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Improvement Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World
The first African American Elks organization, Improvement Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World was founded by Benjamin F. Howard from Covington, KY, and Arthur J. Riggs from Shelbyville, KY. The lodge was located in Covington, having been chartered in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1899. A Kentucky Historical Marker at the site contains a summary of the history. For more see the Kentucky Historical Marker Database [number 1956]; and History of the Improvement Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the world 1898-1954 by C. H. Wesley.
Subjects:
Fraternal Organizations,
Benevolent Societies
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky / Shelbyville, Shelby County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio
In Old Kentucky
This Litt and Dingwall dramatic production, from the early 1890s, included an almost entirely white cast; it told a story that revolved around Kentucky hillbillies. The African Americans of the cast were the children who played in the Pickaninny Band; their acting, playing, dancing, and comic antics were meant to exemplify the fun life of African Americans in Kentucky. Initially, there was to be a colored band of men in the production who were to go by the name of Woodlawn Whangdoodles. Instead, a street band of boys from Indianapolis, IN, made up the African American members of the production. When the boys got to be too old or too tall, younger and smaller boys from Indianapolis replaced them. The show became a hit; the band and pickaninny brass bands in general were in demand throughout the United States. For more see Out of Sight: the Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895, by L. Abbott and D. Seroff. See photos of scenes from In Old Kentucky at the University of Washington Libraries' Digital Collection.
Subjects:
Actors, Actresses,
Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers,
Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Integration at Gainesville Elementary (Hopkinsville, KY)
Start Year
: 1965
When 27 year old Ronald I. Johnson became principal of the African American Gainesville Elementary School in 1965, it was thought to be the first integration of school administrative personnel in Hopkinsville, KY. Johnson had been a basketball coach for five years prior to becoming principal. For more see "White basketball coach heads Ky. Negro school," Jet, vol. 28, issue 15 (07/22/1965), p. 55.
Subjects:
Education and Educators,
Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky
Irons, Sandra Jean
Birth Year
: 1940
Irons was born in Middlesboro, KY, to Roy and Rosa Green Carr. She is a graduate of Kentucky State University, and Purdue University. Prior to becoming an educator, she was a social worker with the Ohio Department of Social Welfare. In 1971, she became president of the Gary, IN, Teachers Union and continues as president today. Since 1974, she has been a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO (AFT). She was the first vice president of the NW Indiana Federation of Labor in 1987, and became president in 1995. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1980-2006.
Subjects:
Education and Educators,
Welfare (Social Services) Organizations,
Migration North,
Social Workers,
Union Organizations
Geographic Region: Middlesboro, Bell County, Kentucky / Gary, Indiana
Iroquois Park (Louisville, KY)
Start Year
: 1924
In 1924 two African American teachers, Margaret Taylor and Naomi Anthony, took their students to Iroquois Park for an outing. As they were leaving, the security guards and a group of whites informed the teachers that the park was for whites only. The teachers said that they were not aware of the restriction and would look into the matter. A scuffle of sorts occurred; after the teachers and students were roughly handled, it was termed a near riot, and the teachers were arrested. After several hours the women were taken to the downtown police station where a large crowd of African Americans had gathered. African American leaders and white city leaders debated the issues. The outcome -- the teachers were reprimanded by the school board, the courts fined Naomi Anthony $10 for attacking a park guard, and the Board of Park Commissioners adopted a resolution of segregation in the Louisville public parks. For more see Life Behind a Veil, by G. Wright.
Subjects:
Parks,
Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky,
Court Cases
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Irvine, Bobby Lee
Birth Year
: 1935
Born in Spencer County, KY, he was the first African American mayor of Taylorsville, KY, elected in 1980. He received the highest number of votes for the non-partisan councilmen positions. For more see "Three Kentucky cities have black mayors," in 1982 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, 6th Report by Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, p. 20.
Subjects:
Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections,
Mayors
Geographic Region: Taylorsville, Spencer County, Kentucky
Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum
Start Year
: 2002
The museum is "dedicated to establishing a public facility to highlight individual biographies and display artifacts, art and written work" of "distinguished African-American artists, writers and others contributing to the community." The Isaac Hathaway Museum is located in the Lexington History Center [old courthouse] at 215 West Main Street in Lexington, KY. The museum was organized in December 2002 and an office was opened on North Broadway, then moved to the Heritage Art Gallery in April 2005. The museum opened in the Lexington History Center in April 2007. For more see J. Hewlett, "Black history museum gets new home - will move into history center," Lexington Herald-Leader, 12/25/2006, Main News section, p. A1. See also the NKAA entry for Isaac S. Hathaway.
Subjects:
Genealogy, History
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Isbell, Louis
Birth Year
: 1818
Isbell was free born in Kentucky and at the age of 20 moved to Chicago. He participated in Chicago's first recorded sports competition in a race between Isbell, a Native American named White Foot, and a man on a horse; Isbell won the race. According to author Perry Duis, who cited articles in the Chicago Post and the Chicago Democrat, Isbell was the fastest and most popular runner in the Chicago area for ten years. He retired and became a full-time barber after coming in second in a race in 1847 that took place before more than 1,000 spectators. For more see Challenging Chicago: coping with everyday life, 1837-1920, by P. R. Duis, pp. 171-172.
Subjects:
Barbers,
Migration North,
Track & Field
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois
Ishmaelites of Kentucky
There are two discussions about the existence of the the Tribe of Ishmael.
According to earlier sources, between 1785 and 1790, an Islamic denomination called Ishmaelites was first noticed in Nobel County (now Bourbon County), KY. The group was led by Ben and Jennie Ishmael. Individual members were of a multiracial background of African, Native American, and poor whites. The first generation included escapees from slavery and the Indian Wars, all having made their way to Kentucky from Tennessee, North & South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. In the early 1800s, the Ishmael's son John led the group across the Ohio River to the area that today is part of Indianapolis; soon afterward the group became a nomadic community. They were viewed as odd and referred to as gypsies. The group was suspected of having a high infant death rate, and in the 1880s it was common for the children to be taken away from their parents. Adult members were arrested on an array of charges, then imprisoned, committed, or bound to servitude. By the late 1800s, three-fourths of the patients at the Indianapolis City Hospital (a mental institution) were from the Tribe of Ishmael. In 1907 the compulsory sterilization law was passed in Indiana, and the procedure was used to further reduce the number of new births by Ishmaelite members. For more see Black Crescent: the experience and legacy of African Muslims in the Americas, by M. A. Gomez, pp.196-200; and O. C. M'Culloch, "The Tribe of Ishmael: a study on social degradation," Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction at the Fifteenth Annual Session Held in Buffalo, NY, July 5-11, 1888, pp. 154-159. See also The Tribe of Ishmael: a group of degenerates... at the Eugenics Archive website.
According to more recent sources, the Tribe of Ismael is a myth, and Ben and Jennie Ishmael were Christians. One of the current sources is the 2009 title Inventing America's "Worst" Family by Nathaniel Deutsch. The book traces how the Ishmael Family, a poor Christian family that included a Civil War veteran, was used as a representation of the urban poor in the late 1800s, then during the 1970s, became a very much admired family credited with founding an African American Muslim movement and community. For additional information see E. A. Carlson, "Commentary: R. L. Dugdale and the Jukes Family: a historical injustice corrected," BioScience, vol.30, issue 8 (August 1980), pp. 535-539; and R. Horton, "Tribe of Ishmael" in The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, by D. J. Bodenhamer, et al.
Subjects:
Communities,
Early Settlers,
Freedom,
Hoaxes,
Kentucky African American Churches,
Migration North,
Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Nobel County (Bourbon County), Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana / Tennessee / North Carolina / South Carolina / Virginia / Maryland