Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

125th Infantry
Start Year : 1865
End Year : 1867
This was one of the 41 regiments authorized by Congress during the Civil War. There were four African American units, two in the South and two on the Western Frontier. The 125th Infantry was organized in Spring 1865, in Louisville, Kentucky. The enlistees had to commit to three years of service. During August 1866, eight companies of the 125th were transferred to Mexico and remained there until they were replaced between September and December of 1867. The eight companies were the first African American troops to serve at Ft. Selden. The 125th was eventually sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, where the men were discharged, and the 125th Infantry was disbanded on December 20, 1867. For more see The Buffalo Soldiers: a narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West by W. H. Leckie.
Subjects: Migration West, Military
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Fort Riley, Kansas / Fort Selden, New Mexico

1924 third annual fair and premium list of New Colored Shelby County Fair Association, Inc.
Start Year : 1924
Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday, September 3, 4 & 5, 1924. At the Shelby County A. & M. Association Fair Grounds near Shelbyville, Ky. Shelbyville, Ky.: Shelby News Press, 1924. Publication available at the Filson Historical Society Library (in the Rare Pamphlet Collection, RB Pamphlet 394.2 N532 1924), Louisville, KY.
Subjects: Fairs & Expos
Geographic Region: Shelbyville, Shelby County, Kentucky

800 Camp Street Neighborhood (Indianapolis, IN)
The Camp Street neighborhood became predominately African American in the 20th Century.  The residents included Kentucky natives such as 23-year old widow Susan Neely and her 16-year old brother Arthur, who was a tailor. Anna Poole was a 53 year old  domestic worker who was also a widow.  For more see Ransom Place Archaeology, IUPUI Archaeology Field School; the historical research was conducted by Dr. Susan Sutton's [ssutton@iupui.edu] Spring 2000 Urban Anthropology Class. See IUPUI 2003 Archaeology Field School for information on African Americans from Kentucky who lived on Agnes Street, such as Edmund and Mary Moore.
Subjects: Communities, Migration North
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana

Abbington v Board of Education of Louisville (KY)
Start Year : 1940
When the Louisville Board of Education denied the petition for equal pay for African American teachers, a suit was filed by the NAACP on behalf of Vallateen Virginia Dudley Abbington. The case of Abbington v. Board of Education of Louisville was filed on December 5, 1940, in the Federal District Court. Abbington (1907-2003), a native of Indiana, was a school teacher in Louisville at the time. She was one of the African American teachers who received 15% less salary than white teachers. The case, brought by the NAACP, was argued by Thurgood Marshall. The School Board agreed that if Abbington would drop her lawsuit, the discrimination in salaries would cease. The lawsuit was withdrawn, and a retroactive clause in the suit gave African American teachers back pay. The equalization of teacher salaries was a campaign by the NAACP that began in 1936. Abbington v Board of Education of Louisville was the third case for the NAACP, the first such case in Kentucky. Abbington left Louisville and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she is remembered as a social worker, civic leader, and civil rights leader. For more see Papers of the NAACP, Part 3, The Campaign for Educational Equality: Legal Department and Central Office Records, 1913-1950 / Series B, 1940-1950 / Reel 8; see "Kentucky Cases" in The Negro Handbook 1946-1947, edited by F. Murray; "Alumna, 96, remembered as strong-willed activist," Exemplar (Eastern Michigan University), Winter 2004, Special Annual Report Issue; and "Vallateen Abbington, social worker, civic leader," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10/19/2003, Metro section, p. D15.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Education and Educators, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Court Cases
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Abernathy, Ronald L.
Birth Year : 1950
Abernathy was born in Louisville, KY, to Ben W. and Juanita Abernathy. He is a graduate of Morehead State University (BA) and Louisiana State University (MA). Abernathy was a teacher at Shawnee High School in Louisville when he received the Teacher of the Year Award and was second in the state for Kentucky High School Coach of the Year, both in 1976. From 1972-1976, he was head basketball coach at the school. He left Kentucky to become an assistant basketball coach at LSU, 1976-1989, the first African American basketball coach hired full-time at the school. For more see Dale Brown's Memoirs from LSU Basketball, by D. Brown; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1980-2006.
Subjects: Basketball, Education and Educators, Migration South
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Adams, Charles "Cane"
Adams was a musician who invented the 'walking cane flute,' a flute combined with a walking cane. He recorded with the Kentucky Jug Band/Phillip's Louisville Jug Band in Chicago in 1930. Adams' playing may also be heard on the recording Clifford Hayes & the Louisville Jug Bands, Volume 4. For more see Album Review: Clifford Hayes & the Louisville Jug Bands, Volume 4, an answers.com website; and Charles 'Cane' Adams in The Unsung Musicians of Early Jazz and Blues [.pdf], by R. Schneider.
Subjects: Inventors, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois

Adams, Henry
Birth Year : 1802
Death Year : 1872
Henry Adams was a Baptist leader in Louisville, KY, where he established the first African American Church. He also set up a school for African American children; the school survived while other schools established for African Americans by white ministers were being destroyed. He was the father of John Quincy "J. Q." Adams. For more see Life Behind a Veil, by G. C. Wright; and A History of Blacks in Kentucky from Slavery to Segregation, 1760-1891, by M. B. Lucas.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Fathers, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Adams, John Quincy "J.Q."
Birth Year : 1848
Death Year : 1922
John Quincy Adams was born in Louisville, KY. In 1879, Adams established the Bulletin as a weekly newspaper in Louisville. He served as president of the American Press Association (the African American press organization). In 1886, he left Louisville to join the staff of the Western Appeal in St. Paul, Minnesota, assuming ownership of the newspaper within a few months. Adams's career also included his position as Engrossing Clerk of the Arkansas Senate. He was the son of Henry Adams. For more see Dictionary of American Negro Biography, by R. W. Logan & M. R. Winston.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Migration West, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Saint Paul, Minnesota / Arkansas

Adams, William T.
Birth Year : 1912
Death Year : 1974
When the second African American firehouse in Louisville, KY, opened in 1937, Adams was among the first group of firemen. In 1939 he was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1941 he became a captain. Adams would become the first African American put in charge of a predominantly white company in Louisville. He was named assistant chief in 1967. For more see B. M. Tyler, "William T. Adams (1912-1974): African-American firefighter, Louisville, Kentucky," Filson Club History Quarterly, vol. 73, issue 3, pp. 284-293.
Subjects: Firefighters
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

The African American Ball (Lexington, KY)
Start Year : 1994
The 1st Annual African American Ball was presented as a charity event, in January 1994, and has since been held every year. It is the largest African American ball in the state; more than 6,000 guests have attended the affair over the years. The ball is a black tie event with art, entertainment, fashion, and music all in one night. Proceeds benefit the African American Forum Endowment Fund, with the Blue Grass Community Foundation. For more see the African American Forum, Inc., and the Lexington Herald-Leader's annual article about the ball.
Subjects: Balls, Promenades, Socials
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

African American Business District (Danville, KY)
Located on Second Street, between Main and Walnut Streets in Danville, KY, the African American business district thrived for over 100 years. The area was razed by Urban Renewal in 1973. A Kentucky Historical Marker notes how valued the district was to the African American community of Danville and nearby areas. For more see the Kentucky Historical Marker Database #1958.
Subjects: Businesses
Geographic Region: Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky

African American Communities in Warren County, KY
Sunnyside, Freeport, and Oakland were three African American communities in Warren County, KY, developed after the Civil War. In 2001, the city of Oakland was awarded a grant from the African American Heritage Commission to complete the study of the community Sunnyside. The resulting report, Writ Upon the Landscape: an architectural survey of the Sunnyside Community, reveals that the African American section of Sunnyside grew to the point that it merged with the white section of Sunnyside. There are presently 53 buildings and the Loving Union CME Church and its cemetery. The community also had a one room schoolhouse with grades 1-8 that was torn down in 1948. Sunnyside is located 5 miles southwest of Freeport, an African American community that had a two-room schoolhouse, Woodland School. One room held grades 1-3 and the other grades 4-8; the school was closed after integration, and the building was used as a restaurant and for social entertainment. The Mt. Zion Baptist Church, established in 1870, is still in use. The communities of Freeport and Oakland were separated by a railroad track, with Freeport on the north side. Mrs. Virgie M. Edwards was a teacher at the School in 1916; she was a member of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association. The names of other Oakland teachers are listed in the KNEA Journal from 1916-1935 [available online]. A photo of what is believed to be the new Oakland School being constructed in 1937 is available in the Kentuckiana Digital Library photograph collection. For more see Transpark: a collapse of dreams, by the City of Oakland, Kentucky; Landmark Stories: Loving CME Church, a Landmark Association website; and the following articles from the News section of the Daily News - J. Dooley, "Oakland gets grant to fund study - work will cover history, heritage of Sunnyside," 07/26/2001; A. Carmichael, "Historic Oakland mill being dismantled - lumber will be used by famed Nashville-based builder," 08/30,2003; A. Harvey, "Black History: woman remembers Freeport's heyday," 02/22/2004; A. Carmichael, "A lifetime of teaching - Warren County woman has passion for education," 08/01/2005; and J. Niesse, "Freeport endangered by transpark project," Letter section, 04/25/2001.
Subjects: Communities, Education and Educators, Kentucky African American Churches, Undertakers, Cemeteries & Obituaries, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Sunnyside, Freeport, Oakland, Warren County, Kentucky

African American Heritage Center (Franklin, KY)
Located at 500 Jefferson Street, P. O. Box 353, Franklin, KY 42135. Phone (270) 586-0099.
Subjects: Genealogy, History
Geographic Region: Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky

African American Library Directors
Go to African American Library Directors in the USA
Geographic Region: United States

African American Performer at Louisville Sängerfest
Start Year : 1881
Sängerfest (or singer's festival) is a German cultural festival, first held in the United States in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849. The 1866 festival was held in Louisville, KY; the New York Times reported it was to be the largest festival ever in the U.S. The 1881 festival, held at the Grand Opera House in Louisville, included Amelia Tilghman, an African American singer, teacher, journalist, poet, and composer. Tilghman had a leading role, she was the prima donna soprano of the Sängerfest. For more see The Encyclopedia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, and general information, volume VI, by H. Chisholm (1910) [available online via Google Book Search]; "The Louisville Sangerfest," New York Times, 07/20/1866, p. 5; Amelia Tilghman in Piano Music by Black women composers, by H. Walker-Hill; and The Music of Black Americans: a history, by E. Southern.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

African American Schools and Students in Kentucky (Photographs)
Start Year : 1901
Photographs of "Colored" and "Negro" schools and students are available online within the Kentuckiana Digital Library - Images section.  Student body photographs include Bracktown 1901, Briar Hill 1901, and Burdine 1921.  For more see the Kentuckiana Digital Library - Images.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Photographers, Photographs, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Bracktown and Briar Hill, Fayette County, Kentucky / Burdine (Jenkins), Letcher County, Kentucky

African American Schools in Paris and Bourbon County, KY
Start Year : 1900
End Year : 1910
The following is a compilation of newspaper items about the Paris and Bourbon County Colored Schools; they contain quite a bit more information than was printed in most other Kentucky newspapers for the same time period. Reverend Graves, who died in 1902, had come to Paris, KY in 1901 to become principal of the Paris Western Colored School. There were 248 students and seven teachers, and the numbers would remain consistent for the next several years. The prior year there was a high school graduating class of eight: Katie L. Long, Anna E. Parker, Fannie B. Buford, Dora B. Kimbrough, Jimmie R. Fields, James B. Woodward, and Keatha R. Williams. Graduation ceremonies were initially held at the Opera House in Paris, KY, with admission costs of 10 cents, 15 cents, and 25 cents. A smaller school system was the Millersburg Colored School, where in 1901 there were three graduates: Frank R. Lewis, Lucile Jefferson, and Hattie B. Mayburry. Manual training was introduced in the Paris school in 1907 with 26 men and boys enrolled in the newly established night school; the Colored teachers' wages for the year totaled $2,550. At the end of the school year in 1909, there were two graduations, one for 7th graders held at a local African American church and one for high school graduates held in the school auditorium. In 1909, new Colored Schools were scheduled to be built in Ruddles Mills and Jacksonville. The following year, several Colored schools in the county were consolidated: Ruddles Mills School with Glentown School; Millersburg School with Shipptown School (the school location was undecided); and Houston School with Amentsville School. By 1910, a new school was being built in Centerville, and the Sidville School was to be repaired if church members would agree to help raise funds for the repairs. For more see The Bourbon News articles - "Colored School Commencement," 06/12/1900, p. 1.; "Millersburg," 02/15/1901, p. 2; "Commencement items of the Paris High Schools," 05/31/1901, p. 3; "New board elects teachers," 07/05/1901, p. 3; "A tribute," 05/02/1902, p. 5; "City Schools," 09/09/1902, p. 5; "Meeting of school board," 06/14/1907, p. 1; "Expenditures," 07/16/1907, p. 8; "800 pupils," 10/08/1907, p. 6; "Calendar of Colored School," 06/04/1909, p. 1; "School Improvement League in session," 08/24/1909, p. 3; "County School Board," 11/16/1909, p. 4; "County School Board meets," 05/10/1910, p. 1; and "Recent meeting of the County Board," 08/12/1910, p. 1.
Subjects: Communities, Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Bourbon County, Kentucky: Paris, Millersburg, Ruddles Mills, Jacksonville, Glentown, Shipptown, Houston, Amentsville, Sidville, Centerville

African American Schools in Woodford County, KY
Start Year : 1892
Within the Hifner Photo Collection are pictures of all the Colored schools in Woodford County in 1892. The collection was created for the educational exhibit at the World's Fair and is available online via the Kentucky Historical Society Digital Collections web page.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Photographers, Photographs, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Woodford County, Kentucky

African American Union Sailors from Kentucky
Subjects: Military
Geographic Region: Kentucky

African Americans in the Thoroughbred Industry
Website produced by the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky

Agricultural and Mechanical Association of the Colored People of Bourbon County
Start Year : 1874
On January 16, 1874, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky passed an act for the benefit of the Agricultural and Mechanical Association of the Colored People of Bourbon County. The act, referring to the organization's colored fair, prohibited booths and the selling of refreshments or liquor within a half mile of the fairgrounds while the fair was in progress. For more see Chapter 58 of the Laws of Kentucky in Acts Passed at...Session of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth, printed in 1874 at the Kentucky Yeoman Office in Frankfort, KY [available full view via Google Book Search] .
Subjects: Fairs & Expos
Geographic Region: Bourbon County, Kentucky

Air Force Historical Research Agency
The agency is a historical depository for the United States Air Force historical documents. The documents collection was originally located in Washington D.C. after World War II and is presently at Maxwell Air Force Base near Montgomery, AL. The depository has the world's largest collection of documents on U.S. Military aviation. Documents in the collection contain information on Kentucky African Americans, including the formation of the 477th Bombardment Group [Roy Chappell was a member], described in The Freeman Field Mutiny: a study in Leadership; and African American servicemen in Kentucky in Black Americans in Defense of Our Nation and Blacks in the Marine Corps. Visit the Air Force Historical Research Agency for much more information.
Subjects: Military, National Resources
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Maxwell Airforce Base, Alabama

Alcohol Not Served to Women at Bars
In January 1952, there were three arrests: Miss Frankie E. Maxwell, owner of the Top Hat Tavern in Louisville, KY, and her bartenders Lloyd A. Phillips and George Smith. Each was charged with selling cocktails to females at the bar. The Kentucky Law § 2554b-188, which had been in effect since 1938, stated that, "[n]o distilled spirits or wine shall be sold, given away or served, on premises licensed under this Act for the sale of alcoholic beverages at retail for consumption on the premises, to females, except at tables where food may be served." Maxwell, Phillips and Smith were charged a reduced fine of $100 each for the offenses, but their attorney asked for the $300 fine so that the cases could be appealed. In 1974, § 2554b-188 was repealed. For more see "Café manager fined for serving drinks to women at bar," The Louisville Defender, 01/05/1952, vol. 18, issue 41, front page & p. 2; and 244.320 Females to be served only at tables [Repealed, 1974].
Subjects: Alcohol, Businesses
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Alexander, Kelvin E.
Birth Year : 1969
Kelvin Alexander was born in Clinton, KY, the son of Mildred Alexander. He now lives in Bowling Green, KY, where he is serving a second term as vice president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 453, the first African American to serve in that position. Alexander is a graduate of Hickman County High School and Western Kentucky University, where he earned a B.A. in mass communication and minored in public administration. He is a member of the Oakland Mount Zion Baptist Church in Oakland, KY, and will soon be a deacon. He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Kelvin and his wife Diana are the parents of William Alexander. Information submitted by Mildred C. and Kelvin E. Alexander.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Postal Service, Religion & Church Work, Fraternal Organizations, Union Organizations
Geographic Region: Clinton, Hickman County, Kentucky / Oakland and Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky

Ali, Muhammad
Birth Year : 1942
Born in Louisville, KY, as Cassius Clay, he was the son of Marcellus and Odessa Grady Clay. In 1964 he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali; he is also referred to as "The Greatest." Ali won the light heavyweight gold medal as a member of the U.S. Boxing Team at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy. He was taken to California by his lawyer, Alberta O. Jones, to train under Archie Moore. Jones, a Kentucky native, also established a trust fund for Ali, who was an exceptional boxer with great promise. His career included 56 wins in 61 bouts with 37 KOs, and he was three-time heavyweight champion of the world. Ali was honored as Sportsman of the Century in 1999. For more see King of the World, by D. Remnick; and The Official Muhammad Ali website.
Subjects: Boxers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Rome, Italy

Allen, Charles E.
Birth Year : 1931
Allen was born in Cynthiana, KY, to Isham and Mildred Wilson Allen. He is a graduate of Central State University (B.S.) and served in the military before earning his M.S. at the University of Southern California. Allen was a teacher and math specialist in the Los Angeles school system and served as a consultant to the state departments of education in Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, California, Nebraska, Oregon, and North Carolina. He was director of the National Council of Teachers of Math, 1972-1975, and has authored several math books, including Supermath, Adventures in Computing, and Adventures in Computing Book II. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-1997.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky / Los Angeles, California

Allen, Frank, Jr.
Allen was elected to the City Council of Burkesville, KY, in 1969, becoming the city's first African American elected official, and was re-elected in 1971. For more see "36 city officials include mayor, police court judge," Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials [1972], by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 10.
Subjects: First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign), Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Burkesville, Cumberland County, Kentucky

Allensworth, Allen
Birth Year : 1842
Death Year : 1914
Allen Allensworth was born a slave in Louisville, KY. He escaped and became a nurse during the Civil War and later joined the Navy and became a chief petty officer. After the war, he returned to Kentucky and became a schoolteacher, an ordained minister, and a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1880 and 1884. He was appointed chaplain of the 24th Infantry by President Cleveland and received promotion to lieutenant colonel. In 1890, Allensworth moved to California and established a company to assist African Americans in their migration to California. The town of Allensworth was developed, the first and still the only California town founded by African Americans. Today the area where the town once stood is Colonel Allensworth State Historical Park. Allen Allensworth was the husband of Josephine Leavell Allensworth, also a Kentucky native. For more see Allen Allensworth influenced early California, an African American Registry website; Dictionary of American Negro Biography, ed. by R. W. Logan and M. R. Winston; History of Allensworth, CA; and Friends of Allensworth.
Subjects: Communities, Education and Educators, Migration West, Military, Parks, Religion & Church Work, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents, Nurses
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Allensworth, California (no longer exists)

Alleyne, Delores Gordon
Gordon was the first African American woman admitted to the University of Louisville Medical School; she graduated in 1957. Gordon was born in Pulaski, TN, and her family later moved to Louisville. She attended Louisville Municipal College for Negroes; when the school was closed, she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville. Dr. Alleyne has taught at several medical schools; she retired in 1999 as a pediatrician with the Los Angeles County Health Department. For more see "Celebration of Change," Medicine Magazine (Fall/Winter 2004), by the University of Louisville School of Medicine.
Subjects: Medical Field, Migration West
Geographic Region: Pulaski, Tennessee / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Los Angeles, California

Always there: the African-American presence in American quilts
This book written by C. Benberry (Kentucky Quilt Project), includes Kentucky quilters such as Fanny Catlett, who was born in 1859 in Birmingham, Kentucky, and Minnie Benberry of Grand Rivers, Kentucky; and a quilt made by slaves in Richmond, Kentucky. The title Always there: the African-American presence in American quilts was first used for the traveling quilt exhibit that was shown around the country between 1992-94. For more see K. Johnson, "Quilt Records Donated to U of L Archives and Records Center," The Kentucky Archivist: Newsletter of the Kentucky Council on Archives, Spring 2000, p. 4.
Subjects: Quilters
Geographic Region: Birmingham, Marshall County, Kentucky (no longer exists) / Grand Rivers, Livingston County, Kentucky / Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky

American/Brazilian Slaver "Kentucky" (ship)
Start Year : 1844
In 1844, the slave ship Kentucky, which had been sold by Americans to Brazilians, sailed to Inhambane and Quelimane, Mozambique, under the American flag. The crew was made up of both Americans and Brazilians. Inhambane and Quelimane, located on the southeast coast of Africa, were off limits to the slave ship by treaty. Nonetheless, once the cargo of 530 adult Africans was shackled aboard the Kentucky, the ship was turned over to the Brazilians, and all or some of the American crew returned to Brazil on another ship. The next day, the Africans attempted an unsuccessful revolt. Those thought to be guilty were tried by the ship captain, and 46 African men and one woman were hanged, then shot in the chest and thrown overboard. In addition, 20 men and six women were severely flogged. When the ship reached Brazil, the entire incident was recounted and recorded at the U.S. Consul in Rio de Janeiro and forwarded to the U.S. Congress [House Ex. Doc. 61 & Senate Ex. Doc. 28, both in 30th Congress]. In 1845, Consul Henry A. Wise (Virginia) appealed to President James K. Polk to take a stand against pirate slave ships sailing under the American flag as license for the types of barbarity exhibited on the Kentucky and the slave trade in general. No stand was taken. The Kentucky was eventually found by a British armed vessel, it was tucked away on the Angozha [Angoche] River in Mozambique. With no way to escape by sea, the crew of the Kentucky set the ship on fire and escaped by land. For more see The American Slave Trade: an account of its origin, growth and suppression, by J. R. Spears (published in 1900); and An Exposition of the African Slave Trade: from the year 1840, to 1850 inclusive, by U.S. Department of State, Representative Meeting (1851) [both titles available in full-text via Google Book Search].
Subjects: Freedom, Lynchings, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky, Slave Trade (U.S.)
Geographic Region: Inhambane and Quelimane, Mozambique, Africa / Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America / United States

Anderson, Carey L, Jr.
Birth Year : 1950
Anderson was born in Louisville, KY, and earned a B.A. in architecture at the University of Kentucky in 1973. In 1977, he became the first African American architect licensed in Kentucky and by 1980 was the first in the state to establish an architectural firm, Anderson Associate Architects. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1980-2006.
Subjects: Architects
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Anderson, Charles H.
Birth Year : 1924
Anderson was born in Crab Orchard, KY. In 1969 he became the first African American to win a magistrate election in Jefferson County, KY, and, in 1975, he became the first circuit judge in Jefferson County, 3rd Chancery Division. Anderson was also the first African American candidate for election to the Kentucky Supreme Court, in 1982. For more see "Magistrates, constables are only black county officials," in the Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials [1972], p. 9; and "Eleven blacks hold county level posts," in the Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Fifth Report [1978], pp. 11-12, both by the Commission on Human Rights; and Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
Subjects: First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign), Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Judges
Geographic Region: Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Anderson, Dennis H.
Dennis Henry Anderson was originally from Tennessee. A graduate of Lane College in Tennessee, he became a Methodist minister. His wife was Artelia Harris Anderson. Dennis Anderson came to Kentucky and opened schools in Graves and Fulton counties. He raised funds for the building of the first high school in Fulton County in 1905. Anderson also initiated the building of West Kentucky Industrial College [now West Kentucky Community and Technical College], starting the building with his bare hands in 1911. The school, located in Paducah, KY, became a state institution in 1918. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones; Fifty Years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904-1954, by J. A. Hardin; and My West Kentucky, by J. M. Blythe.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Religion & Church Work, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Fulton County, Kentucky / Graves County, Kentucky / Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky / Tennessee

Anderson, Ezzret
He became one of the first African Americans from a predominantly African American school to play professional football when he joined the Los Angeles Dons in 1947. Anderson attended Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, and played professional football with the Los Angeles Mustangs. He played for the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific Coast League when they won the title. For more see Smith, T., "Outside the pale; the exclusion of Blacks from the National Football League, 1934-1946," Journal of Sport History, 15, no. 3 (Winter 1988); and Pro Football Hall of Fame, General NFL History: African-Americans in Pro Football.
Subjects: Football
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Anderson, James S.
Death Year : 1919
James S. Anderson was a doctor of herbal medicine. He was described by his daughter, Irene Anderson Elder, as part black and part Choctaw Indian. Anderson came to Somerset, KY, from Kingston, TN; he had also had a practice in Chattanooga, where he met Irene's mother, a nurse named Mary Bowman, who was white. Mary gave birth to Irene in 1914 in a home for unwed mothers in Chattanooga. Irene was reared by her maternal grandmother in Lenoir City; she was Irene's protector. Several years later her grandmother died, and Irene went to live with a foster family. Her father, James Anderson, had moved to Somerset, KY, not too long after Irene was born. In Kentucky, he was sometimes regarded as a Negro and at other times as a Choctaw Indian. Anderson established a tuberculosis treatment clinic, Unity Hill Sanatorium, a three story structure with over 100 beds, 65 rooms, a parlor with a piano, and a grocery store in the basement. He came to be considered a wealthy man with $100,000 in the Somerset bank. When Mary Bowman came down with tuberculosis, she came to Somerset to be a patient at Unity Hill for six months. She was still alive when Dr. James S. Anderson died of hypostatic pneumonia or was murdered November 19, 1919; it is still unclear exactly how he died. M. L. Jarvis was appointed curator of Anderson's estate. Unity Hill Sanatorium was sold to a group of businessmen who changed the operation to Watnon (or Watson) Sanatorium, a cancer treatment clinic with separate buildings for Negro patients. In 1924, the clinic had closed and the campus became the new location for the Somerset School of Business. Irene Anderson Elder never benefited from her father's wealth. This entry was submitted by Yvonne Giles. For more information see L. A. Kochtik, "Irene's journey: a good life and a bad life," Appalachian Life Magazine, issue 51 (February), pp. 6-8; "Cancer Sanatorium opened at Somerset, Ky.," The Somerset Journal, 01/30/1920, p. 8; and Anderson's Administrator v. Darland, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 192 Ky. 624; 234 S.W. 205; 1921 Ky.
Subjects: Fathers, Medical Field, Migration North, Court Cases, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership, Tuberculosis: Care and Deaths
Geographic Region: Kingston, Lenoir, and Chattanooga, Tennessee / Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky

Anderson, Myrtle
Myrtle Anderson was from Boston, Massachusetts. In 1943, she was a 1st Lieutenant in the Women's Army Corps (WACs). Anderson and 2nd Lieutenant Margaret E. Barnes Jones arrived in Ft. Breckinridge, KY, with 175 enlisted African American women. The enlistees and officers were the first African American women of the U.S. Army to be stationed in Kentucky. The enlistees were given menial tasks such as cleaning latrines, and some of the women resigned from the WACs. Majors Jones and Anderson fought for better work assignments for the women. Ft. Breckinridge, also referred to as Camp Breckinridge, was disposed of by the U. S. Army on December 5, 1962. For more about the African American women enlistees see To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race, by B. L. Moore; and "6 WACs Resign: WAC Clerks Decline to Scrub Floors," Philadelphia Afro-American, July 10, 1943, p. 1. For more about Camp Breckinridge, see the Camp Breckinridge entry in the Kentucky Encyclopedia [available on the University of Kentucky campus and off campus via the proxy server]; and History of Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, by P. Heady. See also the entry about the WACs Protest at Camp Breckinridge, KY.
Subjects: Military, Women's Groups and Organizations, Women's Army Corps (WACs)
Geographic Region: Fort Breckinridge [or Camp Breckinridge], Henderson, Webster, and Union Counties, Kentucky (no longer exists) / Boston, Massachusetts

Anderson, Sandford Woodford and Polly Ann
Anderson was born in Kentucky, the son of a slave woman and her white master named Woodford. His mother was sold after he was born, and Anderson was given his freedom and his father's last name. When he was a young man, Sanford left his father's plantation and went to work on the Anderson farm; he then took the name Anderson as his last name. He married a slave named Polly Ann and established a blacksmith business. The family moved to [Springheld] Springfield, Ohio, in 1877 and Anderson supported his family with his new blacksmith business. Dorothy Evans Bacon was the great-granddaughter of Sanford and Polly Anderson. Highlights of the Anderson family history can be found in the article "The Bacons: a fighting spirit on the color line," Newsweek, Special: Fiftieth Anniversary Issue, vol.101, issue 10, February, 1983, pp. 33-34, 36. The article includes a photo of Dorothy Evans [Bacon] and her parents.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Blacksmiths
Geographic Region: Kentucky / [Springheld] Springfield, Ohio

Anderson, William L.
Birth Year : 1868
William L. Anderson was born in Dover, KY. He was editor of several newspapers: the Cincinnati American Reformer (1892-1894), Rostrum (1897-1902), and the Cincinnati Pilot (1911-1912). Anderson was also an alternate delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention in Chicago in 1912. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Dover, Mason County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio

Ariel/Hall (Camp Nelson), KY
After the Civil War, the refugee camp at Camp Nelson became the community known as Ariel. The school, Ariel Academy, was founded in 1868, with initial funding support coming from the Freedmen's Bureau and teachers supplied by the American Missionary Association. The school was led by Howard Fee, son of John G. Fee and Gabriel Burdette, a former slave from Garrard County, KY. The community of Ariel was later named Hall. For more see Historic Jessamine County, The Hall Community, an official Jessamine County website; and A Utopian Experiment in Kentucky: integration and social equality at Berea, 1866-1904, by R. B. Sears.
Subjects: Communities, Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Camp Nelson, Jessamine and Garrard Counties, Kentucky / Ariel, Jessamine County, Kentucky / Hall, Jessamine County, Kentucky

Arnett, Charles H.
Birth Year : 1858
Born in Henderson, KY, Arnett was an ordained minister, owned a contracting business, and built seven churches (two in Sebree, KY) and a number of homes in Kentucky. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915.
Subjects: Businesses, Construction, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / Sebree, Webster County, Kentucky

Arnold, Horacee
Birth Year : 1937
Arnold, born in Wayland, KY, is a professional drummer who began playing while enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard during the 1950s. He added an extra 'e' to his first name when he began performing on stage. Arnold has performed with a number of bands over the years, and many are listed in his biography. His own bands were the Here and Now Company, formed in 1967, and Colloquium III, formed in the 1970s. He was one of the most well-known fusion drummers of his time, and he was involved with electronic programming. Arnold studied composition and guitar composition and taught music at William Paterson College [now William Paterson University] in New Jersey. His recordings include two albums, Tales of the Exonerated Flea, re-released in 2004, and Tribe. He also performed in the educational video, The Drumset. Arnold also performed dance; he toured in Asia with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company [now Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater]. For more see the Horacee Arnold website; and "Horacee Arnold" in the Oxford Music Online Database.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Education and Educators, Military, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Wayland, Floyd County, Kentucky

Asher v Huffman
Start Year : 1943
Seven-year-old Bruce Asher was the son of Boyd and Hattie Asher. His parents wanted him to attend the school for whites in Letcher County, KY. He looked to be what was considered a white child, but Roy Huffman, the school principal, refused to let Bruce attend the school because, according to Huffman, Bruce was colored. The Asher's sued Huffman, hoping that a mandatory injunction would allow Bruce to attend the school. It was determined by the Kentucky Court of Appeals that Bruce Asher was indeed a colored child because his maternal great-grandmother had been a Negro slave. The Kentucky Constitution, KRS 158.020 sec.187, was used to require that separate schools be maintained for white children and Negro children [children wholly or in part of Negro blood or having any appreciable admixture thereof, regardless of whether they show the racial characteristics of the Negro]. Judge Roy Helm of the lower court had ruled in favor of Huffman, and the Ashers appealed. The Appeals Court affirmed and adopted the lower court's decision, the injunction was refused, and Bruce Asher was not allowed to attend the school for white children. For more see Asher et al v Huffman, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 295 Ky. 312, 174 S.W. 2d 424, 1943 Ky; and KRS 158.020 - Separate schools for white and colored children. Repealed, 1966 (.pdf). [available online]
Subjects: Educati