Legendary offspring of Louisville Courier Journal's former proprietors, Sallie Bingham, passes away at 88 in Santa Fe.
Sallie Bingham, Prominent Philanthropist and Women's Rights Advocate, Passes Away at 88
Sallie Bingham, a key figure in exposing and challenging internal family and business conflicts within the Louisville Courier-Journal media dynasty, passed away last week at her home in New Mexico following a stroke. She was 88.
Born into a prominent newspaper family in the United States, Bingham was one of three children of Barry Bingham Sr. and his wife, Mary, who owned the Louisville Courier Journal for nearly seven decades before its 1986 sale. The sale made national headlines.
Bingham served as the foundation's first director from 1985 until her move to New Mexico in 1991, after which she relinquished management to the board and a new executive director. During her tenure, she established the Kentucky Foundation for Women, a nonprofit meant to support women artists and writers.
The foundation was inspired by Bingham's time at the newspaper, where she observed the work of women in lower-paid jobs. The sale of the Louisville Courier Journal and associated media companies indirectly freed Bingham to invest time and resources into philanthropic projects like the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
In 2020, Bingham filed a lawsuit against the Kentucky Foundation for Women, arguing that its attempt to sell an eastern Jefferson County farmhouse it owned went against its mission. The farmhouse, named Hopscotch House, was originally purchased by Bingham and donated to the foundation, and she envisioned it as a secluded retreat for women artists.
Bingham's activism around the Courier-Journal sale and family media conflicts set a backdrop for her later focused philanthropic contributions. Her broader dedication to women's history and culture is also reflected in her endowment of a women’s history archive at Duke University, leading to the creation of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture.
Bingham's book, "Passion and Prejudice: A Family Memoir," was published in 1989 and was not well-received by her family. She was married and divorced three times.
The Kentucky Foundation for Women's statement praised Bingham's efforts to support women artists and effect social change, and they plan to honor her life and work at their annual event in September 2025. It's unclear what will happen with the litigation following Bingham's death, as the case remains pending in federal court in Louisville.
Bingham is survived by her sister, Eleanor Bingham Miller, two sons, Barry Ellsworth (a film producer and art gallerist) and Christopher Iovenko (a writer), and five grandchildren.
This story is reprinted from the Kentucky Lantern, a member of States Newsroom, the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. It is republished under Creative Commons license.
- Sallie Bingham, after relinquishing her position as the director of the Kentucky Foundation for Women, aimed to support women artists and writers, establishing a nonprofit organization that aligns with her passions in the realm of arts and entertainment.
- In her later years, Sallie Bingham's philanthropic efforts extended beyond arts and nonprofit initiatives, as she endowed a women’s history archive at Duke University, thereby fostering an awareness and appreciation of women’s history and culture in the business world.
- Following her death, celebrities and people within the entertainment industry could reflect on her impact, as she challenged internal family and business conflicts within a large media organization, paving the way for greater gender equity within the industry.
