Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

Paducah (KY) Emancipation Day Reunion
August 8 is noted as the day when Western Kentucky African Americans learned that slavery had ended and therefore is a day of celebration for families in Paducah, KY. In 2005, the Emancipation celebration was held in conjunction with the Ware Pettigrew family reunion. Events include the Emancipation Day Parade. For more see G. Thomas, "Kentucky Emancipation Day Reunion," News Channel 6 (NBC), 08/06/2005; and for the 2008 celebration, see A. Shull, "Eighth of August focuses on churches," Paducah Sun, 08/03/08, State and regional section.
Subjects: Freedom, Emancipation Day / Juneteenth Celebrations
Geographic Region: Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky

Page, Gregory E. "Greg" (boxing)
Birth Year : 1958
Death Year : 2009
Page was born in Louisville, KY. A gifted boxer, he won the national Amateur Athletic Union heavyweight championship in 1977 when he was a junior in high school. He won it again in 1978 prior to his high school graduation. After graduation, Page turned pro. He was touted as the next Ali. But after his father's death, Page ran into contract and financial troubles. He defeated Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa for the 1984 WBA heavyweight title, then lost the title five months later. He also began to lose his property and took a break from boxing. Page boxed off and on, filed for bankruptcy, and later left boxing again and held a full-time job painting dental equipment. In 2001, at the age of 42, Page left his day job to prepare for a boxing career comeback. He suffered permanent brain damage in a bout with Dale Crowe in Erlanger, KY, in March 2001. Greg Page was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. For more see "Greg Page" on the Inductees, Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame website; Greg Page time-line articles in the Courier-Journal (Louisville), June 12-15, 2005; W. Graves, "New regulations close to reality," The Kentucky Post, 03/23/2006; D. T. Lovan, "Former boxing champ Greg Page dies in Louisville," Lexington Herald-Leader, 04/27/2009; and B. W. Baye, "Special Tribute, Boxing Royalty, Greg Page" in Who's Who in Black Louisville, 3rd ed., pp.49-50.
Subjects: Boxers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / South Africa / Erlanger, Kenton County, Kentucky

Page, Theodore R.
Birth Year : 1903
Death Year : 1984
Born in Glasgow, KY, Page was also known as Ted and Terrible Ted. He played right field and first base from 1923-1937. He batted .362 in 1932-1933, and his lifetime average was .335; he also averaged .429 in exhibition games against major-leaguers. He was an all-round athlete who declined a college football scholarship in exchange for a contract with baseball's Toledo Tigers. Page had a temper and once knocked two teeth out of a teammate's mouth during a disagreement. For more see The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, by J. A. Riley.
Subjects: Baseball
Geographic Region: Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky

Palmer, Zirl A.
Birth Year : 1920
Death Year : 1982
Palmer was the first African American to own a Rexall franchise in the United States. The store, located on Main Street in Lexington, KY, was bombed on September 4, 1968. Palmer was also the first African American pharmacist in Lexington and the first African American to become a member of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, named to the board by Governor Wendell Ford. Palmer was a graduate of Bluefield State College and Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy. For more see Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project in the University of Kentucky's Special Collections & Digital Programs; and "University of Kentucky. Board of Trustees," Lexington Leader, 08/24/1972, p. 1.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Pharmacists, Pharmacies
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Panic in Owen County, KY
Start Year : 1861
A messenger from Owen County arrived in Frankfort, KY, on May 10, 1861. The messenger was notifying the governor that 300-400 African Americans had armed themselves and formed a company. The telegraph lines had been cut. The messenger said that when whites attempted to disarm the African Americans, several men were killed. A messenger had also arrived in Indiana with the story that an African American insurrection had occurred in Owen and Gallatin Counties. It was said that two or three white men were leading the African Americans. Troops in both Kentucky and Indiana were put on standby. The following day it was reported that a woman had seen two African American men with guns and had notified her minister, who in turn had sounded the alarm. The story had created a panic in Boone County, also. For more see "Important from Kentucky: reported Negro Insurrection in Owen County," New York Daily Times, 05/11/1861, p. 1; and "The reported Negro insurrection in Owen County, Kentucky, etc.," New York Daily Times 05/12/1861, p. 8.
Subjects: Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Boone, Owen, and Gallatin Counties, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Indiana

Paris, William H. "Bubba"
Birth Year : 1960
Paris was born in Louisville, KY, and played football at DeSales High School, where he was team captain and an MVP. At 6'6", 300 pounds, Paris went on to play offensive tackle at the University of Michigan, where he was All-Big Ten, All-American, and All-Academic. He was taken in the second round of the NFL draft and played all but one season of his professional career with the San Francisco 49ers, 1983-1990. In 1991, Paris played for the Indianapolis Colts. During his time with the 49ers, the team won three Super Bowls. He is the father of the former University of Oklahoma basketball players Courtney and Ashley Paris. Bubba Paris, an ordained minister and motivational speaker, lives in California. For more see Bubba Paris, at databaseFootball.com; William "Bubba" Paris, a University of Michigan Library website; bubbaparis.org; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1992-2006.
Subjects: Businesses, Fathers, Football, Migration West, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / California

Parker, Johné M.
Johne Parker was born in Montgomery, AL. An associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, she has been with the University of Kentucky since 1997. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she wrote her dissertation, An analytical and experimental investigation of physically-accurate synthetic images for machine vision design. She co-authored Physically accurate synthetic images for computer vision system design. In 2005, Parker became the first person from Kentucky selected as an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Congressional Fellow, the oldest engineering society fellows program in the nation. The program enables fellow recipients to devote a year working with the federal government, providing engineering and technical advice to policy makers in Congress, federal agencies, and the White House. Parker spent the 2005-2006 academic year in D.C. For more see K. Johnson, "Engineering Professor to Advise Congress," University of Kentucky News, 06/24/05. For more on the ASME Congressional Fellows Program, see the Federal Government Fellowships Programs.
Subjects: Authors, Engineers, Migration North, Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering
Geographic Region: Montgomery, Alabama / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Parker, Perry
Birth Year : 1869
Death Year : 1936
Born in Lexington, KY, Parker was one of the founders and chairman of the Pullman Porter's Benefit Association of America, Inc. Parker started as a porter, advancing to a special investigator for the Pullman Company, where he was employed for 41 years. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37; and A. Philip Randolph: a biographical portrait, by J. Anderson.
Subjects: Pullman Porters
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Parks, Suzan-Lori
Birth Year : 1964
Parks was born in Fort Knox, KY, but lived in a number of states; her father was in the military. This playwright has received a number of awards, including the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, Topdog/Underdog. She wrote the screenplay for Girl 6 and is author of a number of books, including Getting Mother's Body: a novel and Venus. Parks is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. For more see Women of Color, Women of Words; Biography Index, vols. 20-26; and Contemporary Black Biography. Profiles from the international black community, vol. 34.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Authors
Geographic Region: Fort Knox, Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade Counties, Kentucky

Parrish, Charles H., Sr.
Birth Year : 1859
Death Year : 1931
Born into slavery in Lexington, KY, to Hiram, a teamster, and Henrietta Parrish, a seamstress. Charles Parrish became pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Louisville, KY; president of Eckstein Norton College; and later president of Simmons University (KY). He founded the Kentucky Home Society for Colored Children. In 1905, he attended the World Baptist Alliance in London, England, and in 1912 was named a fellow in the British Royal Historical Society as a result of his research in Palestine. For more see Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000 [electronic version available on the University of Kentucky campus and off-campus via the proxy server]; Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1879-1930, by L. H. Williams; and "Reverend Charles Henry Parrish" in Who's Who Among the Colored Baptists of the United States, by S. W. Bacote.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Passmore, Norman L., Sr.
Birth Year : 1916
Death Year : 2003
Passmore was born in Columbus, GA. He was an exceptional student who played quarterback on the Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University] football team that won national championships in 1934 and 1937. He graduated from Kentucky State University and the University of Kentucky. He later was the head football coach of the old Lexington Dunbar Bearcats, beginning in 1951 and continuing for 16 years, accumulating a record of 98 wins, 16 losses, and 6 ties while winning three state titles. He also coached for one season at Kentucky State College. He retired as principal of Henry Clay High School in 1984. Passmore was also a pastor and a World War II veteran. For more see M. Davis, "A classic game for a classic educator," Lexington Herald-Leader, section C, l8/29/04; and J. Hewlett, "Long time educator dies at 87 - N. L. Passmore Sr. taught at Dunbar," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/19/2003, City&Region section, p. B1. See also the sound recording interview of Norman Passmore in the Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project, 1900-1980 at Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Football, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Columbus, Georgia / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Lexington, KY)
Start Year : 1923
End Year : 1967
The following information comes from Julian Jackson, Jr., Historian of the (old) Dunbar Alumni Association. The original school was a wooden structure named Russell High School. In 1921, William H. Fouse was instrumental in convincing the city of Lexington and the Education Board to build a new school for Negro children. Two years later the school was completed at 545 North Upper Street, with W. H. Fouse as the principal. The school was named after poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, whose mother Matilda and father Joshua were from Kentucky. The funding for the school was unusual because it came from taxes on both African Americans and whites. (In 1921, Lexington tax dollars for education were still somewhat segregated.) The school was the first African-American high school accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, one of eight such schools in the South. Fouse also helped create the first school bank and the first insurance program within Dunbar. He also helped develop regional literacy and art competitions, and the school had a championship debate team, sponsored by alumnus Cecil Posey. Dunbar students also participated in two interracial debate competitions: The Thrift Competition, supported by the Thrift Service Company of New York, which offered $75 in prize money; and the Bible Study Contest, sponsored by the YMCA and the YWCA. The Dunbar boys' team won $61 in prize money and took first place in the statewide interracial debate competition in which the girls' team placed second. Dunbar served the African American community for 44 years with three different principals: W. M. Fouse, 1923-1938; P. L. Guthrie, 1938-1966; and Clara Wendell Stitt, 1966-1967. Students who attended Dunbar received a well-rounded, quality education, the majority graduated on time, and many went on to college. Former students with additional information may contact Julian Jackson, Jr. at (859) 255-6328 or jrattler49@aol.com.
Subjects: Bankers, Banks, Finance, Financial Advisors, Insurance Companies, Insurance Sales, Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky, YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association), YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association)
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Payne, George W.
Birth Year : 1888
Born in Union, KY, Payne was an engineer with the Mt. Vernon (Indiana) Water, Light, and Power Co. beginning in 1906. He was regarded as one of the best engineers and engine repairman in southern Indiana. He was the son of Jefferson and Alice Benson Payne. He was a member of Butler's Cornet Band, and was a member of the Technical and Electrical Engineers Association of America. For more see Who's Who of Colored America, 1915.
Subjects: Engineers, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Union, Boone County, Kentucky / Mount Vernon, Indiana

Peeples, Porter G.
Birth Year : 1947
Peeples was born in Lynch, KY. When he became director of the Lexington (KY) Urban League, he was the youngest Urban League director in the U.S. He continues to lead and to advocate for the needs and rights of the disadvantaged in Lexington. For more see Porter Peeples in Living the Story, Film Interviews at the Kentucky Historical Society; Porter Peeples Biography at The HistoryMakers; and Porter G. Peeples in Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project, 1900-1989 at Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Lynch, Harlan County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Pendleton, Clarence M., Jr.
Birth Year : 1930
Death Year : 1988
Born in Louisville, KY, and raised in Washington, D.C., Pendleton was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the first African American chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1981-1988). Pendleton replaced Arthur S. Flemming, who was dismissed by President Reagan. Pendleton had been the director of the San Diego Urban League and was later an opponent of school busing and affirmative action. He changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 1980. Over the next eight years he lived part time in Washington, D.C. and part time in San Diego, where he died suddenly in 1988. His father had been the first swimming coach at Howard University, where Pendleton received his B.S. and his Master's degree in education. He later took over as the swimming coach at Howard, and the team won 10 championships in 11 years. For more see Current Biography (1984); and J. McQuiston, "Clarence M. Pendleton, 57, dies, Head of Civil Rights Commission," The New York Times, 06/06/1988, p. A1.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Athletes, Athletics, Education and Educators, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents, Urban Leagues, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Facilities
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Washington, D.C.

Penny, Joe [Pennytown, Missouri]
Birth Year : 1812
Pennytown was located eight miles southeast of Marshall, Missouri; it had been established by Kentucky native and ex-slave, Joe Penny. In 1850, Penny arrived in Missouri, and in the 1860s he purchased eight acres for $160. He settled on a portion of the land and further divided the remainder into lots that were sold to other African American settlers. Joe Penny had come to Missouri as the slave of Jackson Bristol, and later became a free man. He married Harriett Butler, born 1815 in Virginia. In 1880, the Pennys were a family of seven that included Harriett's children and grandchildren, and Joe was a farmer, according to the U.S. Federal Census. The Pennytown community continued to grow as adjoining land was purchased by other African Americans. By 1900, 40 families lived in the 64-acre community with a total population of 200. There were two churches, lodges, a school and a store. The community ceased growing after a few decades, and families began to leave Pennytown for better jobs and educational opportunities in nearby cities. The last family left in 1943, and the older residents left behind eventually died. Today, the one remaining building is the First Freewill Baptist Church. Every year a reunion of Pennytown descendants is held at the church, a tradition that began at the end of World War II. The compiler of the community history collection was Josephine Jackson Lawrence (1929 - 1992); the collection is housed in the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection - Columbia at the University of Missouri. For more see African Americans in Saline County *Pennytown*, by Betty Brooks at the Kentucky African American Griots website; and Pennytown, by the Friends of Pennytown.
Subjects: Communities, Freedom, Migration West, Emancipation Day / Juneteenth Celebrations
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Pennytown, Saline County, Missouri (no longer exists)

Perkins, James "Soup" (jockey)
Birth Year : 1880
Death Year : 1911
Perkins, one of the two youngest jockeys to win the Kentucky Derby, was 15 years old in 1895 when he won the Derby riding Halma. Perkins was born in Lexington, KY, and his parents were the slaves of Major Flournoy. Perkins died in Hamilton, Ontario. For more see The Great Black Jockeys, by E. Hotaling; Black Maestro: the epic life of an American legend, by J. Drape; and "Soup Perkins, last noted Negro rider," the Lexington Leader, 09/12/1911, p. 10.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Perry, Julia A.
Birth Year : 1924
Death Year : 1979
Perry was born in Lexington, KY, one of the five daughters of Dr. Abe Perry and America Lois Heath Perry. The family moved to Akron, Ohio, when Julia was a child. She was a two-time graduate of Westminster Choir College [now Westminster Choir College of Rider University]. She received two Guggenheim fellowships and a number of other awards during her career. Perry composed many works, including two one-act operas and a a three-act opera-ballet, The Selfish Giant (published in 1964), for which she won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Prize. She taught in the music department at Hampton Institute [now Hampton University] and at Florida A&M, and she was a visiting lecturer at Atlanta University Center [now Clark Atlanta University]. Perry's career began to decline when she suffered her first stroke at the age of 46. She is buried in the Glendale Cemetery in Akron; the birth date on her tombstone, 1927, is incorrect. For more see "Julia Perry" in From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American women composers and their music, by H. Walker-Hill; Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians, by N. Slonimsky; and Black Women in America. an historical encyclopedia, ed. by D. C. Hine.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Akron, Ohio

Peter (Vigo)
Death Year : 1785
Peter, a slave owned by Francis Vigo, was one of the first African Americans to be executed in Kentucky. On August 24, 1785, in Louisville, he was hanged on a charge of theft-stealing. He had been accused of stealing from Robert Watson and Company, though Peter said that he was innocent. For more see Kentucky Executions; and J. B. Hudson, "References to slavery in the public records of early Louisville and Jefferson County, 1780-1812," The Filson Club History Quarterly, vol. 73, issue 4, (October 1999), pp. 343-344.
Subjects: Executions
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Petersburg (Jefferson County, KY)
Located on Shepherdsville Road in Louisville, KY, the community was known as Wet Woods, a swampy area that was settled by Eliza Curtis Hundley Tevis in the 1820s, 1830s, or possibly the 1850s. Tevis had been a slave on the Hundley Plantation, and after she was freed she was the first to purchase land in what would become Petersburg. The community got its name from Peter Laws, who purchased land in Wet Woods and settled in the area at the end of the Civil War. Soon afterwards other freed slaves built homes in the area. In the 1830s, German immigrants had settled in Newburg, the community just south of Petersburg. Over time the entire area became known as Newburg, and with residential and commercial growth and urban renewal, the community was greatly expanded to include more than 3,000 African American residents. For more see E. Sheryl, "19th Century Louisville: Free Black Hamlets," The Courier-Journal, 05/19/2004, Neighborhoods section, p.01A; and Eliza Curtis Hundley Tevis entry in the Encyclopedia of Louisville, edited by J. E. Kleber.
Subjects: Communities, Freedom
Geographic Region: Petersburg/Newburg, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Peterson, Roy Phillip
Birth Year : 1934
Death Year : 1998
Born in Alexandria, LA, Peterson lived in Lexington, KY. He was the Deputy Executive Director for Academic Affairs at the Kentucky Council on Higher Education [now the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education], and temporarily left Kentucky in 1985 to become the Interim President of Tennessee State University. Upon his return in 1987, Peterson was named Executive Assistant Director for Educational Attainment at the Kentucky Council on Higher Education. He is credited with the development of a number of programs, including the Governor's Minority Student College Preparation Program; the Southern Regional Education Board's Compact for Faculty Diversity; and the Committee on Equal Opportunities. He was appointed by Gov. Wallace Wilkinson to the Governor's Task Force for the Arts, and in 1995, Gov. Paul E. Patton appointed him Secretary of the Cabinet for Education Arts and Humanities. The Milner Award was presented to Peterson posthumously in 2000. Peterson, a biology and liberal arts major, was a 1957 graduate, cum laude, of Southern University. He earned a master's degree in reproductive biology in 1961 at the University of Oregon, and his Ph.D. in endocrinology in 1967 at the University of Iowa. For more see Musical Heritage Celebration, February 27, 2004 and March 3, 2006, both by the Musical Heritage Celebration Committee; and J. Hewlett, "Education Secretary Roy Peterson, 64, dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/29/1998, City & Region section, p. B1.
Subjects: Biologists, Education and Educators, Migration North, Appointments by Kentucky Governors
Geographic Region: Alexandria, Louisiana / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Pettigrew, L. [Luella] Eudora
Birth Year : 1928
Pettigrew was born in Hopkinsville, KY, the daughter of Corrye L. Newell Williams and Warren C. Williams, the first African American agricultural agent in Christian County. She is a graduate of West Virginia State College [now West Virginia State University] and Southern Illinois University. Pettigrew was a professor at several universities, then for six years served as associate provost at the University of Delaware before being named president of SUNY College at Old Westbury in 1986. She was the first African American woman to become president of a SUNY campus; she retired in1998. Pettigrew's initial career plan was to become a concert pianist; she received her BMus in 1950. She switched career paths when she was in her early 30s, leaving Kentucky to enroll at Southern Illinois, where she earned a masters in counseling and a Ph.D. in educational psychology. For more see S. C. Schaer, "Positive thinker L. Eudora Pettigrew sunny-old Westbury's president, is both a role model and a commanding presence," Newsday (Melville, NY, Nassau and Suffolk edition), 08/19/1990, The Newsday Magazine section, p. 08; Campus History, an Old Westbury website; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-2006.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky / New York

Pickard, Joseph
Pickard, a barber, was an escaped slave from Kentucky. He had settled in Lockport, NY, when in the fall of 1823, two slave catchers from Kentucky took him into custody. The people of Lockport would not allow Pickard to be taken back to Kentucky, and the case went to court. Lockport had a number of Quaker residents who were opposed to slavery. When Pickard attempted to escape from the courtroom by jumping out a window, he was aided by Irish canal workers, employees of the Quaker brothers Joseph and Darius Comstock. The prior year the Christmas Eve Riot in Lockport was blamed on the Irish workers having had too much to drink and getting rowdy. John Jennings was killed, which led to the first trial in Lockport. The case of Joseph Pickard took place the following year, and it almost led to a second riot. When Pickard jumped out the window, the Kentucky slave catchers went after him with pistols drawn. There was a brief standoff between the canal workers and the slave catchers before Pickard was again taken into custody and returned to the courtroom. After the case was heard, Pickard was released due to lack of proof that he was the property of a Kentucky slave owner. The slave catchers promptly left Lockport. The Joseph Pickard case is believed to be the first and only fugitive slave case in Lockport, NY. For more see Lockport: historic jewel of the Erie Canal by K. L. Riley; and 1823b. Fugitive Slave Case, Lockport on The Circle Association's African American History of Western New York State, 1770-1830 website.
Subjects: Barbers, Freedom, Migration North, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Lockport, New York

Pine Grove College (Jackson County, KY)
Start Year : 1882
Pine Grove College was a grade school founded by Berea College in Jackson County, KY, in 1882. The school was open to the white and the "slightly colored" children in the community who had been attending school together; their families had been attending the same church, Walnut Chapel, founded by Rev. John G. Fee. The school had been built in response to the Kentucky school law that mandated common schools be segregated. As a result, there were so few colored children that no school district was organized for them. Pine Grove College was an alternative to the state-run common school, and allowed for children of both races to attend school together. Reverend William Kendrick of Oberlin had purchased the land for the new school building, and there were a number of financial supporters. The school was managed by a board of trustees and run by Berea teachers, Maria Muzzy and Kate Gilbert. For more see E. H. Fairchild, "Pine Grove College, Kentucky," The American Missionary, 08/01/1882, vol. 36, issue 8, pp. 240-242 [available full-text online at Making of America by Cornell University Library].
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Jackson County, Kentucky

Plato, Samuel M.
Birth Year : 1882
Death Year : 1957
Samuel M. Plato was born in Alabama, the son of James and Katie Hendrick Plato. He was the husband of Nettie M. Lusby Plato (b.1879 in KY). They are listed in the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Federal Census. Prior to his marriage, Plato entered State University of Louisville in 1898, and two years later moved to Pennsylvania to enroll in an architecture course. After having finished the course, Plato moved to Marion, IN. One of the first African American architectural designers and building contractors, Samuel Plato built over 39 post offices throughout the U.S. He was one of the few African Americans to receive contracts to build defense homes during World War II. Plato came to Louisville from Marion, IN, around 1921 and would eventually remained in Louisville for the rest of his life. Contrary to what has been written, Plato's first wife Nattie M. Lusby Plato did not die in Marion, IN; she died in Louisville, KY, October 9, 1924, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, according to her death certificate. Plato's second wife was Elnora Davis Lucas Plato (1890-1975) was not from Indiana, she was a Kentucky native and died in Washington, D.C., according to the Social Security Death Index. For more see Samuel M. Plato in African American Architects by D. S. Wilson Samuel M. Plato, 1882-1957: a collection of accomplishments, by L. I. Neher and B. D. Shutt 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 "Samuel M. Plato," Black History News & Notes, no.47-54, p.4. The Plato Family Papers, 1924-1967, are available at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, KY.
Subjects: Architects, Migration North, Migration South
Geographic Region: Alabama / Marion, Indiana / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture
Start Year : 2007
For the state of Kentucky, Pluck! is a first. It is published three times a year by Northern Kentucky University. Pluck! is an academic journal that focuses on diverse regional arts and culture in the Appalachian region, including literature, images, essays, articles, and poetry. Frank X Walker, from Danville, KY, is editor and publisher. The journal is the second of its kind; it was preceded by Black Diamonds, first published in 1978 in West Virginia by Edward J. Cabbell. Black Diamonds was a digest of the life and culture of African Americans in Appalachia. Cabbell was the first African American to earn a master's degree in Appalachian Studies. Frank Walker's interview with Cabbell can be found in the inaugural issue of Pluck!.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers
Geographic Region: Kentucky / West Virginia

Plymouth Settlement House (Louisville, KY)
Start Year : 1917
The 1890s mark the beginning of the Settlement House Movement in the United States, but for African Americans the movement began at the turn of the century with the Frederick Douglass Center in Chicago, 1904. More than a decade later the Plymouth Settlement House in Louisville became a part of the movement. The building was located at 1624-26 W. Chestnut Street, next door to the Plymouth Congregational Church. It had taken the church pastor, Reverend Everett G. Harris, six years to raise funding for the Settlement House. The three-story structure included an auditorium, an assembly room, classrooms, a kitchen, and a 14-room dormitory and parlor for the young women who lived on the third floor. The women were considered "decent" and were selected renters who had come to the city seeking employment. Their weekly room charge was $1.75, and the dormitory was accessible from a separate entrance on the side of the building. There was an employment service in the Settlement House that placed the women in homes as domestic helpers. In 1919, the Settlement House became part of the Louisville Welfare League. The center offered classes that prepared young women for domestic service, marriage and motherhood. Plymouth Settlement House also included a day care for children, a Boy Scout program, and a community Sunday School. As a part of the Welfare League, the Settlement House no longer came under the direction of the church, so a new governing board was established. Rev. Harris, a Howard University graduate from Virginia, remained superintendent of the Plymouth Settlement House and pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church. For more see Everett G. Harris in the Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. by J. E. Kleber; G. D. Berry, Jr.; "The Settlement House Movement and the Black Community in the Progressive Era: the example of Plymouth Settlement, Louisville, Kentucky," Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas, vol. 21 (1990), pp. 24-32; and Plymouth Settlement House and the Development of Black Louisville,1900-1930 [dissertation], by B. D. Berry.
Subjects: Settlement House Movement in Kentucky, Scouts (Boys and Girls), Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Religion & Church Work, Sunday School
Geographic Region: Virginia / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Polin, Edward, Jr.
Birth Year : 1921
Death Year : 2005
Polin was born in Washington County, KY, the son of Edward Sr. and Sarah Polin. According to the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, the family of five lived on Kentucky State Highway 152. Edward Polin, Jr. is thought to be the first African American from Kentucky to enlist in the U. S. Marine Corps. Polin served in World War II, receiving an honorable discharge in 1946. He is buried in the Springfield Cemetery Hill in Springfield, KY. For more see "Edward Polin, first black Marines enlistee from Kentucky, dies at 84," Lexington Herald-Leader, 07/02/05, section B, p. 4.
Subjects: Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky

Polk, Syree Luther
Birth Year : 1896
Death Year : 1967
In 1889, when William Leveritt was elected the Colored City Physician of Paducah, KY, the position was segregated. [See NKAA entry Christian County's First Elected Negro Officials.] In 1939 it was still segregated when Dr. S. L. Polk became the Colored City Physician. During the late 1930s, he was the only African American among the Paducah City Officials listed in the Paducah Kentucky Consurvey City Directory. Dr. Polk shared the title of City Physician with Dr. Robert C. Overby, the physician for whites. In the early 1940s, Dr. Polk is listed as a physician and city health officer in Caron's Paducah KY City Directory. Dr. Polk was born in Tennessee, and had a medical practice in Hickman, KY, in 1930, according to the U.S. Federal Census. His wife Jennie M. Polk (1903-1969), also a native of Tennessee, was a school teacher in Hickman. The couple lived on Moulton Street. Dr. Polk's first name has been spelled Sywre, Syre, and Syree. When the couple moved to Paducah, they lived at 900 Tennessee Street. According to the Kentucky Death Index, the Polks died in Paducah, KY.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Tennessee / Hickman, Fulton County, Kentucky / Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky

Ponder, Flora B.
Start Year : 1930
Born in Elkton, KY, Ponder was head nurse of Recovery and the Intensive Care area at Louisville (KY) General Hospital from 1957-1959 and head nurse at the Louisville and Jefferson County Health Department from 1959-1965. She was director of nurses at Park-Duvalle Community Health Center. Ponder also assisted in establishing health services in western Louisville. She is the wife of Raymond Ponder. For more see Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Nurses, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Elkton, Todd County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Poole, Harold
Birth Year : 1943
Harold Poole was born in Louisville, KY. He attended Shortridge High School in Indiana, where he was the starting quarterback on the football team and a star athlete on the track and wrestling teams. Poole was 19 years old when he won the Mr. Universe competition. The next year he was the first African American to win the Mr. America competition. Poole retired from bodybuilding in 1992. For more see 2004 IFBB Hall of Fame Inductees; and J. Roark, "Featuring 2004 Hall of Fame Inductee: Harold Poole," Flex, November 2004.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Body Building, Football, Track & Field, Wrestling
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Indiana

Porter, Benjamin F.
Birth Year : 1845
Death Year : 1911
Dr. B. F. Porter was 3rd Assistant Physician at the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum in Louisville, KY, in 1896; he was the first African American doctor at the facility. Porter was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, he was the husband of Elizabeth Porter (1843-1910, born in CT) and the father of Wiley Porter (b. 1877 in KY). Dr. Porter received his medical degree in 1878 and was an 1899 graduate of the College of Hypnotism. The family had lived in Columbia, SC, where Dr. Porter was a minister before coming to Kentucky, according to the 1880 U.S. Federal Census. The Porter's employed two African American servants who worked at their home. While Dr. Porter was employed at the asylum, he and his family lived in the housing provided by the institution. The Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum had been established in 1874 as a state house for "feeble minded children." A third of the appropriations for the facility were to be used for the Colored inmates, who were to be kept in a separate ward from the white inmates. The facility had formerly been the State House of Reform for Juveniles. Dr. Porter's appointment to the institution by Kentucky Governor William O. Bradley caused a bit of alarm throughout the state when it was reported that Dr. Porter would be treating both Colored and white children. An article by the asylum superintendent, H. F. McNary, was published in The Medical News, reassuring all that Dr. Porter would only be treating the more than 200 Colored patients. With McNary's published letter, The Medical News editor gave the journal's approval to the hiring of Dr. Porter. In addition to his medical duties, Dr. Porter was also pastor of the African Methodist Church in Louisville, KY. By 1910, the Porter Family had left Kentucky for Carbondale, IL, where Dr. Porter practiced medicine, was minister of the Bethel A.M.E. Church, and was a member of the Knights and Daughters of Tabor. The family employed one African American servant. Dr. Porter was also a veteran; he was a barber when he enlisted in the Union Army on February 10, 1864, and served with the 5th Massachusetts Colored Calvary, according to his military service records. For more see "Colored Medical Doctors as Attendants in Insane Asylums," The Medical News, vol. 68, January-June 1896, p. 622 [available full-text at Google Book Search]; "Rev. B. F. Porter," The Daily Free Press, 12/22/1911, p. 5; and Marie Porter Wheeler Papers at the University of Illinois at Springfield. For more about the Asylum see Acts Passed at the ... Session of the General Assembly for the Commonwealth, Regular Session, December 1873, Chapter 287, pp. 29-30 [available full-text at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Barbers, Kentucky African American Churches, Medical Field, Health Care, Military & Veterans, Religion & Church Work, Migration South, Fraternal Organizations, Appointments by Kentucky Governors, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Williamstown, Massachusetts / Columbia, South Carolina / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Carbondale, Illinois

Porter, Otho Dandrith
Birth Year : 1864
Death Year : 1936
Porter was born in Logan County, KY, the son of Robert Henry and Amanda Poston Porter. During his college years at Fisk University, he roomed with W. E. B. DuBois. Porter was an 1895 graduate of Meharry Medical College. He established his medical practice in Bowling Green, KY. Porter was president of the People's Grocery Co., and from 1900-1901 he was president of the National Medical Association. He also helped organize the Kentucky Medical Society of Negro Physicians and Dentists. Otho D. Porter was the husband of Carrie Donna Bridges from Mississippi. According to Porter's death certificate, the couple lived at 439 State Street in Bowling Green, KY. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Dentists
Geographic Region: Logan County, Kentucky / Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Mississippi

Porter, William Edward "Bill"
Birth Year : 1918
Death Year : 1985
Porter, born in Stanley, KY, was the second son of James Lester Porter and Edna Mae Hazelwood Porter. The family left Daviess County when William was a small child and moved to Gary, IN, where his father worked in the steel mills; the family later moved to Lima, OH. William Porter was a star athlete at Central High School in Lima, where he played football and set a number of track records. In 1936, he enlisted in the Army and served in North Africa during World War II, later serving in Italy with the 92nd Infantry, 366th Regiment, Company B. Porter was a 1st Lieutenant and was awarded a Purple Heart, a Silver Star, and Bronze Star for his service in World War II. During the Korean War, he was a Captain; he received a second Purple Heart and a Silver Star during that conflict. After his retirement in 1958, Major William Porter began his second career with the ROTC and served as a military police instructor in Kansas City, MO, and Monrovia, Liberia, Africa, while still on active duty. Porter died in November 1985 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. William E. Porter was the grandson of McDonald and Elvira Porter and the great-grandson of Richard Hazelwood. This entry was submitted by Denyce Porter Peyton. For additional information see Lima News articles 1933-1936 and 1958; for photos and additional information see William Porter at the Buffalo Soldiers from World War II website; and the William E. Porter recording in the Black Military Oral History Project at Howard University.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Education and Educators, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Stanley, Daviess County, Kentucky / Gary, Indiana / Lima, Ohio

Porter, Woodford Roy, Sr.
Birth Year : 1918
Death Year : 2006
In 1958, Louisville, KY, native Woodford Porter, Sr. became the first African American elected to the Louisville Board of Education. He was later president of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees. Porter, a mortician, was the owner of A. D. Porter and Sons Funeral Home. He was the first African American member of the YMCA Metropolitan Board. Porter was the son of Imogene Stewart Porter and Arthur D. Porter, Sr., the family is listed in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census. Woodford Porter was a WWII veteran. He was the husband of Harriett Bibb. For more see In Black and White. A guide to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books concerning Black individuals and groups, 3rd ed., Supp., edited by M. M. Spradling; "A Special Tribute to Woodford R. Porter, Sr.," Who's Who in Black Louisville, Inaugural Edition, pp.39-42; and E. M. Talbott, "Woodford R. Porter Sr. (1918-2006)," The Courier-Journal, 08/02/2006, Forum section, p.11A.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Military & Veterans, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries, Board of Education, YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association)
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Postell, Peter, Sr. [Peter Glass]
Birth Year : 1841
Death Year : 1901
Postell (spelled Postel in some sources) was a former slave who was born in South Carolina according to census records. He owned a merchant business in Hopkinsville, KY, and was considered quite wealthy. He was often referred to as "The Richest Negro in the South." His estate was valued at $500,000. During slavery, Postell, had the name Peter Glass. He was brought to Kentucky from North Carolina, and he later escaped and joined the Union Army during the Civil War, serving with the 16th U.S. Colored Infantry, according to his military service record, he was in the brass band. Postell had enlisted in Clarksville, TN, in January of 1864, and North Carolina was listed as his birth state. He returned to Kentucky after the war and opened a grocery store in Hopkinsville and is listed in the 1870 U.S Federal Census as Peter Postell. He was the husband of Pauline Buckner Postell, b.1851 in Christian County, KY, [her father was born in S.C.]. Peter Postell was the son of Mrs. C. Kirkpatrick, who was born around 1819 in South Carolina. According to the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, the Postell household consisted of Peter, his wife and four children, his mother, her husband and their son, and a boarder. Peter and Pauline Postell had several more children before Peter died in 1901. For more see Evidences of Progress Among Colored People, by G. F. Richings at the the Documenting the American South website; "A Rich Negro," The Adair County News, 08/21/1901, p. 1; and "Death of a wealthy Negro," New York Times, 05/23/1901, p.1.
Subjects: Businesses, Freedom, Military & Veterans, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Migration East
Geographic Region: South Carolina / North Carolina / Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky

Poston, Ersa Hines
Birth Year : 1921
Death Year : 2009
Poston was born in Mayfield and raised in Paducah, KY, after her mother's death. She was the daughter of Vivian Johnson Hines (1905-1925, died of tuberculosis) and Robert Hines. Ersa Poston was one of the highest-ranked women in the federal government, having been appointed a member of the U.S. Civil Service Commission by President Carter in 1977. Prior to the appointment, Poston was director of the New York State Office of Economic Opportunity, 1965-67, and president of New York State Civil Service Commission, 1967-75. She served as vice president of the National Urban League. Ersa Hines Poston was the former wife of John Clinton and Ted Poston; the marriages ended in divorce. She was a 1942 graduate of Kentucky State University, and earned her master's in social work at Atlanta University [now Clark Atlanta University] in 1946. For more see In Black and White. A guide to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books concerning Black individuals and groups, 3rd ed., Supp., edited by M. M. Spradling; The Negro Almanac. A reference work on the African American, 5th ed.; and A. Berstein, "New York, U.S. Civil Service Administrator," The Washington Post, 01/22/2009, Metro section, p.B5.
Subjects: Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents, Urban Leagues, Tuberculosis: Care and Deaths
Geographic Region: Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky / Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky / Washington, D.C. / New York

Poston, Theodore R. A. M.
Birth Year : 1906
Death Year : 1974
Poston was known as Ted, but his full name was Theodore Roosevelt Augustus Major Poston. He was born in Hopkinsville, KY. The first African American reporter for The New York Post, he covered many of the race disputes in the South. He lost two teeth while covering the Scottsboro case. He wrote The Dark Side of Hopkinsville, which was published posthumously. Poston was a 1928 graduate of Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College [now Tennessee State University]. He was the brother of journalists Robert and Ulysses S. Poston, the son of Mollie Poston and Ephraim Poston, and the husband of Ersa Hines Poston. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; Ted Poston: Pioneer American Journalist, by K. A. Hauke; and Ted Poston at The Library of America website, reportingcivilrights.org.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kenucky

Potter, Mary E.
Birth Year : 1888
Potter was born in Bowling Green, KY. A physician, she was a faculty member of the Louisville National Medical College. Potter organized the Fraternal Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1922 and founded and organized the Women's Business, Civic and Political Club in 1925, which met in Louisville and published the Women's Business, Civic and Political Journal. She was the wife of Joseph U. Potter, an automobile mechanic who was born 1891 in KY. In 1920, the couple was renting a home on Walnut Street in Louisville, according to the U.S. Federal Census. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1927.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Women's Groups and Organizations, Nurses, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Powell, Colin L.
Birth Year : 1937
Powell was born in New York. He was appointed the United States Secretary of State in 2000. After graduating from the National War College, Powell commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY, in 1976. He is the author of My American Journey. For more see Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 28, ed. by A. Henderson.
Subjects: Military & Veterans, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: New York / Fort Campbell, Christian County, Kentucky

Powell, William Jennifer, Sr.
Birth Year : 1899
Death Year : 1942
William J. Powell, Sr. was born William Jennifer in Henderson, KY; he had a sister named Edna Jennifer. Their father died and their mother moved to Chicago and married Mr. Powell, who adopted the children. After high school, William Powell enrolled at the University of Illinois at Champaign [now University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] but left in 1917 to join the U.S. Army. At the end of World War I, he returned to college and earned his electrical engineering degree. In 1928 he left Chicago to enroll in the Warren School of Aeronautics in Los Angeles. Powell learned to fly, and his lifetime goal was to encourage African Americans to become pilots. He saw the field as a way for African Americans to get ahead economically by becoming part of the air age and to help break down the racial barriers in public transportation. Powell was the successful owner of Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc., an aviation company that offered flying lessons. He also made the documentary film, Unemployment, the Negro, and Aviation (1935); published the trade journal Craftsmen Aero-News (1937-1938); and organized all-black air shows with pilots such as Betsy Coleman and Hubert Fauntleroy Julian. Powell is author of the autobiography Black Wings (1934). He was the husband of Lucylle Powell, and the father of William Jr. and Bernadyne Powell. William Powel, Sr. was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. For more see Black Aviator: the story of William J. Powell, a new edition of William J. Powell's 1934 Black Wings; and see William Jennifer Powell in Encyclopedia of African American Business History by J. E. K. Walker.
Subjects: Authors, Aviators, Businesses, Engineers, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Migration West, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois / Los Angeles, California

Pralltown (Lexington, KY)
The Pralltown neighborhood is named after Woodford County native John A. Prall (1827-1907) who was a lawyer, judge, and a member of the Kentucky Senate. The Pralltown neighborhood was developed between 1868 and 1877. It is the oldest African American neighborhood in Lexington. Pralltown was initially located on bottomland that was prone to flooding and hemmed in by railroad tracks. It is located across Limestone Street facing the University of Kentucky campus. In 1940 it contained over 200 homes. In more recent times, the residents have been in an ongoing battle to prevent the neighborhood from becoming a new housing area for University of Kentucky students. For more see L. Becker, "Fighting for a living history," Lexington Herald-Leader, 08/30/1998, and more than 50 other articles in the newspaper; 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; and "Negro Urban Clusters in the Postbellum South," Geographical Review, vol. 61, issue 3 (July 1977), pp. 310-321.
Subjects: Communities, Railroad, Railway, Trains
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Prescott Pike Cemetery (North Middletown, KY)
Start Year : 1894
The land for the cemetery was sold in 1894 by Mary and Charles Meng to the cemetery trustees: Dave Biddle, Thomas Ransom, Aaron Kenney, Harvey Wess, and George Lindsey. The cemetery, then known as the North Middletown Colored Cemetery, was located on Prescott Turnpike Road in North Middletown, KY. Today it is known as the Prescott Pike Cemetery. A typewritten copy of the deed is available on the Kentucky African American Griots website, along with photos of headstones located in the cemetery. The committee that cares for the property includes Betty Mae Black, Michell Butler, and three great-grandchildren of Thomas Ransom, Nancy Brown Kenney, Dorothy Reed Royce, and Thomas Howard Butler. Contact Michelle Butler for the Prescott Cemetery Newsletter and additional information.
Subjects: Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries
Geographic Region: North Middletown, Bourbon County, Kentucky

Price, Geneva
In 2003 she became the first African American and second woman to be elected president of the Kentucky Association of Secondary School Principals. Price is Human Resource Specialist at Western High School in Louisville, KY.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Price, Julius Elliott, Sr.
Birth Year : 1938
Death Year : 1983
In 1955, Price was the first African American from Kentucky to be appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point by a Kentucky Congressman. Price was from Louisville, KY, and had just graduated from high school when he received the appointment from Senator Earle C. Clements. Price attended West Point for one year, then he got married and transferred to Wabash College. Price was the second African American student at the school and the second to graduate. He returned to Louisville where he would become president of Mammoth Life Insurance Company; Price's grandfather had been a founding member of the company. For more see "Kentucky Boy, 17, appointed to West Point," Jet, 06/02/1955, p.4 [available at Google Book Search]; and R. Wedgeworth, "Contradictions in American life: the inaugural John W. Evans Lecture" at Wabash College, 10/01/2008 [available online].
Subjects: Businesses, Insurance Companies, Insurance Sales, Military & Veterans, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Pricetown, Nihizertown, and Centerville (Fayette County, KY)
Located on Todds Road in Fayette County, the Pricetown land was divided into lots by owner Dr. S. Price. The lots were sold to African Americans at the end of the Civil War. The exact date the community was established is not known, though there are records in the Fayette County deed books as early as 1873. A church was established in 1881. Nihizertown and Centerville are adjoining communities to Pricetown, and the three combined communities had more than 100 people at one time. 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: Fayette County, Kentucky

Primo Carnera v Ed "Bearcat" Wright (boxing)
Start Year : 1930
The Kentucky Derby brings a large number of spectators to Louisville, KY, and in 1930, the racing weekend's activities included boxing matches. At top billing was Primo Carnera and Edward "Bearcat" Wright, two heavyweight boxers. The fight was to take place at the Louisville American Legion Post. [Carnera was also a professional wrestler from 1946-1961. Wright was NOT a professional wrestler.] Carnera (1906-1967) was a 6 ft. 6 in. Italian boxing champion who had come to the United States at the beginning of 1930. For the Louisville fight, he weighed in at 285 lbs. Carnera's nickname was "Ambling Alp." His opponent, Texan Ed Wright (1897-1975), was a 6 ft. 1 in. African American boxer who fought out of Omaha, Nebraska. He had a fairly successful career, including the knock-out win over 50-year-old Jack Johnson in 1928. In 1930, Wright weighed in at 220 lbs. Wright's manager Jim Dougherty and the fight promoters ignored the fact that Carnera had been banned from fighting in California and New York due to suspicious victories; Carnera was an attraction who would bring in large door receipts. Wright was not expected to win the bout. Things were going as planned until a little more than a week before the fight, when the American Legion and the Kentucky State Athletic Board of Control cancelled the fight. Carnera was suspended by the National Boxing Association while they investigated his previous knockout wins. The fight was rescheduled for July 17, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska; Carnera won by a knock-out in the fourth round. Shortly after the fight, Carnera, who had entered the U.S. on a six month visa and had overstayed his time, was ordered out of the U.S. He appealed to the Labor Department, and his stay was extended until the end of the year; he would eventually become a U.S. citizen. Carnera returned to Louisville in 1932 to fight Jack Taylor, who he knocked out in the second round. There was rumor and speculation that Carnera was owned by gangsters and that his fights were fixed. In 1935, Carnera was beaten by a technical knock-out in the sixth round by "The Brown Bomber," African American boxer Joe Louis. The fight was billed by the media as a duel between Italian fascism and American democracy. For more see Taboo, by J. Entine; "Canera's fight cancelled," Daily Illini, 04/26/1930, p. 8 [article full-text in Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection]; "Carnera wins plea to stay until Dec. 31," New York Times, 08/03/1930, p. 22; "Primo Carnera suspended; action follows investigation of knockouts by NBA," New York Times, 05/17/1930, p. 20; and Beyond the Ring, by J. T. Sammons.
Subjects: Boxers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Pruitt, Earle E.
Birth Year : 1902
Death Year : 1955
Born in Louisville, KY, the son of Minnie Forrest Pruitt and Richard Pruitt. In 1910, the family of five lived on O'Hara Street with Minnie's mother, Maria Forrest. Earl Pruitt was a Pullman porter with the L&N Railroad before he became manager of the College Court Apartments, U.S. Housing Authority, in Louisville from 1937-1940. From 1940-1944, he managed the Beecher Terrace Housing Projects, the largest housing projects complex in Kentucky at that time. Pruitt was also the public relations commissioner of the National Association of Housing Officials and public relations assistant in the Louisville Municipal Housing Commission. He went to London, England, to lecture on public housing and spoke on the subject on the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC). For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950. The finding aid to the Earle Pruitt Papers is available on the Kentuckiana Digital Library website. For more on the U.S. Housing Authority see To Create a U.S. Housing Authority, 75 H806-1, Aug. 3-6, 1937, pp. iii-316, U.S. G.P.O.
Subjects: Housing Authority, The Projects, Pullman Porters
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Pryor, Margaret
Birth Year : 1845
Death Year : 1910
Margaret Pryor was the richest African American woman in Kentucky as a result of the fortune she inherited from her former owner, horse breeder Major Barak G. Thomas (1826-1906). Thomas, who also raced his horses, had left smaller inheritances to others, including $1,000 to his African American jockey and trainer, John T. Clay, and another $1,000 to Clay's sons, Johnnie and Barak. The will was protested by Thomas's family and friends but was allowed to stand as written. Maj. B. G. Thomas had been born in South Carolina; in 1912 his family moved to Lexington, KY. After making his wealth in the horse industry, and with the onset of failing health, Thomas had sold his stud farm and settled in his city home at 194 West Main Street, where he passed away in 1906. His home was next door to the Henry A. Tandy family home. After Maj. Thomas's death, Margaret Pryor remained in the home and welcomed visitors from throughout the U.S. When she died in 1910, she was buried in Greenwood Cemetery [now Cove Haven Cemetery] in Lexington, though Maj. Thomas had stipulated in his will that she be buried beside him in the then segregated Lexington Cemetery. Margaret Pryor's will was challenged in the Fayette Circuit Court by her heirs, Mary Walker and others. The will was allowed to stand as written. The wills of both Maj. Thomas and Margaret Pryor were reported in all of the major newspapers and many smaller papers in the United States. In 1911, the Atlanta Constitution newspaper reported that Pryor had no children and four women who lived in Macon and Eatonton, GA, were claiming to be Pryor's sisters and were seeking to claim $50,000 that the sisters said was left to them by Pryor. All of the sisters were supposedly once owned by Skelton Napier of Macon, GA. For more see "Major Barak G. Thomas is dead," The Thoroughbred Record, 05/19/1906; "Will of Major Thomas," The Thoroughbred Record, 05/26/1906; "Death of rich ex-slave," Washington Post, 05/13/1910, p. 11; "Margaret Pryor's will," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/14/1910, p. 6; and "Negroes claim estate of wealthy sister," Atlanta Constitution, 01/24/1911, p. 5.

*Maj. Barak G. Thomas's home at 194 West Main Street had been renumbered to 646 West Main Street by 1907. The property faces the corner of present day Main Street and Old Georgetown Street.
Subjects: Freedom, Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby, Migration North, Inheritance, Court Cases
Geographic Region: South Carolina / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Macon and Eatonton, Georgia

Pyles, Charlotta G. M.
Birth Year : 1806
Death Year : 1880
Pyles was born in Tennessee; her mother was a Seminole Indian and her father a slave, so Charlotta was also a slave. Pyles and her children lived on a plantation near Bardstown, KY. After one of Charlotta's sons, Benjamin, was sold, her owner, Frances Gordon, took Pyles and her remaining family from Kentucky to Iowa, where they were freed. Pyles raised $3,000 in six months and returned to Kentucky to buy her two sons-in-law. While in Iowa, she also assisted runaways on their way to Canada. For more see Charlotta Gordon MacHenry Pyles in Digital Schomburg: African American Women Writers of the 19th Century; and Pyles' picture in Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction, by H. Q. Brown, p. 22, full-text at the Documenting the American South website.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration West
Geographic Region: Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky / Iowa / Canada