Old Friends will host The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers, a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Keeneland Association and developed and shared by the Keeneland Library, from Oct. 2 to 31, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, the retirement organization announced Tuesday.
The exhibit, which highlights the lives and careers of 100 African American horsemen and horsewomen from the mid-1800s to the present, will be held in the Josephine Abercrombie Center at Old Friends at Dream Chase Farm in Georgetown, Ky. It will run seven-days a week from Oct. 2 through Oct. 31.
Those interested in seeing the exhibit may stop in the Old Friends office for information and viewing details. The exhibit is free to the public, but reservations are required. Phone 502-863-1775 or email alyssa@oldfriendsequine.org to make a reservation.
“We at Old Friends are very privileged to host this most special and meaningful exhibit,” said John Nicholson, President and CEO of Old Friends. “We are proud to be a part of the Keeneland Library's exploration and celebration of the extraordinary contributions of Black horsemen and women to the Thoroughbred industry. All who love this sport should be forever grateful to the countless African Americans over many generations whose knowledge and skills built racing into what it has become today.”
“We are thrilled to have Old Friends as a hosting site for Keeneland Library's traveling exhibit that is now making its way across Kentucky to reach as many people as possible with its stories of the contributions of African Americans in the industry from enslavement to today,” said Roda Ferraro, Keeneland Library Director and Exhibit Curator. “Visitors are likely to see some familiar names, like Isaac Murphy, Will Harbut, and Kendrick Carmouche. But they will also encounter lesser known and never-before published stories and photographs spanning nearly 200 years. The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers exhibit showcases select stories of countless African Americans who forged their way in Kentucky and beyond, making the racing industry what it is today.”
The exhibit comprises interpretive panels with one-of-a-kind photographs from Keeneland Library collections, as well as biographical vignettes spanning nearly two centuries, which include four future Racing Hall of Famers that once lived in Lexington's East End: jockeys Issaac Burns and Jimmy Winkfield, trainer Ansel Williamson, and trainer/owner Edward Dudley Brown. Each exhibit panel has a QR code for ready access to the exhibit's audio guide with life and career highlights of behind-the-scenes caretakers and racetrack superstars alike.
During the exhibit's run at Old Friends, there will be two special events.
The opening program will be held Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m. at the Josephine Abercrombie Center at Old Friends. Ferraro will be on hand for an exhibit opening discussion, and Q&A. Also, the exhibit's companion book, The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers, the first comprehensive chronicle of its kind, will be available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting Old Friends and the Keeneland Library.
Family Day: Meet & Read to Old Friends Retirees will be held Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at the farm.
Old Friends and the Keeneland Library are partnering to bring the story of Cheryl White, the first Black woman jockey to ride and win a professional race in the United States, to Family Day at Old Friends. Keeneland Library will donate copies of the acclaimed children's book The Jockey & Her Horse to young readers of all ages, who will meet Old Friends retirees and read the story to Old Friends horses.
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