.
POSTPONED: Sunday, 2 pm, German Influences in Louisville, Location to be determined
Bob and Vicky Ullrich will discuss their latest book, "German Influences in Louisville". Location to be determined.
POSTPONED, 2020, Sunday, 2 pm, Immanuel UCC Church: Architect William Arrasmith
William Arrasmith was one of Louisville's legendary architects. He designed numerous Greyhound Bus Stations throughout the Midwest, as well as numerous local landmark buildings. This talk will also feature the buildings created by his successor firm, Arrasmith Judd, Rapp, and Chovan.
POSTPONED, 2020, Sunday, 2 pm, Judging History: Urban Renewal, downtown Library
This program will look back at the Urban Renewal program that occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. How is this dramatic reshaping of urban Louisville viewed now 60 / 70 years later?
Scroll Down to Read More on the Fenwick Lecture Series
Note: Programs are subject to change. Watch for monthly post card that will provide final event logistics.
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
2019 Randy Shipp on the history of Gunnison houses at St. Matthews Episcopal Church
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