Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

Hackett, Wilbur, Jr.
Birth Year : 1949
Hackett is a 1999 Hall of Fame inductee at Manual High School in Louisville, KY, where he was a linebacker and running back on defense. He was considered the best all around football player in the city; in 1966 Hackett was All-State, All-Southern, and Parade Magazine All-American. The 5' 9", 185 pound Hackett went on to become a three year starting linebacker at the University of Kentucky (UK). He was the first African American to start in any sport at UK and in 1969 was the first to be named a team captain. Hackett was also one of the first African American football players in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). He received death threats, and in a game at Ole Miss, armed guards were on hand to protect him and teammate and roommate, Houston Hogg, who was from Owensboro, KY. Hackett was influenced to attend UK by Nat Northington and Greg Page, who would die from a neck injury he received during practice. Cecil New, a white football player at UK, would also died from a neck injury the same year as Page. Hackett left UK in 1970. For more see Wilbur Hackett, Jr, Inducted: 1999, at the Manual High School website; "Negro to captain Kentucky football," Washington Post, 08/30/1969, p. D5; "Recalling the death of racial segregation in Southern college football," The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, issue 21, (Autumn 1988), pp. 64-65; and M. Story, "They were our Jackie Robinsons - Hackett recalls days as trailblazer at UK of 1960s, a story for every county," Lexington Herald-Leader, 01/28/2007, Sports section, p. C2.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Football
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Mississippi

Hall, Daniel
Born in Louisville, KY, Hall is the first African American vice president at the University of Louisville (Hall is the Vice President of External Affairs). He has also served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman Romano L. Mazzoli. For more see Speaker Biographies in the program bulletin, "Brown v. Board of Education Turns Fifty: But We Are Still Separate and Not Equal," held at Eastern Kentucky University, February 26, 2004.
Subjects: Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hall, Lillian Childress
Birth Year : 1889
Death Year : 1972
Born in Louisville, KY, Hall became the first African American librarian in Indiana and, in 1915, the first admitted to the Indiana State Library School. She was the librarian at the Cherry Street Branch Library in Evansville (1915-1921), the Dunbar Branch Library in Indianapolis (1921-1927), and the Attucks Branch Library, beginning in 1927. Lillian Hall died in Louisville, KY, according to the Social Security Death Index. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37; and Who's Who in Library Service. A biographical directory of professional librarians of the United States and Canada, 3rd ed., edited by D. E. Cole.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Migration North
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana

Hamilton, Ed
Birth Year : 1947
Hamilton, who was born in Ohio and grew up in Louisville, KY, has created a number of sculptures throughout the United States, including the Booker T. Washington Memorial at Hampton University, the Amistad Memorial in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Spirit of Freedom: African American Civil War Memorial in Washington D.C. A nationally recognized sculptor, he is the author of The Birth of an Artist: a journey of discovery. Hamilton, a graduate of Shawnee High School in Louisville, also attended the University of Louisville and Spalding College [now Spalding University]. He has received Honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from Western Kentucky University and the University of Louisville. For more see the Edward Hamilton website; and the Ed Hamilton interview [#209], "Connections with Renee Shaw," 02/03/2007, at KET (Kentucky Educational Television).
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Authors, Sculptors
Geographic Region: Ohio / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hamilton, Jeff
Birth Year : 1840
Death Year : 1941
Hamilton, a slave, was sold to Texas Senator Sam Houston; he had been placed on the auction block in Huntsville, TX, in 1853. Jeff Hamilton was born on the Gibson Plantation in Kentucky, and the Gibsons had moved to Texas. Mr. Gibson was killed and his widow married James McKell, who had both gambling and drinking habits. McKell had sold Hamilton to pay a debt. Jeff Hamilton remained with the Houston family even after Sam Houston freed all of his slaves in 1862, becoming Sam Houston's personal servant. After Houston died, Hamilton was employed as a janitor at Baylor Female College [now the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor]. During his lifetime, Hamilton was recognized at historical events due to his close association with the historical figures he had met while serving as Houston's personal servant. After his death, Hamilton was honored with two historical markers, one at his grave in East Belton Cemetery and the other at Mary Hardin-Baylor campus. He was the author of My Master: the inside story of Sam Houston and His Time. For more see Jeff Hamilton, by J. C. Davis at The Handbook of Texas Online website .
Subjects: Authors, Freedom, Migration West
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Texas

Hampton, Lionel L.
Birth Year : 1908
Death Year : 2002
Lionel Leo Hampton was born in Louisville, KY, to Gertrude Morgan and Charles Edward Hampton. The family moved to Alabama when Charles Hampton was killed fighting in World War II, and from Alabama they moved to Chicago. Lionel Hampton became a jazz musician, composer, and arranger; his big band was formed in 1940. By 1945, Lionel Hampton was the highest paid band leader, performing that same year at Carnegie Hall. Lionel Hampton provided music for five presidential inaugurations. He also founded two record labels and was the only jazz musician with a music school named after him - The Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho. Lionel Hampton was married to Gladys Riddle. For more see Lionel Hampton: his life and legacy, a University of Idaho website; Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture, vol. 5: African American Culture, ed. by S. Adell; Hamp: an autobiography, by L. Hampton and J. Haskins; and "Lionel Hampton: Music was his fountain of youth," at Big Band Library.com.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hampton v. O'Rear (Montgomery County, KY)
Start Year : 1948
In 1944, Montgomery County resident L. E. Griggs left a charitable trust for the building of a hospital for African Americans as either an adjoined facility to the Mary Chiles Hospital or on the grounds of the hospital. When Mary Chiles Hospital refused to act as a trustee for the structure, and it seemed the trust would be discontinued, a lawsuit was filed asking that the trust be continued with new trustees and that the hospital be built at some other location. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and the defendants appealed. The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the defendants with Judge Simms dissenting. "...[I]t is clear that a mere substantial compliance with the conditions imposed would not serve the purposes for which the trust was created. That being true, the cy pres doctrine may not be applied; and, because the devisee duly disclaimed its rights under the conditions imposed, we have no alternative but to declare the purposes of the trust to have failed, and that neither the corpus of the estate nor the income therefrom may be used to establish a hospital for persons of Negro blood on any other property in the hospitalization area of Mt. Sterling." For more see Hampton et al. v. O'Rear et al. 309 Ky. 1; 215 S.W.2d 539; 1948 Ky.; and Cases on the Law of Trusts, by G. G. Bogert and D. H. Oaks. [Quotation from the opinion of Judge Van Sant.]
Subjects: Court Cases, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky

Hanley, Alvin C., Sr.
Birth Year : 1928
Death Year : 1987
Born in Lexington, KY, Hanley was a graduate of Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University (KSU)] and Indiana University. He played football and basketball at the old Dunbar High School and was an All-American football player at Kentucky State, where he was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. The Los Angeles Rams [now the St. Louis Rams] drafted him in 1951. He was the first director of the University of Kentucky Minority and Disadvantaged Student Recruitment Program. For more see "KSU Special Student Recruiter, Alvin C. Hanley, Dies at age 59," Lexington Herald-Leader, 12/16/87, Obituaries, p. D6.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Football
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Harden, Katie V.
Born in Lexington, KY, Harden taught school in Kirksville, KY, and later in Lexington. She was an unmarried woman who had her own horse and vehicle. She purchased land on which she later built her house. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Kirksville, Madison County, Kentucky

Hardin, John A.
Birth Year : 1948
Hardin is presently Assistant to the Provost for Diversity Enhancement at Western Kentucky University (WKU), where he has served in several capacities, including associate professor of history. He is author of numerous articles and has published two books: Fifty years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904-1954 and Onward and Upward: a Centennial History of Kentucky State University, 1886-1986. His primary research interests are 20th Century African American history, Kentucky history, and the history of higher education. For more see John A. Hardin on the WKU Department of History website.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Historians
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky

Harding, Robert E., Jr.
Birth Year : 1927
Death Year : 2004
Harding graduated first in his class from Bate High School in Danville, where he was born and grew up. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1954 at Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University]. Harding went on to become the second African American to graduate from the University of Kentucky College of Law. In 1958, he was an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board, transferring to the New Mexico office in 1968. Harding was a civil rights leader and an active NAACP member; he was president of the Albuquerque NAACP Branch. The Vincent E. Harding Public Interest Scholarship was established a few years prior to the 2005 Robert E. Harding, Jr. Endowed Professorship, both at the University of Kentucky Law School. [Vincent E. Harding was Robert and Iola Harding's son.] For more see A. Jester, "Distinguished black alumnus honored by UK law school," Lexington Herald-Leader, 10/27/05, p. B3.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Lawyers, Migration West, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Geographic Region: Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky / Albuquerque, New Mexico

Harlem Race Track Employees from Kentucky
Start Year : 1894
End Year : 1904
Initially named the Harlem Jockey Club, the track was located in the Village of Harlem, Proviso Township, suburb of Chicago, IL. It was later known as the Harlem Race Track in Forest Park, located near 12th and Hannah Streets. Harlem was a community of 15 houses in 1866, and was incorporated as a village in 1884. The population in 1900 was 4,085. The horse race track operated 1894-1904; it was established by gamblers George Hankins and John Condon. One of the early African American residents of Proviso Township was William Robenson (b.1840 in KY), a hotel cook. By 1900, practically all of the African Americans from Kentucky, who lived in the Proviso Township, were employed at the Harlem Race Track. Below are some of their names and occupations.

Source: 1900 U.S. Federal Census

Cooks

• Marvin Blair (b.1877)
• John McGorman [or McGowan] (b.1876)
• John Young (b.1858)

• Albert Bell (b.1875)
• Alis Calarneys (b.1874)
• Hy Carrington (b.1860)
• Casper Cash (b.1867)
• M. Dudley (b.1872)
• John Griffen (b.1869)
• William Hanson (b.1876)
• C. Jackson (b.1878)
• Milt Kennedy (b.1862)
• Isaac Lewis (b.1867)
• J. Madison (b.1878)
• William Mason (b.1874)
• John C. Smith (b.1875)
• John Stepp (b.1873)
• W. Wells (b.1881)

• T. Knight (b.1883)
• [See NKAA entry Jockeys/Trainers in Kentucky, and from Kentucky]

• E. Anderson (b.1882)
• William Crow (b.1880)
• George Green (b.1883)
• Sam Kennedy (b.1880)
• Steve Porter (b.1884)
• S. Porter (b.1884)

• William Reid (b.1869)
• Charles Gather (b.1858)

Harriford, Robert L., Sr.
Birth Year : 1927
Death Year : 2009
Harriford was born in Nobob, KY, the son of Willie and Grace Harriford. In 1930, the family lived on Upper Glasglow and Thompkinsville Road in Union (Monroe County) KY. In 1969, Robert Harriford became the first African American appointed to the Paducah City School Board, holding the post for 13 years. Harriford was also the first African American to serve on the executive board of the Kentucky School Board Association. He was president of Harriford Reproductions, located in Paducah, for 15 years. For more see Kentucky Black Elected Officials Directory [1970], p. 6, col. B, published by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton; and B. Bartleman, "Harriford eulogized for work with youth," The Paducah Sun, 07/07/2009, State & Regional section.
Subjects: Businesses, First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign), Photographers, Photographs, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Nobob, Metcalfe County, Kentucky / Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky

Harris, Emma E. "The Mammy of Moscow"
Birth Year : 1875
Death Year : 1937
Harris, an actress and singer, told others that she was from Kentucky, but she gave Augusta, GA as her birth place on her 1901 U.S. Passport Application. She was to return to the U.S. in two years, but Harris lived much of her life in Moscow, Russia. She left the U.S. from Brooklyn, NY, where she had been a church choir director. She left with the "Louisiana Amazon Guards [or Gods]", a six-woman theater troupe, with a seventh woman as a reserve. The group toured Germany. Harris later became a member of the "Six Creole Belles" [which may have been the same group under a different name and management]; they toured Poland and Russia before disbanding, and all but two members returned to the U.S. in 1905 because of the revolutions taking place in Russia. Harris then formed the "Emma Harris Trio," a singing group that continued performing in various European cities. Years later, the trio broke up and Harris was stuck in Siberia, where she taught English for a living before returning to performing as a concert soloist in Russia. Harris had studied voice at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She also served as a nurse in the Ukraine during the Civil War, worked with the American Relief Association, and later was a speaker for the International Red Aid. Harris remained in Moscow with her husband and manager, Ivanovitch Mizikin. She knew Stalin and was a friend of Maxim Gorky's. She spoke fluent Russian and gave speeches against the Scottsboro Boys case when she was over 60 years old. Harris was also an excellent cook of culturally diverse meals and liked to entertain; she had many connections for getting food during the period when food was rationed in Moscow. Harris returned to the U.S. in 1933 and died in Brooklyn in 1937. For more see "The Mammy of Moscow" in The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, vol. 9: Essays on Art, Race, Politics, and World Affairs, by L. Hughes, et al.; and R. E. Lotz, "The Louisiana Troupes in Europe," The Black Perspective in Music, vol. 11, issue 2 (Autumn 1938), pp. 133-142.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Actors, Actresses, Bakers, Cooks and Chefs, Education and Educators, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada, Nurses, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Augusta, Georgia / Moscow, Russia / Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Harris, Kevin L.
Birth Year : 1975
Kevin Harris was born in Lexington, KY, the son of Margaret Jones and the late John L. Harris, both from Paris, KY. Kevin Harris is a jazz pianist who plays contemporary and traditional music. He has been featured on National Public Radio's Jazz with Eric in the Evening [WGBH Jazz and Blues streams] and was invited by the mayor of New Orleans to perform for the Alpha Phi Alpha Forum at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. Each year, the Kevin Harris Project trio performs throughout the United States. The trio includes Harris, Steve Langone, and Keala Kaumeheiwa. The ensemble performs educational programs designed for grades K-12 to introduce various styles of improvised music and cultural awareness. Harris is also a music teacher, giving instruction in trumpet, piano, and jazz band at the Cambridge Friends School in Boston, Massachusetts; he also provides private music instruction. He has started five separate band programs throughout the Greater Boston area. Kevin Harris is a graduate of Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Morehead State University, and the New England Conservatory of Music. His first album, Patient Harvest, was released in 2002, his second, The Butterfly Chronicles, in 2007. For more information see The Kevin Harris Project, and J. Perry, "For jazz trio, a conversation in musical notes [online article version]," The Boston Globe, 04/17/2009, Scene & Heard section.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Boston, Massachusetts

Harris, Lauretta
Harris was the first African American to be hired full-time in Lexington televised news broadcasting, and she was the first African American anchor. She was at Kentucky State University when she was hired by Buzz Riggins, the WKYT News Director [prior to 1975]. Harris later moved on to WAVE and WDRB in Louisville, KY, and then to Nashville, Tennessee. Information for this entry was gathered from Lauretta Harris and Buzz Riggins and forwarded by Ken Kurtz of WKYT (Channel 27).
Subjects: Television
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Harris, William H., Jr.
Birth Year : 1903
Born in Russellville, KY, the son of William and Hattie Harris. The family lived on West Bank Street in 1910, according to the U.S. Federal Census, and William Sr. was a minister at the Baptist Church. William Harris Jr. taught at Western Seminary in Kansas City and at Douglass High School in Webster Groves, MO, from 1928 to 1930. He served as director of the Community House in Moline, IL, 1930-1933, and was pastor at several churches in Missouri. He also served as director of foreign mission work in Missouri. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration West, Religion & Church Work, Social Workers
Geographic Region: Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky / Kansas City and Webster Groves, Missouri / Moline, Illinois

Harrison, Lisa
Birth Year : 1971
Born in Mount Washington, KY, Harrison was a 6'1" forward when she played high school basketball at Louisville Southern, where she scored more than 3,000 points. In 1989, she was named Miss Kentucky Basketball and Naismith Player of the Year. Harrison played college basketball at the University of Tennessee from 1989 to 1993; Tennessee won the 1991 NCAA Championship. She was a Naismith finalist her senior year when she averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds. Harrison's professional career began in 1996 when she played one year with the Columbus Quest and two years with the Portland Power, both teams part of the now defunct American Basketball League (ABL), which had its first season in 1996. Harrison was inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletics Association's Hall of Fame in 1998. She was picked up by the Phoenix Mercury in the 1999 WNBA draft and stayed with the team until 2003, then rejoined it in 2005. She played in 160 games, averaging 6.8 points and 4 rebounds. Harrison was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. For more see J. Pitts, "High school basketball: Anderson, Harrison named Naismith players of year," USA Today, 03/23/1989; J. Quick, "Portland Power player profiles," The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 10/13/1996; and Mercury Re-Signs Lisa Harrison, 05/20/2005, a WNBA web page.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Mount Washington, Bullitt County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Harrison, Tom
Born a slave in Kentucky, Harrison escaped to Ohio around 1854 after his two brothers were sold downriver. Harrison ended up in London, Ontario, Canada, where he met and married his wife. After seeing a play with Edwin Booth playing the role of Richard III, the couple named their son Richard Booth Harrison (1864-1935); he became a famous actor playing in Negro shows, including Shuffle Along and Carmen Jones, and played the role of 'De Lawd' in the film Green Pastures. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; and The Papers of Winston Coleman.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Fathers, Freedom, Migration North
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Ohio / London, Ontario, Canada

Hart, Henry
Birth Year : 1840
Death Year : 1915
Hart was born in Frankfort, KY, the son of Frederick Hart, from Boone County, and Judith Brown, from Frankfort. Henry Hart moved to Cleveland, OH, when he was 14 years old and there learned to play the violin. He later lived in New Orleans, where he was employed as a violin player and where he met his wife, Sarah, a pianist. The couple moved to Evansville, IN, in 1867, where Henry Hart was employed as a barber and also performed as a musician. Hart formed the Alabama Minstrels in 1872; the group included Kentucky native Tom McIntosh. Hart's minstrels performed in blackface by using burnt cork. By 1885, the Hart Family was living in Indianapolis, performing as a family string orchestra. The Harts had five daughters: Estelle, Lillian [who died as an infant], Myrtle, Hazel, and Willie. Myrtle became a concert harpist and toured the United States, billed as the only colored harpist in the world. Hazel, also a musician, was a school principal in Indianapolis. She died in a bus accident in 1935; the Hazel Hart Hendricks School is named in her honor. For more see Henry Hart, a Wikipedia website; and "Henry Hart" in Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians, by E. Southern.
Subjects: Barbers, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana

Hart v. Fanny Ann
Start Year : 1825
End Year : 1827
In Montgomery County, KY, the 1803 will of William Hart granted freedom to his slaves when they turned 30 years old, along with all of their children, should they have any. The slaves freed by his will were Alsy, Lucy, Anna, Selina, and Turner. Lucy turned 30 in 1825 when her daughter Fanny Ann was 10 years old. William Hart's heir interpreted the will to mean that Lucy was free, but Fanny Ann would not be free until she turned 30. Fanny Ann filed suit in the Montgomery Circuit Court and was granted her freedom in accordance with the terms of William Hart's will. The Hart heir appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals of Kentucky where the lower court's judgment was affirmed with costs on October 22, 1827. The point of contingency in the case was the word "with" and whether it denoted connection to. The courts were asked to determine whether, when a slave is promised freedom, the slave's children also should be freed at the same time. For more see Hart v. Fanny Ann, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 22 Ky. 49; 1827 Ky.; and "Hart v. Fanny Ann" in A Practical Treatise on the Law of Slavery, by J. D. Wheeler [full-text in Google Book Search].
Subjects: Freedom, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Montgomery County, Kentucky

Haskins, Clem S.
Birth Year : 1943
Haskins was born in Campbellsville, KY. The 6'3" Haskins was the first African American student at Taylor County High School and led the school's basketball team to the state tournament. He attended college at Western Kentucky University, where he also played basketball and was named All-American three years running. His team went to the NCAA tournament in 1966. Haskins went on to play in the NBA; he was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1966 draft. At the end of his professional basketball career, he returned to Western Kentucky University in 1977 and became the school's first African American head basketball coach in 1980. In 1986 he became the head coach at the University of Minnesota, leaving the school in the wake of academic scandal in 1999. He is author of Clem Haskins: Breaking Barriers. Haskins is the brother of Merion Haskins. For more see Western Kentucky University 1991 Hall of Fame Inductees; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1992-2006.
Subjects: Authors, Basketball
Geographic Region: Campbellsville, Taylor County, Kentucky / Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Minnesota

Haskins, Ovan
Birth Year : 1895
Death Year : 1986
In 1948, Ovan Haskins purchased land on Newtown Pike in Lexington, KY, for the development of the city's first African American subdivision. The subdivision, approved in 1949, was financed with private capital. The construction of homes began in 1950, and the subdivision was located on a single street named Haskins Drive [a dead end street]. There were to be 26 homes; all but four of the 55x95 foot lots had been sold by August 1950. Ovan Haskins was born in Lexington, KY, he was an insurance supervisor and manager and a real estate broker. He was also a member of the Blue Grass Athletic Club and helped found the Lexington Hustlers baseball team. He also helped found the Second Street YMCA in Lexington and served with the Lexington Human Rights Commission. A picture of one of the newly constructed homes on Haskins Drive is on p. 74 in Lexington, Kentucky, by G. Smith. The Ovan Haskins Oral History interview is available at the UK Libraries' Special Collections and Digital Programs as part of the Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project. For more see J. Hewlett, "Former developer Ovan Haskins dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 07/23/1986, p. B11; "New subdivision for Negroes," Herald-Leader, 05/13/1951, p. 47; and the following articles from the Lexington Leader: "Haskins subdivision groundbreaking," 05/19/1950, p. 25; "Construction started in Haskins addition," 08/07/1950, p. 14; and "Negro subdivision off Newtown Pike begins," 08/22/1950, p. 13.
Subjects: Baseball, Insurance Companies, Insurance Sales, Realtors, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Investments, YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association)
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Hatcher, E. Porter, Jr.
Birth Year : 1936
Hatcher was an insurance agent and real estate broker. He was elected to the Kentucky General Assembly, serving from 1978-1999, representing the 43rd District (Jefferson County). He is one of the few African Americans to garner consecutive re-elections. Hatcher resigned his seat in 1999 and pleaded guilty to insurance fraud. A special election was held and Hatcher was replaced by Louisville 12th Ward Alderman Paul Bather. For more information, contact the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission and see "Editorial: Hatcher's Resignation," Courier-Journal (Louisville), 12/05/1999.
Subjects: Insurance Companies, Insurance Sales, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Legislators, Kentucky, Realtors, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Investments
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hatchett, Hilary R., Jr.
Birth Year : 1918
Hilary Rice Hatchett was born in Lexington, KY. He studied at the Julliard School of Music [now The Julliard School], then was the director of the Negro soldier chorus, a concert band, and an opera theatre during World War II in Sicily (1943). Hatchett earned his master's degree, for which he wrote his thesis, A Study of Current Attitudes Toward the Negro Spiritual with a Classification of 500 Spirituals Based on Their Religious Content, in 1946 at Ohio State University. Hatchett was next the superintendent of music for the Colored schools in Greenville, SC, 1946-1948, and acting chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Savannah State College [now Savannah State University] beginning in 1948. He co-authored the Savannah State College Hymn. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950; and Savannah State College Hymn.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Military & Veterans, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Migration South
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Greenville, South Carolina / Savannah, Georgia

Hathaway, James S.
Birth Year : 1862
Death Year : 1930
Hathaway was born in Mt. Sterling, KY, the son of Lewis and Ann Hathaway. He was the husband of Celia Hathaway. James Hathaway was a teacher in Kentucky schools. He organized and established The Standard Printing and Publishing Company in Lexington. He taught at Berea College for ten years, then later became the 3rd president of Kentucky State Institute for Negroes [now Kentucky State University] in 1902. Hathaway had also been president of the State Association of Colored Teachers [renamed Kentucky Negro Educational Association], 1889-1890. He was the principal of Richmond High School in Richmond, KY, when he died in 1930. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson; and Office of the President Records (Kentucky State University) in the the Kentuckiana Digital Library.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Berea and Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Hathaway, Quinella Watson
Birth Year : 1899
Death Year : 2000
Hathaway was born in Kentucky, the daughter of Thomas and Helen J. Watson. Her family moved to Indiana, Chicago, and then Maywood, IL, in 1907. She was the only African American student in both her elementary and high school graduating classes; the Watson Family was among the first African American families to live in Maywood. Hathaway was also one of the first African American students at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her husband, Walter Hathaway, was the first trustee in Maywood. Quinella W. Hathaway was the grandmother of Glenn "Doc" Rivers, former NBA basketball player and coach of the 2008 NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. For more see L. Roche, "Living legend hits 100," Maywood Herald, 06/16/1999, Local News section, p. 8; and the "Ruth L. Sampson" obituary in the Maywood Herald, 03/23/2005, news section, p. 69.
Subjects: Migration North, 1st African American Families in Town, Grandparents
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Maywood, Illinois

Hawkins, William L.
Birth Year : 1895
Death Year : 1990
Hawkins was born on a farm near Lexington, KY, and reared by his maternal grandmother, Mary Scudder. As a young man, he was a trapper and horse trainer, but when his girlfriend became pregnant he was sent to live in Ohio. He began to paint when he was 80 years old, using materials that came from junk piles and throwaway material at construction sites in his artwork. Hawkins also collected photographs that he used in his work. One of his signature techniques was to paint a frame around his work that included his name and the place and date of his birth. For more see Souls Grown Deep: African American vernacular art of the South, vol. 1, by P. Arnett and W. Arnett.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Ohio

Hayden, John Carleton
Birth Year : 1933
Born in Bowling Green, KY, Hayden has been a clergyman, activist, educator, and historian. He is the son of Otis Roosevelt and Gladys Gatewood Hayden. He is a 1955 graduate of Wayne State University (BA); a 1962 graduate of the University of Detroit [at Mercy] (MA); a 1972 graduate of Howard University (PhD); and a 1991 graduate of the College of Emmanuel (MDiv). In the 1970s, he was an activist for African Americans and social issues. Hayden has taught at several schools, including as a history professor at Howard University and a lecturer at Montgomery College. He has written extensively on African American church history and is the author of Struggle, Strife, and Salvation, the Role of Blacks in the Episcopal Church and a co-author of Black American Heritage through United States Postage Stamps. For more see Who's Who in the World (2001); and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-2006.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Education and Educators, Historians, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky

Hayden, Shirley M.
Birth Year : 1960
Hayden was born in Lexington, KY, and grew up in Maddoxtown, KY, one of 13 children of the late Elmo and Joann Buckner Hayden. Shirley is the author of the 1995 novel, I Tell on Stephen Foster, and her most recent novel, The Women of Nelson, which emphasizes the treatment of the families, African American women and children, who accompanied the U.S. Colored soldiers to Camp Nelson, KY, during the Civil War. A screenplay is being written based on the book. Hayden is also a poet with many published works, including It's My Poetry and I'll Cry if I Want To. Hayden is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and has received writing residencies through the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She spends half her time in Kentucky and half in the hills of North Carolina. For more see About The Author a shirleyhayden.us website; and M. Davis, "A footnote of history becomes a novel,"Lexington Herald-Leader, 02/05/2008, Health Family section, p. D1.
Subjects: Authors, Poets
Geographic Region: Lexington, Maddoxtown, Fayette County, Kentucky / North Carolina

Hayes, Edgar J.
Birth Year : 1904
Death Year : 1979
Hayes was born in Lexington, KY. A pianist who worked with many bands, he was known for his tinkling interpretations of the songs Star Dust and In the Mood. For more see Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 9th ed., edited by L. Kuhn; and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd ed., edited by B. Kernfeld.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Heath, Andrew
Birth Year : 1832
Death Year : 1887
Heath was a slave born in Henderson County, KY. He had become an ordained minister in 1867 and was an assistant pastor. Heath became a free man in 1872, and after the death of Rev. Henry Adams, he was named pastor at Fifth Street Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. Heath was also a member of the first Baptist Convention held in Kentucky and served in several leadership capacities with the General Association. He is said to have baptized 1,500 persons. Heath was well respected among the Baptists; thousands of people paid their respects when he died in 1887. For more see the Andrew Heath entries in the Afro-American Encyclopedia; and in Men of Mark, by W. J. Simmons and H. M. Turner.
Subjects: Freedom, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Henderson County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Helm, Marlene
Birth Year : 1950
Helm was the first African American school superintendent in Kentucky, presiding over the Shelby County schools. (The exception is Jefferson County, where two African American superintendents each served three months.) Helm was acting superintendent in Fayette County, KY, in 2004. She had been the Secretary of the Education, Arts and Humanities Council under Governor Patton. For more see "Interim leader for schools is selected, Black woman is first ever to hold post in Kentucky," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/18/04, p. A1; and "Governor appoints two Cabinet Secretaries," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/11/99 p. B1.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Appointments by Kentucky Governors, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Shelby County, Kentucky

Henderson, Angelo B.
Birth Year : 1962
Angelo B. Henderson was born in Louisville, KY.  He is a 1985 graduate of the University of Kentucky School of Journalism.  He received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished feature writing for "Crime Story," which featured the lives of those affected by an attempted robbery and the death of the robber; Henderson was the deputy Detroit bureau chief at the Wall Street Journal.  He has received a number of other awards, including the National Association of Black Journalists Award for outstanding coverage of the African American condition.  He was inducted into the University of Kentucky Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2005. The previous year, Henderson became the associate pastor at Hope United Methodist Church in Southfield, Michigan.  He also became associate editor of Real Times LLC, the nation's largest African-American newspaper chain. For more see Angelo Ink, Henderson's media consulting firm; Angelo Henderson in the History Makers website; and Who's Who Among African Americans, vols. 8-18.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Detroit and Southfield, Michigan

Henderson, Edmonia
Birth Year : 1900
Death Year : 1947
Born Jennie Katherine Edmonia Henderson, she became a blues singer and later an evangelist. She sang with Jelly Roll Morton, Tommy Ladnier, and Johnny Dobbs. By 1928 she was teaching and giving gospel concerts at the Griffith Conservatory of Music in Louisville. By 1932 she had married and become Reverend Edmonia Buckner. For more see Katherine B. Johnson at the University of Louisville University Archives and Records Center; and A Guide to the Blues. History, who's who, research sources, by A. Sonnier, Jr.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Henderson, Louis B.
Birth Year : 1904
Born in Maysville, KY, Henderson grew up in Springfield, Ohio. He was a chemical engineering graduate from Case Institute of Technology [now Case Western Reserve University]. He had been employed in West Virginia at the Weirton Steel Company in the metallurgical department and later moved to Stubenville, Ohio. Henderson was a life-long Mason and in 1952 was awarded 33rd Degree by the United Supreme Council. In 1955 he was Grand Master. For more see Chapter 16 of The History of Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accpeted Masons of the State of Ohio, 1849-1960 by C. H. Wesley [available online at mastermason.com].
Subjects: Engineers, Migration North, Migration East, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky / Weirton, West Virginia / Stubenville, Ohio

Henderson, Rosa "Rose"
Birth Year : 1896
Death Year : 1968
Born Rosa Deschamps in Henderson, KY, she left home to work in her uncle's carnival show and later joined Douglas "Slim" Henderson on the vaudeville circuit; they married in 1918. Rosa Henderson appeared in musical comedies in New York and England in the 1920s. A vaudeville blues singer, she made recordings from 1923 to 1932 under many different names. For more see Blues Who's Who, by S. Harris.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / New York / England

Henry, Ragan A.
Birth Year : 1934
Death Year : 2008
Henry was born in Sadieville, KY, the son of Augustus and Ruby Henry. He was an African American pioneer in radio and television station ownership. In 1993, the Regan Henry Group was responsible for 26 owned and leased radio stations. Henry published The National Leadership newspaper, then, in 1989, became president of Broadcast Enterprises National, Inc. He was a partner of the law firm Wolf, Black, Schorr, and Solis-Cohen. Henry spent much of his life in Philadelphia, PA. He earned an A.B. degree at Harvard College in 1956 and an L.L.B. from Harvard Law School in 1961. He was also a veteran of the U.S. Army. For more see The Negro Almanac, 4th-9th eds.; Who's Who in Entertainment; and J. A. Gambardello, "A Pioneering media mogul and lawyer," The Philadelphia Inquirer, 08/08/2008, Obituaries section, p.A01.
Subjects: Businesses, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Radio, Television
Geographic Region: Sadieville, Scott County, Kentucky / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Hensley, Peter Lee
Birth Year : 1855
Death Year : 1926
Hensley was born in Mt. Sterling, KY. He owned and bred trotters, owned a grocery store and restaurant when he was 19 years old, and later owned the Yellow Rose Farm in Montgomery County, KY. Two of his winning horses were Temple Bar (who won 24 out of 25 races) and Alcyo (who won 17 consecutive races). For more see Peter Hensley on p. 392 in The WPA Guide to Kentucky, by F. K. Simon; and the following articles in The Mt. Sterling Advocate: "Alcyo and Temple Bar," 04/18/1906, p. 2, and "Home of Alcyo and Temple Bar," 05/09/1906, p. 3 [picture with article].
Subjects: Businesses, Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky

Hester, Billy
Born in Louisville, KY, Billy Hester was a middleweight boxer who won the Kentucky middleweight championship title in 1954. The fight took place in Louisville, KY, where Hester defeated George Wilson in a 12 round decision. He also defeated Australian middleweight champion Billy McDonnell in 1957 in Sidney, Australia. Hester's professional boxing career began in 1954 and ended in 1971. In October of 1971, a ten round fight was scheduled between Hester and Clarence Geiggar in Las Vegas, NV. Referee Ferd Hernandez called the fight due to a "no contest" because the fighters had not fought to the best of their abilities. The boxers' purses were held until an investigation was completed by the Nevada Athletic Commission. Hester's overall record was 25 wins (2 KOs), 5 loses (1 KO), and 2 draws. For more see the Billy Hester entry in the Afro-American Encyclopedia; "Hester outpoints McDonnell," New York Times, 07/02/1957, p. 22; "Fight results" in The Lima News, 10/07/1971, p. 29; "Boxing" in Oakland Tribune, 10/07/1971, p. 89; and Billy Hester at boxrec.com.
Subjects: Boxers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hickman, Carol
In 1971, Carol Hickman was the first woman to take the examination to join the Jefferson County Police Department. She was one of two women to pass the test and join the officer training class. She would become the first woman and the first African American to head a county police district. She was over A District in eastern Jefferson County. Hickman was named captain in 1984. She served on the police force for 30 years; she had started with the department as a clerk typist when she was 19 years old. Carol Hickman retired in 1998. For more see "Black History Month: Carol Hickman, Police Captain," Louisville Courier-Journal, 02/06/2008, News section, p.1B. For earlier history see NKAA entry African American Police Women (Louisville, KY).
Subjects: Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hicks, Lucy L. [Tobias Lawson]
Birth Year : 1886
Death Year : 1954
Lucy Hicks said she was from Kentucky when she arrived in California around 1915. The six foot tall cook was also a madam; for 30 years she ran the only house of prostitution in Oxnard, California. She was also a philanthropist, giving generously to charity organizations such as the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross as well as purchasing war bonds. As World War II was coming to an end in August 1945, an outbreak of venereal disease was said to have come from Hicks' establishment; Lucy and all of her employees had to be examined by the doctor. During Hicks' examination, it was discovered that Hicks was a biological male. Hicks had married twice, the second time in 1945, and was therefore charged with perjury, then jailed, tried, sent to prison, and kicked out of the city of Oxnard. Lucy Hicks' story was first published in a Pacific Coast newspaper, then updated and published in Time, after which Lucy Hicks was voted Time's Man of the Year. After the story ran, Hicks was wanted by the U.S. Army as a draft dodger. Lucy Hicks was born Tobias Lawson in Waddy, KY, and died in Los Angeles. Hicks was the child of Bill (b.1849 in KY) and Nancy Lawson (b.1851 in KY), and according to the 1800 U.S. Federal Census, the Lawsons worked for the George Waddy family. Nancy and Tobias, the youngest child, were still working for the Waddy family when the 1900 Census was taken. For a more complete history of Hicks' life see the Lucy Hicks Anderson entry at the BlackPast.org website; see "Sin & Souffle," Time, 11/05/1945, p. 24 [available online]; and Oxnard, 1941-2004, by J. W. Maulhardt [pictures of Lucy Hicks on p. 89].
Subjects: Businesses, Migration West
Geographic Region: Waddy, Shelby County, Kentucky / Oxnard and Los Angeles, California

Higgins, Chester A., Jr.
Birth Year : 1946
Higgins was born in Lexington, KY, and grew up in New Brockton, AL. He is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute [now Tuskegee University]. A staff photographer with the New York Times, he also wrote The Black Woman, Drums of Life and a number of other books. He appeared in the documentary film, BrotherMen. His photographs have appeared in Look, Life, Time and numerous other publications. Higgs resides in New York, he is the son of Veridee Smith and award winning journalist Chester A. Higgins, Sr. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, and Current Biography (2002).
Subjects: Authors, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Photographers, Photographs, Migration South
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / New Brockton, Alabama / New York

Higgins, Katheryn D.
Birth Year : 1958
Katheryn D. Higgins was the first African American and female engineer at the Louisville (KY) Water Company in 1983. The company was chartered by the Kentucky Legislature in 1854, and provides safe drinking water to Louisville Metro and parts of four surrounding counties. Higgins was born in Jefferson County, KY, and is the daughter of Elnora Tolliver Higgins and Frederick Higgins. She is a 1975 graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, KY, and later served on the steering committee of the King Scholars Program that was established by Nick King and Carol Zurkuhlen King in 1999. The program provides financial aid to young women so that they may attend Sacred Heart. Higgins is a 1981 chemical engineer graduate of the University of Louisville (U of L), and later completed her finance degree at U of L. When she retired from the Louisville Water Company, she started her second career as a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley. For more see Katheryn D. Higgins in "Alumnae Profile" on page 6 of the HeartBeat: a publication for alumnae, parents and friends of Sacred Heart Academy, Spring 2004. This entry was submitted by Librarian Laura Hall, graduate of Sacred Heart and staff member of the UK Libraries.
Subjects: Bankers, Banks, Finance, Financial Advisors, Engineers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Higgs, Kenny
Birth Year : 1955
Born in Owensboro, KY, Kenny Higgs is the brother of Mark Higgs. He is the all-time leading scorer for the Owensboro High School basketball team, having scored 1,833 points from 1971-1974. The 6'0" guard went on to play college ball at Louisiana State University (LSU), where he had over 500 total assists and is one of two players to hold the all-time high of 19 assists for a single college game [LSU vs Mississippi State, 1978]. Higgs was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third round of the 1978 NBA draft. He ended his career with the Denver Nuggets in 1982. He was a member of the 1981 Denver Nuggets playoff team, totaling over 400 assists that year. In 1999, Higgs was inducted into the Owensboro-Daviess County Tourist Commission's Hall of Fame. For more see Kenny Higgs, in The Official NBA Encyclopedia, ed. by J. Hubbard; and R. Greene, "Higgs still owns the courts," Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, 07/23/1999.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky

Hill, Carl M.
Hill was president of Kentucky State College, 1962-1975; he added four undergraduate departments, a gradate school, a special Black Collection to the library. Under his leadership, the school became Kentucky State University.  Hill had the second longest tenure as president of Kentucky Sate University. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan.
Subjects: Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky

Hillman, John W.
Birth Year : 1848
Death Year : 1911
Hillman was born in Trigg County, KY, the son of Dan Hillman. After slavery ended, he moved to Covington and worked at several hotels as a waiter and steward, then later became custodian of the City Building of Covington, or, as author W. D. Johnson characterized it, Hillman was considered the first city official. Hillman was the husband of Ellen W. Hillman, born 1850 in Virginia. In 1880, the family lived on Pike Street in Covington, according to the U. S. Federal Census. In 1910, John was a janitor in a bank, and his son Fred was a filing clerk at the bank. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Trigg County, Kentucky / Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky

Hines, Carl R., Sr.
Birth Year : 1931
In 1977 he was the first African American state representative elected from the 43rd House District (Louisville, KY). He was re-elected in 1979 and continued to be re-elected until 1987. Hines was born in Louisville. For more see "Four blacks make up Kentucky's black representation in legislature," in 1982 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Sixth Report by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, p. 17; Who's Who Among African Americans, 1988-2006; and contact the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Legislators, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hinton, Clarence David
Birth Year : 1916
Death Year : 2008
Hinton was born in Sharpsburg, KY, the son of Davis and Elsie Trumbo Hinton. The family lived on Back Street in 1920, according to the U.S. Federal Census, and later moved to Peoria, IL, where Hinton was an outstanding student and star athlete. He was a graduate of Northwestern University, where he also played football and was later inducted into the school's athlete's hall of fame. Clarence Hinton would become a physician in otolaryngology (ears, nose, throat, head and neck surgery), he was clinical assistant at Howard University Medical School [now Howard University College of Medicine], 1945-1950, where he had received his M.D. in 1942. The Otolaryngology Clinic was relatively new to Howard University. Hinton would became a resident physician at Philadelphia General Hospital in 1950. He was later chair of the otolaryngology division at Howard University Hospital from 1963-1979, and chair of the otolaryngology department at Children's National Medical Center from 1978-1980. He was the first African American to chair the Washington D. C. Medical Society Otolaryngology Section. Hinton retired in 1990 but was still active in medicine at Howard University Hospital. Hinton was a WWII Army veteran, he had served as a medical doctor. He was the husband of ViCurtis Gray Hinton. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950; and "Ear, nose, throat Doctor Clarence David Hinton, 91," The Washington Post, 10/04/2008, Metro section, p.B6. For more on the Otolaryngology Clinic at Howard University see Early African Americans in Otolaryngology.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Sharpsburg, Bath County, Kentucky / Peoria, Illinois / Washington, D.C.

Hoard, J. H. [Hoardsville, Oklahoma]
Birth Year : 1862
Reverend Hoard was born in Hopkinsville, KY, and in 1899 moved to Okmulgee, OK, to become pastor of the First Baptist Church. Okmulgee is 30 miles from Tulsa. Hoard was the husband of Clara Locke Hoard, with whom he had 11 children. Rev. Hoard was also pastor of the Union Baptist Church in Grayson, Oklahoma. He farmed his land next to the Henryetta gas and oil fields. He was chair of the Educational Board of the Oklahoma Baptist Convention, a member and moderator of the Southwest Creek and Seminole District Association, and the Hoardsville postmaster. Hoard had come to Oklahoma during the period author M. C. Hill describes as the "Great Black March Westward" that began in 1890 and peaked in 1910. Most came from eight southern states, including Kentucky. This was also the period when small all-Negro communities were developed, and there was an attempt to make Oklahoma an all Negro state. Hoardsville is usually not mentioned as one of the better known all-Negro communities. Hundreds of Negroes were arriving in Oklahoma each day, looking for utopia but finding that there were ongoing clashes between Negroes, Native Americans, and Whites. For more see "Reverend J. H. Hoard" in Who's Who Among the Colored Baptists of the United States, by S. W. Bacote; and M. C. Hill, "The All Negro Communities of Oklahoma," The Journal of Negro History, vol. 31, issue 3 (July 1946), pp. 254-268.
Subjects: Communities, Migration West, Postal Service, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky / Okmulgee, Oklahoma

Hodge, W. J.
Birth Year : 1920
Death Year : 2000
W. J. Hodge was born in Texas and came to Louisville, KY, in 1957 to become pastor of the Fifth Street Baptist Church. In 1958 he was elected president of the Louisville Chapter of the NAACP and in 1962 was elected president of the Kentucky Conference of the NAACP.  Hodge helped organize the 1964 March on Frankfort in support of the Kentucky Civil Rights Law. In 1977, Hodge became the first African American president of the Louisville Board of Alderman; he resigned from the board in 1982 to become president of Simmons Bible College. For more see "Mayor, 45 councilmen are black city officials," in 1978 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Fifth Report, by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 20; Y. D. Coleman, "First Black Alderman president recently honored with a resolution," The Louisville Defender, 03/12/1992, p. 4; and T. Shannon, "W. J. Hodge," Courier-Journal, 12/28/2000, NEWS section, p. 01A.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Kentucky African American Churches, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Religion & Church Work, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Geographic Region: Texas / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Holland, George W.
Birth Year : 1874
Holland was born in Ruddles Mills, KY. He taught school in Kentucky, then in 1895 moved to Springfield, OH, where he was employed as a postal clerk. Holland later became head of the postal division of Crowell Publishing Company. [The Crowell Publishing Company, located in Springfield, OH, was owned by Lexington, KY, native John Stephen Crowell (1850-1921). In 1934, the company merged to become Crowell-Collier Publishing Company.] In addition to being an employee at the publishing company, George Holland was also president of the Colored Men's Council and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of 1924. For more about George Holland see Chapter 9 of The History of Prince Hall Grand Lodge in Ohio, by C. H. Wesley [available online at mastermasons.com]. For more about the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company see the company records, 1931-1955 [inventory notes (.pdf)], at New York Public Library.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Migration North, Postal Service, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Ruddles Mills, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Springfield, Ohio

Holland, Helen Shelby
Birth Year : 1907
Death Year : 1983
Holland was born in Hickman, KY; her family moved to South Bend, IN, in 1918. She graduated from Central High School in 1926, the same year that she was named Athlete of the Year. Holland was the first African American salesperson employed by a major department store in South Bend. She was the wife of Burnsy Holland. For more see the Helen Holland entry in The Black Women in the Middle West Project, by D. C. Hine, et al.; and the Helen Holland Collection at Northern Indiana Historical Society.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Migration North
Geographic Region: Hickman, Fulton County, Kentucky / South Bend, Indiana

Holland, Mary Ford
Birth Year : 1907
Death Year : 1999
Born in Trigg County, KY, Holland was the first African American student at Murray State University. She received her first teaching certificate from West Kentucky Industrial School [now West Kentucky Community and Technical College], where she graduated in 1935. She taught at the segregated, one room school in Lyon County, KY. Holland also attended Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University] part-time, working toward a bachelor's degree; in 1955, at the age of 48, she transferred to Murray State University, where she was escorted by the police and the university president to her classes. She graduated in 1961. It would be a few years before she would teach at an integrated school. For more see the Kentucky Historical Marker Database: Desegregation of Murray State College (Marker Number 2191).
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Trigg County, Kentucky / Lyon County, Kentucky / Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky

Hood, Robert E.
Birth Year : 1936
Death Year : 1994
Hood was born in Louisville, KY, the son of Blanche and George R. Hood. He was a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, where he was the first African American president of the student body. He was also a graduate of General Theological Seminary, the University of Chicago and the Oxford University. In 1984, he was an administrative assistant to Bishop Desmond Tutu: Hood was a historian in the areas of religion and race. He had been a professor at the General Theological Seminary, and prior to his death, was director of the Center for African American Studies at Adelphi University. Hood was also author of Must God Remain Greek?: Afro cultures and God-talk, Begrimed and Black: Christian traditions on Blacks and blackness, and several other books. For more see "Dr. Robert E. Hood, theologian, 58, dies," New York Times, 08/12/1994, p. A21; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1994-1997.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Migration North, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Long Island, New York

Hooks, Julia Britton
Birth Year : 1852
Death Year : 1942
Hooks was born in Frankfort, KY. A musician, social worker, educator, and juvenile court officer, she and her husband managed a juvenile detention home that was opened next to their house in Memphis. One of the wards killed her husband. Hooks went on to help found the Old Folks and Orphans Home. Julia Hooks was the daughter of Henry and Laura Marshall Britton. She was mother of photographers Henry and Robert Hooks, grandmother to Benjamin Hooks, and sister to Dr. Mary E. Britton. For more see Julia Hooks a website of the African American Registry; Notable Black American Women, ed. by J. C. Smith; Julia Hooks entry in the Afro-American Encyclopaedia: Or, the Thoughts, Doings..., by James T. Haley, pp. 563-565 [from the UNC Library's Documenting the American South website]; and the Julia Britton Hooks entry by S. Lewis in The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture [online version]..
Subjects: Education and Educators, Mothers, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Corrections and Police, Social Workers, Migration South, Grandparents
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Memphis, Tennessee

Hopkins, Telma
Birth Year : 1948
Hopkins was born in Louisville, KY. She was a session singer in Detroit, mostly with the Motown label, before she became a member of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn (Michael Anthony Orlando Cassivitis, Joyce Vincent and Telma Hopkins). Their 1970 single "Knock Three Times" sold a million copies the first month after it was released, but their biggest hit was "Tie a Yellow Ribbon," in 1973. The group had a television program from 1974-1976 before their break-up in 1977. Telma Hopkins went on to have a successful career as a sitcom actress in television shows such as "Gimme a Break" and "Family Matters" plus guest appearances on other shows. She was the character Daisy in the television mini-series "Roots: the Next Generation." For more see Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, vol. 25, Sept. 1999 - Aug. 2000; TV Guide, vol. 51, issue 46 (November 15-21, 2003), p. 15; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1989-2006.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Television
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hopkinsville Male and Female College
Start Year : 1883
End Year : 1915
P. T. Frazer was the principal of the school until it closed some time around 1915 due to a lawsuit between Frazer and the school trustees. The school, owned by Baptist associations, had six teachers. Located on five acres of land, it was an elementary and high school that could house up to 50 boarders. When the school closed, there was an 11th grade high school available to Colored students in Hopkinsville, KY, that was supported by the city. For more see p.277 of Negro Education, by T. J. Jones [available online at Google Book Search]; and Annual catalogue of the Hopkinsville M. & F. College, Hopkinsville, Kentucky. For the school's continuation see the entry Hopkinsville College of the Bible.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky

Horton, John Benjamin
Birth Year : 1904
Death Year : 1997
Born in Georgia, Colonel J. B. Horton came to Kentucky in 1940 to become an advertising salesman with the Louisville Defender newspaper, then advanced to advertising director. Horton left the newspaper in 1954 and founded Benjamin J. Horton & Assoc., Inc., Advertising and Public Relations Consultants. He also published three magazines: Louisville Buyers Guide, News Digest, and Kentucky Negro Journal. He also published books: Not Without Struggle, Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers in Kentucky, and Old War Horse of Kentucky. For more see Horton's biography, Flights from Doom.
Subjects: Authors, Businesses, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Georgia / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

House, Tracy
Birth Year : 1965
House was born in Mayfield, KY. In May of 2003, he became the first African American police chief in the city of Clinton, KY, coming to the job with 11 years experience, having been a member of the Mayfield Police Department since 1992. His background includes detective training and service as a police officer; he's also certified in handwriting analysis. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and a member of the Kentucky Chiefs of Police Association. House is executive secretary for the Purchase Area Sexual Assault Center Board of Directors. He is also a Kentucky Colonel and a member of the Prince Hall Mason Wilson Son Lodge #167 in Clinton. For more see The Hickman County Gazette, front page articles: "New Clinton city police chief and patrolman hired," 05/29/2003, and "New police chief talks about plans for Clinton Police Department," 06/03/2003; and Kentucky Law Enforcement News, vol. 2, issue 3 (Sept. 2003), p. 49 [available online].
Subjects: Corrections and Police, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky / Clinton, Hickman County, Kentucky

Houston, Allan W., Sr.
Birth Year : 1944
Known as Wade Houston, he was one of the first African American basketball players at the University of Louisville. He graduated in 1966 and was inducted into the Louisville Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. Head coach of the Louisville Male High School men's basketball team in 1975, Houston compiled a 90-12 record while guiding the team to a state championship. He returned to the University of Louisville in 1976 to become the first African American assistant men's basketball coach. In 1989 he became head coach at the University of Tennessee, the first African American head coach in the Southeastern Conference. Houston compiled a 65-90 record over the five years at Tennessee. Houston, born in Alcoa, TN, is the husband of Alice Kean Houston, and the father of Allan Houston. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, vols. 7-17; and Wade and Alice Kean Houston in Who's Who of Black Louisville, Inaugural Edition, pp.80-81.
Subjects: Basketball, Fathers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Alcoa, Tennessee / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Knoxville, Tennessee

Howard, John Dalphin
Birth Year : 1869
Howard was born in Shelbyville, KY, the son of John and Delia Belle Board Howard. He was the editor and publisher of the National Domestic Magazine (1896-1898) and in 1912 founded the Indianapolis Ledger, which was published into the 1920s. He also wrote a crime adventure serial published in the Freeman (Indianapolis) newspaper. Howard was married to Anna Marie Everett from Mount Sterling, KY. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Shelbyville, Shelby County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana

Howard, Theodore R. M.
Birth Year : 1908
Death Year : 1977
Howard, born in Murray, KY, was a graduate of the College of Medical Evangelists [now Loma Linda University] in Los Angeles, CA. He was medical director of the Riverside Sanitarium in California (1937-1939), then left to become surgeon-in-chief at Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, MS, (1942-1947), which would become the largest hospital in the state for African Americans. He was also founder and chairman of the United Order of Friendship of America in Bayou. In 1947 he became surgeon-in-chief and chief medical examiner of the Friendship Clinic in Bayou. Dr. Howard was an outspoken civil rights advocate in Mississippi. He delivered the eulogy at Medgar Evers' funeral. Howard left Mississippi in 1956 to become medical director of Fuller Products Co. in Chicago, and he was also named president of the National Medical Association. His decision to come north was made exactly one year after the death of Emmett Till; Howard had been lecturing throughout Mississippi about the killing, and his life had been threatened. The White Citizens Council had place a $1,000 hit on Howard, who had become quite wealthy with hundreds of acres of farmland and an entire block of homes. Howard felt that he did not know whom to trust anymore, white or black. His clinic was sold to members of the United Order of Friendship, and Dr. Howard broke all ties with the Democratic Party. Dr. Howard was the son of Arthur Howard (b.1890 in TN) and Mary Chandler Howard (b.1892 in KY). In 1910, both parents worked as laborers in a tobacco factory, according to the U.S. Federal Census. Their second son, Willie Mason Howard, died of pneumonia in 1914, he was 15 months old according to his death certificate. By 1920, Mary had married Maurice Palmer (b.1888 in TN) and they had two children. Maurice Palmer was a laborer in a tobacco factory, and the family, including Theodore Howard, lived in Pool Town in Murray, KY. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950; D. Wright, "His life in danger, medic quits Dixie to fire salvos from North," Jet, vol. X, issue 16 (1956), pp. 12-15; Blacks in Science and Medicine, by V. O. Sammons; Medgar Evers, by J. Brown; and Black Maverick by D. T. Beito and L. R. Beito. Listen to the tribute to Dr. T. R. M. Howard, by Jacque Day at WKMS at Murray State University.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Migration West, Migration South, Fraternal Organizations, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership
Geographic Region: Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky / Los Angeles, California / Mound Bayou, Mississippi / Chicago, Illinois

Howell-Young, Joyce
Birth Year : 1934
The Louisville physician was appointed to the city's board of education in 1971, the first African American woman to serve on the board. She led in the integration of the patients' rooms in the Louisville St. Joseph Hospital in the 1960s. Dr. Howell-Young is president of the Falls City Medical Society. She is agraduate of Fisk University, where she earned a B.A. in Zoology, and Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. She completed her intern training at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, OH. Dr. Young-Howell had a private practice in Louisville, 1961-1967. She has had a number of posts including that of medical director of the Park DuValle Neighborhood Health Center, 1974-1976. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and many other organizations. Dr. Howell-Young was born in Cincinnati, OH, the daughter of Lloyd Marion and Addiebelle Foster. For more see "36 city officials include mayor, police court judge," in Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials [1972], by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 17; "Doctor says interns don't make living wage," Jet, 03/29/1962, p.27 [available online]; Who's Who Among African Americans, 1996-2009; and Joyce Howell-Young, M.D. in Who's Who in Black Louisville, Inaugural Edition, p.112.
Subjects: First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign), Medical Field, Health Care, Migration South, Women's Groups and Organizations, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Cincninati, Ohio / Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky

Hudson, J. Blaine, III
Birth Year : 1949
Born in Louisville, KY, Hudson is an activist for social change and a historian with an extensive knowledge of the history of African Americans in Kentucky. He is the former chair of the Pan-African Studies Department at the University of Louisville and the appointed Chair of the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission. In 2005, Hudson was named Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville, one of the first African Americans to be named dean at a predominately white college in Kentucky. Hudson has authored a number of academic articles, is a contributing author, and is sole author of Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad in the Kentucky Borderland and other books. Hudson earned his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Louisville and his doctorate in higher education administration at the University of Kentucky. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1992-2007; Hudson recommended to lead College of Arts and Sciences, a University of Louisville website; Directory of American Scholars, 10th ed., vol. 5: Psychology, Sociology, & Education; and Blaine Hudson interview and biography, at KET Living the Story.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Education and Educators, Historians, Underground Railroad: Conductors, Escapes, Organizations, Research
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Hueston, William C., Sr.
Birth Year : 1880
Death Year : 1961
Hueston was born in Lexington, KY; his family later moved to Kansas City, Kansas. He was a graduate of the University of Kansas and an active community leader in Kansas City. He also lived part-time in Gary, Indiana. He served as president of the National Negro Baseball League, beginning in 1927, after Rube Foster was committed to the Kankakee Asylum in Illinois. In Gary, Indiana, Hueston served as magistrate judge and helped establish the African American-owned Central State Bank. He was appointed by President Hoover to the National Memorial Commission for the building of the National Museum of African American History and Culture that was to have been built in 1929. He left Indiana in 1930 for Washington, D.C. to become Assistant Solicitor with the U.S. Post Office. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37; The Josh Gibson Foundation website; Take up the Black Man's Burden: Kansas City's African American Communities, 1865-1939, by C. E. Coulter; M. Strimbu, "Library exhibit depicts Gary's rich, varied history," Post-Tribune, 07/24/1997, Gary Neighbors section, p. NB4; and "William C. Hueston, 81, Government Attorney," Washington Post, 11/27/1961, City Life section.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Bankers, Banks, Finance, Financial Advisors, Baseball, Civic Leaders, Lawyers, Migration North, Migration West, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Postal Service, Judges, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Kansas City, Kansas / Gary, Indiana / Kankakee, Illinois / Washington, D.C.

Hughes, Harriet
Birth Year : 1844
Death Year : 1901
Harriet Hughes was the wife of Thomas Hughes and the mother of 17 children. In 1870, the family lived in Flat Rock (Bo.Co.), KY, and later moved to Carlisle, KY. Harriet was a mail carrier for the route between Carlisle and Jackstown, KY, near the Bourbon County line. She was one of the first African American women mail carriers in Kentucky and the United States. She held the highest ranked government job among all other African American women in Carlisle and was well respected. There was a large attendance at her funeral: 63 carriages were in the procession to the cemetery. For more see "A Remarkable Colored Woman," The Bourbon News, 05/03/1901, p. 2.
Subjects: Postal Service
Geographic Region: Flat Rock, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Carlisle and Jackstown, Nicholas County, Kentucky

Hughes, Robert Henry
Birth Year : 1861
Death Year : 1935
Hughes was a wealthy African American who lived in Lexington, KY. With his death the Lincoln Institute was saved from harder financial times: when Hughes died he left the school $10,000. He also left $100,000 in a trust fund for scholarships, half for white persons and half for colored persons. Robert Henry Hughes was the son of Ellen Davis, a former slave, and the wealthy horseman John T. Hughes, who was white. Robert H. Hughes spent much of his life in Buffalo, NY, returning to Lexington after the death of his father in 1924. He lived at 340 East Third Street, were present day Smith & Smith Funeral Home is located. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Lexington. Robert Henry Hughes' first name has often been mistakenly written as William or James. For more see Kentucky's Black Heritage, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; and information on the Henry Hughes Educational Fund in the Fouse Family Papers in the Kentuckiana Digital Library. See also the sound recording interview of Charles F. Call, Jr. for more information on Robert Hughes, the recording is in the Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project, 1900-1989 at Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries. Hughes' death date and additional information on the cemetery and funeral home provided by Yvonne Giles - "The Cemetery Lady".
Subjects: Education and Educators, Inheritance
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky

Humes, Helen
Birth Year : 1913
Death Year : 1981
Born in Louisville, KY, Humes made her first recording in 1927 in St. Louis. She then moved to New York and worked with the Vernon Andrades Orchestra. She replaced Billie Holiday in the Count Basie Band, recorded tunes for film and television, and appeared in the film Simply Heaven [Langston Hughes]. Humes moved to California in the 1940s and when her career slowed in the 1960s, returned to Kentucky. Humes' career picked up in the 1970s. For more see Kentucky Women, by E. K. Potter; Contemporary Musicians, vol. 19, by S. A. McConnell; and Helen Humes, a voice with style at The African American Registry website.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Migration North, Migration West, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Television
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / St. Louis, Missouri / New York / California

Hunn, Vanessa L.
Birth Year : 1958
Vanessa Hunn, a native of Lexington, KY, is the daughter of Demosthenes and Verline Hunn. A social worker for more than 20 years, in 2006 Vanessa Hunn became the first African American to earn a Ph. D. from the University of Kentucky College of Social Work; she was also the first to be admitted to the social work doctoral program at UK. Also in 2006, Hunn was the only recipient chosen nationwide to receive the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Research from the Council on Social Work Education. The fellowship is for doctoral students preparing for leadership positions in mental health and substance abuse fields. Hunn's research examines "Depression, Self-Efficacy, Income, and Child Outcomes in African American Welfare Recipients." She is also the recipient of the Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award and is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and Alpha Delta Mu National Social Work Honor Society. In fall 2007, she became an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Southern Indiana. In addition to her Ph. D. in social work, Hunn earned both her bachelor's and master's from the University of Kentucky, where she also taught in the social work program.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Migration North, Social Workers
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Evansville, Indiana

Hunter, Charles "Charlie"
Birth Year : 1946
Born in Glasgow, KY, Hunter played basketball at Ralph Bunche High School in Glasgow, where he was the all-time leading scorer. Hunter was the first African American basketball player recruited by the University of Louisville, but he opted to play at Oklahoma City University. During his college career, Hunter scored 1,319 points and pulled down 584 rebounds; the team went to the NCAA Tournament four consecutive years. Hunter and his high school teammate Jerry Lee Wells were the first two African American basketball players at Oklahoma City University. Hunter was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1966, Hunter was chosen by the Boston Celtics in the sixth round of the NBA draft, but his career was cut short due to an ankle injury. He returned to Kentucky and is presently the academic advisor of the Western Kentucky University branch in Glasgow, KY. For more see Shadows of the Past, by L. Stout; M. Evans "OCU Women State's Surprise Team 7-0, Broncos Off to Best Start Since 1982-83 Season," Daily Oklahoman, 12/01/1997; and N. Haney "Spirit of '66 alive and well; Glory Road' brings back memories for local duo," Daily News (Bowling Green, KY), 01/16/2006.
Subjects: Basketball, Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky

Hunter, Lawrence Vester [Noxubee Industrial School, Mississippi]
Start Year : 1891
End Year : 1958
Hunter was born in Bowling Green, KY. He was principal of Noxubee Industrial School in McLeod, Mississippi. The school was founded in 1898 by his father, Samuel J. Hunter (1865-1918) from Arkansas, and after his death, L. V. Hunter took over management of the school. The school produced a monthly publication titled Hunter's Horn. There are photo images of the school in the Digital Collection of the University of Mississippi Libraries. L. V. Hunter's mother was Minnie Esther Lane Hunter (1869-1942) from Macon, MS. L. V. Hunter was a graduate of Fisk University, and he was a WWI veteran. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37; and Sadye H. Wier: her life and work by S. H. Wier and G. R. Lewis. [Sadye Hunter Wier was a sister to Lawrence Vester Hunter.]
Subjects: Education and Educators, Military & Veterans, Migration South
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / McLeod, Mississippi

Hurd, Babe
Death Year : 1928
Hurd won the Kentucky Derby in 1882 aboard Apollo. He was also a noted steeplechase rider. Hurd was born in Texas, died at the Longridge Farm in Bourbon County, and was buried in Chicago. He had lived in Chicago in 1892 according to his voter registration information, he was working at the Garfield Park Race Track. His death certificate has that Hurd was 48 years old when he died, which would mean that he was born in 1880, though that is highly unlikely given that he won the the Kentucky Derby in 1882. For more see the "Babe Hurd" entry on the African Americans in the Derby website by the Kentucky Derby.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen & The Derby
Geographic Region: Texas / Bourbon County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois

Hutchinson, Jerome, Sr.
Birth Year : 1926
Death Year : 2007
Born in Louisville, KY, Reverend Hutchinson was the first African American to chair the Louisville-Jefferson County Planning Commission in 1979. He became a member of the commission in 1976. He was a graduate of Central High School and attended Louisville Municipal College. He was owner of Jerome Hutchinson and Associates, a marketing and real estate business. He also owned and was chairman of the television station WYCS-TV, the first African American-owned television station in Kentucky. Hutchinson had also been an associate minister at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Louisville. He was the father of Seretha Tinsley and Jerome Hutchinson, Jr. For more see P. Burba, "Businessman Jerome Hutchinson, Sr. dies," Courier-Journal (Louisville), 07/27/2007, News section, p. 6B.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Television, Realtors, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Investments
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky