Jessica K. Whitehead, is the senior curator of collections for the Kentucky Derby Museum, where she has recently written The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects, published in 2024 by the University Press of Kentucky, and Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard, published by the Press in 2025. Outside of the Derby Museum, Jessica has studied Harlan Hubbard since her student days at Hanover College (Class of 2011), curating multiple exhibits in the region and providing the introduction to The Watercolors of Harlan Hubbard: From the Collection of Bill and Flo Caddell, released in 2021.

She served as a founding board member of the new non-profit Payne Hollow on the Ohio, where she still manages its collection of artifacts. She is currently a board member for the Kentucky Museum & Heritage Alliance. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys making art, gardening with her partner, Phil, and reading books with her very large cat, Bean. She lives in New Albany, Indiana.