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26 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 7.15 CULTURE W hispered stories about her great- aunt Henrietta always fascinated writer and historian Emily Bingham, daughter of the late Courier-Journal publisher/editor Barry Bingham Jr. She didn't realize she needed to tell Henrietta's story until she ventured into the vast attic at the longtime Bingham family estate (called Melcombe, in Glenview) and discovered a dusty steamer trunk containing nearly 200 love letters to Henrietta, who died in 1968. Tough her editor was initially skeptical because Bingham didn't have any actual letters or diaries from Henrietta, an archival fnd in the personal papers of Henrietta's psychoanalyst revealed details of a complex and charismatic personality. Irrepressible: Te Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham is the intimate story of a life, a family and a turbulent period of cultural and political change. "Historians have documented the enforced silences surrounding the lives of men and women whose non-heterosexual behavior and relationships exposed them to censure and sometimes criminal prosecution, and I believe this helps explain Henrietta's decision to keep almost none of the thousands of letters she received," says Bingham, 50, who lives in Louisville with her husband, Stephen Reily, and their three children. "When I discovered two packets of correspondence in the bottom of the steamer trunk, it was a tremendous boon — but they were from the two men she almost married in her 20s. So far, I've found only one surviving letter from a female lover." Bingham, who recently has been exploring the cultural and historical legacy of the Stephen Foster song "My Old Kentucky Home," says, "I expect more stories about Henrietta will come to light once this book is before the public. Tis is Henrietta's chance at a second act. "I hope her story prompts readers to think — and ask — about people in their own families who are called odd or eccentric or are simply not discussed." The Hidden Bingham A half-century after her death, Henrietta Bingham's story fnally comes out from the shadows in a relative's new book. By Lynnell Edwards benjaminmarcumphotography.com commonwealthtap.com Thank you, Louisville, for Naming us the winner for Best Local Bar! 9411 Norton Commons Blvd commonwealthtap.com