Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

Bacon, Mamie
Bacon, born in Kentucky, was the organizer and founder of the Independent Sons and Daughters of America. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37.
Subjects: Civic Leaders
Geographic Region: Kentucky

Bailey, James W., Jr.
In 1985, Bailey became the first African American elected to the West District Magistrate of the Simpson County, KY, Fiscal Court. For more see "Kentucky's only black sheriff in Christian County," in 1988 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Seventh Report, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, p. 17.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Simpson County, Kentucky

Baker, David
Birth Year : 1881
Born in Louisville, KY, Baker invented scales that were used in elevators to prevent overloading. He was also co-inventor of the streetcar transom opener in 1913, the high water indicator for bridges in 1915, and a number of other inventions. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915; and The Pride of African American History: inventors, scientists, physicians, engineers..., by D. Wilson and J. Wilson.
Subjects: Inventors
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Baker, McHouston "Mickey"
Birth Year : 1925
Mickey Baker, born in Louisville, KY, spent his younger years in orphanages and learned to play music in school bands. In 1940, he ran away to New York. Baker is a guitarist who has played on hundreds of recording sessions, including those of Ray Charles and Ivory Joe Hunter. Some of his songs are Animal Farm, Baker's Dozen, Hey Little Girl, and Love is Strange. His album Wildest Guitar was released in 2003. For more see Blues Who's Who, by S. Harris; and Mickey Baker at the allmusic website.
Subjects: Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Orphans and Orphanages in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / New York

Ballard County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Ballard County, is located in western Kentucky and was established in 1842 from parts of Hickman and McCracken Counties. The county was named after Captain Bland Ballard, who was a District Court Judge and a member of the Kentucky Legislature. Wickliffe was voted the county seat of Ballard County in 1882. The first U.S. Federal Census for Ballard County was taken in 1850 when 4,654 persons were counted, excluding slaves. Below are the figures for slave owners, slaves, free Blacks, and free Mulattoes.

1850 Slave Schedule

• 190 slave owners
• 646 Black slaves
• 195 Mulatto slaves
• 6 free Blacks
• 19 free Mulattoes

• 336 slave owners
• 1,132 Black slaves
• 585 Mulatto slaves
• 7 free Blacks
• 24 free Mulattoes

• 979 Blacks
• 483 Mulattoes
• 30 U.S. Colored Troops listed Ballard County, KY, as their birth location

Ballard, William H.
Birth Year : 1862
Death Year : 1954
William Henry Ballard, who was born in Franklin County, KY, was the first African American to open a drug store in the state: Ballard's Pharmacy was established in Lexington, KY, in 1893. Ballard was also a historian; he is the author of History of Prince Hall Freemasonry in Kentucky, published in 1950. He came to Lexington when he was 17 years old, having previously lived in Louisville. He was married to Bessie H. Ballard, and the couple had six children. William H. Ballard is buried in the Cove Haven Cemetery in Lexington, KY [photo]. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915; and W. H. Ballard, "Drugs and druggists," Records of the National Negro Business League, Part 1 Annual Conference Proceedings and Organizational Records, 1900-1919, 10th Annual Convention, Louisville, KY, August 18-20, 1909, reel 2, frames 186-189.
Subjects: Authors, Businesses, Historians, Medical Field, Health Care, Fraternal Organizations, Negro Business League, Pharmacists, Pharmacies
Geographic Region: Franklin County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Banks, Johnella Barksdale
Birth Year : 1929
Death Year : 1990
Banks was born in Hopkinsville, KY, and reared in Detroit, MI. She was a graduate of Wayne State University (BA), Provident Hospital School of Nursing (Chicago), Boston University (MA), and Catholic University (Ph.D.). Banks was a nursing faculty member at Howard University and lived in Silver Spring, MD. She is considered one of the African American nurses who achieved greatness: her career is included in the written history of Black nurses. Banks was a past president of the National Black Nurses Association of the Greater Washington Area. The Johnella Banks Memorial Scholarship was named in her honor, and the Johnella Banks Member Achievement Award is presented by the Association of Black Nursing Faculty, Inc. For more see "Johnella Banks, 61, Howard professor," The Washington Times, 12/12/1990, Metropolitan section, p. B4; and Johnella B. Banks in The Color of Healing; a history of the achievements of Black nurses, by B. F. Morton.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Nurses
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky / Silver Spring, Maryland

Banks, William Venoid
Birth Year : 1903
Death Year : 1985
In 1975, Banks, born in Geneva, KY, was the first African American to own and operate a television station in the United States, WGPR-TV in Detroit, MI. He also became the owner, in 1964, of the first black radio station in Detroit, WGPR-FM. Banks was a graduate of Lincoln Institute, Wayne State University (1926), and the Detroit College of Law (1929) [now Michigan State University College of Law]. He also became an ordained minister after completing his studies at the Detroit Baptist Seminary in 1949. Banks founded the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons and Eastern Star, serving as its supreme president. He also founded the Universal Barber College and the International School of Cosmetology in 1957. A biography of Banks' life, A Legacy of Dreams, was written by S. T. Gregory. For more see "Founder of 1st black-owned TV station dies," United Press International, 08/26/1985, Domestic News section.
Subjects: Barbers, Cosmetologists, Beauty Shops, Hairdressers, Beauty Supplies, Lawyers, Migration North, Radio, Religion & Church Work, Television, Fraternal Organizations, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Geneva, Henderson County, Kentucky / Detroit, Michigan

Bannister, Frank T., Jr.
Birth Year : 1932
Death Year : 1986
Bannister, at one time a schoolteacher in Louisville, KY, later became a pollster with Jet magazine, compiling African American college football and basketball polls. Bannister was also a broadcaster who in 1976 became the first African American closed-circuit announcer for a heavy-weight championship fight: Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton. He was selected for the job by Top Rank Inc. executives Robert Arum and Butch Lewis. Bannister, who had taught Ali when he was a student in Louisville, was a sportswriter and commentator. He was born in Roanoke, VA, and was a graduate of Tuskegee University, and earned a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts. For more see "Jet pollster Bannister to call Ali-Norton fight," Jet, vol. 51, issue 2 (09/30/1976), p. 52; and "Frank Bannister, 54 dies; sportscaster, educator," Jet, vol. 71, issue 8 (11/10/1989), p. 18.
Subjects: Boxers, Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Television
Geographic Region: Roanoke, Virginia / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Barber, Paul Peter
Birth Year : 1850
Death Year : 1929
Barber was born in Louisville, KY, the child of slaves. His last name was Smith until he was 4 years old, when Barber was sold to Philetus Swift Barber. On the Barber Farm in Bardstown, KY, Paul learned to train, ride, race, and care for the horses. He went to Ottawa, Canada, around 1885, one of the first African Americans to become a permanent resident of Ottawa. In 1892 he married Elizabeth Brown, a white woman twenty years younger than he. Their marriage is thought to have been the first interracial marriage in Ottawa. They had five children: Paul Jr., John (Jack), Joe, Tom, and Mary. Paul Barber, Sr. supported his family with wages from his job as a horse trainer. When the automobile replaced the horse, Barber worked as a laborer for the city of Ottawa. For more see T. Barber, "The Kentucky gentleman was a pioneer black resident," The Ottawa Citizen (newspaper), 02/05/2001, p. D4.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby, Migration North, 1st African American Families in Town
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky / Ottawa, Canada

Barbour, J. Bernie
Birth Year : 1881
Barbour was born in Danville, KY, and died in New York, his death date unknown. Barbour was an 1896 music education graduate of Simmons University (KY), and he graduated from the Schmoll School of Music (Chicago) in 1899. Both he and N. Clark Smith founded a music publishing house in Chicago in 1903; it may have been the first to be owned by African Americans. Barbour also worked with other music publishing companies, including the W. C. Handy Music Company. He was a music director, and he played piano and sang in vaudeville performances and in nightclubs and toured with several groups. He composed operas such as Ethiopia, and spirituals such as Don't Let Satan Git You On De Judgment Day. He assisted in writing music for productions such as I'm Ready To Go and wrote the Broadway production, Arabian Knights Review. Barbour also organized the African American staff of Show Boat. For more see Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816-1960, by B. L. Peterson; Who's Who in Colored America, 1928-1929; and "J. Berni Barbour" in Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians, by E. Southern.
Subjects: Businesses, Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky / New York, New York

The Barclays
Arthur Barclay (1854-1938) served as the 14th President of Liberia, Africa, from 1904-1912. He changed the term of office from two years to four years and was re-elected three times. His nephew, Edwin J. Barclay (1883-1955) completed the term of President C. D. B. King. Edwin was the 17th president of Liberia and had the term of office changed from four years to eight years; he was re-elected twice. Edwin and his successor were the first African heads of states to be invited to the U.S. [by the President F. D. Roosevelt]. Ernest J. Barclay (d. 1894) was the Secretary of State in Liberia. Ernest and Arthur were the sons and Edwin was the grandson of former Kentucky slaves who left the U.S. during the Civil War. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; Dictionary of African Historical Biography, 2nd ed., by M. R. Lipschutz and R. K. Rasmussen; and The Political and Legislative History of Liberia by C. H. Huberich.
Subjects: Liberia, Liberian Presidents & Diplomats, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Liberia, Africa

Barker, Samuel Lorenzo
Birth Year : 1878
Death Year : 1971
According to the Kentucky Birth Records, Professor S. L. Barker was born in Christian County, KY, the son of Ellin Sumers? and Bob Barker. [Tennessee is also given as his birth location in the Census Records.] Barker is best remembered as an education leader. In Owensboro, KY, he was a school teacher and principal of Dunbar School, and he became principal of Western High School in 1934. He was a long-time member and leader in the Kentucky Negro Educational Association (KNEA), first serving as assistant secretary in 1916. He was the 2nd District organizer for the Association of Colored Teachers beginning in 1925. He was the KNEA reporter in 1928, served on the Board of Directors 1930-1935, and was president of the board 1939-1940. He chaired the Legislative Committee in 1933, ran unsuccessfully for president of the association in 1935 and 1937, and in 1939 successfully became president of KNEA, serving 1939-1941. He also served on the Kentucky governor's committee for higher education for Negroes in 1940. Professor S. L. Barker served on various KNEA committees until the organization was subsumed by the Kentucky Education Association in 1956. In his political life, Barker served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Kentucky in 1952. S. L. Barker was the husband of Callie Coleman Barker (b. 1878 in TN), who was a teacher and seamstress. They were the parents of nine children, one of whom was Roberta L. Barker Woodard, who is listed in The Black Women in the Middle West Project, by D. C. Hine, et al. For more on Samuel Barker see the Kentucky Negro Educational Association Journal, 1916-1952. For more on the Second District Association of Colored Teachers of Kentucky see "Colored Column" in The Bee, 12/05/1911, p. 2. Both sources are available full-text at the Kentuckiana Digital Library.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Christian County, Kentucky / Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky

Barnes, Margaret Elizabeth Sallee
Birth Year : 1879
Death Year : 1947
Barnes, born in Monticello, KY, later moved to Oberlin, OH. She was editor of the Girl's Guide and of the Queen's Gardens, official publication of the Ohio Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. The organization was developed in the early 1930s by Barnes, who also served as the president. Barnes also was in charge of a million dollar drive for funds at Wilberforce University; in 1939 she had been appointed a trustee at Wilberforce by Ohio Governor John Bricker. A building on the campus was named in her honor and Barnes received an honorary doctor of humanties degree. She was a leader among African American women in the Republican Party and was a delegate-at-large for the Republican State Convention in 1940. The Margaret Barnes Welfare Club, established in 1930, was named in her honor. The club belonged to both the national and the Ohio Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. One of the organization's efforts was to provided college scholarships for the outstanding African American student in the graduating class at Elyria [Ohio] High School. The Margaret Barnes Welfare Club was the oldest African American women's club in Elyria and was still functioning in the 1990s. Margaret E. Barnes was a 1900 graduate of Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University], and taught school for four years in Harrodsburg, KY, before marrying James D. Barnes and moving to Oberlin, OH, in 1904. She was the mother of five children, one of whom was Margaret E. Barnes Jones. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1941-44; Records of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, 1895-1992, part 1, ed. by L. S. Williams (.pdf); and C. Davis, "Barnes club helps black youngsters achieve goals," Chronicle Telegram, 06/05/1990, p.9.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Mothers, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Women's Groups and Organizations, Association of Colored Women's Clubs
Geographic Region: Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky / Oberlin, Ohio

Barren County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Barren County is located in south-central Kentucky, and is surrounded by six other counties. The county was established in 1798 from parts of Warren and Green Counties. It was named for the meadowlands known as the barrens. Many of the early white settlers were veterans of the Revolutionary War, they had received land grants in Barren County as payment for their military services. The county had a large number of Scottish families, which was a major influence in naming the county seat Glasgow. There were 1,497 people counted in Barren County in the 1810 U.S. Federal Census, and by 1850, there was a population of 15,657, excluding slaves. Below are the figures for the slave owners, slaves, free Blacks, and free Mulattoes in the county from 1850-1870.

1850 Slave Schedule

• 944 slave owners
• 3,921 Black slaves
• 628 Mulatto slaves
• 63 free Blacks
• 49 free Mulattoes

• 729 slave owners
• 3,649 Black slaves
• 421 Mulatto slaves
• 37 free Blacks
• 10 free Mulattoes

• 3,152 Blacks
• 375 Mulattoes
• 68 U.S. Colored Troops listed Barren County, KY, as their birth location [see also the African American Military Hall of Fame list at the Kentucky African American Griots website]

Bartleson, Truman, Sr.
Birth Year : 1925
Death Year : 2000
Bartleson, born in Mercer County, KY, was the first African American elected to the Harrodsburg, KY, Board of Education. Bartleson was employed at the Hall Mack Corp. For more see "17 blacks are local school board members," in 1978 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Fifth Report, by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 25; and Truman Bartleson, Sr. in "Obituaries," by C. Beaven, Lexington Herald Leader, 11/12/2000, p. B2.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky

Bate, Langston F.
Birth Year : 1899
Death Year : 1977
Langston Fairchild Bate was born in Danville, KY, the son of Ida W. and John W. Bate. He received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the age of 26 from the University of Chicago, later heading the chemistry departments at Lincoln University in Missouri, Virginia State College, and Miner Teachers College in Washington D. C. [which merged with two other colleges to form the present day University of the District of Columbia]. Bate was chair of the chemistry department at Miners College from 1944-1954. He published several articles in science journals. For more see Blacks in Science and Medicine, by V. O. Sammons; and "Langston Bate, Division Head at Miners College," Washington Post, 07/17/1977, Obituaries section, p. 49. Additional information provided by Kenneth Bate, son of Langston F. Bate.
Subjects: Chemists, Education and Educators, Migration North
Geographic Region: Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky

Bath County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Bath County is located in the north-eastern part of Kentucky and is surrounded by five other counties. It was established in 1811 from part of Montgomery County, though white settlers had come to the area as early as 1775. Bath County was named for its medicinal springs. The county seat was Catlett's Flats, and was changed to Owingsville in 1811. In 1820, the population of Bath County was recorded as 1,132 in the U.S. Federal Census, and the population had grown to 9,747 in 1850, excluding the slaves. Below are the number of slave owners, slaves, and free Blacks and Mulattoes from 1850-1870.

1850 Slave Schedule

• 823 slave owners
• 3,216 Black slaves
• 567 Mulatto slaves
• 94 free Blacks
• 34 free Mulattoes

• 441 slave owners
• 1,933 Black slaves
• 562 Mulatto Slaves
• 90 free Blacks
• 51 free Mulattoes

• 1,438 Blacks
• 283 Mulattoes
• about 100 U.S. Colored Troops listed Bath County, KY, as their birth location

Batson v Kentucky
James Kirkland Batson, of Jefferson County, KY, was charged with second-degree burglary and receipt of stolen goods. In jury selection for his trial, all African American candidates were excused. Batson insisted that the entire jury be removed because all of the African Americans had been removed, a violation of his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The judge denied the motion, and Batson was convicted on both counts in 1984. The Kentucky Supreme Court denied Batson's appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision in 1986. For more see Peter W. Sperlich, "Batson v. Kentucky," in The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions, Kermit L. Hall, Oxford University Press, 1999; Oxford Reference Online; U.S. Supreme Court Batson v. Kentucky 476 U.S. 79 (1986); and Epstein and Swickard, "Court forbids rejection of jurors on basis of race," Detroit Free Press, 05/01/1986.
Subjects: Freedom, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Beam, Augustus G.
Birth Year : 1891
Death Year : 1935
Beam was a physician and surgeon. He was born in Nelson County, KY, the son of Hines, Sr. (b. 1844) and Mariah E. Porter Beam (b. 1845), both Kentucky natives. Dr. Beam's practice was located in Henderson, KY, in 1915, and was later moved to Covington, KY, where Beam died in 1935. He had practiced with his brother, U.S. Beam, in Lima, Ohio in 1906; their business was named Beam & Beam. He practiced in Springfield, KY, from 1907-1914. Beam was a graduate of Curry's College, Louisville Normal School, and both he and his brother received their M.D.s from Louisville National Medical College, Augustus graduating in 1906. Beam was the husband of Ida Grace Reed Beam (b. 1882 in Ohio). The family lived on East 11th Street in Covington. For more see the Augustus Godfrey Beam entry in Who's Who of the Colored Race, by F. L. Mather [full-text at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care
Geographic Region: Nelson County, Kentucky / Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / Lima, Ohio / Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky

Bean, Walter Dempsey
Birth Year : 1912
Death Year : 2007
Bean was born in Midway, KY, to James Ennis and Lula G. Rollins Bean. He was a 1935 graduate of Kentucky State University and earned his MS at Butler University in 1954. He was a teacher, principal, and supervisor with the Indianapolis Public Schools, and the first African American administrator and recruiter for African American teachers. He helped integrate the Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity at Butler University In 1956 when he became the first African American chartered member. He was also the second African American member of the USA American Association of School Personnel Administrators. In 1986, the Kentucky State Alumni Association voted Walter D. Bean one of 100 outstanding alumni. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans 1985-2006; and Walter D. Bean in The Indianapolis Star "Obituaries," 04/12/2007, p. B04.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Midway, Woodford County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana

Beason, Bill
Birth Year : 1908
Bill Beason was born in Louisville, KY. Beason was a drummer and played in the Sunday School band that was formed by Bessie Allen. He attended Louisville Central High School along with Helen Humes, Jonah Jones, and Dicky Wells, all of whom had also been members of the Sunday School band. As an adult, Beason played with Teddy Hill, which led to his first European tour. He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton, played for Ella Fitzgerald (replacing Chick Webb), and rejoined Horace Henderson in the 1940s. For more see The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd ed., edited by B. Kernfeld; and The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 3rd ed., edited by C. Larkin.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Sunday School
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Beatty, Anthany, Sr.
Birth Year : 1951
In 2001, at the age of 50, Anthany Beatty became the first African American Chief of Police in Lexington, KY. Beatty, a Lexington native, had been with the department for 27 years, having joined the force in 1973. He earned his master's degree in public administration from Kentucky State University and his bachelor's degree in police administration from Eastern Kentucky University. In 2007, Beatty retired from the Lexington Police Department and became Assistant Vice President for Public Safety at the University of Kentucky. For more see T. Tagami, "Beatty to be new chief - council expected to confirm first black in job," Lexington Herald-Leader, 08/15/2001, Main News section, p. A1; and "Farewell to the chief - Beatty a good addition to UK Administration," Lexington Herald-Leader, 08/14/2007, Commentary section, p. A8. See also the sound recording interview with Anthany Beatty, Sr. in Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project, 1900-1989 at Special Collections, University of Kentucky.
Subjects: Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Beauty Shops (Louisville, KY)
In 1968 the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights conducted a study on the nature and extent of Negro ownership of business in Louisville. The commission found that beauty shops were a leading business: Of the 490 Negro-owned businesses, 42.2% were beauty shops, 19.3% barber shops. Within Louisville as a whole, Negro-owned beauty shops were 42.74% of the total number of beauty shops in the city and 32.14% in the entire county. For more see Black Business in Louisville, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. For earlier information on African American beauty shops and other occupations, see A study of business and employment among Negroes in Louisville, by Associates of Louisville Municipal College, University of Louisville, Louisville Urban League, and Central Colored High School (1944).
Subjects: Businesses, Cosmetologists, Beauty Shops, Hairdressers, Beauty Supplies, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Beckwith, John
Birth Year : 1902
Death Year : 1956
Beckwith was born in Louisville, KY. He played shortstop, third base, and centerfield in the Negro Baseball Leagues, where he was a powerful and consistent hitter. In Cincinnati, Ohio in 1921, he was the first player to hit a ball over the roof and completely out of Redland Field. In Washington, D.C., he hit a ball that struck an advertisement sign 460 feet away from home plate and 40 feet above the ground. Beckwith helped the Chicago American Giants win three pennants. He also had a temper and was once suspended from play after severely beating an umpire. For more see The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, by J. A. Riley; and John Beckwith at the BaseballLibrary.com website.
Subjects: Baseball
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Bell, J. W.
Bell lived in Louisville, KY, where he was one of the early pastors of the Center Street Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church. In 1873, he was elected secretary of the CME General Conference. That same year, he was named Book Agent of the CME Publishing House and editor of the Christian Index, the CME monthly news publication. The CME publishing operation had been moved from Memphis to Louisville. After a month, Bell was limited to editing the newspaper only, and W. P. Churchill, of Louisville, was named the new book agent. Bell produced the first issue of the Christian Index in Kentucky; the newspaper was six years old, having been first published in 1867. A few months later, a disagreement occurred between Bell and Bishop Miles, and Bell was relieved of his duties at the newspaper and at the Center Street CME Church. He was replaced by Alexander Austin. For more see The History of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America, by C. H. Phillips [available online at the UNC Documenting the American South website].
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Bell, R. F.
Bell was the first African American police officer in Lexington, KY, joining the force in 1918. For more see Lexington Police Department photo, 04/12/1937, courtesy of Amanda Elliott, at the Lexington History Museum - in the Black and White Photographic Collection.
Subjects: Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Ben (former slave)
Cleveland, OH, was founded in 1796. Ben, an escaped slave who had lived on the Young Farm in Kentucky, is recognized as the first African American in Cleveland. He came to the city in 1806 after the family he was with drowned in a lake and Ben almost froze to death. It was thought that Ben left Cleveland and moved to Canada. His story, including his near capture, are told on p. 12 of Cleveland's Harbor, by J. C. Ehle, W. D. Ellis, and N. A. Schneider. An earlier account can be found on pp.339-343 in the Early History of Cleveland Ohio by C. Whittlesey [available full view at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, 1st African American Families in Town
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Cleveland, Ohio / Canada

Bennett, Bradford
Birth Year : 1922
Bradford Bennett was born in Fulton, KY. A first baseman in the Negro Leagues, he was known for his speed. He began his career in 1940 as a 17-year-old with the New Orleans-St. Louis Stars, finishing his career in 1946 with the Boston Blues. For more see The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, by J. A. Riley.
Subjects: Baseball
Geographic Region: Fulton, Fulton County, Kentucky

Bentley, Daniel S.
Birth Year : 1850
Reverend Daniel S. Bentley was born in Madison County, KY. Bentley attended Berea College and later left Kentucky for Pennsylvania. In Pittsburgh, he founded The Afro-American Spokesman newspaper, owned by the Spokesman Stock Company, of which Bentley was president. During this time, Bentley was also pastor of the Wylie Avenue A.M.E. Church in Pittsburgh. Bentley also authored Brief Religious Reflections in 1900. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; Centennial Encyclopedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church..., by Richard Allen and others (Philadelphia: 1816), p. 38, at Documenting the American South website; and The Afro-American Press and Its Editors, by I. G. Penn (1891) [available full view at Google Book Search]. A brief bio and a picture of Bentley are on p.186-187 in The Sons of Allen by H. Talbert [available full text at Documenting the American South website].
Subjects: Authors, Businesses, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Madison County, Kentucky / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Benton, J. W.
Benton was a Kentucky native who invented a derrick used for hoisting. Benton walked to Washington, D.C., to get the patent, carrying his invention in his arms. For more see Kentucky's Black Heritage by Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; Blacks in Science and Medicine by V. O. Sammons; and H. E. Baker, "The Negro in the Field of Invention,"The Journal of Negro History, vol. 2, no. 1 (January 1917), p. 35.
Subjects: Inventors
Geographic Region: Kentucky

Berry, Elder
Elder Berry opened the first theological school for African Americans in the Olivet Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. The school lasted only five months, but it led the way for other theological schools for African Americans. For more see A History of Blacks in Kentucky from Slavery to Segregation, 1760-1891, by M. B. Lucas.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Berry, Julius
Birth Year : 1939
Death Year : 2001
Julius Berry was born in Lexington, KY. In 1994, Mayor Scotty Baesler appointed Berry to the post of Affirmative Action Officer of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. Berry, 41 years old at the time, was responsible for managing the government's affirmative action plan and investigating discrimination complaints. He held the post under various mayors up to the time of his death in 2001. Berry was a man of many talents. In 1974, he worked with the city government's A. Phillip Randolph Education Fund, which helped minorities get apprenticeships in the building and construction trades. He was also involved with horses as a breeder, racer, seller, and thoroughbred bloodstock agent. He had been a public advocate in Lexington, working on school integration issues as a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He is also remembered as a former (old) Dunbar High School basketball star; standing at 6'5", Berry scored more than 3,000 points during his high school days in the 1950s. He played college ball at University of Dayton and at Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University], where he earned a bachelor's degree, then went on to get his master's degree at Rutgers University. Julius Berry was inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1996. He was Ulysses Berry's brother. For more see the following articles in the Lexington Herald-Leader: J. Duke, "Julius Berry Returns to Government," 06/01/1984, City/State section, p. B1; M. Fields, "Inductee Sees Athletics as Societal Salve," 03/12/1996, Sports section, p. C1; and S. Lannen, "Aide to Lexington Mayor Dies - Dunbar Basketball Star During 1950s," 12/03/2001, City & Region section, p. B1. See also the sound recording interview of Julius Berry in the Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project, 1900-1989 at Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Basketball, Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Berry, T. L.
Birth Year : 1892
Dr. T. L. Berry was born in Hopkinsville, KY. He was a physician in Murray, KY, according to his WWI Registration Card. Berry was also the Surgeon in Chief at Winnie Scott Hospital in Frankfort. From 1915-1959, until desegregation, the hospital primarily served African Americans. Dr. Berry left Kentucky to join the staff of the Mercy Hospital in Cincinnati. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1927.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky / Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio

Berry, Ulysses
Birth Year : 1941
In 2001, the then 60 year old Ulysses Berry, who was born in Lexington, KY, was the interim Chief of Police in Lexington, the first African American to hold the post. Berry, a 37-year veteran of the police force, had also been the first African American to become Assistant Chief of Police in 1990, the same year that his 1987 lawsuit was dropped. In 1987, Berry, the highest ranking African American on the police force, filed suit because he felt he had been passed over for promotion because he was African American. Berry was also the first African American from the Bluegrass region to attend the national FBI academy. He was a brother of Julius Berry. For more see J. Cheves, "Interim Chief Berry is veteran of 37 years with police department," Lexington Herald-Leader, 07/04/2001, Main News section, p. A8; T. Tolliver, "Black police major files racial discrimination suit," Lexington Herald-Leader, 06/11/1987, City/State, p. B1; and N. Morgan, "Chief's post about trust, Berry says candidate plays down racial issue," Lexington Herald-Leader, 07/14/2001, City & Region section, p. C1.
Subjects: Corrections and Police, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Bethea, Rainey
Birth Year : 1913
Death Year : 1936
Rainey Bethea, an African American, was originally from Roanoke, Virginia. When he was 22 years old, he was charged with the murder and rape of a 70 year-old white woman in Owensboro, KY. He was convicted of rape, and on August 14, 1936, Bethea became the last person in the United States to be executed before the public. It was estimated that about 20,000 people were on hand to witness his hanging. An unsuccessful appeal for Bethea's life had been made by African American lawyers Charles Eubank Tucker, Stephen A. Burnley, Charles W. Anderson, Jr., Harry E. Bonaparte, and R. Everett Ray. Bethea's death warrant was signed by Governor Albert B. "Happy" Chandler. Rainey Bethea was buried in an unmarked grave in Owensboro. For more see The Last Public Execution in America, by P. T. Ryan; and K. Lawrence, "1936 Hanging remains last public execution," Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, 09/24/2004, Section S, p. 49; and listen to "Last public execution in America" and view the photo gallery on National Public Radio (NPR).
Subjects: Executions, Lawyers, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries
Geographic Region: Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky / Roanoke, Virginia

Bibb, Henry W.
Birth Year : 1815
Death Year : 1856
Henry Walton Bibb was born a slave in Shelby County, KY, to Mildred Jackson, a slave, and James Bibb, a white politician. Henry Bibb taught himself to read and write. He had many failed escape attempts, which led to his being sold. Bibb was last owned by Indians before he escaped to Detroit, Michigan. He became an abolitionist lecturer and later moved to Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where he edited the Voice of the Fugitive newspaper. He also organized the Refugee Home Society for runaway slaves. For more see Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bibb, an American slave, by H. Bibb [available online at the Documenting the American South website]; and The Kentucky Encyclopedia.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Freedom, Migration North
Geographic Region: Shelby County, Kentucky / Detroit, Michigan / Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Bickerstaff, Bernard T., Sr. "Bernie"
Birth Year : 1944
Bickerstaff was born in Benham, KY. At the age of 25, he was head coach at the University of San Diego, the youngest college coach in the U.S. at that time. He went on to become the youngest assistant coach in NBA history when he joined the Washington Bullets [now the Washington Wizards] at the age of 29. From 1985-1990, Bickerstaff was head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics; he was the first African American from Kentucky to be named a head coach in the NBA [the second was Wes Unseld and the third was Dwane Casey]. Bickerstaff was president and general manager of the Denver Nuggets from 1990-1997. In 2004, he was named general manager of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the team's first coach; he returned as the head coach for the 2006-2007 season. Bickerstaff ranks 33rd on the NBA's winningest coaches list. Bernie Bickerstaff Boulevard in Benham is named in his honor. For more see Who's Who in America, 45th-48th ed.; Who's Who in the West, 22nd -24th ed.; and Bernie Bickerstaff, an NBA Coaches website.
Subjects: Basketball, Businesses
Geographic Region: Benham, Harlan County, Kentucky / Charlotte, North Carolina

Biggerstaff, William
Birth Year : 1854
Death Year : 1886
William Biggerstaff was born a slave in Lexington, KY. He moved to the western U.S., where he was executed for killing Dick Johnson. Biggerstaff claimed self defense; nonetheless, he was hanged in Helena, Montana. His death was captured by African American photographer James P. Ball. For more see Representing Death; and Relections in black, by D. Willis-Thomas.
Subjects: Executions, Migration West, Photographers, Photographs
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Helena, Montana

Bingham, Rebecca T.
Birth Year : 1928
Rebecca Taylor Bingham was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. She earned her bachelor's degree from Indiana University in1950, a master's degree from the University of Tulsa in 1961, and a second master's in 1969 from the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science. During her library career, Bingham became the first African American president of the Kentucky Library Association. She is also a former president of the American Association of School Libraries. Bingham served on the Kentucky Governor's State Advisory Council on Libraries and the advisory committee for the 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information Services. In 1998, Bingham was named to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science by President Clinton. She was the wife of the late Walter D. Bingham. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans; A Biographical Directory of Librarians in the United States and Canada, 5th ed., edited by L. Ash; and T. Tew, "An advocate for equality," SLIS Alumni Magazine, Fall 2002, Indiana University.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Indianapolis, Indiana / Kentucky

Birth Control Movement and African American Women in Kentucky
Start Year : 1933
End Year : 1943
The Kentucky Birth Control League (KBCL) in Louisville began the birth control movement in Kentucky. The organization was founded by Jean Brandies Tachau, who was also the first president. The KBCL was affiliated with the National Birth Control League, which focused on women and family planning. The first clinic opened in Louisville, KY, in 1933; Norton's Infirmary provided services for "whites only." Therefore, arrangements were made with Dr. John Hammons to see African American women in his office until there was a regular clinic. Hammons had been director of the Venereal Clinic, was on the staff of the Red Cross Hospital, and was a member of the NAACP and the Urban League. When the second clinic opened at 624 Floyd Street, it served both African American and white women, but each on separate days of the week. In 1936, the African American birth control clinic, known as Adler Mothers Clinic, opened in the parish house of the Church of Our Merciful Savior. Doctors Hammons, Laine, and Ballard, social worker Robert B. Scott, and nurse Louise Simms made up the staff. In Lexington, the Maternal Health Clinic, the city's first birth control clinic, opened in 1936 at Good Samaritan Hospital, and services were provided to both white and African American women. During the 1930s, there were also clinics in Berea and at Pine Mountain Settlement School. Birth control was not new to the women of Kentucky, but prior to the 1930s it had not been as accessible through public health services. There was opposition from several fronts, and a number of theories are discussed in the literature as to why birth control was being provided to women of particular classes and races. One other note of importance is that during the early 1930s and the Depression, birth control became one of the most profitable new industries through advertising and marketing to women consumers. Hundreds of birth control ads were placed in both white and African American media for a variety of mail order products in spite of federal and state interstate distribution laws; the items were sold as feminine hygiene products. By 1938 annual sales for birth control totaled more than $250,000,000 and continued to increase. For more information on the Birth Control Movement in Kentucky, see J. G. Myers, A Socio-historical Analysis of the Kentucky Birth Control Movement, 1933-1943 (dissertation), University of Kentucky, 2005; and D. McRaven, Birth Control Women: Controlling Reproduction in the South, 1933-1973 (dissertation), University of Kentucky, 2006. For more on marketing during the Birth Control Movement, see Women and Health in America, by J. W. Leavitt.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Women's Groups and Organizations, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Berea, Madison County, Kentucky / Pine Mountain, Harlan County, Kentucky

Bishop, Daryl
Birth Year : 1950
Daryl Bishop was born in Louisville, KY. In 1969, he was the first African American to play basketball for the University of Kentucky (UK), playing a few games as a walk-on, then withdrawing from the team. He had a more successful career as a defensive back on the football team. At that time at UK, football players could not play until their sophomore year. In spite of only playing three years, Bishop's career at UK was phenomenal. He holds the UK career record for most pass interceptions (14) and return yardage (376). He made more tackles (348) than any defensive back in UK history. He is also remembered for the 43-yard interception return touchdown in the 1971 win over Vanderbilt and the 97-yard touchdown return against Mississippi State. Daryl Bishop was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1974. Information provided by the University of Kentucky Athletics Media Relations Office. See also Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy, 1949-1999.
Subjects: Basketball, Football
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Black Graduates of Kentucky (periodical)
Start Year : 1970
End Year : 1998
Beginning in 1970, the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights published the title Black Graduates of Kentucky. It was an annual publication that was very unusual because it was a government directory that attempted to list the African American college and university graduates in the entire state. Most other publications of this type were not produced by the state, but rather by higher education institutions in specific states, and the publications focused on the individual institution's graduates only. The Kentucky directory title changed in 1994 to African American Graduates of Kentucky Directory. The publication ceased in 1998.
Subjects: Resources Dedicated to Kentucky African Americans [Statewide]
Geographic Region: Kentucky

Black Horsemen
The history of Black horsemen, many of whom were from Bourbon County, KY, is being collected and displayed. The Butler Family from North Middletown, KY, has developed the website Back in Black: A History of Black Horsemen in the Twentieth Century for the gathering and sharing of information, including photos of many of the men. There is also the 2007 exhibit at the American Saddlebred Museum in Lexington, KY, Out of the Shadows: Bringing to Light Black Horsemen in Saddlebred History. A DVD by the same title is available for purchase at the American Saddlebred Museum. For more information see L. Muhammad, "Show heralds achievements of Black trainers," Courier-Journal (Louisville), 02/05/2007, Features section, p. 1E; Exhibition Honoring Black Horsemen Set to Open, 02/03/2007, a Kentucky.gov website; and African American Horsemen of Bourbon County included in American Saddlebred Museum Exhibit [.pdf], 02/10/2005, a Kentucky Horse Park news release.
Subjects: Businesses, Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: North Middletown, Bourbon County, Kentucky

Black, John L., Sr.
Birth Year : 1931
Death Year : 2004
Black, born in Burgin, KY, was the son of Robert and Bertha Black; Bertha died in 1934 after becoming ill with sickle cell anemia and tuberculosis. John Black was a retired stationary engineer for the Cincinnati Public Schools and a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), Local #20. In 1991, he became the first African American president of an IUOE Local #20. For more see "John Lincoln Black" in vol. 1 of African American National Biography, edited by H. L. Gates, Jr. and E. B. Higginbotham; and The Cincinnati Post, obituaries, 06/24/2004, News section, p. A14. Listen to Samuel Black remembering his father in A Father, a Son, and a Ten-cent Mistake, 09/29/2006, StoryCorps: Recording America at NPR.org.
Subjects: Engineers, Migration North, Union Organizations, Tuberculosis: Care and Deaths
Geographic Region: Burgin, Mercer County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio

Black Kentucky Artists
This exhibition of work by Black artists living in Kentucky was organized for and toured by the Kentucky Arts Commission, June 1979-January 1981. The curator was Roberta L. Williams. For more see black & white photos of the works and artists' biographies in Black Kentucky Artists (1979), available at the University of Kentucky, Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library & Learning Center.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts
Geographic Region: Kentucky

"Black Republican" (term)
Start Year : 1858
The term "Black Republican" is often attributed to incumbent Stephen Douglas, a Democrat who was scheduled to have seven debates with Republican, and Kentucky native, Abraham Lincoln; both were campaigning for an Illinois Senate seat in 1858. The primary theme of the debates was slavery, and Douglas accused Lincoln and members of the the "Black Republican Party" of being abolitionist and against slavery in the Western territories. Lincoln lost the bid for the Illinois Senate seat, but he won the nomination to run for U.S. President during the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago. During the presidential campaign, Abraham Lincoln was often referred to as the "Black Republican." The term was also used during the Reconstruction Era for Republicans who supported legislation that favored African Americans. For more see the "Black Republican" entry in vol. 2 of the Afro-American Encyclopedia; and Lincoln and Douglas, by A. C. Guelzo.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: United States

Blackburn, Charles H. "Jack"
Birth Year : 1883
Death Year : 1942
Charles Henry Blackburn was born in Versailles, KY. He was a boxer who went by the name Jack. Blackburn weighed 135 pounds, but his fast hands and legs, along with his hooks and jabs, allowed him to fight bigger and heavier men. He claimed to have fought nearly 400 bouts between 1901 and 1923, losing few of them. In 1909 Blackburn was arrested for the murder of Alonso Polk and also charged with attempted murder for shooting Polk's wife and his own wife, Maude Pillion. Blackburn served five years of a 15 year sentence; while in the pen he was the boxing instructor for the warden and his sons. Blackburn continued to box for another decade after his release. After his retirement in 1923, he was a boxing trainer/manager for many boxers, including Joe Louis, who named his daughter, Jacqueline, after Jack Blackburn. For more see Jack Blackburn; The Boxing Register. International Boxing Hall of Fame official record book, 2nd ed., by J. B. Roberts & A. G. Skutt; and Joe Louis: the Great Black Hope, by R. Bak. Blackburn is in the picture on p. 59 in Bak's book.
Subjects: Boxers
Geographic Region: Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky

Blackman, George Washington
Birth Year : 1855
The only George Blackman listed in the U.S. Federal Census as living in Idaho was born in Kentucky. He can be found in the census records from 1910-1930, living in Clayton, Custer County. It is assumed that he is the same George Washington Blackman who is remembered as a pioneer miner in Idaho. Several areas are named after him: Washington Basin, Washington Creek, Washington Peak, and Blackman Peak. Blackman, said to have been a slave at one time, came to Idaho in the mid to late 1870s with a group of miners. Gold and silver had been discovered in Idaho in the 1860s, and the prospect of riches drew many miners to the state. George W. Blackman worked claims in the Fourth of July Creek and basin areas using a pickax and a mule. He was still mining in the 1930s. It is said that he lived in the area until he was 100 years old. For more see George Washington Blackman in Black Pioneers of the West [online pdf.]; Southern Idaho Ghost Towns, by W. C. Sparling; Sawtooth Tales, by D. D'Easum; and Idaho Place Names, by L. P. Boone.
Subjects: Migration West, Miners, Mines, & Steel Mills, 1st African American Families in Town
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Clayton, Custer County, Idaho

Blacks Who Enlisted in Kentucky for U.S. Navy Submarine Duty During WWII
The following is a incomplete list of the African American men who enlisted in Kentucky to serve on a Navy submarine during WWII. The names come from the book titled Black Submariners by G. A. Knoblock. 1) Joe William Green enlisted in Lexington, KY. 2) Arthur J. Wharton, Jr. enlisted in Louisville, KY. He is a WWII veteran interred overseas. Wharton was a Steward's Mate First Class on the ship Barbel. His death date is given as 02/19/1946, and there is a monument at Fort William McKinley in Manila, Philippines. 3) Russell Donan, 1922-1992, enlisted in Louisville, KY. He was born in Edmonton, KY. 4) Andrew Jack Pace enlisted in Louisville, KY. 5) George E. Pogue enlisted in Louisville, KY. 6) Louis Hill Jones enlisted in Louisville, KY. 7) Lunie Joseph Neal enlisted in Louisville, KY. 8) James Lee Baker enlisted in Louisville, KY and served as the first African American steward on the ship Nautilus. 9) James Thomas McGuire enlisted in Louisville, KY. 10) Woodrow Wilson Jones, 1918-2001, enlisted in Louisville, KY, and is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Norwich, CT. He was born in Tennessee and was the husband of Flore Jones. 11) Parkes Lee Davidson, 1909-1991, enlisted in Louisville, KY. He died in Louisville and is buried in the New Albany National Cemetery in Indiana. This entry was suggested by UK Librarian Shawn Livingston.
Subjects: Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Blakey, William Arthur "Buddy"
Birth Year : 1943
Blakey was born in Louisville, KY, and is a graduate of Knoxville College and Howard University Law School. He is recognized for the development of the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Act - Title 111B-HEA, which was passed during his tenure as Senior Legislative Assistant to Senator Paul Simon. Blakey also oversaw the HBCU Student Loan Default Exemption through Congress. For more than 15 years Blakey has served as the Washington counsel of the United Negro College Fund. In recognition of his advocacy for HBCUs, Blakey was inducted into the National Black College Hall of Fame in 2001. William A. Blakey and Associates, established in 2005, is located in Washington, D. C. For more see "Washington attorney inducted into Black College Hall of Fame," Black Issues in Higher Education, vol.18, issue 22 (12/20/2001), p. 17; Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-2006; and articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Lawyers, Migration North, United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Washington, D.C.

Blanton, John W.
Birth Year : 1922
Death Year : 2003
Blanton, born in Louisville, KY, was the son of John O. and Carolyn Steward Blanton. He was a retired General Electric Aircraft Engines executive. He received GE's Gerald L. Phillippe Award for distinguished public service in 1981 and was inducted into the GE Aircraft Engine's Propulsion Hall of Fame in 1991. He was president of the Urban League Board of Greater Cincinnati and was an original member and former president of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). Blanton was a 1943 mechanical engineering graduate of Purdue University. He is buried in Cincinnati, OH. For more see K. Andrew, "Obituary: John Blanton, 81, GE executive," Cincinnati Enquirer, 05/11/2003, Metro section, p. 5B; and "John W. Blanton" in vol. 1 of African American National Biography, edited by H. L. Gates, Jr. and E. B. Higginbotham.
Subjects: Migration North, Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio

Bluster, Missouri Quisenberry
Start Year : 1899
End Year : 1994
Missouri Quisenberry Bluster was a school teacher for more than 40 years at the Oliver School in Winchester, KY. For many of those years she taught first grade during the time Oliver was a segregated school for African American children. She is remembered as a disciplinarian who cared about the children. Bluster and her parents, William and Mamie Custard Quisenberry, were born in Winchester, KY. She was the wife of Rev. Climiton Bluster (1893-1961), who was born in Alabama. Missouri Bluster, a graduate of Kentucky State University and Wilberforce University, also served as president of the Kentucky Association of Colored Women's Clubs. The Quisenberry family has been in Clark County since the early history of the state, and records of the African American Quisenberrys can be found in the slave schedules and birth records, including that of a baby girl born in 1853 to a slave woman and slave owner Roger Quisenberry. [Roger Quisenberry of Clark County owned at least 11 slaves, according to the 1850 slave schedule.] Several of the African American Quisenberry men served with the Colored infantries during the Civil War, and after slavery ended, the families settled in the communities of Blue Ball, Ford, Germantown, Kiddville, and Winchester. For more about Missouri Quisenberry Bluster, see A. D. Johnson, "Winchester teacher stressed discipline, love," Lexington Herald-Leader, 02/09/1986, City/State section, p. B1.
Subjects: Communities, Education and Educators, Women's Groups and Organizations, Association of Colored Women's Clubs
Geographic Region: Blue Ball, Ford, Germantown, Kiddville, and Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky

Board, Sally [Petersburg, Kentucky]
Birth Year : 1805
Death Year : 1892
Sally Board was born in Fort Harrod, KY; her mother was a slave who had been purchased (or loaned) in 1790 to care for widower Phillip Board's children. A few years later Sally was born; Phillip Board was her father and owner. By 1810, Sally's mother was no longer at the Board farm, but Sally remained. As an adult, she married a slave named Peter, and his name became Peter Board. Land that Sally either purchased or received from her father was developed into a small African American community called Petersburg. Sally was eventually freed, and she then purchased her husband's freedom. Their children, however, remained slaves until after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. In 1878, when Sally was 72 years old, she and the whole community of Petersburg moved to the new territory and settled in Morton City [Jetmore today], Hodgeman County, Kansas, abandoning Petersburg. Today Petersburg is part of the Kentucky community know as Nevada. For more information about Sally, the Board family, and other Exodusters, including the family of Eliza Broadnax Bradshaw, see "Exoduster" Sally Board, an American Heritage: from Kentucky Slavery to a Kansas Homestead, 1805-1892, by R. O. Pleasant & J. P. Neill. [Ray Pleasant is an African American and John Neill is White; they are cousins, both descendants of Phillip Board.]
Subjects: Communities, Freedom, Migration West, Exodusters [African Americans migrating West around Reconstruction Era]
Geographic Region: Fort Harrod (Old Fort Harrod State Park), Mercer County, Kentucky / Petersburg, Mercer County, Kentucky (no longer exists) / Nevada, Mercer County, Kentucky / Morton City (now Jetmore), Kansas

Bond, Henry
Birth Year : 1865
Death Year : 1929
Henry Bond was born in Anderson County, KY. He was a teacher and lawyer, and it was believed that he had political influence over the African American Republican vote in Williamsburg, KY. Bond was the principal and lone teacher of the Williamsburg Negro School for a number of years. The school was a one-room cabin with grades 1-8. In 1929, Henry died ten days before his brother, James M. Bond; both were sons of Jane Arthur, a slave, and Reverend Preston Bond. For more see The Bonds, by R. M. Williams.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Voting Rights, Lawyers, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Anderson County, Kentucky / Williamsburg, Whitley County, Kentucky

Bond, Howard H.
Birth Year : 1938
Bond, a consulting firm executive, was born in Stanford, KY, to Frederick D. and Edna G. Coleman Bond. He is a 1965 graduate of Eastern Michigan University (BA) and a 1974 graduate of Pace University (MBA). He has worked with a number of companies, including Ford Motor Company, where he was a labor supervisor; Xerox Corp., as a personnel manager; and Playboy Enterprises, Inc., as a vice president. He was also a council member candidate for the city of Cincinnati in 2003. Today he is managing director of the Phoenix Executech Group, having founded the company in 1977. And he is chairman and CEO of Bond Promotions and Apparel Co. in the Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati. Bond is also a community activist and educator. He has taught leadership and social responsibility classes at Northern Kentucky University and is a former elected member of the Cincinnati Board of Education. He has also served as president of the African American Political Caucus of Cincinnati and is a founding member of the Cincinnati Chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. Bond is also a 33rd degree Mason, a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and a number of other organizations. He has received a number of awards. Bond is a U.S. Army veteran. For more see Howard H. Bond, a smartvoter.org website; "Five receive Lions awards from Urban League," The Cincinnati Enquirer, 02/12/2006, Metro section, p. 5B; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1990-2006.
Subjects: Businesses, Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Fraternal Organizations, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Stanford, Lincoln County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio

Bond, J. Max, Sr.
Birth Year : 1902
Death Year : 1991
J. Max Bond, Sr. was born in Nashville, TN. His family, who had previously lived in Kentucky, moved back, and Bond attended Lincoln Institute. He later attended what is now Roosevelt University in Chicago, then earned his sociology master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh and his Ph.D in sociology at the University of Southern California. Bond was the founder and president of the University of Liberia, 1950-1954 [Liberia, Africa]. He was also dean of the School of Education at Tuskegee University as well as a U.S. representative of the Inter-American Educational Foundation at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Bond wrote A Survey of Tunisian Education and The Negro in Los Angeles. J. Max Bond, Sr. was the son of James M. Bond, the husband of Ruth E. Clement Bond, and the father of J. Max Bond, Jr. For more see The Bonds, by R. M. Williams; Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, vol. 17, Sept. 1990-Aug. 1992; and "J. Max Bond, Sr., Educator, Aid Official," The Seattle Times, 12/18/1991, Deaths, Funerals section, p. E8.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Fathers, Sociologists & Social Scientists
Geographic Region: Nashville, Tennessee / Kentucky

Bond, Leslie Fee, Sr.
Birth Year : 1928
Bond, born in Louisville, KY, moved with his family to Galesburg, IL, when he was 10-years-old. Like his father, Leslie F. Bond, Sr. is a family practitioner and also a surgeon. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana and Meharry Medical College. After finishing medical school, Bond opened his practice in St. Louis, MO, where he is also an outspoken community leader. He served on the Physicians-Pharmacists Advisory Committee to Medicaid for 20 years. He was selected by Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan to serve on the St. Louis Police Board. In 2007, Bond received the Salute to Excellence in Health Care Award from the St. Louis American Foundation. His son, Leslie F. Bond, Jr., was the first African American chairman of the St. Louis Election Board in 1993. For more see Lift Every Voice and Sing: St. Louis African Americans in the Twentieth Century, by D. Wesley, W. Price, and A. Morris; Who's Who Among African Americans, 1996/97; and M. Schlinkmann, "First Black will head election board," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 02/23/1993, News section, p. 4A.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Fathers, Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Migration West, Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Galesburg, Illinois / Saint Louis, Missouri

Bonus Army Riot [Broadus Faulkner]
Start Year : 1932
The Bonus Army was made up of more than 43,000 protesters, mostly WWI veterans and family members. The protesters, both Blacks and whites, were seeking cash payments for veterans' Service Certificates. The U.S. Government had issued more than three million certificates that were to mature in 1945; they were 20 year certificates that represented the pay promised to veterans plus compounded interest. With the Depression, unemployed veterans marched on Washington during the spring and summer of 1932, led by former Army Sargent Walter W. Waters, the veterans had gathered at the Capital to convince Congress to make immediate payments. The protesters camped-out near the Capital in Hooverville, they lived in tents and makeshift huts. June 1932, the House passed a bill for payment, but the bill was blocked in the Senate. July 1932, the Attorney General ordered the police to evacuate the Bonus Army. A riot broke out. President Hoover called out troops to force the protesters out of Washington. Several veterans and their family members were injured and two were killed. Hooverville was burned to the ground. August 1932, the Washington D.C. grand jury indicted three men for their role in the riot. Broadus Faulkner, a 32 year old African American from Kentucky, was charged with felonious assault and assault to kill Patrolman John E. Winters. Faulkner and Bernard McCoy, a Chicago bricklayer who was also indicted, had thrown bricks at the police. John O. Olson, the third man to be indited, was a carpenter whose last address was in Nebraska. Olson had used a table leg as a weapon against the police. For more see "Three Indicted in bonus army fight," Kingsport Times, 08/16/1932, p.1 & 6; and The Bonus Army by P. Dickson and T. B. Allen.
Subjects: Military & Veterans, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Washington, D.C.

Booker, Robert H.
Birth Year : 1939
Robert Booker was the first African American police officer in LaGrange, KY, in 1968. Information submitted by Ruby Booker of LaGrange, KY.
Subjects: Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: La Grange, Oldham County, Kentucky

Boone County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Boone County is located in northern Kentucky along the Ohio River and is bordered by three counties. It was formed from Campbell County in 1798 and named for Daniel Boone. The county seat is Burlington. In 1800, the county population was about 1,500, including whites, slaves, and free Blacks [more at the Boone County, KY website] and at the completion of the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, the population, excluding slaves, was 9,165. Below are the figures for the slave owners, slaves, free Blacks, and free Mulattoes.

1850 Slave Schedule

• 194 slave owners
• 676 Black slaves
• 116 Mulatto slaves
• 36 free Blacks
• 1 free Mulatto

• 468 slave owners
• 1,256 Black slaves
• 489 Mulatto slaves
• 35 free Blacks
• 12 free Mulattoes

• 1,013 Blacks
• 207 Mulattoes
• About 20 U.S. Colored Troops gave Boone County, KY, as their birth location

Bottoms, Jesse V., Sr.
Birth Year : 1906
Death Year : 1995
In 1952, Jesse Voyd Bottoms, Sr. became the first African American graduate of Louisville Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was also a graduate of Simmons Bible College (now Simmons College of Kentucky), later serving in many capacities at the school, including as a teacher and the dean. Bottoms helped organize the local arrangements for the March on Washington. For more see "Civil Rights Activists Jesse Bottoms, 89, dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 01/19/1995, Obituaries section, p. B2.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Education and Educators, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Bourbon County Training School (Little Rock, KY)
The Bourbon County Training School was located in Little Rock, KY. Ms. Maggie L. Freeman was the principal as early as 1911. The school was to provide advanced training for students in the county. In 1915, there were 70 students and three teachers. The students were provided a nine grade course with elementary work in the first eight grades and secondary subjects and practice teaching in the ninth grade. Industrial training included cooking, sewing, gardening and poultry farming. By 1919, C. T. Cook was the school principal. The school was still open in 1933 when Professor William J. Callery was principal. For more see "Bourbon County Training School" on pp. 264-265 in Negro Education by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Bulletin 1916, NO. 39, Volume II [available full-text in Google Book Search]; and The Kentucky Negro Educational Association Journal, April 25-26, 1919, p.4, and v.3, issue 2 (January-February 1933), p.22 [available online at Kentuckiana Digital Library - Journals].
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Little Rock, Bourbon County, Kentucky

Bowen, William H.
Birth Year : 1868
William H. Bowen was born in Montgomery County, KY. He was a minister and wrote editorials for The Evangelist, a religious paper published in Paris, KY. Bowen was President of the State Sunday School Convention. In 1900, Bowen, his wife Lizzie F. (b.1872 in KY), and their two year old son Carl W, were living in Millersburg, KY, according to the U.S. Federal Census. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Religion & Church Work, Sunday School
Geographic Region: Montgomery County, Kentucky

Bowles, Joseph William
Birth Year : 1858
Death Year : 1942
Bowles, born in Mississippi, was named a Kentucky Colonel by Governor Bradley; he was the first African American to be named a Kentucky Colonel. Bowles was also described as a Republican leader. For more see "Death Roll" in The Negro Handbook 1944 compiled and edited by F. Murray.
Subjects: Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Mississippi / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Boyd, Charles W. "C. W."
Birth Year : 1865
Charles Wesley Boyd was born in Mt. Sterling, KY, the son of John Boyd and Ella Steele Boyd. He was the husband of Kate Jarrison Boyd. Charles Boyd was an education leader during the early years of the African American school system in Charleston, WV. He was an 1891 graduate of Wilberforce University in Ohio, continuing his education at several other universities and earning his master's degree at Wilberforce University. Boyd taught school in Clarksburg, WV, until 1891 when he moved to Charleston to become a principal and teacher. He was the first long-term leader of the school system; prior to his arrival school principals had served only a year or two. In 1893, he was named one of the vice presidents of the newly formed West Virginia Colored Institute, later serving one year as president. In 1900, he was the founder and principal of Garnet Hight School, which would become the largest African American high school in West Virginia. In 1904, Boyd was named Supervisor of the Colored Schools in Charleston. He was also a leader in his church, instrumental in the First Baptist Church becoming the first African American church ranked as a Standard Sunday School. He was also a member of the Pythians and the West Virginia Grand Lodge. For more see Early Negro Education in West Virginia, by C. G. Woodson; Charles Wesley Boyd, a West Virginia Division of Culture and History website (photo error); and Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Religion & Church Work, Migration East, Fraternal Organizations, Sunday School
Geographic Region: Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky / Charleston, West Virginia

Boyd, Francis A.
Birth Year : 1844
Death Year : 1872
Francis A. Boyd was born in Lexington, KY, to Nancy and Samuel Boyd, free African Americans. Reverend Francis Boyd was author of Columbiana: or, The North Star, Complete in One Volume (Chicago: Steam Job and Book Printing House of G. Hand, 1870). His biography and criticism can be found in Early Black American Poets, pp. 76-77. For more see Black American Writers Past and Present: a biographical and bibliographical dictionary, by Rush, Myers, & Arta.
Subjects: Authors, Freedom, Poets
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Boyle County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Boyle County, located in central Kentucky, was formed in 1842 from Lincoln and Mercer Counties. It was named for Judge John Boyle, who was born in Virginia, and moved to Kentucky where he became a state Legislator, a Chief Justice, a District Judge, and was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. John Boyle died around 1835, prior to the naming of Boyle County. The county seat is Danville. The first U.S. Census of Boyle County was completed in 1850 and 5,693 persons were counted, excluding the slaves. Below are the numbers for the slave owners, slaves, and free Blacks and Mulattoes.

1850 Slave Schedule

• 612 slave owners
• 2,968 Black slaves
• 456 Mulatto slaves
• 129 free Blacks
• 189 free Mulattoes

• 505 slave owners
• 2,677 Black slaves
• 559 Mulatto slaves
• 192 free Blacks
• 243 free Mulattoes

• 2,995 free Blacks
• 657 free Mulattoes
• About 103 U.S. Colored Troops listed Boyle County, KY, as their birth location.

Bradberry, Henrietta Mahim
Death Year : 1979
Bradberry was born in Franklin, KY, and lived in Chicago, IL. She was a housewife and also an inventor who held two patents. The first, received in 1943, was for a bed rack attachment that allowed for the airing-out of clothes. The second patent, received in 1945, was for a pneumatically operated device that allowed for the firing of torpedoes from beneath the water surface. For more see p. 136 in The Inventive Spirit of African Americans, by P. Carter Sluby.
Subjects: Inventors, Migration North
Geographic Region: Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois

Braden, Anne McCarty and Carl
Anne (1924-2006) and Carl (1914-1975) Braden were white activists with civil rights and labor groups in Louisville, KY. One of their many efforts occurred in 1954 when they assisted in the purchase of a house in Louisville on behalf of the Wade family; the Wades were African Americans, and the house was in a white neighborhood. The house was bombed, and the authorities, rather than arresting the responsible parties, charged the Bradens and five others with sedition - attempting to overthrow the state of Kentucky. Anne Braden was born in Louisville and reared in Alabama. She was a reporter who left Alabama for a job with the Louisville Times newspaper. For more see Subversive Southerner and Once Comes the Moment to Decide (thesis), both by C. Fosl; and The Wall Between, by A. Braden. View Ann Branden's interview in "Living the Story: The Rest of the Story," a Civil Rights in Kentucky Oral History Project.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Bradleigh, Gretchen N.
Birth Year : 1949
Gretchen Bradleigh was born in Louisville, KY. She was the Children's Department Artist at the Louisville Free Public Library from 1970-1977 and was later the planning draftsman for the Community Development Cabinet in Louisville. Her work includes the acrylic, "Sisters." For more see Black Kentucky Artists: an exhibition of work by black artists living in Kentucky (1979).
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Bradley-Morton, Dhana
Dhana Bradley-Morton, from Louisville, KY, earned her Speech/Oral Interpretive Arts degree from Western Kentucky University. She was WLOU-AM News Director prior to teaming up with Priscilla Hancock Cooper for a number of creative collaborations. Their first production was a poetic concert in 1981, I Have Been Hungry All of My Years, followed by Four Women and God's Trombones. They also performed in Amazing Grace in 1993. Bradley-Morton and Cooper are featured in the KET Production, Words Like Freedom/Sturdy Black Bridges, a poetic concert featuring African-American writing and music. Together they founded the Theater Workshop of Louisville. In 1994 Bradley-Morton was named executive director of the Cincinnati Arts Consortium; she left the position in January 2002. [She now goes by the name Dhana Donaldson.] For more see B. Brady, "Architecturally Sound," CityBeat, vol. 6, issue 33 (2000); and "Prize Possessions," Cincinnati.com The Enquirer, 22 April 2001.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Poets
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio

Brady, Bessie
Birth Year : 1882
Brady, born in Frankfort, KY, was an actress with William and Walker Abyssinia Company in 1906 [Egbert "Bert" A. Williams and George Walker]. Brady would later become a vaudeville performer in Chicago. She also performed with Leana Mitchell, touring the vaudeville circuits and performing at the height of their careers at the Grand and Monogram Theaters in Chicago. For more see "Bessie Brady" in Blacks in Blackface, by H. T. Sampson.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Migration North
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois

Bramwell, Fitzgerald B. "Jerry"
Birth Year : 1945
Fitzgerald Bramwell was born in New York. In 1995 he was a chemistry faculty member and the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Kentucky. In 1996, Bramwell was the highest ranking African American at the University of Kentucky. Bramwell earned his B.A. from Columbia University and his master's and doctorate from the University of Michigan. His research explores how beams of laser light change the structure and reaction of certain carbon-based compounds. Bramwell has written a number of articles and is author of Investigations in general chemistry: quantitative techniques and basic principles and co-author of Basic laboratory principles in general chemistry: with quantitative techniques. For more see Distinguished African American Scientists of the 20th Century (1996), by J. H. Kessler, et al. Of the total chemists and materials scientists in Kentucky, 4% are African Americans, according to Census 2000 data.
Subjects: Authors, Chemists, Education and Educators, Migration South
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / New York

The Bransfords
Nick and Matt Bransford were slaves who served as guides at Mammoth Cave; Matt was a guide for 49 years. Henry Bransford, Matt's son, was a guide for 19 years. Matt W. and Lewis Bransford, Henry's sons, were also guides, Matt for 32 years. Lewis, the last African American guide for Mammoth Cave, resigned in 1940, and in 1948 Mammoth Cave was turned over to the federal government. For more see Kentucky's Black Heritage, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; Louisville Defender, 04/12/1942; The News-Enterprise (Hardin County, KY), 02/09/04; and J. C. Schmitzer, "The sable guides of Mammoth Cave," Filson Club History Quarterly, vol. 67, issue 2 (1993), pp. 240-258. Photos of Matt and William are included in the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.
Subjects: Parks
Geographic Region: Mammoth Cave National Park, Edmonson County, Kentucky

Brashear, Jimmie Tyler
Birth Year : 1903
Death Year : 1999
Brashear, born in Lexington, KY, was the daughter of a Lexington schoolteacher and barber. She would later live with an aunt in Madison, WI. According to the Dallas Morning News, Brashear was the only African American in the 1924 graduating class at the University of Wisconsin. In 1929, she joined the Dallas School District with the responsibility of training African American grade school teachers. Brasher would advance to become the first African American school administrator in Dallas. She retired in 1967, after 43 years as an educator, and began teaching at what is now Paul Quinn College. She had taught at Tuskegee and Prairie View earlier in her career. The J. T. Brashear Early Childhood Center was named in her honor, and in 1997, she was recognized as an Outstanding Citizen by the Black Caucus of the Texas Legislature. Brashear was a sister to Lugusta Tyler Colston. For more see J. Simnacher, "Dallas educator Jimmie Tyler Brashear dies - she was first African American hired as schools administrator," The Dallas Morning News, 02/16/1999, News section, p.13A; and N. Adams-Wade, "Venerated educator broke ground in Dallas schools," The Dallas Morning News, 02/16/1997, News section, p.39A.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration West, Migration South
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Masison, Wisconsin / Dallas, Texas

Breathitt County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Breathitt County, located in eastern Kentucky in the Cumberland Plateau, is surrounded by eight counties and was formed from Clay, Perry, and Estill Counties. Breathitt County was formed in 1839, and was named for Kentucky Governor John Breathitt. Jackson is the county seat. The population was 359 in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census, and grew to 5,673 by 1870, excluding the slaves. Below are the number of slave owners, slaves, and free Blacks and Mulattoes.

1850 Slave Schedule

• 46 slave owners
• 118 Black slaves
• 51 Mulatto slaves
• 3 free Blacks
• 8 free Mulattoes

• 46 slave owners
• 115 Black slaves
• 75 Mulatto slaves
• 0 free Blacks
• 0 free Mulattoes

• 75 Blacks
• 103 Mulattoes
• 2 U.S. Colored Troops listed Breathitt County, KY, as their birth location.

Breeding, Polly
Birth Year : 1834
Polly Breeding was born New Year's Day, 1834, in Lafayette, KY, the daughter of Phyllis Pound, a slave, and Thomas Pound, a freeman. Thomas Pound's family had gained freedom when his grandmother, who was white, had a child by his grandfather, who was one of her slaves. According to the reprint from WPA Projects, "Aunt Polly Breeding was the oldest and most noted slave near Edmonton, Kentucky." A brief history of the family is available online: Aunt Polly Breeding, Metcalfe County, a Kentucky African American Griots website; and in the Quarterly of the Metcalfe County Historical Society, vol. 4, issue 1 (Winter 1985).
Subjects: Freedom, Grandparents
Geographic Region: Lafayette and Edmonton, Metcalfe County, Kentucky

Brent, George
Birth Year : 1821
Brent was born near Greensburg, KY; he and his parents were slaves owned by Louis C. Patterson. Brent's father gained his freedom and moved to Lexington, KY, where he secured a note for the purchase of his son. George Brent then moved to Lexington, was employed as a blacksmith and became a freeman when he paid off the note of $1,200 at the end of three years. A year prior to his freedom, George Brent married Mildred Smith, a free born woman from Campbellsville, KY. In 1837, the Brent family moved to Illinois, eventually settling in Springfield at 1417 East Adams Street. Springfield had become the capital of Illinois in 1837 thanks to the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and several others. The Brent family was among the first African Americans to settle in Sangamon County. George Brent became an ordained minister in 1864 and the following year was pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in Springfield. For more see History of Sangamon County, Illinois; together with sketches of its cities by Inter-State Publishing Company (Chicago) [full-text available at Google Book Search]; and contact the Springfield, Illinois, African American History Foundation.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Religion & Church Work, Blacksmiths, 1st African American Families in Town
Geographic Region: Greensburg, Green County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Campbellsville, Taylor County, Kentucky / Springfield, Illinois

Bright, Willis K., Jr.
Birth Year : 1944
Willis Bright was born in Lexington, KY. He was the second African American to receive the Algernon Sullivan Medallion, receiving it when he was a senior at the University of Kentucky (UK) in 1966. Bright went on to earn a M.S.W. at the University of Michigan in 1968 and became an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Bright led a number of programs in Iowa and Minnesota. In 2003, when he was the Director of Youth Programs at the Lily Endowment in Indianapolis, IN, Bright was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Social Work Hall of Fame. For more see Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton; the UK College of Social Work Alumni Newsletter [.pdf], vol. 4, no. 1 (2003); and Algernon Sullivan Medallion.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Social Workers
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Britt, Allen [Frankie and Johnny]
Birth Year : 1882
Death Year : 1899
Allen Britt was born in Kentucky, according to his death certificate. It is believed that he is the character referred to as Johnny in the popular song Frankie and Johnny. The song, composed by Bill Dooley, was originally titled Frankie and Al (or Albert), until Britt's father became enraged that his son's name was being used in the song, and the name Johnny was used instead. Allen Britt was a piano player, he was shot on October 15, 1899, and died a few days later at the City Hospital in St. Louis, MO. He is buried in an unmarked grave in St. Peter's Cemetery in St. Louis. Britt was shot by his girlfriend, Frankie Baker (1876-1952), after the two got into a fight. Britt's name is also given as Albert in some sources. He was the son and only child of George and Nancy Britt, the family had moved to St. Louis in 1891. Frankie Baker, born in St. Louis, was acquitted of shooting Allen Britt and she left St. Louis, eventually settling in Portland, OR, where she shined shoes for a living. She had two unsuccessful law suits, one against Mae West and Paramount Pictures for the use of her name in the film She Done Him Wrong, and in 1938, she sued Republic Pictures for their 1936 film Frankie and Johnny. After Baker lost the suit, Republic Pictures claimed ownership of the story. Frankie Baker became sick later in life and also suffered from mental illness. She was placed in the East Oregon Hospital where she died. Frankie Baker and Allen Britt's family did not benefit from the popularity of the story "Frankie and Johnny." The tale has been song on commercial phonograph recordings and records, presented in plays, minstrels, in literature, newspaper articles, poems, paintings, ballets, movies, and all other mediums. For more see Hoecakes, Hambone, and All that Jazz by R. M. Nolen; Body and Soul by P. Stanfield; and The Devil's Music by G. Oakley.
Subjects: Migration West, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers, Shoes: Finishers, Makers, Repairers, Shiners, Stores
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Saint Louis, Missouri

Britton, Arthur Eugene and Lillian Smith
Arthur Britton (b.1875 in Kentucky), was African American, Crow, and Cherokee. He grew up near Maysville and had attended college in Louisville (probably Simmons) before moving to Chicago, where he worked as a clerk in a manufacturing company. He was there during the "Red Summer" of 1919. He and his wife, Lillian Smith (b.1882 in Kentucky), were the parents of four children, the youngest being Irene Britton Smith (1907-1999), a noted composer and school teacher in Chicago. Arthur and Lillian Britton separated in 1917. For more see H. Walker-Hill, "Black women composers in Chicago: then and now," Black Music Research Journal, vol. 12, issue 1, (Spring, 1992), pp. 13-14; Funeral program for Irene Britton Smith, Chicago: Griffin Funeral Home, 02/18/1999, vertical file at the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago; Black Women in America, 2nd ed., by D. C. Hine; and From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American women composers and their music, by H. Walker-Hill.
Subjects: Fathers, Migration North, Mothers, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois

Brock, James "Jim"
James Brock was the second head basketball coach at William Grant High School (WGHS) in Covington, KY, coaching there from 1955 to 1965. Like other African American school teams in Kentucky, WGHS was a member of the Kentucky High School Athletic League (KHSAL). The counter league, Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA), was for whites only until school integration began in the mid-1950s. The 1956-1957 WGHS team was the first African American basketball team to win a district tournament in the KHSAA tournament. As more African American students were allowed to attend the formerly all white schools, there was an impact on the pool of high school athletes that had been restricted to the all black schools. In 1965, the year that William Grant High School closed, the basketball team won only five games. The season was a far cry from the winning seasons that had garnered the school a win-loss record of 185-69 during Brock's years as head coach. With the closing of William Grant, Brock moved on to Cincinnati, where he continued to successfully coach high school sports. James Brock was inducted into the Northern Kentucky Black Hall of Fame and the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 2000. For more see Shadows of the past, by L. Stout; J. Reis, "Many tried, few defeated William Grant in '50s, '60s," The Cincinnati Post, 02/23/1998, Editorial section, p. 4K; and Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame class of 2000 inductees announced, 06/21/1999, at the KHSAA website.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Basketball, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio

Brodis, James, Sr. "Jim" [Joseph M. Dorcy v. Maria Brodis et al.]
Birth Year : 1833
Jim Brodis, Sr. was a runaway slave from Kentucky. He escaped from his master while they were mining in California. Brodis fled to Pajaro Valley, California, where he eventually purchased a farm. A street there is named in his honor and memory in Watsonville. Brodis [or Brodies] is listed in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census as a farmer, also listed are his wife Maria (b.1843 in Nova Scotia) and their five children. In 1908, the Supreme Court of California denied a rehearing in the case of Joseph M. Dorcy v. Maria Brodis and others. James Brodis had passed away, leaving all assets to Maria and the children. A land dispute led Dorcy to file a lawsuit against Maria et al. over the ownership of a tract of land in Santa Cruz. The court had ruled in favor of Maria et al., and Dorcy sought a retrial. For more see "Watsonville 1851" on the Santa Cruz Public Library website: To Know My Name, A Chronological History of African Americans in Santa Cruz County, Part 2, California 1849-1853; and Dorcy v. Bordis on p.278 of v.96, first series of the Pacific Reporter, July 6-September 7, 1908 [full view at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Freedom, Migration West, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Santa Cruz, California

Brooks, Corrinne Mudd
Birth Year : 1914
Death Year : 2008
Brooks organized the first African American girl scout troop in Fort Wayne, IN. The history of African American girl scout units has not been thoroughly researched, and it is not known how many units existed in the U.S. Up to the 1950s, girl scouts were segregated by race. In the state of Indiana, the first girl scouts were formed in New Albany in 1919, which became a council in 1923. Brooks was an active member of the Limberlost Girl Scout Council, as well as the Urban League, the Commission on the Status of Women for the State of Indiana, and the YWCA. She was also the comptroller at the YWCA. Corrinne Brooks was the wife of James W. Brooks. She was born in Louisville, KY, the daughter of Loretta Douglas Mudd (1897-1928), who was born in Fort Wayne, and James Mudd (1881-1968), who was born in Springfield, KY. The family moved from Kentucky to Fort Wayne in 1915 and lived on Wallace Street, according to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census. When Loretta Mudd died, Corrinne became the mother of the household; she was the oldest of her six siblings. She was also an athlete, the first girl in her high school to receive a sweater for her participation in basketball and soccer. She graduated from Central High School in 1933. She won the Civic Men's Scholarship, which was used for her courses at Indiana University Extension, located in downtown Fort Wayne. Brooks took a turn at politics: an unsuccessful candidate for the Indiana House of Representative in 1954 and 1956, she went on to become a coordinator for the Indiana voter registration drive in preparation for the 1960 presidential election, helping to register over 43,000 voters; Senator John F. Kennedy invited her to a National Conference on Constitutional Rights and American Freedom in New York. She was also founder of the Martin Luther King Living Memorial. For more on Corrinne Brooks, see her entry in The Black Women in the Middle West Project, by D. C. Hine, et al.; and "Corrinne Brooks always active in helping others," The Journal Gazette, 02/06/1996, People section. A picture of Corrine Brooks is on p. 120 in Ebony, 09/1983 [available in Google Book Search]. For more on the girl scouts see the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana website; and for a more detailed accounting of African American girl scout history, see the "Josephine Groves Holloway" entry in Notable Black American Women, by J. C. Smith.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Athletes, Athletics, Civic Leaders, Scouts (Boys and Girls), Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Women's Groups and Organizations, YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association)
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Fort Wayne, Indiana / Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky

Brooks, Edward Benjamin
Birth Year : 1886
Edward Brooks was born in Paducah, KY. He was a physician who practiced in Shawnee, Oklahoma, for 15 years, then moved to Oklahoma City. Brooks was the first African American physician in Oklahoma City to hold a commission from the U.S. Employees Compensation Commission. He and his wife, Ruth (b.1895 in Arkansas) were living in Shawnee in 1920, according to the U.S. Federal Census. For more see Who's Who in Colored America,1928-1929.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care
Geographic Region: Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky / Shawnee and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Brooks, Jonathan H.
Birth Year : 1904
Death Year : 1945
Johnathan H. Brooks was born in Lexington, KY. He attended Jackson College [now Jackson State University] in Mississippi, Lincoln University, and Tougaloo College, also in Mississippi. In addition to being a poet, he was also a postal clerk, minister, and teacher. In a local contest, he won first prize for his first short story, "The Bible in the Cornfield." He was author of The Resurrection and Other Poems, published posthumously. His work has appeared in anthologies and other publications. For more see Black American Writers Past and Present: a biographical and bibliographical dictionary, by Rush, Myers, & Arta.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Poets, Postal Service, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Brooks, Phillip C.
Birth Year : 1901
Death Year : 1982
Phillip C. Brooks was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the son of Henry and Carrie Brooks. Brooks, a physician and surgeon, acquired his pre-med and medical education at Howard University. He later returned to Hopkinsville, where he owned and operated Brooks Memorial Hospital, beginning in 1944. In 1958, Clinton Reynolds, a white race car driver was treated by Dr. Brooks at the Brooks Memorial Hospital. Complaints were filed with the Kentucky Medical Association asserting that Reynolds had waited for more than an hour to see a white doctor at Jennie Stuart Hospital, before being treated at Brooks Memorial Hospital [Jet article online at Google Book Search]. Dr. Brooks was the brother of Garland H. Brooks. For more see Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky

Brooks, Robert H.
Birth Year : 1915
Death Year : 1941
Robert H. Brooks was born in Sadieville, KY, the son of Adeline Neal Brooks and Ray Brooks. He was the first African American to die in World War II, during the bombing of Clark Field in the Philippines. The main parade ground in Fort Knox, Brooks Field, is named in his honor. Brooks was passing for white when he joined the National Guard. He was assigned to Company D of the 192nd Tank Battalion. The U.S. Army learned that Brooks was African American after his death. For more see Pvt. Robert H. Brooks, a Proviso East High School website; and "Black History Month: Robert H. Brooks" The Courier-Journal, 02/06/2009, News section, p.3B.
Subjects: Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Sadieville, Scott County, Kentucky / Fort Knox, Bullitt, Hardin, & Meade Counties, Kentucky

Brown (Byrd), Calvin
Calvin Brown is listed in the National Archives as Calvin Byrd; he changed his name after the Civil War. Brown had been a slave who ran away from his owner in Louisville, KY, on August 14, 1864, to enlist in the 108th Infantry. He fought in the Battle of Vicksburg in 1865, where he was injured, then later fell ill due to an unrelated disease. In 1996, Brown and other African American Civil War soldiers were honored with the dedication of a national memorial site. Calvin (Byrd) Brown was the great-grandfather of Mr. Shirley Foley, Jr. For more see L. Wheeler, "The unseen soldiers get their due memorial to honor blacks who fought in Civil War," Washington Post, 09/03/1996, Metro section, p. B1.
Subjects: Freedom, Military & Veterans, Grandparents
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Vicksburg, Mississippi

Brown, Edward D. "Brown Dick"
Birth Year : 1850
Death Year : 1906
Edward Dudley Brown, born in Kentucky, was a slave owned by R. A. Alexander. At the age of seven, Brown was sold on the steps of the Lexington Courthouse to Alexander. Dudley was the trainer for the horse King Alphonso, the winner of the 1875 Kentucky Derby, and Baden-Baden, winner of the 1877 Kentucky Derby. Brown also owned and trained his own horses. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1984. For more see Black winning jockeys in the Kentucky Derby, by J. R. and M. R. Saunders.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Brown, Hugh Victor
Birth Year : 1891
Death Year : 1994
Hugh V. Brown was born in Henderson, KY. He was a school principal in Virginia and North Carolina. Brown also organized district associations for the North Carolina Teachers Association while serving as its first president in 1936; he served as president again from 1948-1950. He was also president of the Southeastern District Teachers Association. Brown was a gradute of Hampton Institute [now Hampton University], and was a trustee in 1950. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950; and "Hugh V. Brown" in the Obituaries section of the Daily Press, 09/22/1994, p.C4.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration East
Geographic Region: Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / Virginia / North Carolina

Brown, James and Bridgett
In 2006, the husband and wife team of James, born 1970 in Chicago, and Bridgett, born 1973 in Louisville, KY, opened Brown's Bakery in Lexington, KY. James Brown has been a retail manager at Morrison Healthcare Food Services, and he was employed at Kroger and the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea. Brown's Bakery is not the first African American owned bakery in the city, but it is a continuation of a long history of African American bakeries and bakers dating back to the 1800s. Author John D. Wright mentions in his book that there was a black-owned bakery in Lexington between 1870-1880. In 1901, Charles H. Allen, a baker and confectioner who owned his own business, was included in the Negro Business League's 2nd Convention report given by Dr. L. D. Robinson on Lexington businesses. Brown's Bakery, located on Leestown Road, is the most recent African American owned bakery in Lexington. James Brown received his culinary degree from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC). For more see S. Thompson, "I yam what I yam," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/05/2006, A La Carte section, p. J1; Sweet Treats, on Connections with Renee Shaw, video #441 [available online]; and visit brownsbakery.com. For more about earlier bakers see Lexington, heart of the Bluegrass, by J. D. Wright. See also Kentucky bakers entry in the NKAA.
Subjects: Businesses, Bakers, Cooks and Chefs, Negro Business League
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Brown, John Michael
Birth Year : 1950
J. Michael Brown is the first African American to be appointed Secretary of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet; he was appointed by Governor Steve Beshear in 2007. Brown was born in New York, the son of John Sylvester Brown and Cora Lewis Brown. He is a graduate of City College of New York, where he earned his undergraduate degree in political science. He was a paratrooper and infantry officer in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he piloted helicopters, and was later stationed at Fort Campbell, KY, with the 101st Airborne. Brown remained in Kentucky, graduating in 1979 from the University of Louisville School of Law. He has served as a Louisville District Court Judge and as Law Director for the City of Louisville. For more on Brown's career, see L. Lamb, "J. Michael Brown tapped as new Justice Cabinet Secretary," Inside Corrections, vol. 1, issue 4 (January 2008), pp. 1 & 6-7 [available online]; and J. Michael Brown, a Kentucky.gov website.
Subjects: Aviators, Lawyers, Military & Veterans, Migration South, Judges, Appointments by Kentucky Governors
Geographic Region: New York / Fort Campbell, Christian County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Brown, Josh
In 1993, Josh Brown, a 13-year old from Sturgis, KY, became the first African American student to win the Kentucky Education Association President's Spelling Bee in Frankfort, KY. He correctly spelled "jodhpurs" to win the competition. For more see "Kentucky spelling bee gets 1st black champ," Jet, 07/26/1993, vol. 84, issue 13, p. 22; and C. Carlton, "8th Grader from Sturgis wins state bee 'jodhpurs' good fit on ride to victory," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/23/1993, City/State section, p. B1.
Subjects: Spelling Bees
Geographic Region: Sturgis, Union County, Kentucky

Brown, Mary Ellen
Birth Year : 1868
In 1897, Brown was named a notary public in the state of Kentucky; it is believed she was the first African American woman to be so designated. She was to be the notary for African Americans in Scott County, most of whom were applying for pensions or increases in their present pensions. Brown was born in Georgetown, KY, the daughter of Weston and Harriet Brown. She graduated from the Georgetown Colored city school in 1886 and became a teacher at the school. The family lived on Mulberrry Street. For more, see "Negro woman notary," The Weekly News and Courier, 06/02/1897, p. 14.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Notary Public
Geographic Region: Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky

Brown, Phil H.
Birth Year : 1872
Death Year : 1923
Phil H. Brown was the appointed Commissioner of Conciliation in the U.S. Department of Labor, Division of Negro Economics. News of his appointment was listed under the heading of "Politics" in M. G. Allison's article "The Horizon" in The Crisis, June 1921, vol.22, issue 2, whole number 128, p.80 [available online at Google Book Search]. The Division of Negro Economics was established in 1918 to mobilize Negro workers and address their issues during WWI. The program came about after much pressure from Negro leaders. It was the first program to assist Negro workers and acted as an informal employment agency. George Haynes, of the Urban League, was named director and continued at the post until the program was discontinued in 1921, when Haynes left the office. Phil H. Brown replaced Haynes in 1921 with the new title of Commissioner of Conciliation. He was assigned the task of making a special study of Negro migration to the North and the cause of the migration. Brown delivered an address on his findings at the International Labor Conference in Toronto, Canada. Brown continued to serve as the Commissioner of Conciliation until his sudden death in November 1923. He died of a heart attack at his home, 1326 Riggs St. N.W in Washington, D.C. Funeral services were conducted at Brown's home by Rev. J. C. Olden and Rev. T. J. Brown. Phil H. Brown's body was sent to Hopkinsville, KY, for burial; he considered the city to be his home town. Brown was born in Ironton, OH, and he had previously lived in Washington, D. C. while working at the Government Printing Office (GPO). He then moved to Hopkinsville, KY, where he was a Republican leader. He was employed by the Republican National Committee during the presidential elections from 1908-1920. Brown was also an associate of W. C. Handy; he wrote a commentary that accompanied Handy's 1922 published sheet music "John Henry Blues." [Handy's first wife, Elizabeth, was a Kentucky native.] Phil H. Brown was also a recognized journalist and publisher in Kentucky; Brown had owned a printing company located at Tenth and Chestnut Streets in Hopkinsville. He was editor of the newspaper Major in 1902 and the Morning News in 1903. He also published the Saturday News. Brown had an association with the Chicago Daily News, The New York Journal, and the New York Sun. He also wrote articles for many other publications. In 1916, Brown's printing company published the book The Awakening of Hezekiah Jones by J. E. Bruce. Phil H. Brown was married to Dorothea Brown, b.1872 in Pennsylvania. Prior to their second move to Washington, D.C., the couple had lived on North Liberty Street in Hopkinsville, according to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census. For more see A History of Christian County Kentucky from Oxcart to Airplane by C. M. Meacham; Colored Girls and Boys Inspiring United States History and a Heart to Heart Talk About White Folks by W. H. Harrison, Jr.; "Phil H. Brown dies suddenly in Washington," The Afro American, 12/07/1923, p.1; and U.S. Department of Labor Historian, J. MacLaury, "The Federal Government and Negro Workers Under President Woodrow Wilson," paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Society for History in the Federal Government, 03/16/2000, Washington, D.C. [available online]
Subjects: Businesses, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Migration South, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Ironton, Ohio / Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky / Washington, D.C.

Brown, Russell S., Sr.
Birth Year : 1889
Death Year : 1981
Russell S. Brown, Sr. was born in London, KY, the son of Bartlett and Alice Brown. The family moved to Kansas when Russell was a teen. A minister between 1920 and 1925, he founded the First Community House for Soldiers in Memphis, Tennessee, the first in the south. He also served as chaplain at the Fulton County Jail and conducted services at the Atlanta Federal Prison. In 1929, he was elected to the City Council of Cleveland and appointed a trustee with the State Department by Gov. Cooper. Brown was the second African American to serve on the City Council of Cleveland. He left Cleveland in 1933 and moved to Denver, CO. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1927 & 1933-37; and The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History [online], sponsored by Case Western Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society.
Subjects: Migration North, Migration West, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: London, Laurel County, Kentucky / Memphis, Tennessee / Fulton County, Kentucky / Atlanta, Georgia / Cleveland, Ohio / Denver, Colorado

Brown, Viola Davis
Birth Year : 1936
Viola Brown was born in Lexington, KY. In 1955, she was the first African American admitted to a nursing school in Lexington. Brown attended the Nazareth School of Nursing, which was affiliated with St. Joseph Hospital, where Brown would be promoted to hospital supervisor in 1960. Her promotion was another first for African Americans in Lexington. In 1972, Brown and Lizzie Conner were the first two African American RNs to receive advanced practice as Nurse Practitioners in Lexington. In 1980, Gov. John Y. Brown, Jr. appointed Viola Brown to the position of Executive Director of the State Office of Public Health Nursing; she held the post for 19 years. Viola Brown was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Public Health Hall of Fame in 2004. For more see L. Blackford, "Her essay won a prize, but she couldn't go to ceremony," Lexington Herald Leader, 09/09/04, Main News section, p. A1; and V. D. Brown and J. Marfall, "Swinging bridges of opportunity and challenges: memoirs of an African American nurse practitioner pioneer on providing primary care for the underserved," Journal of Cultural Diversity, vol. 12, issue 3 (Fall 2005), pp. 107-15.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Appointments by Kentucky Governors, Nurses, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Browne, Birdius W.
Birth Year : 1906
Death Year : 1986
Birdius Browne was born in Warsaw, KY. He taught in the Mt. Olivet School and was principal of the Melbourne High and Vocational School in Florida. Brown won a government medal in Decatur, Illinois, for his athletic ability. He died in Paducah, KY. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Warsaw, Gallatin County, Kentucky / Mt. Olivet, Robertson County, Kentucky / Florida / Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky

Brownsville Affair [Texas] - 25th U.S. Regiment
Start Year : 1906
In 1906, the 25th U.S. Regiment [Colored] was stationed at Fort Brown, TX; it included 20 servicemen from Kentucky among its ranks. Soon after the men arrived at the fort, tension ensued between whites in Brownsville and the soldiers. On August 13, a bartender was killed and a police officer was wounded; the men of the 25th Regiment were blamed for both. President Theodore Roosevelt had 167 men dishonorably discharged from the service. In 1970, author John D. Weaver investigated the incident and found that the men of the 25th Regiment were all innocent; he published his investigation in The Brownsville Raid. As a result of Weaver's book, the U.S. Army conducted an investigation into the Brownsville incident and also found that the men were innocent. The Nixon Administration reversed President Roosevelt's 1906 order, and in 1972, the men of the 25th U.S. Regiment were given honorable discharges, but without backpay. In December 1972, an article was placed in the Lexington Leader seeking the descendants of the 20 men from Kentucky: (name & birth location of 19 men) Pvt Henry W. Arrin, Pembroke; Corp. Ray Burdett, Yosemite; Pvt. Strowder Darnell, Middletown; Musician Hoytt Robinson, Mt. Sterling; Pvt Samuel Wheeler, Clark County; Pvt Richard Crooks, Bourbon County; Pvt Edward Robinson, Mulborough; Pvt Benjamin F. Johnson, Fayette County; Pvt Charles Jones, Nicholasville; Musician Joseph Jones, Midway; Pvt Thomas Taylor, Clark County; Sgt Luther T. Thornton, Aberdeen OH; Corp Preston Washington, Lexington; Pvt Charles E. Rudy, Dixon; Pvt William VanHook, Odville; Pvt August Williams, Hartford; Pvt Stansberry Roberts, Woodford County; Pvt William Smith, Lexington; Pvt John Green, Mulborough. For more see Brownsville Affair on the Wikipedia website; Brownsville Raid of 1906, at The Handbook of Texas Online; and "Descendants of cleared Black soldiers sought," Lexington Leader, 12/05/1972, p. 2B.
Subjects: Military & Veterans, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky
Geographic Region: Brownsville, Texas / Kentucky

Brummell, William C., Sr.
Birth Year : 1907
Death Year : 1969
Brummell, born in Salina, Kansas, was the first African American member of the Kentucky Parole Board in 1966. He was named to the board by Governor Breathitt for a four year term at $12,000 per year. Brummell, a social worker, had been director of the Louisville-Jefferson County Children's Home. For more see "Negro on Kentucky Board," New York Times, 07/12/1966, p.4.
Subjects: Corrections and Police, Social Workers, Migration East, Appointments by Kentucky Governors
Geographic Region: Salina, Kansas / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Bryant, Charles W. "C.W."
Birth Year : 1830
Bryant was born in Kentucky and settled in Texas after the Civil War. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, 1868-1869, representing Harrison County, Texas. He was also a minister. For more see Forever Free: The Biographies, a website by the Texas State Library & Archives Commission; and "Bryant, Charles W," by P. M. Lucko in The Handbook of Texas Online.
Subjects: Migration West, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Texas

Bryant, Derek R.
Birth Year : 1951
Derek Bryant was born in Lexington, KY. He was the first African American baseball player at the University of Kentucky, where he played from 1971-1973. Bryant was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 8th round of the 1973 amateur draft. The 5'11" outfielder ended his career in 1979. For more see Fifty years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy, 1949-1999; and Derek Bryant at baseball-reference.com. Additional information provided by Buzz Burnam.
Subjects: Baseball
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Bryant-Johnson, Donna
Donna Bryant-Johnson was principal at Booker T. Washington School, the first public Montessori school in Lexington, KY. With Bryant-Johnson at the helm, student performance increased by 40% on the national standardized tests. She was awarded a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award in 1994. In 1998, Bryant-Johnson quit her job as principal after pleading guilty to physically abusing her 8 year old daughter. For more see Donna Bryant-Johnson at the Milken Family Foundation website; and "Suspended Principal in Abuse Case Quits," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/10/1998, City and Region section, p. C1.
Subjects: Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Buckner, George W.
Birth Year : 1855
Death Year : 1943
Buckner was born a slave in Green County, KY; after being freed, he went on to become a physician. Buckner taught school in Kentucky and Indiana for 17 years before moving to Monrovia, Liberia, where he was the U.S. Minister to Liberia from 1913 to 1915. He was the first African American diplomat appointed to a foreign country. For more see The Political Graveyard; U.S. Department of State; Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915; and Who Was Who in America: A component volume of Who's Who in American History, vol. 4, 1961-1968.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Liberia, Liberian Presidents & Diplomats, Medical Field, Health Care, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada
Geographic Region: Green County, Kentucky / Monrovia, Liberia, Africa

Buckner, Nat
Death Year : 1932
Nat Buckner was born in Elizabethtown, KY, on the plantation of Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner (Kentucky Democratic Governor, 1887-1892). Nat Buckner was a well-respected citizen of Montpelier, Indiana, where he had lived for 25-30 years. Buckner had left Kentucky after his wife died, around 1890; they had no children. Nat was a restaurant cook in Indianapolis and in Montpelier, which is how he became so well-known and respected in both cities. For more on Nat Buckner and his family see "Nat Buckner died Tuesday," The Montpelier Herald, 06/02/1932, p. 1. For more on Simon Bolivar Buckner, see the Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000 [electronic version available on the University of Kentucky campus and off campus via the proxy server].
Subjects: Bakers, Cooks and Chefs, Migration North, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky / Indianapolis and Montpelier, Indiana

Bumpus, Earl
Earl Bumpus was born in Uniontown, KY. He was a left-hand pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1944, switching mid-season to the Birmingham Black Barons, with whom his career ended in 1948. For more see H. J. Rothgerber, Jr., "Home-grown Kentuckians in the Negro Leagues: what role did 'black baseball' play in the region's diamond history?" in A Celebration of Louisville baseball in the major and minor leagues, SABR 27, Society for American Baseball Research, Souvenir Edition.
Subjects: Baseball
Geographic Region: Uniontown, Union County, Kentucky

Burdette, Gabriel
Birth Year : 1829
Death Year : 1914
Gabriel Burdette was born a slave in Garrard County, KY. In the 1850s, he was a preacher at the Forks Dix River Church in Garrard County. In 1864 he enlisted in the 114th U.S. Colored Infantry at Camp Nelson, KY, and assisted in establishing the refugee camp at Camp Nelson. He was an associate of John G. Fee. Burdette returned to Camp Nelson after the Civil War to become a member of the group that established Ariel Academy. He was the first African American on the Berea College Board of Trustees. In 1877, Burdette left Kentucky for Kansas, a member of the Exoduster Movement to the West. For more see the Gabriel Burdette entry in the Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000 [the electronic version is available on the University of Kentucky campus and off campus via the proxy server].
Subjects: Education and Educators, Kentucky African American Churches, Migration West, Military & Veterans, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Garrard County, Kentucky / Berea, Madison County, Kentucky / Kansas

Burks, Ishmon, Jr.
Birth Year : 1945
Ishmon Burks, Jr. was born in Louisville, KY. He was the first African American Kentucky State Police Commissioner, appointed by Governor Paul Patton in 2000. Burks was promoted to Justice Cabinet Secretary in 2002. He is a former executive vice president and COO of Spalding University. He is a graduate of Lincoln University of Missouri, Indiana University, and City College of New York. He is a retired colonel from the U.S. Army. Ishmon Burks, Jr. is the son of Ishmon Sr. and Juanita Burks. For more see "Retired Army officer first Black KSP chief," The Kentucky Post, 08/23/2000, News section, p.1K; and D. Stephenson, "Burks becomes state police head," Lexington Herald-Leader, 09/01/2000, City & Region section, p. B1.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Military & Veterans, Corrections and Police, Appointments by Kentucky Governors
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Burks, Kathryn L. Wright
Birth Year : 1937
Death Year : 1990
Kathryn Burks was the first African American student teacher in Franklin, IN (1958) and the first to teach high school in that city (1966). She was a graduate of Franklin College and Indiana University and taught school for more than 30 years in Indiana, first in Gary, and later in Franklin. She was a member of the Franklin College Board of Trustees. The Kathryn Burks Endowed Scholarship was established at the school. Burks was born in Springfield, KY, the daughter of Naomi M. Summers Wright and William H. Wright. For more see the Kathryn L. Wright Burks entry in The Black Women in the Middle West Project, by D. C. Hine, et al.; and the Kathryn Burks Endowed Scholarship website at Franklin College.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North
Geographic Region: Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky / Franklin, Indiana

Burley, Daniel G.
Birth Year : 1908
Death Year : 1962
Daniel Burley was born in Lexington, KY, and later moved to Chicago. He was a musician and journalist who is still remembered for his column "Everybody Goes When the Wagon Comes." Burley was editor of several newspapers, including the South Side Civic Telegram in 1932. For a while he was employed by the Johnson Publishing Company and in 1960 produced the magazine Salaam, which was similar to Jet. Burley was also a boogie woogie and jazz pianist. In 1946 he had a group called Dan Burley and the Skiffle Boys. He also played with other greats such as Brownie McGhee and Lionel Hampton. Burley can be heard playing piano on the album South Side Shake, 1945-1951. In addition to being a musician, Burley was also a disc jockey at stations WWRL and WLIB. He was also a composer and authored Dan Burley's Original Handbook of Harlem Jive (published in 1945). For more see Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 241: American Sportswriters and Writers on Sport, ed. by R. Orodenker; and Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines.
Subjects: Authors, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Radio
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois

Burnam, Cedric C.
Birth Year : 1955
Cedric Burnam was born in Bowling Green, KY. In 2003 he became the first African American elected to the Warren County Fiscal Court; he was the District 2 Magistrate. Burnam is owner of Burnam and Sons Mortuary in Bowling Green. For more see Amy Bingham, "Warren County Officials Sworn In," Channel 13 WBKO, Bowling Green, KY; and J. Gaines, "New county magistrates tour offices," Daily News (Bowling Green) newspaper, 12/18/2002, News section.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky

Burns, Tommie, Jr.
Burns came to Louisville, KY, from Mississippi when he was 18 years old, taking a job as a molder at the American Standard plant. While still holding his day job, Burns began cleaning Bacon's department store at night, soon hiring a crew and cleaning all of the Bacon's stores in Shively (a west-end Louisville suburb). Burns eventually quit his day job, incorporating Burns Janitor Service in 1975. He continued to develop other businesses and by 1992, Burns Enterprises had revenues of $17 million. The company consisted of almost 500 employees in six businesses: janitor service, roller rink, chemical and supply, food marts, rigging, and packing, with operations in Kentucky, Maine, New York, Georgia, and Tennessee. In 1992, Burns was the 69-year-old chairman of T&WA Inc., a company that mounts tires and wheels for automakers. The company, then 7 years old, had about $500 million in revenues. In 2001, T&WA Inc. was selected as the Minority Business of the Year at the Greater Louisville Inc.'s Annual Dinner. For more see T. R. Hill, "Sensible Chance Paid Off," Lexington Herald-Leader, 04/03/1994, Business section, p.3; R. Redding, "Entrepreneur 'Burns' up latest automotive niche. 'Janitor' lands $50 million assembly job at Toyota," bizjournals.com (from 06/20/1997 print edition); and Y. Markstaff, "Wheeling Dealing," Courier-Journal, 09/16/2002, Business section, p. 01C.
Subjects: Businesses
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Burroughs, Olive
Birth Year : 1951
Death Year : 2003
Burroughs was the first African American woman elected to the Owensboro, KY, City Commission, first elected in 1995 and continuously re-elected until 2002. She was instrumental in developing the Neighborhood Alliance and the Owensboro Youth Council. She served on the Kentucky Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, the National League of Cities Human Development Committee, and the Coalition Drug Task Force of U. S. Representative Lewis Heartland. The Heritage Award was presented to Burroughs posthumously by the Owensboro Board of Realtors in 2004, its highest community honor. Burroughs received many additional awards, including the NAACP Herman E. Floyd Award. For more see "Burroughs wins Heritage Award posthumously," Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, 05/12/04.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Geographic Region: Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky

Burse, Raymond M.
Birth Year : 1951
Burse was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the youngest of the twelve children of Joe and Lena Belle Burse. He was captain of his high school track and football teams and declined football scholarships to attend Centre College, where he majored in chemistry and math, graduating in 1973. While at Centre, Burse was named most outstanding individual in track at two invitational meets and was named to the All-College Athletic Conference Football Team in 1972. He also earned a Rhodes Scholarship and attended the University of Oxford, majoring in organic chemistry and graduating in 1975. While at Oxford, he became the first African American to earn three "Blues," one in rugby; Burse also participated in basketball, track, and crew. He returned to the U.S. to attend Harvard Law School, graduating in 1978. Burse has had many recognitions and awards. He served as president of Kentucky State University, 1982-1989, and is presently vice president and general counsel at GE Consumer and Industrial. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1985-2006; and M. Starks, "Raymond & Kim Burse," Who's Who in Black Louisville, 3rd ed. p.73.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Education and Educators, Football, Lawyers, Track & Field, Rugby
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Burton, James A.
James Burton was the first African American elected to the Perryville, KY, City Council, in 1969. For more see "36 city officials include mayor, police court judge," in Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials [1972] by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 15.
Subjects: First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign)
Geographic Region: Perryville, Boyle County, Kentucky

Burton, Thomas W.
Birth Year : 1860
Death Year : 1930
Born near Tates Creek (Madison County), KY, to slave parents, Burton was the youngest of 15 children. He attended Berea College and later received his medical degree in Indiana in 1892. He and Dr. H. R. Hawkins established the Ohio Mutual Medical Association. For more see Thomas Burton, doctor and administrator, Ohio Authors and Their Books. Biographical data and selective bibliographies for Ohio authors, native and resident, 1796-1950, ed. by W. Coyle; and What Experience has taught me: an autobiography of Thomas William Burton, by T. W. Burton [available online at the UNC Library, Documenting the American South website].
Subjects: Authors, Medical Field, Health Care
Geographic Region: Tates Creek, Madison County, Kentucky / Berea, Madison County, Kentucky / Indiana

Butler, William F.
From Jefferson County, KY, William F. Butler served as president of the Negro Republican Party that was formed following the Civil War. The organization's first convention was held in Lexington, KY, in 1867. That same year, at a Civil Rights meeting held in Louisville, KY, William Butler stood and demanded equal rights for African Americans. Following the meeting, the Law League was established to "finance and secure" lawyers who would fight for African Americans' civil rights. For more see Kentucky's Black Heritage, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; and V. B. Howard, "The Black testimony controversy in Kentucky, 1866-1872," The Journal of Negro History, vol. 58, issue 2 (April 1973), pp. 140-165.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky