Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

Cabell Brothers (Pharmacists)
Atwood Cabell, born 1897 in Tennessee, was the first African American pharmacist in Henderson, KY. His brothers Roger W. (1893-1972) and Delmo also became pharmacists. Delmo Boutell Cabell (1895-1977), born in Madisonville, KY, was the first African American pharmacist in Providence, KY, beginning around 1917. Roger died in Henderson, KY, and Delmo died in Detroit, MI. The Cabell Brothers are related to George and Aaron Cabell. For more on Delmo Cabell, see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37. For more on the Cabell Family, visit the Henderson County Public Library Genealogy and Family Files.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Pharmacists, Pharmacies
Geographic Region: Tennessee / Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / Madisonville, Hopkins County, Kentucky / Providence, Webster County, Kentucky / Detroit, Michigan

Caesar
Birth Year : 1758
Death Year : 1836
Caesar, born into slavery, was a carpenter. In 1733, he was inherited by James Robertson. Caesar accompanied Robertson on his journey to the Natchez District and on to Fort Nelson (Louisville, KY). When Robertson died, Caesar became the property of Philip Barbour, who then sold him to John Campbell. When Campbell died, his heir, William Beard, brought Caesar to Lexington, KY, where he lived for the remainder of his life. For more see The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. by J. E. Kleber.
Subjects: Explorers, Inheritance, Carpenters
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Caldwell, John Martin, Jr.
Birth Year : 1902
Death Year : 1987
Born in Henry County, KY, Reverend Caldwell was the son of Anna Hobbs Caldwell and John Martin Caldwell, Sr. Beginning in 1932, he was pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in Evansville, IN, continuing in that position for 57 years. Caldwell was a 1949 graduate of Evansville College and completed his theology degree at Simmons University (Louisville). He received a citation from President Roosevelt for his service on the draft board during World War II. Caldwell was also a member of the masons, and he was the author of the annual publication Zion Pulpit. In 1967, he became the the first African American elected official in Evansville, IN: he was elected to the City Council and served three terms. Caldwell was also president of the Evansville NAACP for 15 years, leading the fight to integrated businesses and the University of Evansville. He was a member of the group that sued the city of Evansville to stop segregated housing. Caldwell received the first Mayor's Human Rights Award in 1977. The housing projects, formerly Sweeter public housing, were renamed the Caldwell Homes and Terrace Gardens in memory of John Martin Caldwell. For more see the John Martin Caldwell entry in the Biographical Directory of Negro Ministers, by E. L. Williams; and "The Rev. John Caldwell," Evansville Courier, 09/28/1999, Metro section, p. A3.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign), Housing Authority, The Projects, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Religion & Church Work, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Henry County, Kentucky / Evansville, Indiana

Calvin and Porter Townships (Cass County), Michigan
Around 1840, escaped slaves, mostly from Kentucky, found their way to Calvin and Porter in Michigan. Quakers had established the settlements, and when slave owners attempted to reclaim the slaves, their efforts were resisted and the communities continued to grow. Ex-slaves from the Saunders' plantation in West Virginia moved to Calvin in 1849 and became the majority of the township's population. Over the years the population spilled over into Porter. Both Calvin and Porter are located in the South Bend/Mishawaka metro area of Michigan on the Indiana border. Today Calvin's population is about 2,000, Porter's about 3,800. For more see the reprint by Booker T. Washington, "Two Generations Under Freedom," The Michigan Citizen, 12/19/1992, vol. XV, issue 4, p. A12;  Negro Folktales in Michigan, edited by R. M. Dorson. For more on the raids led by Kentucky slave owners see B. C. Wilson, "Kentucky kidnappers, fugitives, and abolitionists in Antebellum Cass County, Michigan," Michigan History, vol.6, issue 4, pp. 339-358.  See also the Perry Sanford entry.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Calvin and Porter, Michigan / West Virginia / West Bend, Indiana

Camp Knox Team [Colored Football]
In 1920, the Camp Knox Team was a Kentucky champion of Colored football. In November of that year, the "soldiers eleven" were preparing to travel to Indiana where they would face the Ex-Collegians, a Colored football team in Indianapolis. For more see "Ex-Collegians work," The Indianapolis Star, 11/16/1920, p.12. Camp Knox would become Fort Knox. It had been established by Congress in 1918 as a field artillery training range for Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville, KY. There were thousands of Colored soldiers stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor during WWI. For more on Camp Knox see "Fort Knox" entry in The Kentucky Encyclopedia by J. E. Kleber.
Subjects: Football, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: [Camp Knox] Fort Knox, Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade Counties, Kentucky

Campbell, Charles
Birth Year : 1922
Death Year : 2000
Campbell, born in Covington, KY, later moved to Buffalo, NY, where he was the first African American car salesman at Mernan Chevrolet and the first to manage a General Tire store; he later retired from General Mills. He was an Army veteran and served during World War II, obtaining the rank of corporal. After serving in the Army, Campbell returned to New York and earned an industrial relations degree from the University of Buffalo, Millard Fillmore College. He was a founding member of the Delta Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at the University of Buffalo. For more see "Charles Campbell," Buffalo News, 03/13/2000, News section, p. 6A.
Subjects: Automobile Dealerships, Businesses, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky / Buffalo, New York

Cannon, Frank R., Sr.
Birth Year : 1916
Death Year : 1988
Frank Cannon, Sr. was born in Jessamine County, KY, the son of Lizzie and Simon Cannon. The family owned a farm on Lexington Pike in Keene, KY. Frank Cannon was the first African American member of the Jessamine County (KY) Board of Education. He was an educator and had served as principal of Rosenwald-Dunbar School in Jessamine County, and was later principal of the Lincoln Heights School System in Ohio. He would become superintendent of the school system, before leaving Lincoln Heights to teach in the Cincinnati School System. Cannon returned to Kentucky and was president of the Jessamine County Retired Teachers Association, before becoming president-elect of the Central Kentucky Retired Teachers Association. He was also Master of Central Lodge #91 F. & A.M. of Nicholasville. He owned Cannon's Fixit Shop, Inc. Frank R. Cannon, Sr. was a graduate of Kentucky State University and the University of Kentucky; he was one of the first 17 African American teachers to attend UK. He was the husband of Ora Belle Hamilton, who was a school teacher. For more see "Frank R. Cannon, Sr." entry in A History of Jessamine County, Kentucky edited by R. Fain; and "17 blacks are local school board members," in 1978 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Fifth Report, by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 26.
Subjects: Businesses, Education and Educators, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Fraternal Organizations, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Keene, Jessamine County, Kentucky / Lincoln Heights, Ohio

Caroline (escaped slave) [Donnell v. State]
Start Year : 1847
End Year : 1852
Caroline was a runaway slave from Trimble County, KY, who made a daring escape with her four children in 1847. Escorts in the Underground Railroad helped the family reach the Greenbriar Settlement in Indiana, where they were captured and locked in a livestock feed house. Owner George Ray had posted a reward for the family, and he sued Luther Donnell for rescuing the family from the feed house and helping them toward freedom in Canada. For more see Hoosier farmer gave costly help to fleeing slave and her children at Indianapolis Star Library Factfiles website, indystar.com; and Donnell v. State, 1852 at the Indiana Historical Bureau website, and pictures of the historical marker.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Court Cases, Underground Railroad: Conductors, Escapes, Organizations, Research
Geographic Region: Trimble County, Kentucky / Greenbriar Settlement, Decatur County, Indiana / Canada

Carpenter, Olie Atkins
Birth Year : 1902
Death Year : 1993
Olie Carpenter was the first college-trained African American librarian in Kentucky. She was a graduate of Hampton's library program, and specialized in medical librarianship. Carpenter was first employed at Kentucky State University, from 1929-1930. She was next employed at the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes when it opened in 1931. She was also a librarian at Maryland State College [now University of Maryland Eastern Shore]. Olie Atkins Carpenter was born in Winston, NC. She was an older sister to Eliza Atkins Gleason, their parents were Simon Green Atkins and Oleona Pegram Atkins. In 1892, Simon Green Atkins was the founder of what is today Winston-Salem State University, and his wife Oleona Atkins was a teacher and assistant principal at the school. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones; Louisville Municipal College photographs and records at the University of Louisville University Archives & Records Center; Who's Who in Library Service. A biographical directory of professional librarians in the United States and Canada, 4th ed., edited by L. Ash; and The Black Librarian in the Southeast by A. L. Phinazee. For more on Simon G. Atkins, see the chapter "For Service Rather than Success" in Winston-Salem by F. V. Tursi. * Additional information for this entry was provided by Professor J. G. Carew at the University of Louisville, she is the daughter of Dr. Eliza A. Gleason.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Migration West
Geographic Region: Winston, North Carolina / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Carpenters (Louisville, KY)
Author W. H. Gibson, Sr. mentions the following African American carpenters in Louisville, KY: John Evans, Berry Evans, Jesse Merriwether, Willis Talbot, and John Jordan. For more see The History of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, by W. H. Gibson, Sr.
Subjects: Businesses, Carpenters
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Carr, G. W.
In 1913, Carr, from Kentucky, became the second pastor of the Hillsdale Baptist Church in Lansing, Michigan. He was also a property owner. Carr is remembered for increasing the Sunday School enrollment: the church received $250 for having the greatest increase of Sunday School scholars in the city. Carr also appointed the first Sunday School superintendent and church historian. Hillsdale, the first African American Baptist Church in Lansing, is today known as Union Missionary Baptist Church. Also in 1913, Rev. Carr led the religious exercises at the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives. For more see p. 253 of the 1913 Journal of the Michigan House of Representatives [available full-text at Google Book Search]; p. 311 of the 1913 Journal of the Michigan Legislature, Senate; and the Michigan Manual of Freemen's Progress, compiled by F. H. Warren [available full text online as a .pdf, on the Western Michigan University website].
Subjects: Migration North, Religion & Church Work, Sunday School
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Lansing, Michigan

Carr, Maria
Birth Year : 1860
In 1912, Maria Carr became one of the first African American women library attendants in a Kentucky public library. She was hired to staff the Henderson Colored Library, the first library structure for African Americans in the United States. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky

Carson, Julia M. P.
Birth Year : 1938
Death Year : 2007
Carson was born in Louisville, KY, the daughter of Velma Porter Carson. She successfully ran for the Indiana House of Representatives in 1972 and served for 18 years. For six years she was Center Township Trustee. In 1996 she became the first woman and the first African American from Indianapolis elected to Congress. For more see African American Biographies: profiles of 558 current men and women, by W. L. Hawkins; Julia Carson at the Indianapolis Star indystar.com website; and D. Martin, "Hundreds gather for Carson funeral," Evansville Courier & Press, 12/23/2007, Metro section, p.B5.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Legislators (Outside Kentucky)
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana

Carter, Leon J., III
Birth Year : 1944
Death Year : 1984
Leon John Carter, III was born in Bowling Green, KY. His poems were published in several magazines, and his first book of poems was titled Black Windsongs. He is the son of Lillie Mae Bland Carter. For more see Who's Who Among Black Americans, 1st-3rd ed.
Subjects: Authors, Migration North, Poets
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky

Carter, Maria F. [Trimble County Common Colored Schools]
Carter was a school teacher in Trimble County, KY. The school term for Colored children in the county was three months, April 1-June 30th. In 1874, Carter had taught the entire term, but was not paid. The matter was taken up by the Kentucky Legislature. It was determined that a correct census had been taken of the Colored children in Trimble County, but was not reported to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as was required by law, which resulted in no appropriations being designated for Trimble County from the Colored School Fund. Maria Carter had been legally employed by the school system. The General Assembly enacted that Carter be paid the $51.50 owed her, and that the Superintendent of Public Instruction withhold the sum from the appropriations for the Trimble County school funds. For more see chapter 338 of Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed (1875), v.1 [available full view at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Trimble County, Kentucky

Casey, Dwane
Birth Year : 1957
Dwane Casey was born in Morganfield, KY. Casey, a 6' 2" guard, was on the University of Kentucky (UK) basketball team from 1976-1979; the 1977-1978 team won the NCAA Championship. Casey played in 95 games, scoring 125 total points. He served as an assistant coach under Clem Haskins for five years at Western Kentucky University until 1986, when he became an assistant coach at UK. Casey was the third former player to become an assistant coach at UK and the first African American to do so. In 1988 he filed a $6.9 million suit against the Emery Air Freight Corp. and the employees who claimed to have discovered $1,000 cash in a package Casey sent to the father of California basketball player Chris Mills. [The suit was eventually settled out of court.] Casey resigned from UK in 1989. He later served as an assistant coach overseas and in the NBA. From June 2005 - January 2007, Casey was head coach of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. He was the third African American from Kentucky to be named a head coach in the NBA [the first was Bernie Bickerstaff, the second, Wes Unseld]. For more see Dwane Casey at the Big Blue History website; J. Tipton, "UK names Casey coaching assistant," Lexington Herald-Leader, 04/19/1986, Sports section, p. C1; M. Barnhill, "Kentucky basketball coach sues freight firm in Mills case," 07/09/1988, News section, p. N8, and "Kentucky charged by NCAA - investigators say L.A. basketball star's father was paid $1000," 07/26/1988, News section, p. N1, both in the Daily News of Los Angeles (California); and "Timberwolves hire Sonics' assistant," The Grand Rapids Press, 06/18/2006, Sports section, p. C1.
Subjects: Basketball, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Morganfield, Union County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Minnesota

Catlettsburg Colored Common School District (Boyd County, KY)
Start Year : 1873
End Year : 1912
The Catlettsburg Colored Common School District was established by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1873. The district included the area beginning at the Ohio River at the mouth of Horse Branch. There was a poll tax on every male 18 years old or older within the district, and widows with children were also taxed. The tax was not to exceed $2. Students attending the school had to live in the specified district and be at least 5 years old and not over 25 years old. In 1887, the school term was five months. An African American minister, the Reverend John R. Cox of the AME Church, was the first truant officer in Catlettsburg. Cox was a former slave born in Catlettsburg in 1852. The school district existed for 38 years before an act was established in 1912 to repeal the act that had established the Colored Common School District in Catlettsburg. Four Colored families were counted in Catlettsburg in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, most of whom did not have children. The number of children had more than doubled by 1920. The Colored school district was discontinued, but the Colored school of Catlettsburg operated as part of the Ashland Colored school system. In the 1937 Polk's Catlettsburg City Directory, Daisy Keeton is listed as principal of the Catlettsburg Colored School at 170 E. Panola Hill. The school was still listed in the directory as late as 1944. For more see "Chapter 653" in the 1873 Acts Passed at the...session of the General Assembly for the Commonwealth, pp. 193-194 [full-text available at Google Book Search]; and Common School Laws of Kentucky: 1922, by the Kentucky Department of Education.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Catlettsburg and Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky

Cato (slave jockey) [Grey Eagle v Wagner]
Start Year : 1839
On Monday, September 30, 1839, the infamous race between the Virginia-bred horse Wagner and the Kentucky-bred horse Grey Eagle took place at the Oakland Course in Louisville, KY, for a purse of $14,000. Grey Eagle was a four year old owned by hemp dealer Alfred Lawrence Shotwell of Louisville, and ridden by Stephen Welch, a white jockey who weighed 83 pounds. Grey Eagle had run the fastest two miles in the United States. Wagner, a five year old owned by John Campbell of Maryland, was ridden by Cato, a slave jockey owned by John Campbell. The race was set for three four-mile heats. The winner of two heats would be declared the champion. Bets between individuals were made in dollars and in slaves. It was estimated that there were over 10,000 people in attendance to witness Wagner win two heats back to back and be declared the overall winner. A new record of 7:44 was set in the second heat. Fans still wanted the opportunity to prove Grey Eagle's winning ability, so it was agreed that another race would take place on the same course in five days. Wagner was again the victor. Grey Eagle was injured during the competition and never raced again. Cato, the slave jockey, was given his freedom in exchange for the victories. He would continue as a jockey for John Campbell. For more see "Some Great Races," chapter three in The American Turf, by J. H. Davis [available full-text at Google Book Search]; Black Maestro, by J. Drape; and T. Stephens, "A Match for the Ages," Louisville, 04/01/2008 [available online at allbusiness.com].
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Maryland

Cayce, James B.
Birth Year : 1915
Death Year : 1971
James Cayce was born in Louisville, KY, the son of Paul and Mamie Cayce. He was an instructor at Simmons University in Louisville from 1940-1942. During that same time period, he supervised the division of activities within the Department of Public Welfare in Louisville. Cayce was executive director of the Washington Community Association in Hamilton, Ohio, from 1942-1943. He was also a minister and pastored at several churches. Cayce was also editor of the Ohio Baptist News from 1948-1950, authored Negroes and The Cooperative Movement (1940), and wrote a number of articles and editorials. Cayce moved from Ohio to Pittsburgh, PA, where he was the respected pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church from 1950-1971. He was a active member and recruiter of the NAACP and he corresponded with Martin Luther King, Jr. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950; "Ebenezer Baptist Church celebrates its rich history," Pittsburgh Courier, 07/17/2008 [article available online]; and The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. by M. L. King, et al.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Religion & Church Work, Social Workers, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Hamilton, Ohio / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Centenarian Librarians (Kentucky)
Start Year : 2009
As of 2009, the state of Kentucky has at least three African American librarians who will be 100 years old or older. Mrs. Ruth Hill Jones was 100 in July, she was a librarian in the Louisville School System and at Simmons Bible College. Eliza Atkins Gleason will be 100 in December, she was head librarian at the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes, and later dean of the Atlanta University Library School [now Clark Atlanta] which she helped to develop in 1939, thus becoming the first African American library school dean in the U.S. The library school closed in June 2005. Both Jones and Gleason live in Louisville. The late Della Jones was 106 in July, she was librarian at Owen County High School. She lived in Williamstown, KY. Information about Ruth Hill Jones was provided by U. S. Army Chaplin (Maj) Susan R. Addams. Information about Della Jones was provided by her great nephew, Kentucky House Member Reginald K. Meeks.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Williamstown, Grant County, Kentucky

Center Street Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church
The Center Street CME Church, first of its denomination in Louisville, KY, was led by several pastors, including Bishop Miles in the late 1860s and J. W. Bell in the 1870s. The church was host to the 3rd CME General Conference in 1874. In 1904, the church was moved and became the Chestnut Street CME Church. The church was renamed again in 1954: Brown Memorial CME Church. The church, located at 809 W. Chestnut Street in Louisville, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For more see the entry for marker #1677 in the Kentucky Historical Society Marker Database.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Central Law School (Louisville, KY)
Start Year : 1890
End Year : 1941
Professor John H. Lawson is credited with organizing Central Law School, part of State University [later Simmons University], in 1890. When the school was established, it absorbed Harper Law School. At the time, there were three African Americans practicing law in the city of Louisville, KY. Over the 50 year period that the school existed, Central had 100 graduates. Initially Central was one of only four law schools in the United States that would admit African Americans; the others were located at Howard University, Walden University, and Shaw University. The first commencement for Central graduates was held in 1892 at the Masonic Temple Theatre. For more see the Central Law School, 1890-1941, a University of Louisville website; and A Century of Negro Education in Louisville, by G. D. Wilson, [full-text available in the Kentuckiana Digital Library E-texts].
Subjects: Education and Educators, Lawyers, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Chambers, William A.
Birth Year : 1898
Death Year : 1995
William Alexander Chambers was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the son of Nannie V. Chambers. He later relocated to Indianapolis, where he became an aspiring fiction writer and journalist. He served as editor of three African American weeklies: the Indianapolis Recorder, the Freeman, and the Indianapolis Ledger. Chambers was also a writer for the Indiana Herald. The William A. Chambers Collection is housed at the Indiana Historical Society. For more see Guide to African-American History Materials in Manuscript Collections at the Indiana Historical Society.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky /Indianapolis, Indiana

Chappell, Willa B.
Birth Year : 1906
Death Year : 1992
Willa Chappell was born in Glasgow, KY. She left Kentucky for Gary, Indiana, and graduated from Indiana State Teachers College [now Indiana State University], working as a school teacher before becoming a pilot. Chappell settled in Chicago. She was the first African American woman to become licensed as a pilot in the U.S., and the first African American in the Civil Air Patrol. Chappell founded the National Airmen Association of America, and trained more than 200 students who became Tuskegee pilots. She and her husband, Cornelius Coffy, owned and operated the first flight school for African Americans. For more see Willa Brown and Willa Brown Chappell, websites created and maintained by the Aviation Museum of Kentucky; and K. Heise, "Willa Chappell, pioneer Black pilot," Chicago Tribune, 07/21/1992, Chicagoland section, p. 9.
Subjects: Aviators, Education and Educators, Migration North
Geographic Region: Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky / Gary, Indiana / Chicago, Illinois

Charlotte Court (Lexington, KY)
Start Year : 1938
End Year : 1999
In 1939, Charlotte Court was the name selected for the public housing complex for African Americans in Lexington, KY. The complex was named after African American Aunt Charlotte, who had purchased William "King" Solomon [who was white] when he was sold as a slave in 1833. The Negro Civic League of Lexington objected to the name and wanted the housing complex to be named after a better known African American, but the name was not changed. Charlotte Court was funded by a federal grant of $900,000. The complex was located on 24 acres on Georgetown Road, replacing what the City of Lexington referred to as a slum area. There were 52 apartment buildings in Charlotte Court, and the complex had the first library in Lexington specifically for African Americans, which opened March 1940. Charlotte Court was home to many African American children who would leave the area and do well in life. There is a picture of a children's birthday party that took place in the 1950s in G. Smith's book Black American Series: Lexington Kentucky. Over many decades, Charlotte Court became a high crime area and the buildings were in desperate need of repairs; it was again referred to as a slum area. In 1998, the city of Lexington received a $19 million HUD grant for public housing revitalization; Charlotte Court was razed. New individual housing was constructed and the area was renamed Arbor Grove. For more see the public housing article in The Lexington Herald, 06/01/1939, p. 1, col. 4; "Different name sought for Charlotte Courts," The Lexington Leader, 06/24/1940, p. 3, col. 1; Lexington, Queen of the Bluegrass, by R. Hollingsworth; and Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones.
Subjects: Housing Authority, The Projects, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Chenault, Hortentius
Birth Year : 1910
Death Year : 1990
Hortentius Chenault was born in Richmond, KY, his family later moved to Ohio. He was a graduate of Morehouse College in Georgia and a 1939 graduate from Howard University Dental School. Dr. Chenault passed the New York State dental exam with the highest score to date. From 1939-1987, his dental practice was located in Hempstead, Long Island, in New York. He was the husband of Anne Quick and the father of four, including Kenneth I. Chenault, who was named president and chief operating officer of the American Express Company in 1997. For more see the Kenneth Chenault entry in Current Biography (1988); "Hortentius Chenault, Dentist, 80" in The New York Times, 12/20/1990; and A. Bianco, "Ken Chenault: the rise of a star" (Cover Story), BusinessWeek, 12/21/1998.
Subjects: Fathers, Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Dentists
Geographic Region: Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky / Ohio / Hempstead, Long Island, New York

Chenault, Lawrence E.
Birth Year : 1877
Chenault was born in Mt. Sterling, KY, and his family later moved to Cincinnati, OH, where he was a soloist at the Allen Temple Church. Chenault joined Al G. Field's Negro Minstrels in 1895 and two years later was a featured tenor and character, "Golden Hair Neil," with A. G. Field's Darkest American Company. He was also in Black Patti's Troubadours and a number of other groups. He performed with Ernest Hogan in the M. B. Curtis Minstrels, touring America, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and Hawaii. On the return to the U.S., Chenault spent time performing in San Francisco before rejoining Hogan on the Smart Set. He would become the first leading man with the Lafayette Players Stock Company. He performed in Black films, appearing in more leading roles than any other actor in silent films: 22 films between 1920 and 1934 [filmography]. For more see "Lawrence E. Chenault" in Blacks in Blackface, by S. T. Sampson.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky

Childers, Lulu V.
Birth Year : 1870
Death Year : 1946
Lulu Vere Childers was born in Dry Ridge, KY. She studied voice at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she earned her B. Mus. degree. Childers was a teacher at Knoxville College in 1896. She continued to perform, singing contralto in a 1908 concert organized by E. Azalia Hackley at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. She went on to become founder and director of the Howard University School of Music [now Department of Music], 1909-1942. She accomplished major successes with the Howard Orchestra, Band, Choral Society, Women's Glee Club and Men's Glee Club. Lulu Vere Childers Hall is located in the Arts Building at Howard University. For more see Dictionary of American Negro Biography, by R. W. Logan & M. R. Winston; and Catalogue of Officers and Graduates, by Oberlin College (1905) [full view available via Google Book Search].
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Migration South
Geographic Region: Dry Ridge, Grant County, Kentucky / Washington, D.C.

Chiles, James Alexander [Chiles v. Chesapeake & O R CO]
Birth Year : 1860
J. Alexander Chiles was one of eight children, including his twin brother, John R. Chiles, who gave him financial assistance while he was a student at Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and the University of Michigan Law School. Chiles moved to Lexington, KY, in 1890 to open a law office at 304 W. Short Street. His business was a success; Chiles is sometimes referred to as the first African American lawyer in Lexington. By 1907, he was one of four African American lawyers in the city. Chiles argued in the Supreme Court case against the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad for desegregation of railroad coaches after he was removed by force to the Colored coach in spite of his first class ticket from from Washington D.C. to Lexington. Chiles was also an active member of the Colored Seventh Day Adventist congregation in Lexington; he was a trustee, deacon, and treasurer of the first church built in 1906 at the corner of Fifth and Upper Streets. His wife, Fannie J. Chiles, was the first librarian for the church. Elder Alonzo Barry was pastor. James A. Chiles was born in Virginia, the son of Richard and Martha Chiles. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson; Chiles v. Chesapeake & O R CO, 218 U.S. 71 (1910) [full-text online by Justia]; and the Lexington Seventh Day Adventist history publication (.pdf).

*Name sometimes spelled Childes.*
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Lawyers, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Railroad, Railway, Trains, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Virginia / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Christian, Chauncey Lewis
Birth Year : 1896
Death Year : 1991
Chauncey Christian was a bookkeeper and stenographer in Louisville, KY. Most of his work was for Samuel Plato's construction firm. It was Plato who encouraged Christian to study for the CPA exam through a correspondence course. Christian became the third African American to become a Certified Public Accountant in the United States when he passed the Kentucky CPA exam in 1926, though African Americans were not allowed to take the CPA exam. Christian was fair-skinned, and those giving the exam thought that he was white. Of the 50 men taking the exam, Christian was one of seven who passed. Kentucky would not have another African American CPA for another 40 years. In the 1940s Christian moved his family from Kentucky to New York, where he became an accountant in the show business industry. Christian was born in New York, the son of Clara Cross Christian. For more see "Deferred Assets," Boston College Magazine, Spring 2003; and A White-collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants Since 1921, by T. A. Hammond.
Subjects: Accountants, Bookkeepers, Certified Public Accountants, Stenographers, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: New York / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Church Street (Walton, KY)
According to the history page at the Walton, KY, website, a small African American community was developed by former slaves in North Walton after the Civil War, and the community founded the Zion Baptist Church in 1872. The Steele and Ingram families are mentioned as long-time residents of the community. Walton is located in Boone County in Northern Kentucky. For more see the Walton, Kentucky, history page, 1850s-1890s.
Subjects: Communities, Freedom, Kentucky African American Churches
Geographic Region: Walton, Boone County, Kentucky

Citizen's Auxiliary Hospital (Louisville, KY)
Start Year : 1895
End Year : 1911
The Citizen's Auxiliary Hospital was built by the faculty of the Louisville National Medical College. The two story, brick, building cost $50,000, and was built on Green Street a few blocks from the college. The hospital was built to enhance the clinical training of those enrolled in the college, and was viewed as a benefit to the poor in need of medical attention and medication. All services were free and the hospital could treat up to 40 patients at one time. Mr. McCurdy was the hospital steward and Dr. Sarah H. Fitzbutler was the matron. The college closed in 1912 and the hospital closed in 1911, the hospital facility was used for the Simmons College Nursing Department. For more see the "Auxiliary Hospital" entry in Weeden's History of the Colored People of Louisville by H. C. Weeden; History of Higher Education in Kentucky by A. F. Lewis [available full view at Google Book Search]; and T. L. Savitt, "Four African-American proprietary medical colleges: 1888-1923," Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, vol.55, July 2000, pp.203-255.
Subjects: Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Civil War Fort at Boonesboro
Start Year : 1863
The Civil War Fort at Boonesboro, KY, was constructed in 1863 by African American Union soldiers who also manned the fort, located in Clark County. The structure was designed to protect the ford and ferry from Confederate invasion during the Civil War. With the passing of time the land was purchased, the fort becoming part of the farmland owned by Jim and Betty Nickels. For seven years, the Winchester, KY, Tourism Commission strove to raise money to buy the land and repair the fort. On July 21, 2005, the Civil War Fort at Boonesboro was reopened as part of the 2005 Kentucky Civil War Heritage Trail. The fort is now on the National Register of Historic Places. For more see C. Kirby, "A Historic Piece of High Ground - Clark County Promotes Site of Civil War Fort," Lexington Herald-Leader, 07/22/05, City&Region section, p. B1.
Subjects: Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Boonesboro and Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky

[Clarissa] Street vs. Ferry
Start Year : 1853
In January 1853, Clarissa, a slave, was given her freedom by Judge J. Crenshaw of the Kentucky Court of Appeals; the decision was a new legal point of view. Clarissa, who was owned by Mrs. Trigg, had accompanied Mrs. Alexander to Philadelphia in 1838. Mrs. Alexander was a close relative to Mrs. Trigg. The laws of Philadelphia had been discussed prior to the trip: if a slave lived in the city for at least six months, then the slave became a free person. Mrs. Trigg was willing to take the chance that Clarissa and Mrs. Alexander might be in the city six months or longer (which they were), because she knew that Clarissa would not abandon her husband and children, who were slaves in Kentucky. Also, Clarissa, and all of the other slaves owned by Mrs. Trigg, were to be freed when Mrs. Trigg died. Clarissa returned to Kentucky and continued living as Mrs. Trigg's slave. Prior to Mrs. Trigg's death, she had taken a loan from Mrs. Ferry, her adopted daughter, and used Clarissa as collateral to secure the note. The debt was to be repaid from Mrs. Trigg's estate. However, when Mrs. Trigg died, there were not sufficient funds to repay the debt. All of the Trigg slaves except Clarissa were freed; Clarissa became the property of Mrs. Ferry. Clarissa sued Ferry to gain her freedom. For more see article 12 in the New York Daily Times, 01/31/1853, p. 6; "The Slavery agitation--will it never cease?," New York Daily Times, 02/01/1853, p. 4; and "Court of Apeals of Kentucky, January, 1853. Ferry vs. Street," The American Law Register (1852-1891), vol. 1, issue 5 (Mar., 1853), pp. 295-300.
Subjects: Freedom, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Clark, John T.
Birth Year : 1883
Death Year : 1949
John T. Clark was born in Louisville, KY, the son of John R. and Sallie Clark. He graduated in 1906 from Ohio State University with a focus in sociology and economics. Clark returned to Louisville, where he was an instructor at Central High School (1907-1913). He left Louisville to become housing secretary in New York City (1913-1916). He was a contributing author to the 1915 collection, "Housing and Living Conditions among Negroes in Harlem." Clark held a number of posts with the National Urban League and its state chapters from 1916 to1949, including bringing the National Urban League to Pittsburgh in 1917 and becoming executive secretary of the St. Louis Urban League, beginning in 1926. Also a member of the American Social Workers Association, Clark was elected the third vice president of the National Conference of Social Work in 1940. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37; and Who's Who in Colored America, 1950. The John T. Clark files of the Urban League of St. Louis are available at the Washington University of St. Louis Library.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Migration North, Migration West, Social Workers, Sociologists & Social Scientists, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / New York City, New York / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania / St. Louis, Missouri

Clarke, Daniel
Death Year : 1872
Clarke was born in Africa. When he was a child, he was captured by slave traders and brought to the U.S. He first lived in Clark County, KY, then came to Frankfort, KY, as a servant to U.S. Congressman and later Kentucky Governor James Clarke. At the end of Gov. Clarke's term (1836-1839), Daniel Clarke continued as a servant to all of the following Kentucky governors until his death in 1872. At some point prior to his death, the Kentucky Legislature passed a law giving Daniel Clarke a pension of $12 per month. A joint resolution was introduced by Senator Webb in honor of Daniel Clarke's years of dedicated service to Kentucky governors. For more see "Death of the Kentucky Governor's Servant," New York Times, 02/29/1872, p. 5. Also thought to be the same Daniel Clarke at rootsweb.com.
Subjects: Freedom, Appointments by Kentucky Governors, Slave Trade (U.S.)
Geographic Region: Africa / Clark County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Clay, Henry (former slave)
Birth Year : 1861
Clay was born to slaves in Louisville, KY, and in 1892 left for New Orleans to join a railroad construction crew that was transported to Guatemala, Central America. The crew of 75 men were to build a railroad from Puerto Barrios to Guatemala City. The pay was to be in Guatemalan silver at $10 per day per worker, but none of the men got paid because the contractor ran off with the silver and left the crew stranded. Clay remained in Guatemala for 39 years. He was one of the last three crew members still alive when he returned to the United States in 1931. Many of his fellow crew members had died fighting during the revolts in Guatemala; revolutionists were recruited with the promise of $150 in silver and a rifle. Clay had preferred to fish for a living rather than fight as a Guatemalan revolutionary. For more see "Old Negro returns, ends 39-year exile," New York Times, 07/15/1931, p. 21.
Subjects: Freedom, Military & Veterans, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada, Railroad, Railway, Trains
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / New Orleans / Puerto Barrios and Guatemala City, Guatemala, Central America

Claybourne, Jack
In 1941, Jack Claybourne won the Kentucky Negro Wrestling Championship from Hallie Samara in Louisville, KY. The following year he lost the title to King Kong Clayton. For more on Jack Claybourne see D. Burkholder, "Black History Month: Pro Wrestling's Black Stars, Part 1," OnlineOnslaught.com, 02/05/02; and Obsessed With Wrestling.
Subjects: Wrestling
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Claysville and Other Neighborhoods (Paris, KY)
Claysville was established by African Americans at the end of the Civil War on what was then the outskirts of Paris, KY. The community was located on land that was purchased from Samuel H. Clay, whose farm bordered the area on one side. Claysville was more of a separate community than other African American neighborhoods within Paris: it included churches, stores, and businesses. The main entrance was off Main Street, under a one lane railroad viaduct hemmed on one side by a two story building, on the other side by a stream. The entrance is still in use. The back entrance was off Winchester Street. The Branch School for African American children, where inventor Garrett A. Morgan, Sr. was educated, was located in Claysville. The community has been renamed Garrett Morgan's Place, and a Kentucky Historical Marker [number 1493] was rededicated in 2000, but most still refer to the area as Claysville. Beginning in the 1970s, Urban Renewal razed the old structures in Claysville, new homes and housing projects were constructed, and a park was added down by the stream. Many of the present residents are descendants of Claysville's earliest home owners. Other African American areas used to exist in Paris: Cottontown, off Main Street just past the railroad overpass heading toward Millersburg, down by the creek; Newtown and Judy's Alley, off High Street heading toward Lexington (homes in both areas were replaced by housing projects); and Singles Alley, off Eighth Street heading toward Georgetown, all of its older homes torn down. Ruckersville or Ruckerville, bound by Lilleston Ave., Second Street, and a creek, had a large number of African Americans. The land is thought to have been part of the Grimes' farm at one time. The old homes were razed by Urban Renewal in the 1970s and 1980s and new homes and apartments were constructed and a park was added down by the creek. Little or nothing has been published about these areas, but a visit with the various community members will garner much more information. For more on Claysville, see Birthplace of African-American Inventor-Garrett Morgan on the Kentucky Tourism website; and Famous Inventor, 1877-1963, in the Kentucky Historical Marker Database.
Subjects: Communities, Parks, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky, Railroad, Railway, Trains
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky

Clayton, Alonzo
Birth Year : 1876
Death Year : 1917
Alonzo Clayton was born in Kansas City, Kansas, to Robert and Evaline Clayton. One of the two youngest jockeys to win the Kentucky Derby, Clayton was 15 years old in 1892 when he won the Derby riding Azra. He died of chronic tuberculosis in California. For more see In Black and White. A guide to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books concerning Black individuals and groups, 3rd ed., Supp. ed. by M. M. Spradling; The Great Black Jockeys, by E. Hotaling; A Kentucky Derby icon, Alonzo "Lonnie" Clayton, at the African American Registry website; and Alonzo Clayton at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture website.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby, Tuberculosis: Care and Deaths
Geographic Region: Kansas City, Kansas / Kentucky / California

Clayton, Edward T.
Birth Year : 1921
Death Year : 1966
Edward Clayton was born in Louisville, KY. He was sports editor of The Hawks Cry, a Tuskegee Air Field GI publication, 1944-1945.  Clayton was also sports editor of The Louisville Defender, 1945-1948, and an associate editor with Ebony and Negro Digest. He was the first editor of Jet magazine.  Clayton won the Wilkie Award in 1947 for revealing illegal taxicab services in Louisville. He was author of three books in 1964: The Negro politician, his success and failure; Martin Luther King: the peaceful warrior; and The SCLC Story. For more see In Black and White. A guide to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books concerning Black individuals and groups, 3rd ed., edited by M. M. Spradling; and Who's Who in Colored America, 1950.
Subjects: Authors, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Clayton, Theodore
Birth Year : 1934
Death Year : 1976
A self-taught artist, Theodore Clayton worked with scrap metal such as spikes, machine parts, horseshoes, and nails. For more see Kentucky Minority Artists Directory, 1982.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts
Geographic Region: Kentucky

Clement, Rufus E.
Birth Year : 1900
Death Year : 1967
Rufus E. Clement was born in Salisbury, NC; his family moved to Louisville, KY, when he was a small child. Clement would become the first dean of the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes (1931-1937) [subsumed by the University of Louisville], and later the longest serving president of Atlanta University (1937-1957 & 1966-1967). Clement was the author of many articles on Negro education, history, and politics as well as a published reviewer of current issues publications. In 1953, Clement was elected to the Atlanta Board of Education, making him the first African American to be elected to public office in Atlanta since Reconstruction, and the first on the city's education board. He was the son of Emma Clement and George Clement, Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Louisville. He was the brother of Ruth E. Clement Bond. Rufus E. Clement's records and papers are at the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center. The Louisville Municipal College archives are at the University of Louisville Archives and Record Center. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; [Dr. Rufus E. Clement] in the Statesville Daily Record newspaper, 05/15/1953; Worldwide Interesting People: 162 History Makers of African Decent, by G. L. Lee; and the video Rufus E. Clement and Horace M. Bond recorded in 1955 as part of the Chronscope Series by Columbia Broadcasting System.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Education and Educators, Migration South, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Salisbury, North Carolina / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Atlanta, Georgia

Cobb, Lewis Arthur Gill "Shoe Shine"
Birth Year : 1966
Death Year : 2009
Lewis Cobb was a modern day, professional shoe shiner who promoted his business in downtown Lexington, KY. [His first name has also been written as Louis in various articles.] Cobb was well known by business owners and others who worked or frequented the downtown area. It was a rare sight to see an African American shoe shiner soliciting business on the streets of Lexington in the 21st Century, most had disappeared during the early decades of the 1900s [1907 picture of African American shoe shiner on Lexington street]. Shoe making and repairs, and shoe care had been predominately slave trades in Kentucky prior to the Civil War. After slavery ended in Kentucky with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865, African American shoe makers were abundant in Lexington. By the 1930s, there were more than one hundred African Americans in Lexington who earned a living as self-employed shoe shiners and repairers, or they were employed within businesses such as cleaners, barbershops, hat shops, horse industry businesses, train and bus stations, and shoe stores. When Lewis Cobb started his shoe shine business in Lexington, it was said that he could be controversial, often humble, and offered a bit of philosophy, therapy, and spiritual inspiration while shining an individual's shoes. Not everyone welcomed Cobb's presence and when authorities received complaints, Cobb was ticketed by the police for operating his business without a peddler's license. With the help of attorney Gaitwood Galbraith, the charges were dropped; shoe shiners are not peddlers. But that did not prevent Cobb from receiving tickets for jaywalking and other infractions. Over time, Cobb refined his approach toward potential customers, the ticketing eventually stopped, and Cobb became well known in downtown Lexington. Lewis Cobb had learned the shoe shine business from a professional shoe shiner in Washington, D. C who also went by the name "Shoe Shine". Cobb had moved to D.C. after earning a college degree in North Carolina. He was a native of Lexington and had graduated from Bryan Station High School. Cobb grew up in the Charlotte Court housing projects [now the Arbor Grove neighborhood]. In 2002, Lewis Cobb returned to Kentucky from D.C. and began his shoe shine business that summer. Two years later, he met Erin McAnallen-Wilson, a University of Kentucky student who completed a documentary about Cobb's life. The film, Can't Stop the Shine, was shown at the Kentucky Theatre in downtown Lexington on May 25, 2006. Cobb was one of the first two persons to be Baptized at the Landmark New Beginnings Church in October 2009, the church is led by Pastors Derrie and Gerald Dodge. Lewis Cobb was the son of Betty Beatty and William A. Cobb. Information about his life was provided by his sisters Velma Johnson, Valois Lewis, and Arletta Taylor, and by his good friend Samirah Hall. Articles about Lewis Cobb include C. Thompson, "Shoeshine pro becomes subject of documentary," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/23/2006, section D, p.1; and J. Brammer, "Shoeshine, well-known in downtown Lexington is remembered as a character," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/12/2009, City/Region section, p.A3.
Subjects: Shoes: Finishers, Makers, Repairers, Shiners, Stores
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Coe, James R. "Jimmy" [Jimmy Cole]
Birth Year : 1921
Death Year : 2004
Coe was born in Tompkinsville, KY, but grew up in Indianapolis, where he spent his entire music career. He could play a number of instruments, but performed most often on the baritone and tenor saxophone. He also studied the clarinet. Coe played and recorded with Jay McShann's band as a replacement for Charlie Parker. He also recorded with other groups, sometimes under the name Jimmy Cole. He used his birth name 'Coe' with his own groups: Jimmy Coe and His Orchestra and Jimmy Coe and His Gay Cats of Rhythm. He served in the U.S. Army, 1943-1945 and played in the 415th Band. By the mid 1960s, Coe was teaching music in the Indianapolis public schools and also was working for the Marion County juvenile courts and the U.S. Postal Service. For more see The Jimmy Coe Discography, a Clemson University website; E. Chadbourne, "Jimmy Coe," an Answer.com website; and J. Harvey, "Jimmy Coe , well-known jazz musician and band leader, dies," The Indianapolis Star, 02/28/2004, City State section, p. B01.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Postal Service
Geographic Region: Tompkinsville, Monroe County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana

Cofield, William, Jr.
Birth Year : 1940
In 1991, William Cofield was the first African American appointed to the Franklin County Board of Education; he was then elected to the board three times. Since 1986, he has been president of the Kentucky NAACP Conference. Cofield was recently named president of the National Caucus of Black School Board Members. For more see In Black and White. A guide to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books concerning Black individuals and groups, 3rd ed., edited by M. M. Spradling; and "In conversation with ... William Cofield, President, National Caucus of Black School Board Members," 06/21/04, Kentucky School Boards Association website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Board of Education
Geographic Region: Franklin County, Kentucky

Cole, I. Willis
Birth Year : 1887
Death Year : 1950
I. Willis Cole was born in 1887 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was a graduate of Le Moyne Junior College [now Le Moyne College]. When Cole came to Kentucky, he was a salesman who shortly thereafter became the founder of the African American newspaper, the Louisville Leader, the leading African American newspaper in Louisville. Cole used the medium to protest discrimination toward African Americans. He was a supporter of the Garvey Movement and served as the regional director of the National Negro League. In 1921, Cole was unsuccessful in his campaign for the Kentucky Senate. For more see The Leader at kytales.com; The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; River Jordan: African American Urban Life in the Ohio Valley, by J. W. Trotter & J. W. Trotter, Jr.; Life Behind a Veil: Blacks in Louisville, Kentucky, 1865-1930, by G. C. Wright; and p. 363 of The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: 1826-August 1919, by R. A. Hill, M. Garvey, & the Universal Negro Improvement Association.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
Geographic Region: Memphis, Tennessee / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Coleman, Frederick Douglass, Jr.
Birth Year : 1921
Coleman was one of the early African American surgeons in the U.S. Army. He was born in Louisville, KY, the son of Frederick Douglass Coleman, Sr. and Jamye Harris Coleman, and the brother of Jamye Coleman Williams. Coleman, Jr., a physician and a minister, graduated from Fisk University and earned his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in 1944 and his D. D. from Monrovia College (Liberia) in 1955. He served as captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1953-1955 and was Commanding Officer of the 765th Medical Detachment. He was Chief Physical Examiner with the U.S. Army Hospital in Fort Campbell, KY and Battalion Surgeon of the 47th Armored Medical Bn 1st Armored Division. Coleman was a member of the integrated Montgomery County Medical Society in Clarksville, TN, and in addition to serving as pastor of a number of churches, he was a representative on the A.M.E. Church Medical Missions Board National Council of Churches. For more see "Frederick Douglass Coleman, Jr." in Biographical Directory of Negro Ministers by E. L. Williams.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Military & Veterans, Religion & Church Work, Migration South, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Clarksville, Tennessee

Coleman, Gertrude W.
Birth Year : 1934
Death Year : 2007
Dr. Coleman was inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2007 in recognition of her activism during Louisville school busing when she insisted that African American children be treated fairly. Coleman was also president of the Black Women of Political Action, was on the board of the Park DuVall Health Center and fought for funding for health care. In 1992, the Black Women of Political Action joined with other civic organizations to encourage African Americans in Louisville to get out and vote; a symbolic chain of human voters stretched from downtown Louisville into the African American neighborhood in West End. For more see "Dr. Gertrude W. Coleman" at the 2007 Hall of Fame website; and "Louisville voters reach out to encourage Black turnout," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/02/1992, City/State section, p. B2.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Medical Field, Health Care, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Coleman, Louis, Jr.
Birth Year : 1943
Death Year : 2008
Reverend Coleman, from Louisville, KY, was one of Kentucky's most recognized civil rights activist and outspoken advocate. He was inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2000. Coleman was a graduate of Central High School, Kentucky State University, and Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He was an athlete, having played baseball and football at K-State, and he later signed to play professional baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He helped lead the lawsuit that challenged the lack of African American coaches in Kentucky high schools. He called for the boycott of Pepsi products from the Winchester, KY, plant due the complaints concerning the plants' lack of hiring and retention of African American employees. Rev. Coleman advocated fairness and equality throughout the state of Kentucky. He was head of the Justice Resource Center in Louisville. For more see A. Clark, "Rev. Louis Coleman dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 07/06/2008; and K. Cengal, "Civil rights activist Louis Coleman is dead," Louisville Courier-Journal, 07/05/2008.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Baseball, Civic Leaders, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Coleman, Ruth A.
Birth Year : 1950
Ruth Coleman became the first African American woman graduate of the College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky in 1977. She was the only African American in her classes and one of just two women in a couple of her classes. In addition to being a civil engineer graduate, Coleman also has an associate degree in engineering technology from Lexington Technical Institute [now Bluegrass Community and Technical College] and was a math major at Transylvania University for two years. She graduated from Bryan Station High School in 1968. Coleman was employed at the Kentucky Department of Transportation's Division of Bridges [now Kentucky Transportation Cabinet]. She was born in Lexington, KY, the daughter of Cleo J. and Samuel O. Coleman, Sr. This entry was submitted by Rhetta Coleman Young, sister to Ruth Coleman. For more see J. Swartz, "Woman makes inroads in Engineering School," Lexington Herald, 05/23/1977, Lifestyle section, p. A-9.
Subjects: Engineers
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Coleman, William David (Liberia)
Birth Year : 1842
Death Year : 1908
William Coleman was born in Fayette County, KY. He was a slave who gained his freedom then settled in Liberia, Africa. Coleman was Vice President of Liberia before becoming its 12th president (1896-1902). He first completed President J. J. Cheeseman's term and was then elected to the presidency. His dates have also been given as 1869-1900. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; 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: Fayette County, Kentucky / Liberia, Africa

Colerane, Horace Donia, Sr.
Birth Year : 1857
Death Year : 1922
In 1913, Colerane became the first African American elected to the Winchester (KY) City Council. Colerane, a minister and a plasterer, represented the 4th ward, a predominately African American district. He was the husband of Elizabeth Combs Colerane (b.1856 in Kentucky); they were married in 1878. According to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, the family lived on Second Street in Winchester. For more see "Negro qualifies," Lexington Leader, 12/03/1913, p. 5.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky

Coletown (Lexington, KY)
Start Year : 1834
Coletown is located on Walnut Hill Road in Lexington. Prior to the formation of the community, the land belonged to Sarah Johnson. Johnson willed ten acres to Milley Cole in 1834; Cole had been a slave owned by Johnson's brother, Horatio Johnson. The land was subdivided among the heirs of Milley Cole, and thus began Coletown. In 1971, there were 30 people living in the community. For more see Negro Hamlets and Gentlemen Farms: a dichotomous rural settlement pattern in Kentucky's Bluegrass Region, by P. C. Smith; and Historical Communities Near Lexington, a Bluegrass Community & Technical College website.
Subjects: Communities
Geographic Region: Coletown, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Collins, Iona Wood
Birth Year : 1914
Death Year : 2003
Iona Wood Collins was born in Paris, KY; her family moved to Maryland when she was a child. Collins was one of the first African American librarians with the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, MD, working there from the late 1930s to the early 1940s. Following the birth of her daughter in 1945, Collins reopened the previously closed Little School, a private preschool in Baltimore for African American children. She owned and managed the school for 35 years, later opening the Park Hill Nursery. Collins was a graduate of Howard University and attended the Hampton Institute [now Hampton University] library science school before transferring to Columbia University, where she earned her library degree. She was the daughter of Nellie Virgie Hughes Wood and Francis Marion Wood, former president of Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University] and Baltimore's first superintendent of Colored schools. For more see J. D. Rockoff, "Iona Wood Collins, 89, one of the first black librarians at Enoch Pratt," The Sun (Baltimore, MD), 12/28/2003, LOCAL section, p. 3B.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Migration North
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Baltimore, Maryland

Colonization Conspiracy (East St. Louis, IL)
Start Year : 1916
Prior to the East St. Louis race riots of 1917, a conspiracy took place when Democrats charged that Republicans were colonizing Negroes from the South to increase the power of the G.O.P. The state of Illinois was a doubtful win for the Woodrow Wilson presidential campaign, so, the idea was cooked up to accuse the Republicans of vote fraud among Negroes and also of importing southern Negroes to be used as strikebreakers and union busters. It was a tactic that had been used without much success in previous elections. For the 1916 election, there was a colonization investigation with the supposed findings, by Assistant Attorney General Frank Dailey, that over the previous year, 300,000 Negroes of voting age had been colonized in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Ten to twelve thousand had settled in East St. Louis. The Department of Justice agents interviewed many of the so-called colonists and found that they had come North seeking higher wages more so than politics. But, the newspapers were told that the colonists had been brought North as illegal voters; the jobs never existed, and there was a guilty party in Kentucky: "unscrupulous Republican politicians in Northern Kentucky had given labor contractors the names of Negroes who were to be duped." For more see E. M. Rudwick, "East St. Louis and the "Colonization Conspiracy" of 1916," The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 33, issue 1 (Winter, 1964), pp. 35-42 [quotation from page 40]; and "The Colonization Conspiracy," chapter 2 of Race Riot at East St. Louis, July 2, 1917, by E. M. Rudwick.
Subjects: Hoaxes, Migration North, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky, Colonies, Colonization
Geographic Region: East Saint Louis, Illinois / Kentucky

Colored Christian Church (Midway, KY)
Start Year : 1834
What is thought to be the first Negro Christian Church in the United States was founded as a congregation in 1834. It was later named the Midway Colored Christian Church, then renamed the 2nd Christian Church of Midway. According to former historian, Mrs. Katherine Johnson, the initial congregation was made up of colored members of the white churches at New Union, Grassy Spring, and Georgetown, KY. Meetings were held at the Kentucky Female Orphan School, where one of the members would volunteer to lead the weekly services. Alexander Campbell, a slave who was purchased by the white Christian Church for $1000 in order to become the preacher and manager of the congregation's affairs. A log cabin church was later built for the members on the banks of Lee's Branch. Under Campbell's leadership, the church soon had 300 new members and the congregation outgrew the log cabin. In 1872, the congregation purchased the Presbyterian Church building on Stephens Street, and that church was replaced by a new building in 1906. For more see Negro Disciples in Kentucky, 1840-1925 (thesis), by C. Walker; History of the Midway Colored Christian Church, by K. Johnson (1955); and "Old slave church remembered," Lexington Leader, 12/27/1976, p.A9. See also the entry for the Stone-Campbell Movement in Kentucky.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Midway, New Union, and Grassy Spring, Woodford County, Kentucky / Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky

Colored Column (Winchester Newspaper)
Start Year : 1908
End Year : 1912
The Winchester News began publishing in 1908, which was the same year that the newspaper included the "Colored Column." The column initially consisted on one paragraph, but soon grew in length and included news about African Americans in Winchester, as well as those in other Kentucky cities and the national news. The newspaper was sold in 1912 and the name changed to Winchester Sun. Full text of the "Colored Column" is available in the Winchester News for the years 1908-1910 in the Kentuckiana Digitial Library - Newspapers and in Chronicling America. For a history of the newspaper, see Winchester News, a Kentuckiana Digital Library website.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers
Geographic Region: Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky

The Colored Home of the Friendless (Paducah, KY)
The home was located at 1404 Rudy Street in Paducah, KY, it was a orphanage for African American Children, and is listed in the 1939 Paducah, KY, Consurvey Directory, v.2. Mary Belle Purdle Merriweather (1878-1947, born in Caldwell County, KY) was the matron of the home. She was the wife of WWI veteran Luke Merriweather (1877-1921).
Subjects: Orphans and Orphanages in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky

Colored Marriage Books, Trimble County, KY
Start Year : 1866
End Year : 1911
The marriage books were found in the Bedford Courthouse, and the entries are handwritten. Included with the marriages are declarations of living together, a consent letter, and an affidavit. A groom and bride index is available online via The Kentucky GenWeb Project.
Subjects: Genealogy, History
Geographic Region: Bedford, Trimble County, Kentucky

Colored Notes (Lexington Newspapers)
End Year : 1969
"Colored Notes," a column found in mainstream newspapers throughout the United States, contained information about African Americans; it was often located on the back pages next to the want ads. The articles ranged in length from a few sentences to an entire column or more. "Colored Notes" had been a part of the Lexington Herald, Lexington Leader, and the merged publication, the Sunday Herald-Leader, for decades, since the beginning of the newspapers. In the late 1950s, rumblings of opposition arose toward the use of the term "Colored" and the segregating of news in the Lexington newspapers. In the early 1960s, CORE and other civil rights organizations demanded that the notation "Colored Notes" be removed and that news about African Americans be incorporated with all other news. On the opposing side, there was a push to keep the news separate by some, including African Americans who felt that if "Colored Notes" disappeared, then journalism would return to the days when there was no news at all about African Americans in the mainstream newspapers. The Lexington newspapers were not inclined to remove "Colored Notes," so the heated debate continued. Finally, a readership vote was solicited in 1964, and it was reported that the final tally showed that readers wanted "Colored Notes" to continue. It would take another five years of disagreement before the newspapers begrudgingly relented, and the term and the segregation of the African American news within "Colored Notes" was discontinued in the Lexington newspapers. For more see "Colored Notes and Obituaries," Lexington Herald-Leader, 01/12/1964, p. 9; and "Colored Notes to be eliminated," Lexington Herald-Leader, 02/01/1969, p. 22.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Colored Skating Rink (Earlington, KY)
In 1910, a Colored skating rink was located across the street from the Louisville & Eastern Interurban Rail line Station in Earlington, KY. The Mt. Zion Baptist Church Sunday School used the facility for its Christmas entertainment on December 24-25, 1910. Superintendent William Killebrew and his assistants were in charge of the arrangements. For more, see the paragraph about the celebration in the Colored News section of The Bee (Earlington newspaper), 12/16/1910, p. 4, and 12/23/1910, p. 4. By the beginning of the new year, several Colored churches and Colored person in Earlington had signed a petition to condemn the dances and perceived rowdiness that had taken place at the skating rink. The indecent entertainment was said to be destroying the lives and character of young Negroes in Earlington. See the Colored Column paragraph "There is a petition signed...," in The Bee, 01/24/1911, p. 2. The Mt. Zion Baptist Church continued to use the skating rink for its events. The skating rink was also used for a banquet by the Zadok Lodge #80 F. & A. M. The organization paid honor to two visitors to the city, Professor E. B. Davis, Grand Master of F. & A. M. of Kentucky, and Ms. Maggie Freeman, Royal Grand Matron of the Eastern Stars. See the Colored Column paragraph "Prof. E. B. Davis...," in The Bee, 06/30/1911, p. 7.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Fraternal Organizations, Women's Groups and Organizations, Railroad, Railway, Trains, Skating Rinks
Geographic Region: Earlington, Hopkins County, Kentucky

Colored Skating Rink (Paris, KY)
The City Board of Health closed the Paris Colored skating rink temporarily in 1908. Mayor James M. O'Brien issued a notice to the chief of police for the rink to be closed until further notice. The rink drew its nightly attendance from Bourbon County, which, along with several surrounding counties, had cases of smallpox. Closing the skating rink was a precaution that would hopefully prevent the spread of the disease to the entire community. For more see the articles "Vaccination in order" and "Colored skating rink closed" in The Bourbon News, 03/13/1908, p. 5.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Skating Rinks
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky

Colored Soldiers Monument
Start Year : 1924
Also called the Kentucky African American Civil Veterans Monument, the Colored Soldiers Monument is located in the Green Hill Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky.  It was erected by the Woman's Relief Corps No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in July, 1924, the only monument to Kentucky African American Civil War soldiers.  A total of four such monuments exist in the U.S.  The monument was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Subjects: Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Colored Union Benevolent Society No.1 and No.2 (Lexington, KY)
Start Year : 1843
According to author Jacqui Malone, the Union Benevolent Society was formed in 1843 by free African Americans in Lexington, KY, to bury the dead, care for the sick, and give support to orphans and widows. The organization received support from whites who permitted a lodge run by slaves in 1852. The organization also secretly participated in the Underground Railroad, assisting in the escape of slaves. The organization was also referred to as the Lexington Colored People's Union Benevolent Society No 1. The Union Benevolent Society, No.2, of Colored People of Lexington, was incorporated in 1870. The organization had existed for a number of years. In 1870, the executive members were James L. Harvey, President; Jordan C. Jackson, Vice President; Henry King, Secretary; and Leonard Fish, Treasurer. For more information on the Colored Union Benevolent Society No.1 see Steppin' on the Blues: the visible rhythms of African American dance, by J. Malone. For more about Benevolent Society No. 2 see chapter 699 of Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed, 1869, pp.349-351 [available full view at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Freedom, Orphans and Orphanages in Kentucky, Fraternal Organizations, Underground Railroad: Conductors, Escapes, Organizations, Research, Benevolent Societies
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Colston, Lugusta Tyler
Birth Year : 1912
Death Year : 2008
Colston, born in Lexington, KY, was a graduate of Wiley College and received her undergraduate library degree from Wayne State University. She was the librarian at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, FL, for more than 30 years, and had also taught at the Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia, SC. In 1940, she was one of the seven founding members of the the Miami Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She was also a founding member of the Greater Miami Chapter of Links, an international women's civic organization, and was involved in several community organizations that included her leading role with the Minority Involvement Committee of the Miami-Dade County Division of the American Cancer Society. Colston, a sister to Jimmie Tyler Brashear, had been living in Southfield, MI, since her husband passed away in 1999. She is buried in Lexington, KY. For more see E. J. Brecher, "Veteran librarian at Booker T. Washington," Miami Herald, 03/09/2008, Metro and State section, p.5B.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Migration North, Migration South, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Columbia, South Carolina / Miami, Florida / Southfield, Michigan

Combs, Richard "Tallow Dick"
Combs, a barber, was from Beattyville, KY. He was one of the ten men initially charged with complicity in the murder of William Goebel. While on his deathbed, Goebel had been named Governor of Kentucky following a very controversial and contested governor's race. Richard Combs was the only African American linked to the murder; though there was testimony during the trial that two Negroes had been hired to kill Goebel. W. H. Watts, a Negro janitor of the Adjunct General's Office in the Kentucky Executive Building, also testified in the case [it had only been since 1872 that Negro testimony was accepted in a Kentucky court]. Goebel had won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1899, was shot and mortally wounded January 30, 1900, while outside the Kentucky State Capitol Building, and died February 3, 1900. A senator from Kenton County, KY, he was sometimes described as ruthless, at other times as a reformer. As a reformer, he pushed for a number of changes, including more rights for women and Negroes, and he wanted to do away with lotteries and pool halls. For more see William Goebel in the Kentucky Encyclopedia; "Goebel suspects indicted," from Frankfort, KY in the New York Times, 04/19/1900, p. 1; "Prison cell for Powers," New York Times, 08/19/1900, p. 1; The First New Dealer, by U. Woodson; and V. Hazard, "The Black testimony controversy in Kentucky, 1866-1872," The Journal of Negro History, vol.58, issue 2 (April 1973), pp. 140-165.
Subjects: Barbers, Corrections and Police, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Gambling, Lottery
Geographic Region: Beattyville, Lee County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Kenton County, Kentucky

Community Memories: A Glimpse of African American Life in Frankfort, KY Project [Kentucky Historical Society]
This project is one of the KHS Digital Collections [Kentucky Historical Society] available online. The photographs and the oral history collection features a glance at the life of African Americans in Frankfort, Kentucky.
Subjects: Communities, Photographers, Photographs
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Compton, J. Glover
Birth Year : 1884
Death Year : 1964
Compton, born in Harrodsburg, KY, was a noted ragtime jazz pianist and entertainer. He was the husband and, for a time, musical partner of vocalist Nettie Lewis. Beginning in 1902, Compton performed in the theater in Louisville, KY. He moved on to Chicago in 1910, where he later led the band known as J. Glover Compton and the Syncopaters. Compton had at one time worked with the Whitman Sisters before traveling abroad. In 1928, while in Paris, France, Compton took a bullet in the leg when a disagreement erupted between musicians Sidney Bechet and Mike McKendrick and the two exchanged gunfire. Two pedestrians were also shot, but no one was killed. Compton had been traveling in Europe for a couple of years with the Palm Beach Six when the group settled in Paris, and Compton later worked with Crickett Smith. On the day of the shooting, Compton, said to be the instigator, reported that Bechet had fired the first shot. Compton was McKendrick's friend. Both Bechet and McKendrick were arrested and sentenced to 15 months in jail. They later settled their differences, but Bechet, who lived the last decade of his life in Paris, never forgave Compton. In 1939, Compton returned to the U.S. and performed again in Chicago with Jimmie Noone. In the 1950s, he owned and operated a bar in Chicago. For more see "No one in any big time way" in Some Hustling This!, by M. Miller; and the J. Glover Compton Biography, by E. Chadbourne at Answer.com.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada
Geographic Region: Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois / Paris, France, Europe

Conley, Jess
Conley, considered the last African American jockey to compete in the Kentucky Derby, was actually one of the last. Conley finished 3rd aboard Colston in 1911. He had competed in the Derby two times before: in 1898 aboard Han d'Or (finishing 4th), and in 1899 aboard Mazo (finishing 3rd). Henry King would be the next African American jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby in 1921, and Marlon St. Julien rode in 2000. For more see Black Maestro, by J. Drape; and R. A. Frister, "Forgotten heroes," Ebony, May 1989 [available online at findearticles.com].
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Connections with Renee Shaw (KET)
Start Year : 2005
Renee Shaw is the host, co-producer, writer, and managing editor of "Connections with Renee Shaw." The intent of the program is to show the positive side of what is happening in Kentucky communities and the people who are making it happen. The interviews are archived and available to the public at the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) website. The archive is a very good resource of local people, places, and events, most of which will not be found elsewhere.
Subjects: Resources Dedicated to Kentucky African Americans [Statewide]
Geographic Region: Kentucky

Convention of Colored Men of Kentucky
Start Year : 1866
The First Convention of Colored Men of Kentucky was held in Lexington, KY, March 22-26, 1866. The convention was held in Ladies Hall on Church Street. The organization was to be temporary, according to the recorded proceedings. George Perry was named chairman and Henry Scroggins was named secretary. The organization had been formed first and foremost to address the Kentucky Legislature on the issue of voting rights for African American men. Other concerns included morality, education, temperance, frugality, industry, and the overall well being of African Americans in Kentucky. Initially, the organization did not push for total equality, but rather was organized with the intent of taking one step at a time toward gaining civil rights and justice. They established the Kentucky State Benevolent Association with Henry King as chairman, Madison C. Johnson as vice president, Henry Scroggins as recording secretary, James H. Campbell as corresponding secretary, and George Perry as treasurer. There was also an executive committee that was given the power to call a convention whenever they thought it necessary; they were the managers of the association. Convention members who arrived late or left the meeting early were fined. There was an exceptionally high expectation that all who had committed to the convention would arrive on time and remain for the duration of the meeting. Delegates came from all over the state. There was also a list of honorary members, beginning with Rev. John G. Fee. A petition was raised to pay the Ladies' Educational Association for the use of their building, Ladies Hall. The petition passed and the Ladies received $25, which was $8 more than they had asked. The Benevolent Association bought stock in the Colored Citizen newspaper, which was recognized as the voice of African Americans in Kentucky. Recognition was also given to Charlotte Scott, former slave of Dr. Rucker in Virginia; Scott was leading the campaign for the erection of the National Colored Men's Monument in memory of President Lincoln. Twelve hundred copies of the Proceedings of the First Convention of Colored Men of Kentucky were printed and forwarded to prominent men such as President Andrew Johnson. For several years, William J. Simmons served as chair of the executive committee of the Convention of Colored Men of Kentucky, with one of his re-elections taking place in 1875. He chaired the committee that led in presenting grievances to the Kentucky Legislature. In 1886, his speech before the Legislature on the injustices put upon the Colored people of Kentucky was described as a masterpiece; the Kentucky Legislature order that 2000 copies be printed. It was the first time that an African American addressed the Kentucky Legislature about the plight of African Americans in Kentucky. For more about the establishment of the organization see the Proceedings of the First Convention of Colored Men of Kentucky [available at Google Book Search]. For more on the text of William J. Simmons' speech, see pp.48-50 in Men of Mark by W. J. Simmons and H. M. Turner [available at Google Book Search]; and Life Behind a Veil by G. C. Wright.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Convention of Free Negroes of Kentucky
A convention of Free Negroes was organized in Philadelphia by James Forten in 1813. The National Convention of Free Negroes was called in 1830 by Arthur Tappan and Simeon S. Jocelyn. The convention members were anti-colonizationist, against deporting former slaves and free persons, and stood for the abolition of slavery and for equal citizenship to all free persons. The Convention of Free Negroes of Kentucky was also established with branches in various cities. The exact starting date of the organization is not known, and very little has been written about the group. According to an article in The Lima Argus newspaper, in 1847, the Kentucky Convention of Free Negroes and the Kentucky Colonization Society had agreed that a representative party of free Negroes from Kentucky would be allowed to go to Liberia for one year to inspect the colony, then return to make a full report to their constituencies. Persons were nominated from Lexington, Maysville, Danville, Richmond, and Louisville. The purpose of the proposed plan was to convince more free Negroes in Kentucky to migrate to Liberia. The chosen delegates were Stephen Fletcher, J. Merriwether, H. Underwood, and A. Hooper. They left the United States in 1847, and returned August 1848, along with S. Worrell, a North Carolina delegate. The Kentucky delegates' report on the Liberia Colony was favorable, the colony was healthy and prospering satisfactorily. For more see The Chronological History of the Negro in America, by P. M. Bergman and M. N. Bergman; "Convention of Free Negroes," The Lima Argus, 07/27/1847, p. 2; and "Arrival of the Liberia Packet," The Adams Sentinel, 08/14/1848, p.1.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Freedom, Liberia, Liberian Presidents & Diplomats, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada, Colonies, Colonization
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky / Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky / Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Liberia, Africa

Conwill, Houston
Birth Year : 1947
Born in Louisville, KY, Houston Conwill is a multi-talented painter and sculptor. He has received many awards, including the Prix de Rome Fellowship in 1984 and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award in 1987. He collaborated on the creation of a terrazzo and brass project, Rivers, for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Houston Conwill is the brother of artist and poet Estelle Conwill Majozo. For more see The African American Almanac, 9th ed.; St. James Guide to Black Artists, ed. by T. Riggs; and Art at the Edge, by H. Conwill and S. Krane.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Migration North, Sculptors
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / New York

Cook, Isabel and John Hartwell
It has been mistakenly assumed that the Cooks were Kentucky natives. John Cook was born around 1838 in Washington, D.C., his family was free. Isabel Marion Cook was born in 1843 in Tennessee. Both were graduates of Oberlin College. The couple came to Kentucky in 1864 when John was hired as a school teacher in Louisville. In 1867, they moved to Washington, D. C. where John Cook had accepted the position of chief clerk with the Freedmen's Bureau. The family, which included extended family members, lived east of 7th Street, according to the 1870 U.S Federal Census. John Cook worked during the day and attended college at night. He was a member of the first class of ten graduates from Howard University Law School in 1871. He would become a professor and dean of the school for two years prior to his death from tuberculosis in 1878. John and Isabel Cook were the parents of musician Will [William] Marion Cook. For more see A Life in Ragtime by R. Badger; and Swing Along by M. G. Carter. See the Will Marion Cook - Biography at The E. Azalia Hackley Colleciton [online], a Detroit Public Library website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Lawyers, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Migration South, Tuberculosis: Care and Deaths
Geographic Region: Washington, D.C / Tennessee / Kentucky

Cook-Parrish, Mary Virginia
Birth Year : 1868
Death Year : 1945
An education and religious leader, Cook-Parrish spoke before the American Baptist Home Mission Society on 'Female Education' in 1888. She was a professor at the Kentucky Baptist College, then known as State University [later Simmons University]. She became a journalist in 1886 with The American Baptist while at the same time editing a column with The South Carolina Tribune, writing under the pen name Grace Ermine. She spoke out on women's suffrage and full equality in employment, education, social reform, and church work. Cook-Parrish was born in Bowling Green, KY, the daughter of Ellen Buckner. She was the wife of Charles H. Parrish, Sr. Cook-Parrish's death certificate has her age as 77 years old. Additional information can be found in the Charles Parrish, Jr. Papers at the University of Louisville Libraries. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience, edited by K. A. Appiah and H. L. Gates, Jr.; and "Prof. Mary v. Cook, A.B." in Noted Negro Women: their triumphs and activities, by M. A. Majors.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Cooper, Priscilla Hancock
Birth Year : 1952
Born in Louisville, KY, Priscilla Cooper became a poet/performer. As a teenager, she worked for the Louisville Defender newspaper. She attended Lincoln University of Missouri. Her first volume of poetry, Call Me Black Woman, was published in 1993. Cooper has numerous publications and productions and has edited three anthologies. She also teaches writing. She and Dhana Bradley-Morton founded the Theater Workshop of Louisville. They have also presented creative collaborations, the first of which was a poetic concert in 1981, I Have Been Hungry All of My Years. This was followed by Four Women and God's Trombones, and they also performed in Amazing Grace in 1993. Both are featured in the KET Production, Words Like Freedom/Sturdy Black Bridges, a poetic concert featuring African-American writing and music. For more see Priscilla Hancock Cooper and Dhana Bradley-Morton in Savannah Black Heritage Festival 2000, Selected Profiles of Performing Artists, by Savannah State University; and B. Brady, "Architecturally Sound," CityBeat, vol. 6, issue no. 33, 2000.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Education and Educators, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Poets
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Corbin, KY (1919)
Start Year : 1919
On October 29, 1919, in the railroad town of Corbin, KY, a white man was attacked and robbed by two white men with painted black faces. The next day a vigilante mob took revenge on the African American community, searching homes and businesses and eventually forcing the African American railroad workers into boxcars and shipping them south to Knoxville. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) had hired the men, along with European immigrants, to expand the railroad in Corbin. The town of Corbin suddenly had a lot of new people, and there was tension. An increase in crime was attributed to the more recent African American residents. The day of the riot, some White employers hid African Americans. After the railroad workers were shipped out, many African Americans left Corbin out of fear; few remained in the city. For more see K. O. Griggs, "The Removal of Blacks from Corbin in 1919: Memory, Perspective, and the Legacy of Racism," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, vol. 100, issue 3 (Summer 2002), pp. 293-310; R. Henson, Trouble Behind: A Film About History and Forgetting, Cicada Films (1990); and coverage in various Kentucky newspapers. See also National Public Radio (NPR) "Kentucky town re-examines its racial history," July 3, 2007.
Subjects: Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky, Railroad, Railway, Trains
Geographic Region: Corbin, Whitley County, Kentucky

Cornett, Valerie C.
Birth Year : 1977
In 1995, at the age of 17, Valerie Cornett became the first African American homecoming queen at Hazard High School in Hazard, KY. For more see "Black students make history at high schools in Kentucky and Alabama," Jet, vol. 89, issue 2 (11/20/1995), p. 25.
Subjects: Homecoming Queens, Pageants, Contests
Geographic Region: Hazard, Perry County, Kentucky

Cosby, Laken, Jr.
Laken Cosby, Jr. is a graduate of Lousiville Central High School. In 1988, he became the first African American chairman of the Jefferson County School Board. Cosby was also appointed to the Kentucky Board of Education in 1994 by Governor Brereton Jones; Cosby was vice chairman of the board for three terms. In 2002, Cosby was not reappointed to the board by Governor Patton. For more see "Cosby is Jefferson County board's first black chairman," in 1988 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Seventh Report, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, p. 36; and M. Pitsch, "Longtime advocate of school reform replaced on board," Courier-Journal, 05/11/2002, News section, p. O1A.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Appointments by Kentucky Governors, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Cotter, Joseph S., Sr.
Birth Year : 1861
Death Year : 1949
Joseph Seaman Cotter was born in Bardstown, KY, the son of Michael Cotter (Scottish Irishman) and Martha Vaughn Cotter. He founded the Paul Laurence Dunbar School in Louisville, KY, and was principal at several Louisville schools. Cotter published five volumes of poetry and a collection of plays, composed music, and was known for his storytelling. He was the father of poet Joseph S. Cotter, Jr. (1895-1919). The Joseph S. Cotter, Sr. Papers are located at Kentucky State University. For more see Southern Black Creative Writers, 1829-1953, by M. B. Foster; Dictionary of American Negro Biography, ed. by R. W. Logan and M. R. Winston; and Early Black American Poets, by W. H. Robinson, Jr.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Fathers, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Poets, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Coulter, Francine T.
Birth Year : 1949
Born in Danville,KY, Francine Coulter was elected to the Danville Independent School Board in 1977. She was the first African American ever elected to the school board. Coulter was a stenographer with South Central Bell. 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. 24.
Subjects: Accountants, Bookkeepers, Certified Public Accountants, Stenographers, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky

Covington Public Library
Start Year : 1900
The first desegregated public library in the South, beginning in 1900. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky by R. F. Jones.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky

Covington, Virgil
In 1999, Virgil Covington received a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. He was principal of the Winburn Middle School in Lexington, KY, the first school in its district to be wired for the Internet. Covington also initiated the Winburn Community Academy, a safe after-school program for children. In 2002, Covington was suspended by Superintendent Robin Fankhauser, who claimed the suspension was not disciplinary. Covington announced his retirement in May 2002; he had been employed in education for 27 years. For more see Virgil Covington at the Milken Family Foundation website and "Winburn Principal to Retire," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/22/2002.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Cowan, Fred
Birth Year : 1958
Cowan was born in Sturgis, KY. The 6' 8" center/forward was a member of the University of Kentucky basketball team from 1977-1981; in his freshman year the team won the NCAA Championship. Cowan played in a total of 111 games during his college career, scoring a total of 975 points. He scored a career high 44 points against Clemson in 1979. Cowan is listed as one of the top 100 players of all time at the University of Kentucky. He was selected by the Houston Rockets in the sixth round of the NBA 1981 draft but chose to play basketball in Japan, which he did for 10 years. He has had a number of businesses, including a demolition company. Today Cowan is a mortgage broker and owner of Statewide Mortgage Services in Madisonville and Lexington, KY. He is a brother of the late Brenda Cowan. For more see C. R. Hallstaff, "UK Basketball 100 years; Top 100 Players of All Time," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/24/2002, Sports section, p. O2X; Fred Cowan at the Big Blue History website; and M. Davis, "He won't die rich, and he's not trying," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/10/2005, HealthFamily section, p. E1.
Subjects: Basketball, Businesses, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada
Geographic Region: Sturgis, Union County, Kentucky / Japan

Cox, Johnson D.
Birth Year : 1875
Cox, born in Kentucky, was a teacher at Governor Street School in Evansville, Indiana. He was the husband of Eugenia D. Cox (b.1879 in Indiana) and the father of Elbert Frank Cox (1895-1969), the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics. Elbert began his teaching career at the Colored high school in Henderson, KY in 1917. He taught mathematics and physics for a year before leaving to join the Army during World War I. Elbert would go on to become a great educator. He was married to Beulah Kaufman, whose father, Lewis Kaufman (b.1853 in Indiana), had been a slave in Kentucky. Once freed, Lewis Kaufman left Kentucky for Princeton, Indiana, where he owned a blacksmith shop. For more see J. A. Donaldson and R. J. Fleming, "Elbert F. Cox: an early pioneer," The American Mathematical Monthly, vol.107, issue 2, (Feb., 2000), pp. 105-128. See more on Elbert F. Cox at African American Registry website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Fathers, Migration North, Blacksmiths
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Evansville and Princeton, Indiana

Craft, Rebecca
Birth Year : 1887
Death Year : 1945
A schoolteacher from Versailles, KY, Rebecca Craft graduated from Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons [now Kentucky State University]. She and her husband, John, moved to San Diego, California, in 1910. Rebecca Craft led the fight against segregation and discrimination so that African American police and school teachers could be hired in San Diego. She also formed the Women's Civic Organization and was president of the San Diego NAACP. The civic organization served as a social welfare agency that also did fund-raising. Rebecca Craft was the aunt of Cecil H. Steppe. For more see G. Madyun, "In the Midst of things: Rebecca Craft and the Woman's Civic League," The Journal of San Diego History, vol. 34, issue 1 (Winter 1988) [available online].
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Migration West, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky / San Diego, California

Crawford, Don L.
Birth Year : 1921
Death Year : 2000
In 1961, Crawford became the first African American to be elected a Dayton City Commissioner. He was also the first person to be both a commission clerk and executive assistant to the commission, he retired in 1990. Crawford was also recognized for his public speaking ability. Born in Clinton, KY, he was a mathematics and physics graduate from Kentucky State University. Crawford left Kentucky for Dayton after his college graduation. He was a high school mathematics teacher and basketball coach before joining the U.S. Navy during WWII. In 1946, he became a social work administrator and later became more involved in the local politics. A park and Don Crawford Plaza were named in his honor. For more see A. Robinson, "Ex-commissioner Crawford dies," Dayton Daily News, 12/14/2000, p.1B; and MS-332 Don L. Crawford Papers at Wright State University Special Collections and Archives.
Subjects: Education and Educators, First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign), Migration North, Military & Veterans, Parks
Geographic Region: Clinton, Hickman County, Kentucky / Dayton, Ohio

Crenshaw, Jesse
Birth Year : 1946
Crenshaw was born in Glasgow, KY. In 1978 he became the first African American lawyer appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, joining Hancey Jones, an African American who was over the Western District of Kentucky. Crenshaw has been consecutively elected to the Kentucky General Assembly since 1993 as Representative of House District 77 (Fayette County). For more see Who's Who in American Politics, 14th-17th ed.; and contact the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Legislators, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Crews, Cookie
Cookie Crews, from Hardy, KY, is the first African American female to be named a warden in Kentucky. Her most recent appointment came in November 2009 when she was named warden of the Kentucky State Reformatory (KSR), the state's largest prison. Her career began in January 1984 when she was a correctional officer at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women (KCIW). Crews was continuously promoted over the years, and in 2002 she was named Deputy Warden III at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex (LLCC), where she also served as acting warden for seven months. In 2004, she was named warden of the Frankfort Career Development Center. In May 2006 she was named acting warden at KCIW and became the warden a month later. Cookie Crews is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University where she majored in corrections and public relations. For more see the Kentucky.gov press release "Department of Corrections: Cooke Crews promoted to warden at Kentucky State Reformatory," 11/17/2009, issued by the Department of Corrections [available online].
Subjects: Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Hardy, Pike County, Kentucky

Crocker, Cynthia
Crocker had been a teacher for 26 years when she received the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award in 1999. Crocker initiated the statewide Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) at Noe Middle School in Louisville, KY. Crocker also initiated the Parent Laptop Checkout Program as a way to provide technology and training to families without computers. For more see Cynthia Crocker at the Milken Family Foundation website.
Subjects: Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Cross, Oscar
Birth Year : 1906
Death Year : 1999
Born in Fulton, KY, Cross was the first African American juvenile officer in Paducah, founding the Boys Club of Paducah in 1949 for African American boys. He is credited as a leader in bringing about the first interracial board of directors of the Boys Club in Paducah, Inc. For more see Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Fulton, Fulton County, Kentucky / Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky

Crosswhite, Adam and Sarah
In 1844 the Crosswhites and their four children escaped from Carroll County, Kentucky, and made their way through the Underground Railroad to the African American community in Marshall, Michigan. The community was made up of about 50 residents, most of whom were escaped slaves from Kentucky; the town of Marshall had about 200 residents. By 1847, the Crosswhite family had been located by Francis Giltner, who intended to claim his slaves and return them to Kentucky. On behalf of Giltner, Francis Troutman led a party of four to the Crosswhite home. The party was confronted by a crowd of African Americans and whites that numbered more than 150 people. Troutman and his comrades would not back down, so they were arrested for assault, battery, and housebreaking. The Crosswhites escaped to Canada. Francis Giltner sued the leaders of Marshall for the cost of the escaped slaves. The U.S. Circuit Court of Michigan decided in favor of Giltner. The Crosswhites would later return to settle in Marshall. Adam Crosswhite was born around 1800, Sarah Crosswhite was born around 1796; the couple is listed in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census, still living in Marshall. For more see J. H. Yzenbaard, "The Crosswhite case," Michigan History, vol. 53, issue 2 (1969), pp. 131-143; and J. C. Sherwood, "One flame in the inferno: the legend of Marshall's Crosswhite affair," Michigan History, vol. 73, issue 2 (1989), pp. 40-47.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky, Court Cases, Underground Railroad: Conductors, Escapes, Organizations, Research
Geographic Region: Carroll County, Kentucky / Marshall, Michigan / Canada

Crowders, Reuben [Ernest Hogan]
Birth Year : 1860
Death Year : 1909
Born in Bowling Green, KY, in the Shake Rag District, Crowders became known as Ernest Hogan, comedian, actor, dancer, songwriter,and playwright. Crowders composed many songs, including the controversial song All Coons Look Alike to Me. He introduced the pasmala dance in the 1890s and was regarded as an exceptional dancer and the best dancing comedian. He produced Rufus Rastus in 1905, and The Oyster Man in 1907. Crowders was an actor in both productions; he was a leading actor of his time. He became ill during the run of The Oyster Man and later died of tuberculosis; he is buried in Bowling Green, KY. His last name is also spelled Crowder or Crowdus in various sources. A documented chronology of Crowders' career is included in The Ghost Walks, by H. T. Sampson. For more see African Americans in California Sheet Music; The First Rock and Roll Record; Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians, by E. Southern; and Dictionary of American Negro Biography, by R. W. Logan & M. R. Winston.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Artists, Fine Arts, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Tuberculosis: Care and Deaths, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky

Crump, Steven
Birth Year : 1957
Crump, a news reporter and an award-winning documentary filmmaker, was born in Louisville, KY. He has won a number of awards for his work. Crump is a reporter with WBTV 3 in Charlotte, NC. He has produced more than 20 documentaries that focus on African Americans and the Civil Rights Era. The titles include Forgotten at the Finish Line, Souls of Passage, Nickles from Heaven, Airmen and Adversity, Lessons from the Lunch Counter, and Louisville's Own Ali, which was recognized as a 2008 NABJ Salute to Excellence Award title. The documentaries are aired at WTVI (Charlotte, NC) and have also aired on other educational and public television stations around the U.S. Crump is a graduate of Trinity High School in Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University. This entry was submitted by Suzanne D. Cordery. For more see M. Washburn, "Steve Crump's documentary takes us to landmarks of Civil Rights Era," The Charlotte Observer, 01/18/2009, Carolina Living section, p.1E; "New ASC Award honors lifetimes of creativity," The Charlotte Observer, 09/21/2008, Carolina Living section, p.3E; and L. M. Imuhammad, "Louisville's own Ali," The Courier-Journal, 01/15/2007, Features section, p.1E.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Historians, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Television, Migration East
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Charlotte, North Carolina

Cullen, Countee
Birth Year : 1903
Death Year : 1946
Cullen was probably born in Louisville, KY, but his birthplace is also given as New York. Cullen was unofficially adopted by Rev. Frederick and Carolyn Cullen; his last name was Porter prior to the adoption. Cullen earned his bachelor's degree from New York University, his master's from Harvard University. During his prime he was the most popular African American poet and literary figure of his time. He won more literary prizes than all other African American poets in the 1920s. Cullen had won his first contest in high school with the poem, "I Have a Rendezvous With Life." His first wife, Yolande DuBois, was the daughter of W. E. B. DuBois. His most famous student (he taught high school) was James Baldwin. For more see the Countee Cullen Papers at Dillard University's Will W. Alexander Archives, and Countee Cullen and the Negro Renaissance, by B. E. Ferguson.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Migration North, Poets
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Cunningham, James C.
Birth Year : 1787
Death Year : 1877
Cunningham was a free-born Caribbean violinist, band leader and dance teacher. He came to Louisville, KY, in 1835 and formed a band that played at various events, including a ball for President-elect Zachary Taylor. Cunningham also played a role in the underground railroad. He was born in the West Indies and served in the British Navy. He was the father of James R. Cunningham. For more see The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. by J. E. Kleber: and History of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, by W. H. Gibson, Sr.
Subjects: Freedom, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents, Underground Railroad: Conductors, Escapes, Organizations, Research
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / West Indies

Cunningham, Raoul
Birth Year : 1943
Cunningham was born in Louisville, KY. He fought to bring down racial barriers in public accommodations and housing. When he was 14 years old, he was a member of the NAACP Youth Chapter, assisting with voter registration and participating in picketing segregated establishments in Louisville. He organized a Young Democrats chapter when he was a student at Howard University. Cunningham was president of the D.C. Federation of College Young Democrats and vice president of the Young Democrats Club of America. He is the state coordinator for the NAACP. In 2006, Cunningham received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Award, given each year in Louisville. For more read the Raoul Cunningham biography and watch his interview at the KET Living the Story website; S. Sheldonstaff, "Activist Raoul Cunningham honored," Courier-Journal, 01/13/2006, News section, p. O3B; and M. Starks, "Raoul Cunningham" in Who's Who in Black Louisville, 3rd. ed., p.63.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Curd, Kirksey L.
Birth Year : 1888
Death Year : 1967
Born in Fulton, KY, Curd became a physician, earning his medical degrees from Cornell University in 1912 and Pennsylvania University in 1917 and then practicing in Philadelphia, PA, where he would spend the rest of his life. Curd was also president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and a World War I veteran. He was the son of Curtis and Ida Curd. The family, along with extended family members, all moved from Kentucky to Perry, OK, when Kirksey Curd was a child. They are listed in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1930-32.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Migration West, Military & Veterans, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Fulton, Fulton County, Kentucky / Perry, Oklahoma / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cyrus, Mary Clark
Birth Year : 1824
Death Year : 1908
Cyrus, born free in Kentucky, moved to Detroit, MI, with her husband in 1844. She is recognized for her role as a leader in the Underground Railroad as a member of the the Detroit Anti-Slavery Society. For more see Hine Sight: Black Women and the Re-Construction of American History, by D. C. Hine.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Underground Railroad: Conductors, Escapes, Organizations, Research
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Detroit, Michigan