"Louisville's Southern Exposition, 1883-1887: The City of Progress" (Program)

Throughout much of the 1880s, the Southern Exposition showcased the largest-ever single display of agricultural machinery and technical innovation in the United States. With over 1,500 commercial and mercantile attractions--the likes of which the world had never seen--history was made and innovation discovered in Louisville's Central Park. Some of the most influential figures of the time participated, including Henry Watterson, Merriwether Lewis Clark Jr., A. Bidermann DuPont and President Chester A. Arthur. Former Louisville resident Thomas Edison personally oversaw the installation of his newly invented incandescent light bulb that lit a record-breaking 4,600 lamps. Author and Louisville historian Bryan S. Bush offers an unprecedented perspective on this fascinating historic event. He will bring some original artifacts from the Southern Exposition.

Bryan Bush was born in 1966 in Louisville, Kentucky, and has been a native of that city ever since.  He graduated with honors from Murray State University with a degree in History and Psychology, and received his Master’s Degree from the University of Louisville.  Bryan has always had a passion for history, especially the Civil War.  He has been a member of many different Civil War historical preservation societies. He has consulted for movie companies, other authors and coordinated with other museums on displays of various museum artifacts. Mr. Bush has published over fourteen books on the Civil War and Louisville history, including Louisville During the Civil War, Louisville’s Southern Exposition, Favorite Sons of Civil War Kentucky, and The Men Who Built The City of Progress: Louisville During The Gilded Age.  His recent publications in 2021: A History Lover’s Guide to Louisville and Bluegrass Bourbon Barons, in 2023: Loyd Thighman, and in 2024:  Samuel “One-Armed” Berry. Bryan has been a Civil War re-enactor for fifteen years, portraying an artillerist. In December of 2019, He became the park manager for the Perryville State Historic Site.

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