There is a lot to celebrate and recognize in May: Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Older Americans Month, Historic Preservation Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month. The Louisville Historical Museum acknowledges that each of these commemorations deserves its own recognition and historical context. Read more about each celebration and ways you can join in below!

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
This May the Louisville Historical Museum is looking at the ways that Louisville residents of Asian heritage have enriched our community and contributed to local industry (and still are). Early Louisville residents of Asian heritage worked primarily in the agricultural sector, which was vital to life in Louisville and surrounding towns.

As a multicultural early western town, Louisville was home to residents who celebrated their own culture, like those of Asian heritage, while also contributing to the continuation of others' unique cultural practices. For example, the Takemoto family was a Japanese family who lived just north of Louisville and owned a successful farm. The Takemoto family farm played an important role in everyday Louisville life, growing vegetables and produce that was sold to local markets. According to a member of the Takemoto family, Noboru, the farm delivered 18-pound flats of tomatoes to the Jacoe Store, a grocery that catered to Louisville’s Italian American population, twice a week during the growing season. These flats of tomatoes were sold for 19 cents each and, according to Noboru, the store then sold the tomatoes to Italian Louisville women for making Italian tomato sauce. From this one example we get an idea of how people of different cultures supported each other through industry and can see the vital role that Louisville residents of Asian heritage played in making Louisville into a thriving western town that would go on to boast several Italian restaurants that may have used Japanese American-grown tomatoes.

Another example of Asian heritage from early Louisville can be seen on an artifact that is housed within the Louisville Historical Museum (1001 Main St.). A menu board from 1920s or 1930s Louisville lists items for sale, such as ham and cheese sandwiches next to tamales and St. Paul sandwiches. These items give clues as to what cultures were represented in Louisville and also were visiting common spaces, like restaurants, together. A St. Paul sandwich is an Asian-inspired dish or an Americanized version of an Asian dish that is made with ingredients that could be found in the United States at the time. It consisted of an egg foo young patty (made with mung bean sprouts and minced white onions) served with dill pickle slices, white onion, mayonnaise, and lettuce between two slices of white bread.

For more information about Louisville residents of Asian heritage, read the Louisville Historian article, “Young and Nisei in Louisville: Japanese American Students at Louisville High School From the 1930s to the 1950s” or browse our online historic photo collection.

Jewish American Heritage Month
During the month of May, Louisville celebrates the achievements and contributions of residents who identify as Jewish, past and present. Early Louisville was not home to a large Jewish population, but census records show us that some residents identified as Jewish and openly practiced their religion and honored their heritage in town. For example, Feivel “Philip” Goldstein (1870-1928) and Rose “Rosie” Goldstein (1875-1931) were identified on the census as being Jewish residents of Louisville in the early 1900s. They had emigrated from Russia or Poland in the late 1800s. Philip worked as a street peddler, then as a glazier (someone who fits glass into windows and doors) in the Louisville and Lafayette area. Perhaps some of the windows that he installed are still in use in Louisville homes. 

The Goldsteins lived with their children Mamie, Abe, Edward, and Sarah on a farm near Highway 287 for several years, then purchased the original house that was at 1201 La Farge, a home in Old Town Louisville, in 1922. They lived there until 1928. Both Philip and Rose are buried at Commerce City’s Rose Hill Cemetery, which the United Hebrew Cemetery Association had started in 1892 as an Orthodox Jewish Cemetery.

Older Americans Month
Each May, cities and towns across the nation take time to recognize the ways that older Americans contribute to our communities using their time and talents. In Louisville, older residents of the community have played major roles by being engaged in politics, community organizations, and volunteer work. Additionally, older Louisville residents over the years have shared important stories and details about Louisville history with the Museum through oral histories and donating artifacts.

The 2022 theme for Older Americans Month is “Age My Way,” which provides an opportunity for all of us to explore the many ways older adults can remain in and be involved with their communities. For Louisville, celebrating our elders and drawing in older members of the community is nothing new. The Louisville Times, which was the local paper from the early  1900s to the early 2000s, often featured older members of the community to share a story or give life wisdom. Additionally, the newspaper highlighted big achievements for older members of the community such as momentous birthdays and the arrival of grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Thanks to modern digitization, many issues of the Louisville Times are available for free online. You’re invited to pursue the Louisville Times online and maybe learn about some of the ways older Louisville residents of the past stayed tuned into the community.   

Historic Preservation Month
Historic Preservation Month, which is celebrated every May, seeks to promote historic sites and heritage tourism opportunities for their educational and cultural value. Louisville is home to many historic sites that act as portals to past lives of Louisville residents and past Louisville industries. Many buildings that are significant to local history carry stories of residents and cultures that helped Louisville become what it is today and have been landmarked. Building histories can offer a way to  study the story of someone whose story may not otherwise be told. The Museum is excited to use this Historic Preservation Month to highlight local structures in our community that share interesting insight about the property owners and community. Below are the stories of three Louisville local landmarks and their owners.

612 Grant
The house at 612 Grant is a Louisville Landmark named the Hibler House (after an early owner). During the Depression years of the 1930s, Roman Montano (1902-1985), Florencia “Flora” Duran Montano (1905-1980), and their children rented the house at 612 Grant. The Montano family was part of Louisville’s Hispanic community. Roman and Flora had married in Walsenburg, Colorado in 1923. They and many of Flora’s family members, the Durans, came to the Louisville area in the 1920s.

Roman worked as a coal miner in mines in the Louisville area. At the time of the 1930 census, he was working at the Monarch Mine south of Louisville and the family lived in a mine camp there. Records indicate that the family moved into Old Town Louisville and to 612 Grant in the early 1930s. By that time, the Montano children consisted of Annie, Rachel, John, and Joe. The family later moved to a house in Superior. Roman and Flora Montano are both buried at the Louisville Cemetery.

1024 Grant and 927 Main
Mary DeSantis Tomeo Staffieri was part of Louisville’s Italian community and was associated with not one, but two, landmarks in Louisville. At around age 19 in 1901, Mary married Nick Tomeo, and with him ran a Front Street saloon. They had two young children, and in 1908, Mary purchased the house at 1024 Grant, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, for the family. Mary Tomeo worked from the home as a dressmaker to supplement their income.

The Tomeos put up both their saloon and the house as collateral for a loan. Records indicate that they defaulted on the loan, and lost the ownership of both buildings. Mary and Nick divorced in 1916. She soon remarried to Emilio Staffieri, a Louisville miner who, like herself and her first husband, had been born in Italy. Emilio then owned the building at 927 Main that would later be locally landmarked as the Pearson Store. Mary and Emilio operated a grocery store from that building during the early 1920s. Records place Mary as living in Arizona in the 1950s. Her death date is not

 known.

733 Pine St.
An early owner of the locally landmarked home at 733 Pine St., called the Thomas House, worked as a chainmaker in England before coming to the U.S. and to Louisville in 1883. According to a family history from the family, Mary Oldacre was “a blacksmith by trade in England, forging chain.” This was confirmed through the research of the 1871 census taken in England. Mary is shown at age 20 as living with her parents and having the occupation of “chainmaker.” She was from the area of Rowley Regis and Cradley Heath, which were known for their concentration of shops making iron chain and nails in today’s County of Staffordshire.

Mary Oldacre Thomas (1849-1928) and her husband, Nicholas (1854-1926) and their young son were among Louisville’s first residents. According to a newspaper article about the family, they did not know anyone in Louisville when they came. Together, the couple purchased 733 Pine and built the house there. By the early 1900s, they had divorced and were living apart in Louisville. Nicholas, Sr. continued to live at 733 Pine, while Mary lived with her son’s family at a different home a few blocks away at 700 Lincoln, which is also a locally landmarked home called the Thomas House.

Mary Oldacre Thomas was one of the founders of the Methodist Church in Louisville. The descendants of Mary and Nicholas Thomas came to own coal mines in the area as well as businesses in Louisville such as the Grain Elevator on County Road, the Thomas Feed Store at Pine and Front, and the City Market grocery store located on Main Street and then at 637 Front Street.

Mental Health Awareness Month
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and provides space for us to fight stigmas, educate each other, and provide support to those living with mental illness. Many consider mental health language and considerations to be a recent phenomenon, but Mental Health Awareness Month was actually established in 1949 with the goal of raising awareness of mental health as an essential factor for overall health.

This month calls for us to recognize the importance of talking about mental health in all spaces, including museums. The Louisville Historical Museum recognizes that history can be tricky when it comes to mental health. History can be uncomfortable and potentially triggering to talk about, especially when dealing with difficult or contentious histories. Additionally, individuals with mental illnesses have historically been subjected to negative labels and treatment in society which have been perpetuated and are revealed in modern day stigmas. The Louisville Historical Museum commits itself to accurate and equitable research and portrayals of historic individuals with mental illnesses and to providing a welcoming environment for all in the Museum buildings.