The Filson Historical Society Blog

Jacob Lee at his curatorial station.

That famous advice dispensed by 19^th century newspaperman Horace Greeley for young Americans to head west as the tide of Manifest Destiny swept across the Great Plains to the Pacific is being followed today by one of our own. After five years and eight months at The Filson, today is Jacob Lee’s last day. Jacob first came to The Filson as an undergraduate intern from the University of Louisville for the spring 2005 semester. Working on his degree in history, with an emphasis on American history, Jacob was a natural researcher and cataloger from the outset. His inquisitive and intuitive nature for the work and history made him an excellent addition to the Special Collections Department staff. When that internship ended and he entered graduate school, working on a master’s degree in American history, he received a year-long internship. When that ended he was awarded a Boehl Internship. We clearly wanted to keep the young man around! With an opening in the department looming on the horizon, we hired Jacob part-time, positioned to join the department full-time. On September 1, 2006, Jacob joined the staff as a special collections assistant; later being named an associate curator.

Jacob and Col. Reuben Durrett.

Jacob has worn a number of hats in fulfilling departmental and Filson duties. From monitoring researchers and answering research queries to all aspects of cataloging and supervising interns – even hanging the occasional portrait – he has handled his responsibilities with ability and professionalism. A list of the collections he’s cataloged would be lengthy, but some of the largest and most historically important are those from the 19^th century. The Speed Family Papers and the Beatty-Quisenberry Family Papers are two wonderful and frequently used collections that bear the Jacob Lee stamp of excellence. Those who read The Filson newsmagazine, our quarterly journal Ohio Valley History, The Filson’s blog, or attend Filson staff lectures know him well. His work has always been thorough, accurate, and well-written. It has been a pleasure to see him develop into a first-rate curator and promising historian.

Jacob and his cousin, Philip Lightfoot Lee.

Jacob will be missed by his Filson colleagues and many others as he heads west to the University of California at Davis to pursue a PhD in American history, but we certainly wish him happiness and great success. We send him off with thanks and best wishes and even though Thomas Wolfe opined that “You can never go home again,” Jacob can rest assured that he’ll always have friends here at The Filson who would indeed be happy to see him return home to Kentucky, and maybe to The Filson, some day. Read the rest of this entry »

A dashing George Rogers Clark

Being new to The Filson, I frequently find intriguing bits of history winking at me from an office or hallway, perched on a mantelpiece, or looming on the stairs. But the whimsical figures of the Derby Clock are particular standouts – playful sculptures that evoke both the varied history of this state and the imaginative spirit of their creator, Barney Bright.

Bright designed the Derby Clock in the 1970’s for the city of Louisville. This ornamental clock was structured as an elevated race track, with five Kentucky historical figures contesting each other for a win at noon each day. Bright also sculpted observers to the race, significant historical figures as well, watching from a gazebo. Unfortunately, the Clock had mechanical problems, but apparently it’s being restored and should soon be placed for viewing at the Louisville Zoo.

Life-size figures from local lore race around the Louisville Clock.

A winsome Belle of Louisville

Here’s the fun part for me – in addition to the Clock, Bright also designed 250 collector’s sets of the racing figures, miniature versions of the statues on the Clock. These include George Rogers Clark, dashing in a green cloak and sword; Thomas Jefferson, genteel in a cart even as he clutches his horse’s tail; and my favorite, the Belle of Louisville, perched on a wave, legs in an elegant curve as her feet embrace a steamboat wheel – the personification of joy.

Lu Ann Weinstein donated these hand-painted, pewter sculptures to The Filson, and they truly demonstrate the power of both history and creativity. If you’d like to learn more about the Derby Clock and the intriguing figures contained therein, check out the official website  -http://www.louisvilleclock.com/clock-main.html.

As New York’s Fashion Week draws to a close, The Filson pays homage to style icon Countess Mona Bismarck.  Mona Bismarck, née Strader, was born in Louisville in 1897 and raised in Lexington.  She married five times but it was her third marriage to multi-millionaire utilities executive Harrison Williams in 1926 that propelled Mona to the highest social circles, and made her one of the leading lights of international café society.  The couple owned two homes in New York and one in Palm Beach, a succession of apartments in Paris, and Il Fortino, Mona’s beloved villa on Capri.

Mona Bismarck Photographed by Cecil Beaton

Famous for her beauty, particularly her trademark silver hair and aquamarine eyes, as well as her  fashion sense, Mona was the first American to be declared the Best-Dressed Woman in the World in 1933, a distinction bestowed upon her by Paris designers Chanel, Mainbocher, Lanvin, Vionnet, Molyneaux, Lelong, and Mona’s personal favorite, Balenciaga.  Upon the closing of Balenciaga’s fashion house in 1968, it was said that Mona took to her bed for three days. She regularly appeared on best dressed lists on both sides of the Atlantic.   Her circle of famous and influential friends included European nobility, politicians, artists, designers, actors, and writers.  Her homes, clothes and lifestyle were regularly chronicled in newspapers and magazines, especially Vogue,  and Mona was photographed by famous photographers of the day including Steichen, Horst and her close friend, Cecil Beaton.  Ever the muse, Salvador Dali painted her portrait,  Cole Porter included her name in song lyrics, and she was mentioned in movies and alluded to in books.

Harrison Williams died in 1953, and in 1955 Mona married her longtime friend, Count Edward von Bismarck, the grandson of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.  She died in Paris in 1983 and is buried on Long Island with Harrison Williams and Edward von Bismarck.  Her legacy is evident in the cultural work of the Mona Bismarck Foundation in Paris.

Mona Bismarck photographed by Cecil Beaton

It was Mona’s interest in her native Kentucky that led her to donate some of her papers and photographs to The Filson Historical Society.  The bulk of her papers, spanning 1916-1994, is comprised of personal correspondence.   The Mona Bismarck photograph collection spans from the 1860s to 1979.  The most beautiful images in the collection are Cecil Beaton’s portrait photographs of Mona.  The collection also includes photographs of family, her husbands, and friends from her years in international society, as well as snapshots of her garden on Capri and her apartment in the Hotel Lambert in Paris.

Mona Bismarck was a beautiful and elegant woman known for her impeccable sense of style.  She lived a rarified existence of wealth and privilege, and through her papers and photograph collection we are allowed a glimpse into what that life was like.

Today we celebrate the birth of one of Kentucky’s finest sculptors, Enid Bland Yandell, an artist ahead of her time.  She pursued a career in sculpture, a medium dominated by men during the early twentieth century, rather than choosing a life of domesticity.  Although Yandell was from a prominent Louisville family, she relied on her talent rather than her social standing to advance her career.  Yandell also sought to improve people’s lives, not only through her artistic creation, but also through progressive thinking and dedicated service.  The Filson Historical Society’s Enid Yandell Collection contains a wealth of information on this fascinating early twentieth-century sculptor, encompassing  two hundred eighty-four photographs, 4.66 cubic feet of personal papers, and  two busts.

Enid Yandell with her bust of General John Breckinridge Castleman, c. 1905.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky on October 6, 1870, Yandell was the eldest daughter of surgeon Lunsford Pitts Yandell, Jr. and Louise Elliston Yandell.  Her parents nurtured her artistic talent and encouraged her to pursue a professional career as a sculptor.  Louise persuaded her daughter to concentrate on local personages and to brush up on her Kentucky history, hoping it would lead to lucrative commissions.  The advice was well-given and no doubt led to the creation of such works as Yandell’s Daniel Boone in Cherokee Park, and her busts of Col. Reuben T. Durrett and Alfred Victor DuPont in The Filson collection.

Enid Yandell, center, in Lorado Taft’s studio, Chicago, c. 1892.

Yandell’s education and apprenticeships were the foundation of her public triumphs. Her training began at Hampton College in Louisville where she obtained degrees in chemistry and art, and continued at the Cincinnati Art Academy where she completed a four-year program in two years.  Some of Yandell’s most important skills were learned during apprenticeships with noted sculptors of the day.  She studied with Lorado Taft and Philip Martiny in Chicago, and with Karl Bitter in New York.  In the winter of 1894 Yandell went to Paris to study with Frederick MacMonnies and other instructors at Mme. Vittie’s Academy in Montparnasse.  She repeatedly returned to Paris during the early 1900s for artistic inspiration. Read the rest of this entry »