Derby Traditions: Fashion

https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/traditions/hats 

http://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-of-the-kentucky-derby-2017-5#-while-others-donned-unique-pieces-19 

Fashion (whether high or noteworthy) is as synonymous with the Kentucky Derby as mint juleps, My Old Kentucky Home, and the horse race itself. Meriweather Lewis Clark Jr., founder of the Kentucky Derby, established the Kentucky Derby dress code of "full morning dress" from the beginning. Men wore full suits with hats, and women wore suits or dresses, gloves, and hats. Mr. Clark Jr. had classy women attend the first Derby to encourage other high-fashion men and women to come as well.

Though fashion changed throughout the decades, modest hats and clothing were part of Derby attire until the 1960s. When television coverage of the Derby became more prominent, and as the fashion mores of the 1960s changed, so did the dress code. The bigger and bolder the hat, the better, so it seemed. During the last two decades of the 20th century, gloves became passe, and more casual attire, like shorts and sundresses, became acceptable in the infield.

After the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton in 2011, the fascinator, a head accessory that is smaller than a hat, became popular.

Men and women don stylish or outlandish hats and clothing now, and, as the Lexington Herald-Leader reported in the Weekender section of the April 27, 2018 edition, one will see a variety of apparel, particularly in the infield, at the Derby.

We will leave you with images of Derby fashion from the 1920s to today.

1920s

 https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/fashion/1920s

1950s

 https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/fashion/1950s

1970s-1980s

 https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/fashion/1970s

2000s

http://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-of-the-kentucky-derby-2017-5#singer-macy-gray-wore-a-bright-pink-hat-to-the-2004-races--25

2010s 

https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/traditions/hats

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Sources:

Almanza, A. (2017, May 20). Facinators: The Hair Accessories' Perplexing History. Retrieved from: https://www.allure.com/story/history-of-fascinators

Jacobs, S. (2017, May 6). Vintage photos show the glamour and style of the Kentucky Derby. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-of-the-kentucky-derby-2017-5#even-in-the-1950s-the-derby-was-a-place-to-be-seen-here-the-new-orleans-restaurateur-known-as-diamond-jim-moran-gets-his-diamond-studded-toupee-adjusted-by-a-beautician-before-taking-off-for-the-kentucky-derby-he-was-reportedly-paid-50000-just-to-make-an-appearance-5

Kentucky Derby. (2018). Hats. Retrieved from: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/traditions/hats

Patton, J. (2018, April 27). Kicking the Derby off the Bucket List? Lexington Herald-Leader: Weekender. 12C-13C.  

Derby Traditions: Roses

 

Source: Craiglduncan at English Wikipedia

The Kentucky Derby and flowers, especially roses, have had a long and close association. The first floral award to the Derby winner occurred in 1896, when Ben Brush won by a nose. He was presented with a "collar" of white and pink roses. The jockey, Willie Simms, also received a bouquet of the same roses (tied with a magenta ribbon no less). In 1904, the red rose became the official flower of the Kentucky Derby, though it wasn't until 1932 that the rose garland took on its current form. In 1906 we have the earliest known photo showing the floral garland and bouquet (see below). Bill Corum in 1926 coined the phrase, "Run for the Roses." In 2009 the phrase became a registered trademark.

Ben Brush preparing for the Derby. (public domain)


 

 

Sir Huron, 1906 winner, and his jockey showing the early
style of the floral award. (public domain)

1932: Burgoo King, the first to wear the current style garland.
(c) Associated Press

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Sources:

http://www.trademarkencyclopedia.com/run-for-the-roses/

 

https://www.americasbestracing.net/lifestyle/2018-derby-history-114-years-red-roses

 

https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/traditions/garland-of-roses

 

http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-Sports-Racing-animals-/b107d47b25c544d483bea3fed8b9c2f9

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Simms



Kentucky Derby Fun Facts

Official Poster of the 2018 Kentucky derby

Known variously as the "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports," "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports," or "The Run for the Roses®," the Kentucky Derby is America's longest, continuous-running sporting event, held every year since May 17, 1875. This year's Kentucky Derby, the 144th running, will occur on May 5th at Churchill Downs—the Derby's home since its inception.

Here are 10 fun facts about the Derby you can use to amaze and impress your friends:

1. Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, the grandson of the famous explorer, formed the Louisville Jockey Club and acquired land for a racetrack from his uncles John and Henry Churchill.
2. The Kentucky Derby debuted in 1875. Its model was the Epsom Derby, a 1½-mile grass race that has been run in England since 1780. The Derby started as a 1½-mile turf race, but in 1896 the Derby was shortened to 1¼-miles. 
3. Thirteen of the 15 riders in the first Derby were African-Americans. Black jockeys won 15 of the first 28 races, with Isaac Murphy winning three.
4. The winning trainers in two of the first three Derbys were former slaves -- Ansel Williamson (Aristides, 1875) and Ed Brown (Baden-Baden, 1877).
5. In 1883 Leonatus wins the Derby, and the name “Churchill Downs” is first used for the racetrack that is the home of the Kentucky Derby.
6. The famed Twin Spires greet the Kentucky Derby crowd for the first time on May 6th, 1895.
7. To date 143 horses have won the Derby; 109 were born in Kentucky.
8. Twelve Kentucky Derby winners went on to win the Preakness Stakes (Baltimore, MD) and the Belmont Stakes (Elmont, NK) to become Triple Crown winners. The last was American Pharaoh in 2015.
9. Three fillies have won the Kentucky Derby: Regret in 1915, Genuine Risk in 1980 and Winning Colors in 1988.
10. The Derby Trophy is the only solid-gold trophy awarded in American sports.

Kentucky Derby Trophy (public domain)

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Resources:
https://www.kentuckyderby.com/horses/news/churchill-downs-unveils-official-2018-art-of-the-kentucky-derby-by-kentucky-artist-lynn-dunbar

https://www.newsday.com/sports/horseracing/20-fun-facts-about-the-kentucky-derby-1.2849366

https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/kentucky-derby-history

https://www.ticketcity.com/kentucky-derby-tickets/kentucky-derby-statistics.html

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/horses/triple/derby/2014/05/03/kentucky-derby-horses-born/2134528/

https://www.derbymuseum.org/education/trivia.html

Library Week @ Sullivan Lexington Library

National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April to raise awareness about libraries.  The first National Library Week (NLW) was observed in May, 1958 with the theme, "Wake up and Read!".  The ALA council voted in that year to continue the annual celebration.  Now, sixty years later, National Library Week continues to be observed. The library's theme for National Library Week 2018 is, "Librarians Can Do It!," and the library staff has created a display to showcase the many ways your librarians can help you. 

Who was...

Juliette Gordon Low?

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Juliette_Gordon_Low_1923.jpg

Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low grew up in the southern United States after the U.S. Civil War and married an Englishman named Willie Low. After her husband’s death, Daisy Low met Robert Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. Low came back to her hometown of Savannah, GA, and she brought the Girl Guides, calling them the Girl Scouts of America, with her. Soon, the Girl Scouts grew beyond Savannah, and when Low passed away in 1927, the Girl Scouts was a national organization.

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Source:

Cordery, S.A. (2012). The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts. New York: Viking. p. x.

Who Was...

 Sojourner Truth?

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sojourner_truth_c1870.jpg

“That man. . . says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any best place, and aren’t I a woman?” From speech at Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, OH. [1851]

Ms. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York in the late 18^th century. Her first owners spoke Dutch, and that was the language Ms. Truth and her family spoke as well. Before she gained her freedom from slavery (slavery was abolished in New York state on July 4, 1827), Ms. Truth was sold numerous times. Her last master broke his promise of freedom, so Ms. Truth took her infant child and ran away leaving behind her husband and two other children. Ms. Truth learned that one of her children was illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. She fought for her son’s freedom and won. Ms. Truth continued to fight against slavery, prison reform, and for equal suffrage for men and women.  Ms. Truth spoke with President Lincoln and the Michigan state legislature about these causes before she passed away in 1883.The quote above is from a speech she gave at a Women’s Rights Convention in Ohio in 1851. 

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Sources:

Biography.com. (2018, February 27). Sojourner Truth Biography. Retrieved from: https://www.biography.com/people/sojourner-truth-9511284


O’Brien, G., (Ed.). (2012). Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 18^th ed. New York: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 416.

Who is...

Dolores Huerta?

https://i2.wp.com/www.latinorebels.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Dolores-Huerta.jpg

A mighty force in the world of migrant workers, Ms. Huerta was born in New Mexico in 1930. She earned her education in California, and she taught for a brief period. Ms. Huerta began working for the Stockton Community Service Organization (CSO), an organization that also employed César Chávez. In 1962, Mr. Chávez and Ms. Huerta founded the National Farm Workers Association. Her work with the organization led to several pieces of legislation in California, including the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. Ms. Huerta almost lost her life during a protest against presidential candidate George H.W. Bush when an officer used a baton on her so forcefully that her ribs were broken and her spleen ruptured. Despite being in her late 80s, Ms. Huerta continues to work. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her efforts, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President Obama gave her in 2012.

For more information:

A documentary about Ms. Huerta will air on KET, March 27 at 9:00 p.m.

Dolores Huerta Biography.com https://www.biography.com/people/dolores-huerta-188850

Dolores Huerta Foundation http://doloreshuerta.org/

Latinas Who Persisted http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/latinas-who-persisted

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Sources:

Biography.com. (2018, February 26). Dolores Huerta Biography. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/dolores-huerta-188850

Dolores Huerta Foundation. (n.d.). Dolores Huerta.  Retrieved from: http://doloreshuerta.org/dolores-huerta/

Who is...

Jacqueline Woodson?

http://www.diversityinya.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/digest-jackieatnba.jpg

“I do not know if these hands will be Rosa’s or Ruby’s gently gloved and fiercely folded calmly in a lap, on a desk, around a book, ready to change the world. . .”  From Brown Girl Dreaming [2014].

Woodson’s words are from her National Book Award and Newbery honor award-winning autobiographical book, Brown Girl Dreaming. As a writer, Woodson has penned poems, young-adult and adult novels, and picture books, and though Ms. Woodson won the Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 (an award given for writing), she has continued to pursue writing quality literature for young people. Ms. Woodson has had to persevere through her parent’s divorce and racial prejudice, and yet she, and her work, have risen above those difficulties. To learn more about Ms. Woodson, read her memoir Brown GirlDreaming or visit the following sites:

Jacqueline Woodson’s official site 

New York Times article about Jacqueline Woodson being namedNational Ambassador for Young People’s Literature 

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown Girl Dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books, an Imprint of Penguin Group: New York. P. 5.   

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Sources:

Patton, J. R. (2006). Jacqueline Woodson: Poetry in Motion. Teaching Pre K-8, 36(7), 46-48.

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown Girl Dreaming. Nancy Paulsen Books, an Imprint of Penguin Group: New York.

Who Was...

Neroli Fairhall?

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/images/attachement/jpg/

site1/20070727/001aa018ff9c0813a1113f.jpg

New Zealand Olympian Neroli Fairhall, a woman who competed in horse-related sporting events prior to a horrific motorcycle accident which paralyzed her, did not give up competing in athletic events. She trained to be an archer and competed in national archery championships. In 1980, she qualified to attend the Olympic Games in Moscow. Sadly, due to the boycott of the games, Ms. Fairhall did not attend the 1980 Olympics. Ms. Fairhall competed in the double FITA archery competition in 1982, earning a gold medal. Then, in 1984, Ms. Fairhall qualified for the Olympics in Los Angeles. While she did not medal at the 1984 Olympics, Ms. Fairhall still made history as the first Paralympian to compete. Ms. Fairhall continued her athletic pursuits earning five national titles and participating in four Paralympics.

Source: New Zealand Olympic Committee. (2018). Neroli Fairhall. Retrieved from: http://www.olympic.org.nz/athletes/neroli-fairhall/

Who Was...

Dr. Wangari Maathai?

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQB-CJBpHHxoRzRAu58Gm_mIDMmTYRSS-PC-H2Q5xKUIxNixrEf8PrHkTyCL5V61BWNvooDD0IT_dd8kJu3Ap-i9fUMPt1rWdQUU4ovIPkn4Dft3gZLC2BE326bRcm4NR92EbfpWu3KFp/s1600/Wangari+3.jpg

Dr. Maathai was the first woman from a Central African country to earn her Ph.D., she was the first woman be a professor in Kenya, and she was the first woman from an African country to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps her greatest legacy was the Green Belt Movement that she began in 1977. Dr. Maathai gave women trees to plant because, “she saw tree-planting in a broader perspective which included democracy, women’s rights, and international solidarity.” The Nobel committee said of Maathai that, “She thinks globally and acts locally.”

Check out our blog post from a few years ago: 

Source: Nobelprize.org. (2018). Wangari Maathai-Facts. Retrieved from: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2004/maathai-facts.html

Who Was

Madame C.J. Walker?

https://tech.co/21-successful-black-entrepreneurs-throughout-history-2015-02

“The girls and women of our race must not be afraid to take hold of business endeavor and, by patient industry, close economy, determined effort, and close application to business, wring success out of a number of business opportunities that lie at their very doors.” –Madame C.J. Walker, 1913 in A’Leila Bundles, On Her Own Ground, p. 153.

Sarah Breedlove came into the world in 1867 in Louisiana. The hard-working, widowed Ms. Breedlove moved and found steady work in St. Louis, MO, to support herself and her young daughter. Then, to solve her own hair loss problem, Ms. Breedlove, the woman who would later take the name Madame C.J. Walker (Charles Joseph Walker was her second husband’s name), developed hair products. She moved her business to Denver, CO., to avoid competition in St. Louis, and expanded her product line and her business, training a sales force of women who sold her products. Ms. Walker was so successful as an entrepreneur that she became a millionaire and a philanthropist. Her efforts extended to her advocacy for the early Civil Rights movement as well. When Madam C. J. Walker passed away in 1919, she left funds to the NAACP and the Tuskegee Institute.

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Sources:

Smith, C.A. (2005). Market Women: Black Women Entrepreneurs: Past, Present, and Future. Westport, CT: Praeger. p. 75.

Vare, E. A., & Ptacek, G. (1993). Madam C.J. Walker. Women Inventors & Their Discoveries, 50.

Who Was:

Elizebeth Smith Friedman

https://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic-heritage/historical-figures-publications/hall-of-honor/1999/efriedman.shtml

The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies,and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by Jason Fagone; 921 F156w

Mr. Fagone brings a private and humble woman to the forefront in his engaging biography of Elizebeth Smith Friedman. Though not a household name like J. Edgar Hoover, the United States owes a lot to Mrs. Friedman because of her work as a cryptographer for the U.S. government. Her code-breaking training began at a private civilian compound in Illinois where she had the task of deciphering messages supposedly hidden in Shakespeare’s plays. The college-educated Friedman became suspicious that Shakespeare’s plays had any hidden secrets because only the woman who trained her could find the secret codes, and her results could not be replicated. Elizebeth shared her suspicions about her Shakespeare work with a scientist named William Friedman, who worked at the compound doing genetics research.

William and Elizebeth married and left the compound in Illinois for Washington D.C., where they were employed for the rest of their careers. Both of them studied the art of cryptography and developed methods that their successors could use. They also collected cryptography materials so that they and others could learn. As part of the Coast Guard staff, Elizebeth aided the government in breaking organized crime syndicates that ran rampant during Prohibition. The skills she honed prepared her for cracking the communications of the Nazis working in South America during WWII. Though not publicly credited for her efforts, records in the National Archives demonstrate the impact she had on the national security efforts of the United States. Fagone includes some of the codes and methods Elizebeth used to break the codes throughout the biography. Those interested in U.S. history, intelligence, and women’s history will find Mrs. Friedman’s biography a compelling story.

Who is?

Malala Yousafzai

http://prof.chicanas.com/20/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Web-Background-Image-IMG_4944-copy.jpg

“The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.”

Malala Yousafzai came into the world in July 1997. In her home country of Pakistan, Ms. Yousafzai went to school, even though the Taliban did not want girls to be educated. For years, Ms. Yousafzai spoke out against the oppression by the Taliban and defended the right for girls to have an education. In 2012, on her way home from school, a man got on Ms. Yousafzai’s school bus and shot her in the head. She survived the attack, and went on to speak at the United Nations less than a year after the Taliban tried to take her life away.

Ms. Yousafzai has written a book titled, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, which chronicles her life and experiences. She also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, the youngest person in the history of the prize to have this gotten this award. The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, appointed Ms. Yousafzai as a U.N. Messenger of Peace in 2017.

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Source: Biography.com. (2018, February 26). Malala Yousafzai Biography. Retrieved from: https://www.biography.com/people/malala-yousafzai-21362253

Who is?...

Alice Walker

https://flic.kr/p/edGfpu

“Our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see.” From The Third Life of Grange Copeland [1970]

Alice Walker is author of the Pulitzer prize-winning novel, The Color Purple. Ms. Walker grew up in Georgia, and graduated as the valedictorian of her class. She went on to graduate with a degree from Sarah Lawrence College. Before earning her living as a writer, Ms. Walker was a social worker, a teacher, and she was a civil rights activist. Ms. Walker married a Jewish man, and their marriage was the first legal interracial union in Mississippi. During her career, she has published over 20 works, and she continues to write. Her website lists a poem she wrote in 2018.

To learn more check out the following sites:

Alice Walker’s official website

Alice Walker on Biography.com 

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Sources:

Biography.com. (2018, February 27). Alice Walker Biography. Retrieved from: https://www.biography.com/people/alice-walker-9521939  

O’Brien, G., ed. (2012). Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 18^th ed. New York: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 860.