One hundred and fifty years have passed since the Thoroughbreds of the inaugural Kentucky Derby sprang to action at Churchill Downs. But the story of the greatest two minutes in sports is more than the pageantry of horses and thrill of the people who love and celebrate the event.
Through the decades, the 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 Kentucky 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, senior curator of collections for the Kentucky Derby Museum, sets out to recover the 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. She gives, on behalf of the Kentucky Derby Museum, a personal tour of 75 objects from the museum. Her selections place Black, Latin American, and female riders, owners, and trainers closer to the center of the Derby story, spotlighting the diverse contributions and achievements of groups that have played an increasingly important role in shaping the legacy of the Run for the Roses.
To learn more about this book or about the Kentucky Derby Museum’s permanent collection of artifacts, visit www.derbymuseum.org or follow @derbymuseum on Instagram and Facebook.