YOU ARE HERE -> 1950s Many 1950s visitors to Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate, the newly opened historic house museum in Lexington, Kentucky, would never have realized that the mansion continued to be a private home. This reality was downplayed—if not hidden—from public view for nine years. Museum Director Lorraine Seay’s public hospitality was complicated … More Living in the Museum
YOU ARE HERE -> c1810s-1852 The extroverted and politically ambitious Henry Clay did not jealously guard his space or his privacy as other public figures did, but willingly shared them as one who fully understood his status. Even at Ashland where he sought peace and refuge, he remained accessible to those who came to his … More Henry Clay at Ashland: Public and Private
YOU ARE HERE -> 1857-1865 Once the second Ashland mansion was complete in 1857, normal hospitality resumed. Henry Clay’s son James and his wife Susan were, for at least the first years of their tenure, quite open to the public’s visitation, “extending cordial courtesies to almost unnumbered visitors.” The public was especially curious about the … More With Civil War Looming, James and Susan Clay Open Ashland to the Public
YOU ARE HERE -> 1950 April 12th is Henry Clay’s birthday – and the day chosen as Ashland’s opening as a public museum. Ashland, the Henry Clay estate, has since the early nineteenth century been an important American historic site. During Clay’s lifetime (1777-1852), the estate was often equated with the man and ‘Ashland’ became … More Ashland’s Opening Day
YOU ARE HERE – > 1880s It had been almost thirty years since the Ashland mansion had been rebuilt by Henry Clay’s son, James B. Clay …and the house had seen some serious wear. Kentucky University had used the mansion for many purposes, including the housing of its sizable Natural History Museum (with accompanying taxidermy … More The McDowells Update Ashland
YOU ARE HERE -> 1860s Although Ashland had survived its first transfer of ownership (from Henry Clay’s widow Lucretia to his son James), remaining in family hands, after the Civil War it would not. Due to James’s death in 1864, the financial hardship after the war, and complex dealings with settling the Ashland estate, James’s … More Clay Family Loses Ashland, University of Kentucky Predecessor Moves In
YOU ARE HERE -> 1950 Ashland, the Henry Clay estate, has since the early nineteenth century been an important American historic site. During Clay’s lifetime (1777-1852), the estate was often equated with the man and ‘Ashland’ became a household word. After Clay’s death and while four generations of Clay’s descendants occupied the estate, Ashland served … More Ashland’s Opening Day
YOU ARE HERE -> 1880s-1890s Henry Clay’s granddaughter Anne Clay McDowell and her husband Major Henry Clay McDowell became famous for the “bounteous hospitality of Ashland,” as the Lexington Leader put it in 1899. When they moved to Ashland in 1883, the McDowells brought six children between the ages of ten and twenty-two: Nannette, 22; … More Ashland: Unsurpassed for Party-Giving
YOU ARE HERE -> 1950s-today When Ashland opened as a museum in 1950 the estate featured seventeen acres open daily to the public. Although the mansion was the primary focus, from the beginning the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation emphasized Ashland’s spacious grounds and encouraged visitors to “pause” before entering the mansion to see the grounds, … More Ashland Grounds as Public Park: The Formal Garden
YOU ARE HERE -> 1950-1970s SEE ALSO: Opening Day! Perhaps you will want to join the thousands who visit the historic old home of Henry Clay… In the 1950s the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation had begun to advertise, inviting Americans to Ashland, the new patriotic shrine. The public responded wholeheartedly to these invitations. Not only … More New Life as a House Museum: Just Like A “Real Home”
History of a House Museum 