Louisville history – UofL News Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:56:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 UofL Hospital marks 200 years of patient care /post/uofltoday/uofl-hospital-marks-200-years-of-patient-care/ Wed, 15 Nov 2023 15:53:20 +0000 /?p=59610 Kentucky’s first hospital,, is celebrating 200 years of compassionate care, medical innovation and serving the underserved.

“UofL Hospital transformed heath care in Louisville, the state and the region,” said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “We honor the compassionate clinicians and civic leaders who founded this hospital to take care of those most in need, and we celebrate all those who followed, including the more than 13,000 who proudly continue the mission today.”

The first patients were admitted in 1823 to the facility then known as Louisville Marine Hospital at the corner of Preston and Chestnut Streets, just a few blocks from the current hospital location. The original mission was to care for ill and injured riverboat crew members abandoned at Louisville’s busy wharf. Patients were often immigrants with a wide variety of backgrounds, ethnicities and countries of origin. Hospital care was extended to include others that could not be treated in their homes, which was common practice at the time.

“Two hundred years in the heart of Louisville’s downtown community represents generations of families from every neighborhood impacted by UofL Hospital,” said Ken Marshall, UofL Health chief operating officer. “I’ve been honored to witness the last 28 years. I’ve seen innovative medicine result in medical miracles. But, even more importantly, I’ve seen the passion our nurses, physicians and allied health workers bring to their patients every day.”

Today, UofL Hospital is the region’s onlyfor adults, additionally recognized for stroke, burn, cancer care and nursing excellence. The hospital is part of Kentucky’s largest academic health system with eight hospitals, four medical centers, Brown Cancer Center, Eye Institute, nearly 200 physician practice locations and more than 1,000 providers.

“Health care is a human right, and for 200 years, UofL Hospital has been making sure our people have access to the best care possible,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “They’ve been there for folks in Louisville and across the commonwealth, providing world-class trauma care, cutting-edge research and helping us get through a once-in-a-century global pandemic. They’ve provided lifesaving care for heroes like Officer Nick Wilt, who ran toward danger to save lives. Congratulations to all the dedicated doctors, nurses and staff at UofL Health on this incredible milestone.”

“Louisville’s growth into one of the top 30 cities in America is due in large part to the success of our health care system, and that includes the incredible work that happens at UofL Hospital every day,” said Mayor Craig Greenberg. “We are grateful for the lifesaving care, the community partnerships and the overall excellence that has come from UofL Hospital and its team for the past 200 years.”

Among its most significant contributions to medical history, is the nation’s birthplace for trauma care. In 1911, the hospital, then known as Louisville City Hospital, formed an accident service, specifically to care for patients with injuries and fractures. It was the first of its kind in the nation and contributed to the present-day success of emergency departments and trauma centers across the country.

“For decades, UofL Hospital has served as an excellent training ground for aspiring doctors, nurses and allied health professionals enrolled at the University of Louisville,” said UofL President Kim Schatzel. “Here, our residents and students have become well-versed in the kind of compassionate care for which UofL Hospital has been known for generations throughout the region. All of us at UofL join in the salute to UofL Hospital as it marks 200 years of tremendous care and treatment, lifesaving research and an unwavering presence in downtown Louisville.”

“The trauma team at UofL Hospital is saving lives today that would have been unthinkable by our predecessors,” said Dr. Jason Smith, UofL Health chief medical officer. “But we stand on the shoulders of those visionary leaders who first assembled the expertise to treat emergency cases and the made a commitment to provide every patient with the very best in care.”

As the mission continued to grow, so did the need for more beds. By 1914, the new hospital was ready with a state-of-the-art emergency room and more than 400 beds. It also included 44 bassinets, of which Louisville’s own Muhammad Ali was undoubtedly the most famous occupant, born at Louisville General Hospital in 1942. The latest hospital name change came around the same time when the hospital extended its primary patient area beyond the city limits to include all of Jefferson County.

To better reflect and serve its patient population, the hospital staff experienced milestone growth in the 1950s. Drs. Orville Ballard and Grace James joined the medical staff as the first Black physicians, and Flora Ponder started as one of the first Black registered nursing students.

“Elevating the importance of diversity, for both creating an inclusive team and improving patient care, began decades ago,” said Shari Kretzschmer, UofL Health chief nursing officer. “It is one of the many reasons UofL Hospital is now recognized among the top 10% of hospitals across the country to achieve Magnet status for nursing excellence.”

The current hospital, opened in 1983, is undergoing a $182 million expansion to increase the hospital’s operating capacity and facilitate a phased modernization to include all private beds. When complete, UofL Hospital will offer all private rooms, expand the operating room capacity and add a 24-bed observation unit. The first phases of the project are expected to open in early 2025.

UofL Hospital anchors the east side of UofL Health’s downtown Academic Medical Center and a partner in the Louisville Medical & ֱ District (LOUMED). More than 1.5 million patients rely on UofL Health for medical care, with patients from each of Kentucky’s 120 counties and southern Indiana.

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University Libraries unveils new online exhibit: Lost Louisville /section/arts-and-humanities/university-libraries-unveils-new-online-exhibit-lost-louisville/ Fri, 27 Sep 2019 18:55:14 +0000 http://www.uoflnews.com/?p=48322 Ever wonder about Louisville’s old buildings and which ones have been lost in time?

University Libraries has just made it much easier to discover them with a release of a new digital exhibit –

Lost Louisville uses photographs from Archives and Special Collections and a mapping software called Story Maps to easily display where old buildings once stood.

Terri Holtze, head of web services at University Libraries, said the map allows people to ponder important questions about the built environment like: Why were these buildings singled out for demolition? Which of them suffered natural catastrophes? Why do certain neighborhoods have so many buildings missing? Why have many of the buildings been replaced by parking lots? What does it all mean in terms of livability for citizens?

“I hope people use the site to explore these images and think about the implications of a changing building-scape in the neighborhoods of Louisville,” Holtze said.

Phase I, which is available now, focused on the areas of the city from Broadway to the Ohio River and from Beargrass Creek to the river. More than 1,100 images cover neighborhoods from Shawnee to Butchertown. About 50 images marked with a star indicate links to interactive sliders that compare the historic photos to recent images of the area.

Research on Phase II has already begun to expand the project.

“In future phases we hope to add essays by experts that will interpret these maps and photos through the lenses of architecture, local history and urban planning,” Holtze said.

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Lectures highlight broad variety of humanities, science research /section/arts-and-humanities/lectures-highlight-broad-variety-of-humanities-science-research/ /section/arts-and-humanities/lectures-highlight-broad-variety-of-humanities-science-research/#respond Thu, 31 Aug 2017 14:21:06 +0000 http://uoflnews.com/?p=38063 A fall luncheon lecture series will feature University of Louisville researchers whose worksites range from Cave Hill Cemetery to a campus clinic, and whose topics range from water politics in India to animal research in Siberia.

The College of Arts and Sciences and the Liberal Studies Project host the monthly Meet the Professor series to highlight the college’s research and cultural offerings.

Thissemester’stalks are:

Sept. 7:“Attending to What Remains: Public Memory at Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery,” Stephen Schneider, English associate professor. He will discuss the cemetery’s memorial landscape that has become a museum of municipal history dedicated to notables ranging from Louisville’s first mayor to Muhammad Ali.

Oct. 5:“Pipe Politics, Contested Waters: Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai,” Lisa Bjorkman, urban and public affairs assistant professor. She will talk about the deterioration of the Indian city’s water-delivery system despite economic growth and development and its social, political and hydraulic effects.

Nov. 2:“How to Tame a Fox and Build a Dog,” Lee Dugatkin, biology professor. Drawing on his 2017 book title, the science historian will share the story of lead scientist Lyudmila Trut and a research team in Siberia that for six decades has been domesticating silver foxes to replay the evolution of dogs in real time.

Dec. 7:“Using Technology to Develop Novel Treatments for Eating Disorders,” Cheri Levinson, psychological and brain sciences assistant professor. The director of UofL’s new Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) laboratory and clinic will talk about the deadliest of mental illnesses and discuss her ongoing research to develop novel interventions to treat the disorders.

The Thursday luncheon talks begin at noon in the University Club. Reservations are required, with $15 payment by check. To reserve a spot, contact Janna Tajibaeva via email or 502-852-2247 no later than the Monday before each event.

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UofL opens World War I anniversary exhibit July 13 /section/arts-and-humanities/uofl-opens-world-war-i-anniversary-exhibit-july-13/ /section/arts-and-humanities/uofl-opens-world-war-i-anniversary-exhibit-july-13/#respond Wed, 28 Jun 2017 19:49:35 +0000 http://uoflnews.com/?p=37314 When the United States entered World War I, the people of Louisville were eager to play their part. Whether serving overseas, working at Camp Taylor, or conserving food for the war effort, Louisvillians were ‘all in.’

One hundred years later, Archives and Special Collections recognizes their work with “‘All In!’ Louisville and the Great War,” an exhibition of vintage photographs, war posters, documents and artifacts from its collections.

April marked the 100-year anniversary of the U.S. entering WWI and Archives and Special Collection joins many organizations around the world in marking the momentous date.

“The exhibit offers a broad range of materials that cover differing perspectives and experiences, from the home front to overseas,” said Carrie Daniels, Archives and Special Collections director. “Our panoramic photos from Camp Zachary Taylor, which feature hundreds of soldiers, are particularly dramatic. We haveletters from soldiers as well, and some of them are very sweet.”

The exhibition will also include records from the Camp Taylor Library and propaganda posters collected at the time by a Louisville boy scout.

The exhibition will run July 13 through Sept. 29 in the Photographic Archives and Kain Rare Books Galleries in the Lower Level of Ekstrom Library on Belknap Campus. for gallery hours, directions and other information.

Military personnel and others in a Young Women’s Christian Association Hostess House in Louisville’s Camp Taylor. The house was used as a telegraph office and people were wearing masks due to an influenza outbreak.
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