It is not every day you can get a glimpse of Geronimo’s bow and arrow, a uniform worn during the Civil War, a 500-bottle collection of Kentucky bourbon, and a horseshoe worn by Secretariat—all in the same location. At the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, you can.
The museum’s vast collection of relics that delve into Kentucky’s past includes a disco ball made in Louisville, and a dress and tiara from Kentuckian Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000. At least one item goes way back—back to prehistoric times—a mastodon tusk that hails from the Big Bone Lick area in Boone County.
The Frazier, as it is referred to by many, is celebrating its 20th year in 2024 and is spending the next 12 months honoring founder Owsley Brown Frazier, reminiscing about its past, and looking toward the future.
“Mr. Frazier was such a generous man. He left $400 million to healthcare and education and so many other things,” said Andy Treinen, president and CEO of the museum. “Part of our 20th anniversary is to celebrate his legacy and what he left behind for the people of Kentucky.”
But one can’t look at where the museum is without taking a look at how it came to be.
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The Frazier opened its doors on May 22, 2004, with a splashy event that included a red carpet in front of the newly renovated building at 829 West Main in downtown Louisville. The collection had been years in the making.
Incredibly, it all started with a tornado.
The natural disaster that came to be known as the Super Outbreak took place April 3-4, 1974, with 148 confirmed tornadoes in 13 states. Kentucky was one of those states, and Louisville saw its share of damage. A tornado destroyed businessman Frazier’s home, and among the lost possessions was a cherished Kentucky Long Rifle that had been made for his great-great-grandfather in the 1820s. The family heirloom had been passed down through the generations but was never recovered after the storm.
Frazier was the owner of Bittners, a Louisville interior design company, and a board member of Brown-Forman, a company his grandfather founded in 1870. Frazier was well known for his philanthropy throughout Louisville. He had an interest in weaponry, but with this personal loss, he began acquiring antique pieces that eventually led to an exhibit at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort. Attracting 10,000 people in just two months, the exhibit prompted Frazier to realize that others were interested in weaponry, too, so he began to consider opening a museum.
“He had many pieces of his own, but in order to round out the collection, he partnered with the Royal Armouries Museum in London,” said Simon Meiners, communications and research specialist at the museum. “They loaned us 1,000 pieces of armor.”
Originally called the Frazier Historical Arms Museum when it opened, just two years later, the museum was rebranded as the Frazier International History Museum. Meiners said they realized the armory focus was too niche, and the museum could not generate sustainable attendance.
A few years after, the word “international” was dropped from the title as more localized exhibits were creating quite a draw. Around that time, the focus began shifting to Kentucky.
Frazier passed away in 2012, but the museum’s board of directors remained committed to fulfilling his dream, and people who knew him are consulted to make sure the trajectory of the museum would meet his approval.
“I spent a lot of time thinking of that because I’m very humbled to sit in his office,” Treinen said. “His friends tell me he would absolutely love this.”
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The Frazier added the tagline “Where the World Meets Kentucky” in 2018 and has never looked back.
Around the same time, the museum became the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and it houses the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Welcome Center.
“This partnership with the Kentucky Distillers Association gave us an opportunity to mean something to a whole lot of people who might not have stumbled upon us otherwise,” Treinen said. “It was a transformational thing, and it has been very positive for us.”
With Kentucky as the focus, the family-friendly museum hosts exhibits such as “The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall,” which introduces visitors to those who lived here from pioneer days through the early 1900s, and “Cool Kentucky,” a collection of pieces that tell the story of our state. This exhibit also includes “KentuckyShow!”—a high-definition multimedia experience that might just make a Kentuckian’s eyes tear up with pride. “The Spirit of Kentucky,” an in-depth look at all facets of bourbon, includes a stunning display of hundreds of backlit bottles lining the walls of the gallery.
Treinen said that, as the museum pursued Kentucky artifacts, it borrowed items at first, but now, the permanent collection includes 7,000 objects that are Kentucky-based. A huge influx came in 2023 from another museum that is just down the street from the Frazier.
“Kentucky Science Center, which started out as a Kentucky history museum, had items in their collection dating back to the mid-1800s,” Treinen said. “Their leadership wanted to keep the items in Kentucky, but they did not want them, so they gifted us many incredible things that allow us to tell stories.”
One example of how this collaboration paid off was in the Frazier exhibit “Spirited Design: Old Forester’s Mid-Century Decanters,” which includes Raymond Loewy decanter designs from the 1950s and ’60s. The collection from the Kentucky Science Center had wardrobe items from the same era. So the team at the Frazier added these clothing items to the display to show what people were wearing at that time.
“We are about the preservation of history, but we are also about the presentation of history,” Treinen said. “And telling stories with it, which is what we love to do.”
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The Frazier will proudly show off 20 years of accomplishments with events and celebrations throughout the year, most playing off the anniversary year.
All year, individual memberships are $20, and free admission is available to anyone who is 20 years old.
Meiners explained that, also all year, the museum’s e-newsletter, Frazier Weekly, will feature 20-item lists of interesting items. He is working on “Musical Kentucky: A Song From Each County.” The collection will share 10 songs each month, culminating in a Spotify playlist that will include all 120 counties and be completed in December.
The Frazier’s newest exhibit, “120: Cool KY Counties,” featuring artifacts, treasures and stories from each county in the Bluegrass State, will be unveiled in March.
The swankiest event is scheduled for Friday, April 12, when the Frazier hosts “A Night at the Museum: Celebrating 20 Years of the Frazier.’ According to Haley Harlow Rankin, senior manager of fundraising, the evening will include food, drinks, music and dancing, plus experiences and engagement opportunities throughout the galleries.
“Attire is black tie or creative formal,” she said. “We like to have fun at the Frazier, too.”
This year is the inaugural gala, but it will become an annual event.
“We look forward to celebrating with Frazier friends but also introducing ourselves to the wider community,” Harlow Rankin said.
One way to do that is to become mobile. Treinen said plans are in the works to acquire a van or RV in which stories and pieces of exhibits can go on the road to Kentucky fairs and festivals. The museum will continue to tell visitors about Kentucky and its counties, but it also will go out into the counties to tell people about Kentucky and the Frazier.
Next summer, the museum will open an exhibit titled “Flashback: Kentucky Media Through the Years.” Treinen explained that this idea came about from a popular exhibit the museum hosted in 2017, “100 Great Courier-Journal Photographs.”
“People looked at those events in the photographs, and they remembered how it impacted them,” Treinen said. “They loved it because it is their history.”
As the Frazier uses the next year to reminisce on its past, tip its hat to its founder, and embrace the future, Treinen hopes that the takeaway is easy to see.
“There is no better place to go in the state to learn all there is to learn about Kentucky,” he said.