The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects - Meet the Author - 1 pm

Over the last one hundred and fifty years, the Kentucky Derby, like the state that founded it, has experienced profound moments of social, economic, and cultural change. As one of Kentucky's flagship cultural and economic institutions, the Thoroughbred racing industry must constantly reconcile with its past and think critically about the stories that have traditionally made it into the winner's circle. In the right hands, artifacts of material culture related to the Derby have the power to inspire nuanced stories of the past and shed light on marginalized voices in the industry's history. In The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects, Jessica K. Whitehead sets out to recover this accurate history of America's longest continuously held sporting event and establish a balance between well-known narratives and those that are less widely shared. Whitehead gives readers a personal tour of this history through 75 historic objects from the museum’s permanent collection. Her selections place Black, Latin American, and female riders, owners, and trainers closer to the center of the Derby story, spotlighting the contributions and achievements of groups that have played a vital role in shaping the legacy of the Run for the Roses.

Jessica K. Whitehead is the senior curator of collections for the Kentucky Derby Museum, where she safeguards and interprets the permanent collection of 20,000+ objects, photographs, and archival materials. On behalf of the museum, Whitehead has recently published The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects through the University Press of Kentucky. Outside of the Derby Museum, she is the preeminent scholar on the artist, writer, and sustainability pioneer Harlan Hubbard, and her biography of Hubbard will be released by UPK in February 2025. She is currently a board member of the Kentucky Museum & Heritage Alliance and served as a founding board member of the new nonprofit organization Payne Hollow on the Ohio.