Jessica K. Whitehead is the Nancy B. Rash Curator of Arts & Cultural Partnerships at the Filson Historical Society, where she deepens the Filson’s engagement with community stakeholders, expands the community’s knowledge of and for Louisville and the Ohio River Valley, and strengthens the Filson’s identity as a trusted public history resource and service-oriented institution that prioritizes projects of community revitalization.

She is the author of the recent biography of the artist, writer, and sustainability pioneer Harlan Hubbard, titled DRIFTWOOD: THE LIFE OF HARLAN HUBBARD (University Press of Kentucky 2025), as well as the HISTORY OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY IN 75 OBJECTS (UPK 2024), penned for the Kentucky Derby Museum in her previous position as their senior curator of collections. She is a contributor to the publications THE WATERCOLORS OF HARLAN HUBBARD: FROM THE COLLECTION OF BILL AND FLO CADDELL (UPK 2021) and the open access volume INNOVATION NATION: THE OHIO RIVER GATEWAY REGION AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA (NKU/ORVILLE 2025).

Her next book, JOCK(ETTE): PREJUDICE, POP CULTURE, AND THE RISE OF THE AMERICAN FEMALE JOCKEY is under contract.

Jessica served as a founding board member of the non-profit organization Payne Hollow on the Ohio, where she still serves as an historical consultant and manages its collection of artifacts. She is currently the vice president for the Kentucky Museum & Heritage Alliance, and she is actively involved in numerous collaborative curatorial projects across the Commonwealth. 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.