< Entries Beginning With E >
View Entries That Start With
Numbers |
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
Early African American Theaters in Lexington, KY
The Frolic Theater, operated by an African American, opened in 1907 and closed in 1910. In 1910, the Gem Theater opened, closing by 1916; the Gem had films and live entertainment and was part of the vaudeville circuit. The Pekin Theatre at 415 West Main Street, owned by Gray Combs, was also in operation in 1910. Of the six movie theaters in downtown Lexington, four allowed African Americans to sit in the segregated balcony seats. In 1947, the American Theater Corporation in Indianapolis opened the Lyric Theater at the corner of Third Street and Elm Tree Lane in Lexington. When the theater opened, it was billed as "the nation's finest colored theater." There were movies and live entertainment from greats such as Big Maybelle, the Oreos, Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, and many others. The Lyric Theater closed in 1963, but the building is still standing, though in disrepair. For more see C. T. Dunn's Gaines Fellowship Senior Thesis, Finding Voice for the Lyric Theater: an Oral History; Brazley and Brazley, Inc., the unpublished Research for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Survey and History of the Lyric Theatre; G. A. Waller, Main Street Amusements: movies and commercial entertainment in a Southern city, 1896-1930; articles in the Lexington newspapers: the Herald, the Leader, and the Lexington Herald-Leader; and H. T. Sampson, The Ghost Walks; a chronological history of blacks in show business, 1865-1910.
Subjects:
Actors, Actresses,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers,
Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Early African American Theaters in Louisville, KY
The first African American moving picture theater in Louisville was opened by Edward Lee in 1908, located at 13th and Walnut Streets. Lee also owned the Taft Theatre at 1314 Cedar Street and The New Odd Fellows Theatre that opened in 1908. The New Tick Houston Theatre on Walnut Street between Ninth and Tenth Streets was opened to African Americans in 1910. This information comes from The Ghost Walks; a chronological history of blacks in show business, 1865-1910, by H. T. Sampson.
Subjects:
Actors, Actresses,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers,
Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Early Bowling Associations & Louisville, KY
Prior to the integration of the American Bowling Congress (ABC), the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC), and the National Negro Bowling Association (NNBA), the city of Louisville, KY, served as the southernmost city for tournaments and city leagues. The ABC, founded in 1895, had a "white males only" membership. The WIBC was founded in 1916 for white women. In 1949, the NAACP was considering challenging the membership clauses of both organizations with lawsuits. In addition to the restricted membership, no tournaments were played in southern locations beyond Louisville until after the organizations were integrated in 1950. The NNBA was an African American bowling organization that was established in Detroit, Michigan, in 1939. Initially, the majority of its members were from Detroit, Chicago, and Cleveland. By 1942, there were more than 300 teams in city leagues in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Louisville, KY. The membership continued to grow, and in 1944 the name was changed to The National Bowling Association (TNBA), and the membership was opened to all persons. [This was a completely separate organization from the previously named National Bowling Association founded in 1875 and based in New York with a whites only membership.] Today the TNBA is one of the three major associations for amateur bowlers in the United States. For more see J. H. Rigali and J. C. Walter, "The Integration of the American Bowling Congress: the Buffalo experience," Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, vol. 29, no. 2 (July 2005), pp.7ff.; The Unlevel Playing Field, by D. K. Wiggins and P. B. Miller; Organizing Black America, by N. Mjagkij; and A Hard Road to Glory, by A. Ashe, Jr.
Subjects:
Bowlers and Bowling
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Early School in Louisville, KY
Start Year
: 1838
Jerry Wade, described as a mulatto, was a barber at the Gault House in Louisville, KY. He had purchased his freedom and that of his family. Wade was fairly well off and rented one of his homes to his son and his family. The front of the house was rented to Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm and her husband, both of whom were white. Jane Swisshelm, from Pennsylvania, was an abolitionist and advocate for women's rights. Around 1838 she opened a school for African Americans in the Wade home. Both she and the students were harassed by whites, and Wade was notified that his house would be burned down if the school continued. All of the students withdrew from the school. For more see Half a Century, by Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm, 1815-1880; and Jane Cannon was active against slavery!, an African American Registry website.
Subjects:
Barbers,
Education and Educators,
Freedom,
Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Pennsylvania
Early Schools for Negro Deaf and Blind Children
Start Year
: 1884
In 1884, the Kentucky School for Negro Deaf was established in Danville, KY, as a division of the Kentucky Asylum for the Tuition of the Deaf and Dumb. The Colored Department was managed by Morris T. Long, William J. Blount, Frances Barker, and Mabel Maris. The first African American student, admitted in 1885, was 25 year old Owen Alexander from Owenton, KY; he remained at the school for one year. He had become deaf at the age of 3 after having scarlet fever. The Kentucky Institute for the Education of the Negro Blind was located in Louisville, KY, in 1886. Both schools are listed in Adjustment of School Organization to Various Population Groups, by R. A. F. McDonald [full view available via Google Book Search]. For more about the early years of the Danville school, see volume 1 of Histories of American Schools for the Deaf, 1817-1893, edited by E. A. Fay.
Subjects:
Education and Educators,
Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky,
Deaf and Hard of Hearing,
Blind, Visually Impaired
Geographic Region: Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky / Owenton, Owen County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Eastern Colored Branch Library
Start Year
: 1914
The Eastern Colored Branch Library opened in Louisville on January 28, 1914; it was the second Carnegie Colored Library built in the U.S. At that time, Louisville was the only city in the U.S. with two Colored libraries. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones.
Subjects:
Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Eaves, Jerry L.
Birth Year
: 1959
Born in Louisville, KY, Eaves played high school basketball at Ballard in Louisville and was selected as a McDonalds' All-American in 1978 after his team won the Kentucky state basketball championship. Eaves played college ball at the University of Louisville and was a member of the 1980 NCAA Championship team. The 6'4" guard was selected by the Utah Jazz in the 1982 NBA draft and ended his professional playing career five years later with the Sacramento Kings. He played in a total of 168 games and had 1,132 points and 414 assists. Eaves is presently the head basketball coach at North Carolina A & T University. For more see Jerry Eaves at Basketball-Reference.com, and the Jerry Eaves Profile on the North Carolina A & T University website.
Subjects:
Basketball,
Migration West,
Migration East
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Utah / Sacramento, California / North Carolina
Eckstein-Norton Institute Musical Company
The company was comprised of the school's director of the conservatory, Hattie Gibbs, and Lulu Childers, A. L. Smith, and W. B. Hayson. The group gave concerts to secure funds for the replacement of the main building, which had burned in 1892. The school also had the Eckstein-Norton University Singers, a student singing company that performed for public relations and student recruitment events. Eckstein-Norton Institute was located in Cane Springs, KY. The school opened in 1890 and was merged with Lincoln Institute in 1912. For more about the musical company see Out of Sight: the Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895, by L. Abbott and D. Seroff. For more about Eckstein-Norton see the school's Letter Copy Books,1891-1911 by C. H. Parrish.
Subjects:
Education and Educators,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers,
Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Cane Springs, Bullitt County, Kentucky
Ecton, George French
Birth Year
: 1846
Ecton was a slave born in Winchester, KY, the son of Antonia and Martha George Ecton. He and a friend received forged freedom papers and made their way to Cincinnati in 1865. They were employed as deck hands on the Sherman (ship). Ecton soon returned to Cincinnati, where he was employed at a number of locations. He also came down with small pox there but recuperated and began attending a school taught by Miss Luella Brown. In 1873, he left Cincinnati for Chicago, where he managed the Hotel Woodruff dining room. While in Chicago, Ecton ran for and was elected to a seat in the 35th General Assembly. He was also the owner of property worth $10,000. Ecton married Patti R. Allen (b. 1855) in 1877; she was also from Winchester, KY. For more see "Hon. George French Ecton" in Men of Mark, by W. J. Simmons and H. M. Turner [available full-text at Google Book Search].
Subjects:
Freedom,
Migration North,
Legislators (Outside Kentucky)
Geographic Region: Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio / Chicago, Illinois
Ecton, Virgil E.
Birth Year
: 1940
Ecton was born in Paris, KY. He is a graduate of Indiana University (1962) and Xavier University. For 31 years he was employed at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and served as the Executive Vice President and COO before leaving the organization in 2001 to become Vice President of University Advancement at Howard University. Ecton is known for his exceptional fund raising ability: he raised more than 1.6 billion dollars while employed at UNCF. He is a founding member of the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives' Certification Board. For more see Howard Advancement and Capstone Currents, both Howard University websites; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-2006.
Subjects:
Businesses,
Education and Educators,
Migration North,
United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Washington, D.C.
Ector, Patricia E.
Birth Year
: 1948
Death Year
: 2008
Ector had been the Alameda County Deputy District Attorney since 1996. She was born in Hardin County, KY, and grew up in Germany and Seaside, CA; her father was in the Army. Ector spent much of her career specializing in prosecuting sexual assault cases in the juvenile division. She was the assistant district attorney in San Francisco from 1982-1996. She was a founding member of the National Black Prosecutors Association. In 1992 she received the Hon. Justice Clinton W. White Advocacy Award from the Charles Houston Bar Association. Ector was a graduate of San Jose State University and earned her law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkley. Prior to her law career, she was a singer who performed in the U.S. and abroad with the group Up With People; she also performed with the group Sing Out. Her performances are included on the album Up With People! III. For more see H. Harris, "Respected Alameda County prosecutor Patricia Ector dies," in Contra Costa Times, 06/21/2008, My Town section.
Subjects:
Civic Leaders,
Lawyers,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Hardin County, Kentucky / Germany / California
Edelen, John P.
Birth Year
: 1900
Death Year
: 1960
Edelen was born in Springfield, KY, the son of William and Barbara A. Edelen. He managed the Chicago Mortgage and Credit Company from 1926 to 1935 and was partner in Edelen, Bland and Company from 1935 to 1939, becoming the company's president in 1939. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950.
Subjects:
Bankers, Banks, Finance, Financial Advisors,
Businesses
Geographic Region: Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois
Edgerton, Walter "Kentucky Rosebud"
Birth Year
: 1853
Death Year
: 1923
Edgerton, was NOT from Kentucky, but rather was born in Norfolk, VA, and boxed out of Philadelphia. His birth year is also given as 1868. He was a featherweight and lightweight boxer who weighed between 115-128 lbs. and stood 5 ft. 4 in. Edgerton started boxing around 1882 and ended his career in 1916. [Covington, KY, native Howie Camnitz, a white baseball player, also had the nickname "Kentucky Rosebud." The name has been used by several other sport and entertainment figures.] For more see "Walter Edgerton" a Cyber Boxing Zone website; and Ethnicity, Sport, Identity, J. A. Mangan and A. Ritchie.
Subjects:
Boxers
Geographic Region: Norfolk, Virginia / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Edison, Harry "Sweets"
Birth Year
: 1915
Death Year
: 1999
According to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Harry Edison was born in Beaver Dam, KY (although Columbus, Ohio has also been given as his birthplace). Harry was the son of Wayne Edison and Katherine Meryl Borah Edison. It has been said that Wayne Edison left his family when Harry was a small child, and that Harry and his mother moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Harry learned to play the trumpet. He played with a number of bands and joined the original Count Basie Band in 1938, the night that the regular trumpeter, Bobby Moore, became ill, so Harry took his place. He remained with the band for 12 years. It was Lester Young who nicknamed him "Sweetie Pie" in appreciation of the way he played music; Count Basie shortened the nickname to "Sweets." Edison left the Basie band in 1950 and went on to play with other bands, including those of Coleman Hawkins and Buddy Rich. He was later signed by Capitol Records and recorded with Frank Sinatra on songs such as "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" and "Songs for Swingin' Lovers." He played in sessions with Sinatra for 14 years, including with the Warner Brothers Studio Orchestra. Edison later recorded with European groups as well as on the Granz's Verve label. Edison received a number of awards: in 1983, he was the first to receive tribute from the Los Angeles Jazz Society, and he received a second tribute in 1992. Edison also received a Duke Ellington fellowship to Yale University. For more see the Edison, Harry "Sweets" entry in the American National Biography Online (subscription database); and Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jazz trumpeter! at the African American Registry website.
Subjects:
Migration North,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Beaver Dam, Ohio County, Kentucky / Columbus, Ohio / Los Angeles, California
Edson, Edward Frank and Mary M.
According to Northwest Black Pioneers: a centennial tribute, Edward (b.1863 in Kentucky) and Mary Duvall Edson (b.1866 in Tennessee) were two of the early African American pioneers in urban Tacoma, Washington. The Edsons had been living in Kentucky and resettled in California before moving to Washington in 1889. Mr. Edson owned a barber shop and Mrs. Edson was a music teacher. The couple, who lived at 1422 K Street, helped establish the Allen A.M.E. Church. For more see "Tacoma" on page 38 of Northwest Black Pioneers: a centennial tribute, by R. Hayes.
Subjects:
Barbers,
Migration West,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers,
1st African American Families in Town
Geographic Region: Kentucky / California / Tacoma, Washington
Edwards, Augustus Wilson
Birth Year
: 1908
Death Year
: 1994
Edwards was born in Frankfort, KY, the son of Daniel and Carrie Edwards. A. Wilson Edwards became the first African American police officer and lieutenant, and the first Director of Safety in Louisville; he supervised the police and fire departments. Edwards also served as a security officer at the inaugurations of Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson. He was security adviser to William V. S. Tubman, President of Liberia, and Colonel Tran Minh Cong, police chief of Da Nang. For more see Who's Who Among Black Americans, 1975-1995; and The Negro Almanac, 3rd-5th eds.
Subjects:
Corrections and Police,
Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Liberia, Africa / Da Nang, Vietnam, Asia
Edwards, Sallie N.
Birth Year
: 1910
Born in Beaumont, KY, Edwards participated in the March on Washington Movement of 1941 and the American Council on Human Rights. She was a social worker. She wrote articles that appeared in Southwestern Christian Advocate and other magazines and taught at Stowe Teachers College in St. Louis, MO. For more see Supplement to Who's Who in Colored America, 1950; and Harris Stowe State College, a St. Louis positive..., an African American Registry website.
Subjects:
Activists, Civil Rights,
Authors,
Education and Educators,
Social Workers
Geographic Region: Beaumont, Metcalfe County, Kentucky / St. Louis, Missouri
Eilers v Eilers [Anna F. Anderson]
Start Year
: 1964
In September 1964, eight months after Anna F. Eilers married Marshall C. Anderson, the courts took her five children away. Anna, who was white, was from New Haven, KY. She had divorced her previous husband and father of the children, George Eilers, in 1963. Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Lyndon R. Schmid awarded custody of the children to Anna. In January 1964, Anna and Marshall C. Anderson, an African American musician and restaurant employee, were married in Chicago, IL. [Marriage between the races was still illegal in Kentucky and 17 other states.] When they returned to Louisville, KY, the couple lost their jobs in retaliation for their marriage. George Eilers sued to have the children taken away from Anna, and Judge Schmid had the children placed in a children's institutional home. Anna and Marshall moved to Indianapolis, IN, in 1964, by which time the two oldest children had been placed in foster homes. Prior to their move, the Andersons had retained Attorney James Crumlin of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. to help regain custody of the children. The custody case took place during the same time period that the Virginia Supreme Court had upheld the state's anti-miscegenation law in the Richard and Mildred Loving case [NY Times article]. The Andersons' custody case went to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1966, where the Appellate Court upheld the ruling of the Jefferson County Circuit Court. The case was next taken to the federal court where it became national news; it was the first appeal to the federal courts on constitutional grounds for child custody. The Andersons' case was temporarily linked to the Lovings' case, which was pending in the federal courts, and the results were expected to be landmark decisions. The link was broken when District Judge Henry L. Brooks declined to take jurisdiction over the Andersons' case because it was determined that the mother had not exhausted her appeals in the Kentucky courts, and the indirectness of the attack on the Kentucky miscegenation laws was a weakness of the case; therefore, there was no federal question. For a third time, the Anderson case was brought before the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The court reversed the judgment for proceedings consistent with the opinion. "No reason appears which would warrant interference with the custody order from which this appeal was taken. That order shall remain in effect until further order of the trial court or any court of competent jurisdiction." For more see F. Ward, "Mixed couple suffers ordeal," Jet, 04/07/1966, pp. 46-49, and "Mixed couple losses custody bid," Jet, 10/27/1966, p. 15 [both articles available full-text at Google Book Search]; B. A. Franklin's articles in the New York Times: "Kentucky facing race custody suit," 03/25/1966, p. 29, and "Judge bars case of miscegenation," 06/26/1966, p. 30; "N.A.A.C.P. to fight ruling on custody," New York Times, 07/08/1966, p. 12; and Anna Frances Eilers (now Anna Anderson), Appellant, v. George F. Eilers, Appellee, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 412 S.W.2d 871: 1967 Ky, March 17, 1967.
Subjects:
Mothers,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers,
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People),
Court Cases,
Interracial Marriage and State Laws
Geographic Region: New Haven, Nelson County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois
Election Day Riot (Frankfort, KY)
Start Year
: 1871
On the evening of August 7, 1871, the election polls had just closed when a race riot developed between African American and white voters in Frankfort, KY, at the market-house precinct. It was the second year of voting for African American men in Kentucky, and tension was high. After a scuffle, whites and African Americans took cover on separate sides of Broadway and began shooting and throwing rocks and boulders at each other across the railroad tracks that ran down the center of the street. Police Captain William Gillmore and Officers Jerry Lee and Dick Leonard rushed to the scene; Gillmore was killed and Lee and Leonard were injured. Other police arrived, but they were driven back. A Mr. Bishop, who was also white, was killed, and several others on both sides were injured. State Troops were ordered into downtown Frankfort to bring the rioting under control. An African American, Henry Washington, who supposedly fired the first shot, was apprehended for the murder of Captain Gillmore. Frankfort Mayor E. H. Taylor, Jr. had appointed the state militia to guard the jailhouse. After the State Troops had gone, the militia dispersed when about 250 armed and masked white men stormed the jailhouse at mid-morning and removed Washington and another African American man, Harry Johnson, who was accused of the rape of a Mrs. Pfeifer. Both men were hanged. For more see "Kentucky Elections. Rioting reported in various places - Two whites killed in Frankfort - Negro prisoners lynched," New York Times, 08/09/1871, p. 1; "In August of 1871...," at the Frankfort Police Department History website; and "A Democratic riot," printed in the New York Times, 08/15/1871, p.6, from the Louisville Commercial, August 10, 1871.
Subjects:
Voting Rights,
Lynchings,
Corrections and Police,
Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Elizabethtown (KY) Emancipation Day
Start Year
: 1882
The 1882 celebration held in Elizabethtown, KY, was joined by African Americans from southern Illinois. The event is noted as the first recorded Emancipation celebration for southern Illinois. For more see S. K. Cha-Jua, America's first Black town: Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915, p. 104.
Subjects:
Freedom,
Emancipation Day / Juneteenth Celebrations
Geographic Region: Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky
Elliott, Cynthia E.
From Jackson, KY, Elliott is a lawyer who in 1997 was appointed by Gov. Paul Patton to serve as Special Justice to the Kentucky Supreme Court, the first African American woman appointed to the post. She is a two-time graduate of Wayne State University in Michigan, where she received her undergraduate and law degrees. For more information see the Kentucky government press release, "Governor Patton Appoints First African-American Woman as Special Justice to Kentucky Supreme Court," 09/14/97.
Subjects:
Lawyers,
Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections,
Appointments by Kentucky Governors
Geographic Region: Jackson, Breathitt County, Kentucky
Elliott, Noah
Birth Year
: 1826
Death Year
: 1918
Elliott, born in Greenup County, KY, was the first African American doctor to practice in Athens County, Ohio. His physician's training was by way of an apprenticeship. He had been a hospital steward in the 26th U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War. Elliott's second wife was Mary A. Davidson, sister of Olivia Davidson, the wife of Booker T. Washington. The Washingtons were married in Elliott's home in 1886. For more see Noah Elliott at cordingleyneurology.com; and chapter 9 of Stories of Medicine in Athens County, Ohio, by G. E. Cordingly.
Subjects:
Medical Field, Health Care,
Migration North,
Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Greenup County, Kentucky / Athens County, Ohio
Ellis, James "Jimmy"
Birth Year
: 1940
Born in Louisville, KY, Ellis trained with Mohammad Ali, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, from 1968-1970, but lost the title to Joe Frazier. One of the lightest heavyweight fighters, Ellis was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004. He was inducted into the Kentucky Hall of Fame in 1989. His career began in 1961 in Louisville; he retired from boxing in 1975. For more see the Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000 [electronic version available on the University of Kentucky campus and off campus via the proxy server]; Fortune smiled upon Jimmy Ellis, at the East Side Boxing website; and B. Brianstaff, "Louisville's forgotten champ," The Courier-Journal, 10/05/2004, Sports section, p. 01C.
Subjects:
Boxers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Ellison, Fanny McConnell
Birth Year
: 1911
Death Year
: 2005
Fanny Ellison was born in Louisville, KY, to Ulysses and Willie Mae Brock McConnell; her parents divorced before Fanny was a year old and she and her mother moved to Colorado, then to Chicago. Fanny Ellison was the wife of Ralph Ellison (1913-1994), author of the 1953 National Book Award title, Invisible Man. Both were divorced when they met in 1944; they married in 1946. Fanny Ellison had attended Fisk University and graduated from the University of Iowa; she was involved in the theater, politics, and civil rights. In 1938, she founded the Negro People's Theater in Chicago, and in 1943 she moved to New York, where she was an assistant to George Granger, Director of the National Urban League. She supported her husband, Ralph, while he was writing what would become his only published novel. Fanny Ellison edited and typed the book manuscript that her husband had written in longhand, and she did the same for the second manuscript that he was unable to finish before his death. The second novel, Juneteenth, was published in 1999 with the permission of Fanny Ellison. For more see "Fanny McConnell Ellison dies at 93," an MSNBC website; and D. Martin, "Fanny Ellison, 93; helped husband edit 'Invisible Man'," The New York Times, 12/01/2005, Metropolitan Desk section, p. 9.
Subjects:
Actors, Actresses,
Authors,
Migration North,
Migration West,
Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Colorado / Chicago, Illinois / New York
Elm Tree Lane and Kinkeadtown (Lexington, KY)
The west side of Elm Tree Lane was part of the Templeton Subdivision in 1889. Around 1914, the east side of the street became Elm Tree Heights. Kinkeadtown was bottomland that included more recently Illinois, Kinkead, and Mosby Streets; it was around the area where Elm Tree Lane intersects with Fourth and Fifth Streets. The land had been subdivided by abolitionist George B. Kinkead in 1870 and sold exclusively to African Americans. Populated by about 20 families in 1880, it grew to include over 300 residents. The section of Elm Tree Lane and the remainder of Kinkeadtown, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, were purchased by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in the 1990s. The shotgun and T-plan houses were demolished in preparation for the extension of Rose Street. For more see J. Kellogg, "The Formation of Black Residential Areas in Lexington, Kentucky, 1865-1887," The Journal of Southern History, vol. 48, issue 1 (Feb. 1982), pp. 21-52.; "Kinkeadtown: Archaeological Investigation of an African-American Neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky," Archaeological Report 377 by N. O'Malley, University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology; Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association; and N. O'Malley, "The pursuit of freedom: the evolution of Kinkeadtown, an African American post-Civil War neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky," Winterthur Portfolio-A Journal of American Material Culture, vol. 37, issue 4 (Winter 2002), pp. 187-217.
Subjects:
Communities
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Elmore, Ronn
Birth Year
: 1957
Born in Louisville, KY, Elmore left Kentucky at the age of 16 and became an actor and dancer in Europe before becoming a minister and marriage counselor. He is a graduate of Antioch University (B.A.), Fuller Theological Seminary (M.A.) in California, and Ryokan College (Ph.D.), also in California. In 1989, Elmore developed the Relationship Center and the Relationship Enrichment Programs in Los Angeles. In the 1990s he also started a radio show and was a guest on television and other media, where he spoke on love, marriage, and family. Elmore has published several books, including How to Love a Black Man in 1996 and How to Love a Black Woman in 1998. Elmore is also the founder of Kingdom Shelter, which provides housing for homeless men. For more see African-American Religious Leaders, by N. Aaseng; and Dr. Ronn Elmore Biography at the TDJakes.com website.
Subjects:
Authors,
Migration West,
Radio,
Religion & Church Work,
Television
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Los Angeles, California
Elster, Jesse
Birth Year
: 1883
Elster was a prominent baseball player and manager of the Grand Rapids Colored Athletics Team. He was born in Kentucky and moved to Grand Rapids in 1904. In 1914, Elster and Stanley Barnett formed the Colored Athletic Businesses Association (CABA). The organization supported the baseball team. Elster was still team manager in 1949 when the last articles about the team appeared in Michigan newspapers. Jesse was the husband of Mamie Elster, b.1887 in KY or MO, and he later married Emma Elster, b.1883 in VA. The family of five is listed in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, and they lived at 439 James Avenue in Grand Rapids, according to Polk's Grand Rapids (Kent County, Mich) City Directory. Jess Elster and his son Russell were truck drivers for a furniture shop. His son Eugene was a shoe shiner. Elster's first name has been spelled different ways, he signed as "Jesse Elster" on his WWI draft registration card. For more see African Americans in the Furniture City by R. M. Jelks; and "Face Muskegon Club Sunday," Record-Eagle, 07/01/1949, p.15.
Subjects:
Athletes, Athletics,
Baseball,
Businesses,
Migration North,
Shoes: Finishers, Makers, Repairers, Shiners, Stores
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Grand Rapids, Michigan
Elzy, Robert James
Birth Year
: 1884
Death Year
: 1972
Born in Lexington, KY, Elzy was a 1909 graduate of Fisk University and completed his graduate work at Columbia University and New York University. He was assistant principal and a teacher at Joseph K. Brick School in North Carolina, then taught for a year at State Normal School for Colored Persons [now Kentucky State University]. Elzy left Kentucky to practice social work in Brooklyn, New York. He was the founder and executive secretary of the Brooklyn Urban League, chaired the Colored Case Committee of the Bedford and Ft. Green districts of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities, and was treasurer of the Brooklyn Social Service League. Robert J. Elzy was the husband of Louise Voorhees Elzy. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1928-29 and 1950; and "Robert Elzy of Urban League, champion of Black welfare, dies," New York Times, 02/20/1972, p. 68.
Subjects:
Activists, Civil Rights,
Education and Educators,
Welfare (Social Services) Organizations,
Migration North,
Social Workers,
Migration East,
Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / North Carolina / Brooklyn, New York
Engine Co. #8 (Louisville, KY)
Start Year
: 1872
The #8 firehouse was located at 725 S. 13th and Maple Streets in Louisville. The house had been built in 1872 and was used by an all-white fire company until December, 1923, when ten African Americans were hired for Louisville's first African American fire department. In 1937 a second African American firehouse was established at Roseland and Jackson Streets. Roy Stanley was the first African American to ride out of an integrated fire house in Louisville. For more see M. Young, "Exhibit features Black firefighters," The Louisville Defender, 03/12/1992, p. 2.
Subjects:
Firefighters
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
English, Sam
Birth Year
: 1937
Death Year
: 2005
Louisville, KY, native Sam English was not African American, but he helped integrate the game of tennis in Kentucky. English won many tennis championships, including state singles and doubles titles, over a more than 30-year playing career. He was captain of the Yale Eastern Championship tennis team, graduating from Yale in 1955. Before becoming director of Kentucky's state tennis tournaments in 1961, English agreed to accept the position only if African Americans were also allowed to enter the tournaments; the tournaments had been for whites only. In 2002 Sam English was inducted into the United States Tennis Association Southern Hall of Fame. For more see R. Pagliaro, "Popular Kentucky Tennis Contributor Sam English Has Passed Away At 68," Tennis Week, 11/04/2005. For information concerning the Louisville court surfaces, see "Remodeling Clay," Louisville Magazine, 8/1995, vol. 46, issue 8, p. 10.
Subjects:
Tennis
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Estill, Monk
Death Year
: 1835
Estill arrived in Kentucky in the 1770s as a slave and was later freed, the first freed slave in Kentucky. He made gunpowder at Boonesborough, KY. His son, Jerry, was the first African American born in Kentucky. For more see the Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000 [electronic version available on the University of Kentucky campus and off campus via the proxy server], and The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan.
Subjects:
Freedom
Geographic Region: Boonesborough, Madison County, Kentucky
Eubanks, Charles Lamont [Eubanks v University of Kentucky]
Birth Year
: 1924
In the fall of 1941, Eubanks, a 17-year old from Louisville, KY, was the plaintiff in the first Kentucky case the NAACP brought against a university. Eubanks had volunteered to be the subject in an attempt to integrate the University of Kentucky (UK); Eubanks was an honor student who had graduated from Central High School and applied for admission to the UK College of Engineering. His application was denied because Eubanks was an African American and the Kentucky Day Law did not permit African Americans and whites to attend the same schools. While the Eubanks' case was pending, the Kentucky Board of Education voted to establish a two year engineering course at the HCBU Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University] for African American students seeking an engineering degree. Eubanks' counsel, Charles H. Houston and Thurgood Marshall, objected to the two-year makeshift engineering program and an amended complaint was filed with the Federal District Court in Lexington, with a request for $5,000 in damages. As the case dragged on, Eubanks suffered with depression, he was criticized for creating tension between Kentucky African Americans and whites, he was rejected from joining the Army, and his wife divorced him. Eubanks signed an affidavit asking that the case not be continued and the case was dismissed in 1945. Thurgood Marshall was disappointed at the outcome of the case. Charles W. Anderson blamed Kentucky State College President Atwood for weakening the case when he allowed the two-year engineering course to be created at the school. But in spite of all that happened, the Charles Eubanks v University of Kentucky case is still considered a landmark in the struggle for equal rights in higher education. For more see Making Civil Rights Law by M. V. Tushnet; Fifty Years of Segregation by J. Hardin; and A History of Blacks in Kentucky by M. B. Lucas and G. C. Wright. See also Lyman T. Johnson, the case that desegregated the University of Kentucky.
Subjects:
Activists, Civil Rights,
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People),
Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky,
Court Cases
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Eubanks, Henry T.
Birth Year
: 1853
Death Year
: 1913
Eubanks, born in Stanford, KY, was elected to the Ohio General Assembly in 1903 and 1908. Prior to his election, he had worked as a waiter in Louisville, and several other cities, and he had a barber shop in Cleveland. He was the first African American vice president of the Ohio League of Republican Clubs. For more see H. T. Eubanks at georgewashingtonwilliams.org; H. T. Eubanks in The Biographical Annals of Ohio. 1902- by W. A. Taylor et al. [available full view at Google Book Search]; and A Ghetto Takes Shape by K. L. Kusmer.
Subjects:
Barbers,
Migration North,
Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections,
Legislators (Outside Kentucky)
Geographic Region: Stanford, Lincoln County, Kentucky / Cleveland, Ohio
Evans, W. Leonard, Jr.
Birth Year
: 1914
Death Year
: 2007
Evans, born in Louisville, KY, was the son of William L., Sr. and Beatrice Evans. Evans Jr. was raised in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois. He was an advertising executive with Ebony and later helped co-found the National Negro Network (a radio network) in 1953. He was president of Chicago-based Tuesday Publications, Inc., publishers of Tuesday Magazine, an insert in 22 major newspapers. The magazine focused on the positive contributions of African Americans. Evans retired in the 1970s and lived the remainder of his life in Arizona. For more, see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; "William Leonard Evans, Jr." in The Negro Almanac; vol. 3 of the African American National Biography, edited by H. L. Gates, Jr. and E. B. Higginbotham; and T. Jensen, "W. Leonard Evans, Jr.: 1914-2007 - founded Tuesday Magazine, National Negro Network," Chicago Tribune, 06/27/2007, Metro section, p. 9.
Subjects:
Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers,
Migration North,
Migration West,
Radio
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois / Arizona
Evans, William D., II
Birth Year
: 1899
Born in Louisville, KY, Evans was also known as Bill, Happy, and Gray Ghost. A versatile baseball player, he played center, right and left fields; shortstop; and third base. Tall and skinny, he was an outstanding defensive player. Evans had been a star on his high school football and baseball teams in Louisville. His baseball playing career began in 1924 and ended in 1934, then Evans went on to manage the Chattanooga Black Lookouts and the North American Aviation team. He was also a sportswriter for the Louisville News and founder of the Midwest Association of Coaches. For more see The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, by J. A. Riley.
Subjects:
Baseball
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Evans, William L., Sr.
Birth Year
: 1886
Born in Louisville, KY, Evans received an A.B. from Fisk University in 1909, took advanced study at Columbia University, from 1910 to 1911, and earned his M.A. from the University of Buffalo in 1930. He was Industrial Secretary of the Chicago Urban League, 1919-1923, worked with Plato and Evans Architectural Firm, 1923-1927, and was executive secretary of the Buffalo Urban League, beginning in 1927. Evans had also been a teacher before moving to Buffalo. He was a member of the Buffalo Commission in the New York State Commission Against Discrimination. Evans was the author of three articles: "Federal Housing Brings Racial Segregation to Buffalo," "Race, Fear and Housing," and "The Negro Community in 1948." He was the father of W. Leonard Evans, Jr. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37 & 1950; and Strangers in the Land of Paradise, by L. S. Williams.
Subjects:
Activists, Civil Rights,
Architects,
Education and Educators,
Fathers,
Migration North,
Sociologists & Social Scientists,
Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois / Buffalo, New York
Ewing, Thomas H.
Birth Year
: 1856
Death Year
: 1930
Reverend Ewing was born in Kentucky just prior to the Civil War. He left Paducah, KY, and walked to Kansas City, MO, then moved on to Nebraska, where he earned his medical degree, graduating with honors. Ewing had a private medical practice and later returned to Kansas City in 1887 to become pastor of the Vine Street Baptist Church. The church had a small, poor, divided congregation, and the church property was indebted. Ewing helped get the church back in good standing and built a larger building. He directed his congregation toward savings plans; he organized an economics club and financial clubs to help members get their own homes and to invest in real estate. Vine Street Baptist Church became one of the largest African American Baptist churches in Kansas City, and more than 100 members owned their own homes. Ewing had also followed his own advice: he owned farms and other properties in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. He was the husband of Fannie Ewing, born 1857 in Kentucky, according to the 1855 Kansas State Census Collection, when the couple was living in Leavenworth with their 3 year old son. T. H. Ewing was referred to as the wealthiest Colored Baptist minister in the entire West. For more see Take Up the Black Man's Burden, by C. E. Coulter; and "T. H. Ewing" in Who's Who Among the Colored Baptists of the United States by S. W. Bacote.
Subjects:
Civic Leaders,
Medical Field, Health Care,
Migration West,
Religion & Church Work,
Realtors, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Investments
Geographic Region: Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky / Kansas City, Missouri
Exum, William
Birth Year
: 1910
Death Year
: 1988
Exum, born in Illinois, was the first African American varsity football player at the University of Wisconsin. He was both an outstanding track star and student at Wisconsin, completing his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate. His father's family had originally come from Mississippi and Tennessee, and his maternal grandmother was from Kentucky, according to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census. William Exum's family settled in Gary, Indiana; after he graduated from high school, he left Indiana to attend school in Wisconsin. In 1949 Exum was hired as head of the Kentucky State University (KSU) Physical Education Department and later was made head of the Athletics Department, sometimes coaching various sports teams. In 1964 he coached the KSU men's cross country team to an NCAA Division II championship. He was the manager of the United States Track and Field teams at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. In 1978 the National Association of College Directors of Athletics inducted him into the Hall of Fame. Exum retired from KSU in 1980. The William Exum Athletic Center at KSU was named in his honor in 1994. William Exum was the son of William (b.1868 in MS) and Ruth Exum (b.1876 in IL). For more see Wisconsin Badgers; and N. C. Bates, "Exum a great athlete and coach," Post-Tribune (IN), 02/06/2003, Neighbors section, p. B2.
Subjects:
Athletes, Athletics,
Education and Educators,
Migration North,
Track & Field,
Migration East,
Migration South
Geographic Region: Illinois / Mississippi / Tennessee / Gary, Indiana / Wisconsin / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky