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Saffell, Daisy M. and George William Saffell
In 1912, Daisy Saffell (1875-1918), an "expert" embalmer in Shelbyville, KY, spoke on behalf of the National Negro Funeral Directors' Association during the 13th Annual Convention of the National Negro Business League in Chicago. Saffell estimated that there were 1,100 Colored undertakers and embalmers in the United States. [*Saffell is listed as a mulatto from Shelbyville, TN, in The Mulatto in the United States by E. B. Reuter, p.303* available full view at Google Book Search]. Saffell's death certificate lists Kentucky as both her birth and death location. She was born in Louisville, KY, where she attended school. She attended Roger Williams University and was later a graduate of Fisk University. Daisy Saffell taught for 15 years in Frankfort, KY, then left to become principal of the Lawrenceburg Colored School. She left teaching and enrolled in Clark's College of Embalming in Cincinnati, OH. With the completion of the program, Saffell became the second African American woman who was a licensed embalmer in Kentucky [Minnie Watson was first]. Daisy Saffell, who was an accomplished pianist, was editor of the Kentucky Club Woman, secretary of the District Household of Ruth of Kentucky, secretary of the Colored Funeral Director's Association of Kentucky, and treasurer of the National Association of Colored Funeral Directors. Named in her honor, the Daisy M. Saffell Colored Hospital was located in Martinsville, a community in Shelbyville, KY. Daisy Saffell was the daughter of Lizzie Travis, and in 1897 became the wife of undertaker George William Saffell (1876-1953). Daisy's funeral arrangements were handled by Thomas K. Robb, and Robb's funeral arrangements were handled by George W. Saffell. George was born in Kentucky, the son of Addie Weisger Saffell and George Saffell, according to his death certificate. In 1900, he had been a barber teacher and Daisy was a school teacher, they lived in Frankfort, KY, according to the U.S. Federal Census. By 1910, the couple had moved to Shelbyville, KY, where George was an undertaker and Daisy was a school teacher until she too became an undertaker. George Saffell was owner of the Calvary Cemetery, and he also had an ambulance service; the hearse was used as an ambulance. After Daisy's death, George Saffell married Mildred Stone in 1939. She would become a partner in the business after completing the Melton Mortuary School in Louisville, KY. George Saffell died in 1953. and Mildred continued managing the businesses. For more see "National Negro Funeral Directors' Association," Records of the National Negro Business League, Part 1 Annual Conference Proceedings and Organizational Records, 1900-1919, 13th Annual Convention, Chicago, Illinois, August 21-23, 1912, reel 2, frames 575-576; "Mrs. Daisy Saffell" on p.291 in Golden Jubilee of the General Association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky; "Race progress in Kentucky: broad achievements of Mrs. Daisy M. Saffell," Baltimore Afro-American, 05/22/1913, p.2; and "Saffell Funeral Home" by G. Graham on pp.170-171 in The New History of Shelby County Kentucky.
See photo image of Daisy Saffel[l] at the bottom of the left hand column on p.42 in the Golden Jubilee of the General Association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky, at the NYPL Digital Gallery.
Subjects: Barbers, Businesses, Education and Educators, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries, Women's Groups and Organizations, Negro Business League, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership, Incidents, Association of Colored Women's Clubs
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Shelbyville, Shelby County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Lawrenceburg, Anderson County, Kentucky
Sales, Mary E. A.
Birth Year : 1892
Born in Lexington, KY, Sales was head nurse of the Indianapolis Sisters of Charity Hospital from 1918-1920, then did private nursing before becoming a school nurse in Indianapolis, beginning in 1924. Sales was also a teacher of home nursing with the American Red Cross and attended the international Congress of Nurses in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1949. She was president of the local Colored Graduate Nurses Club and chair of the health committee at the Phillis Wheatly Y.W.C.A., and held a number of other posts within nursing and health organizations. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1950.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Women's Groups and Organizations, Nurses, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership, Incidents
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana / Stockholm, Sweden
Salsbury Free Negro Settlement (Muhlenberg County, KY)
Start Year : 1860
The community was located south of Greenville, KY. Thomas (d. 1848) and Rebecca Salsbury (d. 1860) had willed the land to their former slaves, and soon to be freed slaves, who were age 25 or older. The Salsbury's had no children. All of the former slaves who received land had the last name Salsbury. In total, there was 560 acres. Most of the land was eventually sold to whites as the African American Salsbury family members left the settlement. Thomas and Rebecca Salsbury also sent some of their freed slaves to the Republic of Liberia. Dr. Guy Otha Saulsberry was a descendant of the Salsbury slaves. For more see Around Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, A Black History, by L. S. Smith (the book covers 1795 to 1979); and Searching for the Roots, Grafting the Branches: the Saulsbury [sic] Family of Kentucky, a Black History of Roots Lost in Slavery (thesis), by C. S. Johnson.
Subjects: Communities, Freedom, Liberia, Liberian Presidents & Diplomats
Geographic Region: Salsbury Free Negro Settlement, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky (no longer exists)
Sam (slave)
Sam, an escaped slave from Kentucky, is believed to be the last fugitive slave sought in Janesville, Wisconsin. Sam was employed in William Eager's blacksmith shop in 1861 when Steuben, Sam's owner, arrived to take Sam back to Kentucky. Later that evening, Eager, with Sam and men from the city fire department, confronted Steuben at the local hotel; they were prepared to hang Steuben if he tried to take Sam back to Kentucky. Those inside the hotel led Steuben out the back door, and he rode off fast, heading South toward Beloit and the Wisconsin/Illinois border. The person from Janesville who had contacted Steuben about Sam's whereabouts was run out of town. For more see "Janesville residents refused to turn over a fugitive slave in 1861" [newspaper article full text online], at the Wisconsin Historical Society website.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Blacksmiths, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin
Sample, Prince A., Jr.
Birth Year : 1878
Born in Mt. Sterling, KY, Prince Albert Sample was one of the founders and organizers of the Pullman Porters Benefit Association of America, Inc. and served as its comptroller. He was an investigator and welfare worker for the Pullman Co. in New York City at the Penn Terminal. He had also been president of the Jersey City NAACP Branch and a member of the Odd Fellows. Sample was assistant editor of the Wisconsin Advocate and special correspondent for the Evening Wisconsin. He was business manager and city editor of the Wisconsin Weekly Advocate. He was also a candidate for the New Jersey Legislature, and was a WWI veteran. Prince and his wife Bertha, from North Carolina, lived at 101 Virginia Avenue in Jersey City in 1930, according to the U.S. Federal Census. He was the son of Rev. P. A. Sample, Sr., pastor of the C. M. E. Church in Allensville, KY. Prince Albert Sample, Jr. was a graduate of the University of Michigan. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37; K. McCray, "Pullman Porters: the best job in the community, the worst job on the train" [pdf], a James Mason University website; "A Southern Trip," Wisconsin Weekly Advocate, 06/16/1904, p.4.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Pullman Porters, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky / New York City, New York / Jersey City, New Jersey / Wisconsin
Samples, John
Birth Year : 1858
Death Year : 1912
Samples was born in Kentucky, and was a competing jockey. He rode the horse Wanderer for Rice and McCormack. He rode Longfellow for John Harper. He won the Mammoth Cup at Long Branch in 1871 aboard Longfellow. Samples also rode the horse Ten Broeck. He gave up being a jockey due to his weight and became a police officer in Cincinnati, OH. He was an officer for 23 years. John and Kate Samples are listed in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, the couple lived on Willow Street. For more see John Samples death notice in the Daily Racing Form, 06/06/1912, p.1; and "Are now few Negro jockeys," The Milford Mail, 08/31/1905, p.3.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Migration North, Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio
Samuels, Evelyn Marie
Birth Year : 1927
Death Year : 2011
Evelyn M. Samuels was a librarian in the Clark County, KY, school system for 41 years. She started her career in the Oliver Colored School, and was a librarian at two other elementary schools and a high school. She was a 1948 graduate of Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University], and a 1962 library science graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Samuels was founder of the First Baptist Church Library in Winchester. She was born in Winchester, KY, the daughter of Thomas Dewey Samuels (1899-1978) and Ethel McBain Samuels (1906-1984) who was from Bourbon County. Her brother, Oliver R. Samuels, was born in 1925 and died in 1939 from tuberculosis [source: Kentucky Death Certificate #24419]. For more see B. Flynn, "Longtime librarian left her mark on generations schoolchildren." Winchester Sun, 07/21/2011; The Black Librarians in the Southeast by A. L. Phinazee; Who's Who in Library Service by L. Ash; and "Evelyn M. Samuels" in the obituaries of the Winchester Sun, 07/21/2011.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky
Sanctified Hill (Cumberland, KY)
In 1972, families of the African American community Sanctified Hill lost their homes and investments in a mudslide. Neighbors described how the homes started to come apart, basements sunk into the mud, and the entire community began to slide downhill toward a white neighborhood. The homeowners were ordered to evacuate the area. Insurance companies called the incident an act of God, which meant the homeowners could not file claims. The homeowners said the incident was the result of neglect: with heavy rains, the abandoned underground coal mine tunnels had collapsed and caused the slide. City officials determined that there was not enough destruction to warrant natural disaster assistance. The homeowners formed the Sanctified Hill Disaster Committee and took their cases to Washington, D.C. They spoke with the President of the United States and his aides, and federal funding was appropriated from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Thirty-two homes and 10 housing units [debt free] were built on land located in Cumberland that was leased from the University of Kentucky. The new community was named Pride Terrace. In 2007, the Cumberland City Council reviewed a 2005 draft proposal asking that Sanctified Hill be used as a campground for ATVs and other recreational and all-terrain vehicles. For more see A. Portelli, "Between Sanctified Hill and Pride Terrace: urban ideas and rural working-class experience in black communities in Harlan County, Kentucky," Storia Nordamericana, issue 7, no. 2 (1990), pp. 51-63; C. Hoffman, "Appalachian Scene: a voice for Appalachia," Appalachia Magazine, January-June 2003 [available online at the ARC website]; and D. Lee-Sherman, "Council rejects dispatching services – Special meeting planned to discuss allowing ATV traffic in Cumberland," Harlan Daily Enterprise, 02/15/2007, News section, p. 1. Also see the entry for Mattye Knight.
Subjects: Communities, Housing, Fair Housing, Open Housing, Housing Agencies
Geographic Region: Cumberland, Harlan County, Kentucky
Sanders, Henry L.
Birth Year : 1852
Sanders was born near Lexington, KY. His company was referred to as the "white jacket manufacturer of Indianapolis." Sanders' jacket business began after his wife made white jackets for him to wear for his job at the Grand Hotel in Indianapolis; her work was so admired and requested by other employees that, in 1889, Sanders opened a men's furnishing department. The following year Sanders purchased the first of many sewing machines and employed others to make the merchandise sold in his store. His son Edward, a teenager, became the salesman who traveled to nearby states soliciting orders. Sanders' business employed 40 persons who manufactured jackets and other clothing, including white khaki uniforms. For more see The Negro in Business, by B. T. Washington, pp. 240-242; and Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37.
Subjects: Businesses, Migration North
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana
Sandusky, Annie L.
Birth Year : 1900
Death Year : 1976
Born in Louisville, KY, Sandusky was a pioneer in social work. She moved to Illinois and became casework supervisor of the Cook County Bureau of Public Welfare. She also became a probation officer for Cook County and Social Services Consultant for the Illinois Public Aid Commission. In 1954 she became consultant to the Children's Bureau of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in Washington, D.C. Sandusky published many articles and reports on child welfare. For more see Contemporary Authors. A bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields, vols. 69-72.
Subjects: Authors, Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Social Workers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Sanford, Perry
Birth Year : 1832
Death Year : 1905
Sanford, a former slave from Kentucky, was the last surviving witness to the invasion by armed men from Kentucky in search of runaway slaves at the Quaker Settlement in Cass County, MI. The Quakers resisted, the attack failed, and shortly thereafter the Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress. In 1905, Sanford was not expected to survive from the four inch gash he had made in his throat while a patient at Nichols Hospital in Battle Creek, MI. Sanford was in the hospital due to a stroke; he was partially paralyzed, and it had taken him more than an hour to open the knife with one hand and his teeth. Sanford had come to Michigan as a young man, he is first listed in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census as a 28 year old laborer living in Bedford. By 1880, he was married to Elvia Sanford who was born in 1845 in Indiana, and the couple lived in Calhoun County, MI. In 1897, Sanford remarried, his second wife was Mary Sanford, born 1843 in MI, and the couple lived in Battle Creek. For more see, "Aged Colored man tries suicide," Oakland Tribune, 05/08/1905.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Suicide
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan / Cass County, Michigan
Sansbury, Louis
Birth Year : 1806
Death Year : 1861
Sansbury was a 27 year old slave in Springfield, KY, when the cholera epidemic hit the city in 1833. George Sansbury, Louis' owner, fled the city along with many others. Prior to his leaving, George gave Louis the keys to his hotel and told him to take care of the business. Louis and Matilda Sims, a cook, took care of the hotel and several of the other businesses that owners left unattended when they tried to flee the cholera epidemic. Those who took flight were carrying the disease to their destinations. Though they were enslaved, Louis Sansbury and Matilda Simms did not try to escape, staying in town to treat the sick, bury the dead, and keep an eye on the town's abandoned businesses. Neither Louis nor Matilda became sick during the 1833 epidemic. In time the city rebounded, and when George Sansbury died in 1845, the city of Springfield purchased Louis's freedom in retribution for his dedication and care during the epidemic, and he was provided with a blacksmith shop. When another cholera epidemic hit in 1854, Louis Sansbury did as he had done before, taking care of the sick and burying the dead. Louis died in 1861 and is buried in an unmarked grave. In 2004, the city of Springfield recognized his heroic deeds by dedicating the first annual African American Heritage Week in his honor. For more see "Asiatic Cholera finds a hero" in It Happened in Kentucky, by M. O'Malley.
Subjects: Freedom, Medical Field, Health Care, Blacksmiths
Geographic Region: Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky
Sargent, Nathaniel
Birth Year : 1863
Death Year : 1954
Nathaniel Sargent, a slave born in Kentucky, was raised by a white family in the North. He was a graduate of the University of Illinois. Sargent came to Kitsap County, Washington, in 1882. He worked as a logger, and later became a rancher with about 250 acres of land. Sargent was an artist who created oil paintings, and he was also a writer. In 1897, he was elected the first African American Justice of the Peace for Seabeck, Washington. For more see "Justice of the Peace for Seabeck - 1897" in Northwest Black Pioneers: a centennial tribute, by R. Hayes; and the Black Historical Society of Kitsap County, Inc.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Migration North, Migration West, Judges
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington
Saulsberry, Guy Otha
Birth Year : 1899
Death Year : 1978
Saulsberry, born in Muhlenberg County, KY, was the youngest son of David Houston and Frances Gish Saulsberry. He was a graduate of Attucks High School in Hopkinsville, KY, and went own to graduate from Kentucky Normal School [now Kentucky State University] and was accepted to Howard University Medical School, where he graduated in 1927. Dr. Saulsberry opened his practice in Detroit, Michigan. When he was not admitted to the staff of Woman's Hospital, he founded the Kirkwood General Hospital (1943-1974), located at 301 East Kirby. The facility was later moved to W. Davison and Petosky; the city wanted the original hospital site for the building of the Detroit Center of Creative Studies. Kirkwood was the last Black hospital to close in Detroit. Guy O. Saulsberry was named "Physician of the Year" in 1968, and "General Practitioner of the Year" in 1973. For more see Guy O. Saulsberry, archival file at the University of Michigan; and p. 99 of Searching for the roots, grafting the branches: the Saulsbury [sic] family of Kentucky, a black history of roots lost in slavery, by C. S. Johnson.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership, Incidents
Geographic Region: Muhlenberg County, Kentucky / Detroit, Michigan
Scearce, Simon
Birth Year : 1889
In 1904, Scearce, a 15 year-old from Lexington, KY, was the first African American in Kentucky to be publicly whipped since before the Civil War. Scearce's crime was hitting a white boy. Police Judge John J. Riley ordered Scearce's mother to take him to the public square and give him twenty lashes with a buggy whip. There was a large audience for the whipping. The story of the whipping was printed in major city newspapers in states such as New York, Illinois, Ohio, Nebraska, and Iowa. For more see "Court orders boy whipped," New York Times, 06/14/1904, p. 1.
Subjects: Corrections and Police, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
School Libraries in Christian County, KY
Start Year : 1892
Christian County had the first school libraries for Kentucky Negro children in 1892 and the first for Negro teachers in 1898. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Christian County, Kentucky
Schooler, James W.
Birth Year : 1865
Death Year : 1918
Schooler, from Nicholasville, KY, was admitted to practice in the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1888, becoming one of the first African American lawyers in Kentucky. He was present the day R. C. O. Benjamin was killed in 1900; Schooler had led Benjamin away from polling Precinct 32 in Lexington, KY, after Benjamin challenged precinct worker Michael Moynahan's right to call into question Harvey Jackson's right to register to vote. Moynahan had suspected Jackson, an African American, of being a vote floater, and Benjamin had intervened on Jackson's behalf. Moynahan struck Benjamin in the face. Schooler led Benjamin away from the polling precinct. Benjamin and Schooler were both lawyers and civil rights leaders, they were at the precinct to support African American voter registration. According to one newspaper account, though Benjamin had been led away from the polling precinct by Schooler, Benjamin later returned and was killed by Moynahan. Schooler was the son of Johns and Myra Lemuel Schooler, and the husband of Nora Schooler, b.1878 in KY, according to the 1910 U.S. Federal Census. James Schooler's exact birthday was not know at the time of his death, his age was estimated at 53 on his death certificate. Schooler died in Lexington, KY, and is buried in African Cemetery No.2. For more see "A Negro lawyer in Kentucky," New York Times, 06/06/1888, p. 6; and "R. C. O. Benjamin; shot dead as the result of a petty election quarrel," Hopkinsville Kentuckian, 10/05/1900, p.5.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Lawyers
Geographic Region: Nicholasville, Jessamine County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Schools for the Colored Race
Start Year : 1895
The following schools are listed in Progress of a Race, as reported by the Kentucky Commissioner of Education: Christian Bible School in Louisville, 26 students; St. Augustin Ladies' Academy in Lebanon, 76 students; Chandler Ladies' Normal School in Lexington, 245 students; State Normal School in Frankfort, 105 students; Central High School, Louisville, 806 students; and Paris Colored High School, 336 students. For more see Progress of a Race, by J. W. Gibson and W. H. Crogman [available full-text via Google Book Search]. See also the entries for African American Schools.
Subjects: Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Kentucky: Louisville, Jefferson County; Lebanon, Marion County; Lexington, Fayette County; Frankfort, Franklin County; Paris, Bourbon County
Scott, Anna W. Porter
Birth Year : 1925
Scott was born in Fulton, KY, the daughter of Jevvie R. Patton Porter and Thomas M. Porter. She is the wife of John T. Scott. Anna W. Scott served with the U.S. WACs, 1944-1947, and returned to Fulton before moving to Urbana, IL, in 1958. She was the first woman elected to the Democrat State Central Committee in Illinois and was vice-chair of the State Democrat Party, 1974-1976. She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1976 and the Illinois House of Representative in 1977. In 1984, she was the coordinator of the 21st Congressional District for the Jessie Jackson campaign. In 1993, Scott was appointed to the Illinois Real Estate and Banking Board by Governor Jim Edgar. Anna Scott is a 1958 sociology graduate (B.S.), a 1960 education graduate (M.A.), and a 1964 social work graduate (M.S.W.) of the University of Illinois. She is a full-time sociology professor at Parkland College. For more see the Anna Wall Porter Scott entry in The Black Women in the Middle West Project, by D. C. Hine, et al.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Sociologists & Social Scientists, Women's Groups and Organizations, Women's Army Corps (WACs)
Geographic Region: Fulton, Fulton County, Kentucky / Urbana, Illinois
Scott, Attica
Birth Year : 1972
In May of 2016, Kentucky native Attica Scott was the winner of the Democratic Primary for the 41st House District in Louisville, Kentucky. She won 54% of the vote. Her district is 50% black and 50% white. With no Republican candidate to challenge her on Election Day, November 8, 2016, Attica Scott becomes the next African American woman to serve in the Kentucky Legislature after almost 20 years. Her historic election follows that of Eleanor Jordan who was elected to the Kentucky House in November of 1998. Jordan was a mentor to Attica Scott during her campaign. To date, all of the African American women legislators in Kentucky have come from Louisville, KY: Amelia Moore Tucker - (R)(H)1961-1963; Georgia D. Powers - (D)(S)1967-1988; Mae Street Kidd - (D)(H)1968-1984; Charlotte Smith McGill - (D)(H)1971-1977; Eleanor Jordan - (D)(H)1996-2000; and Attica Scott - (D)(H)2016. Prior to the 2016 election, Attica Scott served from 2011-2014 on the Louisville Metro Council where she was on several committees and she chaired the Vacant Properties Committee, and she chaired the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund Work Group. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Bellarmine University and at Jefferson Community and Technical College. Attica Scott is a graduate of Knoxville College and the University of Tennessee. For more see "Attica Scott" at Linked In; "Attica Scott" at Insider Louisville; "Program helps more Democratic women get elected," Associated Press State Wire: Kentucky, 05/07/2012, printed in the Courier-Journal news section; Attica Scott, "Spending cuts and the 'womencession' - Jobs more important than the paring deficit," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/29/2011, p.D1; J. F. Hunter, "Attica Scott promotes tolerance for all," Knoxville News Sentinel, 04/21/2001, p.B1.
See photo image of Attica Scott at NBC News website "Kentucky Elects First African American Woman to State Legislature in 20 years," by L. Burke, 05/18/2016.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Women's Groups and Organizations, Legislators, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Knoxville, Tennessee
Scott County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Scott County was formed from Woodford County in 1792, the 11th county in Kentucky. It is located in the north-central part of the state and was named for Kentucky Governor Charles Scott, who was a veteran of the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. Scott County is surrounded by seven counties. The county seat is Georgetown, which was previously named Lebanon. In 1790 the town was renamed George Town in honor of George Washington. After Scott County was established in 1792, George Town became the county seat, and the spelling was changed to Georgetown [one word] in 1846. The 1800 population was 8,007 and included 6,085 whites, 12 free coloreds, and 1,910 slaves, according to the Second Census of Kentucky. By 1860, the population was 8,675, excluding the slaves, according to the U.S. Federal Census. Below are the numbers for slave owners, slaves, free Blacks, and free Mulattoes for 1850-1870.
1850 Slave Schedule
- 909 slave owners
- 5,378 Black slaves
- 456 Mulatto slaves
- 174 free Blacks
- 47 free Mulattoes
- 1,070 slave owners
- 4,854 Black slaves
- 678 Mulatto slaves
- 162 free Blacks
- 66 free Mulattoes
- 3,355 Blacks
- 561 Mulattoes
- About 267 U.S. Colored Troops listed Scott County, KY, as their birth location.
Subjects: Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county N-Z]
Geographic Region: Scott County, Kentucky
Scott, George
Birth Year : 1840
Death Year : 1907
George Scott was a horse trainer from Kentucky, born around 1840; he died in Chicago, February 21, 1907 [source: Cook County, Illinois Deaths Index]. Scott is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Chicago.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Migration North
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois
Scott, Isaiah B.
Birth Year : 1854
Death Year : 1931
Born in Woodford County, KY, Bishop Isaiah B. Scott was the first African American president of Wiley College in Marshall, TX (1893-1896). In 1907 the school received the first Carnegie library west of the Mississippi River. In 1887, Scott had also been the first "Negro Missionary" in Hannibal, MO; Scott Chapel was named in his honor. He was also editor of the Southwestern Christian Advocate in New Orleans (1896-1904). He was elected Bishop for Africa in 1904 and moved to Liberia. He wrote Four Years in Liberia, published in 1908. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1927; L. Richardson, "Scott Chapel United Methodist Church," a Hannibal Free Public Library (MO) website; and Religion and the Rise of Jim Crow in New Orleans, by J. B. Bennett.
See photo image of Bishop Isaiah B. Scott at the Liberia United Methodist Church website.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration West, Religion & Church Work, Migration South, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada
Geographic Region: Woodford County, Kentucky / Marshall, Texas / Hannibal, Missouri / New Orleans, Louisiana / Liberia, Africa
Scott, Joseph Walter
Birth Year : 1935
Joseph W. Scott was born and raised in Detroit, MI. He earned his undergraduate degree in sociology at Central Michigan University in 1957, then earned his master's and Ph.D. at Indiana University. After serving two years in the U.S. Army, Dr. Joseph Scott became the first full-time African American faculty member at the University of Kentucky in the spring semester, 1965. Scott would begin the fall term as an assistant professor in the sociology department. Scott is presently a professor emeritus at the University of Washington; he has taught at four other higher education institutions in the U.S. as well as in Nigeria and Argentina. For more see "Kentucky U. names Negro," New York Times, 04/09/1965, p. 16; resources about James W. Scott in the University of Kentucky Archives; "The First Black faculty members at the nation's 50 flagship state universities," The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, no. 39 (Spring 2003), pp. 118-126; and Joseph W. Scott at the University of Washington website. Additional information provided by Valli Scott.
See photo image of Joseph W. Scott near the bottom of the Center for Multicultural Education website at the University of Washington.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Sociologists & Social Scientists
Geographic Region: Detroit, Michigan / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Washington (state)
Scott, Tom
Birth Year : 1844
Death Year : 1925
Tom Scott, born in Bourbon County, KY, was a survivor of the Saltville Massacre [the murders of wounded African American Union soldiers who were buried in a single grave], which took place in Virginia during the Civil War. Scott was an escaped slave who became a member of the U.S. 5th Colored Cavalry, having joined up in Lebanon, KY. After the war, he relocated to Rocky Springs, MS, and, according to his great-granddaughter, was one of the first African Americans to own land in Claiborne County. In 2000, a permanent marker was placed on Scott's grave, located in the cemetery next to the Second Union Baptist Church, where Scott had been a deacon. Additional information from University of Kentucky Anthropology Researcher Nancy O'Malley: As a slave, Tom Scott was owned by James Scott of North Middletown, KY. Tom Scott was the husband of Phillis Ann Risk, who was owned by Thomas West Brooks. Tom and Phillis Scott had four children when Tom enlisted in the Army. This information comes from the military muster rolls, a copy of which is available at the Kentucky Military History Museum in Frankfort, KY. James Scott had 27 slaves, according to the 1860 U.S. Federal Census. Tom Scott would have been about 16 years old in 1860; there is a black male, aged 16, listed in James Scott's slave census. For more see "Memorial service in Mississippi to honor Kentucky slave-turned -soldier," The Associate Press State & Local Wire, 12/02/2000, State and Regional section; and The Saltville Massacre, by T. D. Mays.
Nancy O'Malley, Assistant Director
William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology and
Office of State Archeology
1020A Export Street
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40506
Ph. 859-257-1944
Subjects: Freedom, Military & Veterans, Migration South, 1st African American Families in Town
Geographic Region: North Middletown, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Rocky Springs, Mississippi
Scott, William
Death Year : 1901
William Scott was a jockey from Louisville, KY. In 1901, he was one of three people to die at Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, all of whom were killed by lightning strikes. Scott died when the race track stable known as Irish Row was struck by lightning [source: "Lightning Killed Three," New York Times, 07/07/1901, p. 2].
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Killed by Lightning
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
Seal, Catherine
Birth Year : 1874
Death Year : 1930
Seal was born in Hustonville, KY. Although illiterate, she led one of the largest religious cults in the United States, the Church of the Innocent Blood, which was an interracial faith. She believed that women made better leaders. She had thousands of female followers, both black and white, and she focused on caring for unmarried pregnant women. They prayed to the image of a Black Jesus. Seal's ministry was in New Orleans, LA, where her church was built. In 1930, Mother Catherine told her followers that she needed to go home to fight a spirit; she died a few hours after she arrived in Lexington, KY. She was listed as living on Charbonnet Street in New Orleans in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census. After Seal's death, Mother Rita took charge as head of the church, temporarily, warning that if the church were sold, then New Orleans would be destroyed by a flood. The property was sold in 1931 because Mother Catherine left no will. There were no unpaid debts or taxes, so the proceeds from the sale went to the Louisiana State Treasury. For more see African-American Religious Leaders, by N. Aaseng; and "Physicking Priestess" in Time, vol. 17, issue 16 (04/20/1931), pp. 63-64. See also "Catherine Seals" in The Spirit of Black Hawk by Jason Berry [her last name is spelled "Seals" in Berry's book].
Subjects: Religion & Church Work, Migration South, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Hustonville, Lincoln County, Kentucky / New Orleans, Louisiana / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Seales, Daniel, Sr.
Birth Year : 1821
Death Year : 1905
Daniel Seales Sr., a wealthy businessman, was born in Lexington, KY, the son of jockey Dennis Seales (b.1784 in KY) who owned quite a bit of property in Lexington. It was questioned in the media as to whether Daniel Seales was truly a millionaire who lived in San Francisco. An answer was printed In an issue of the Cleveland Gazette, the 1891 article stated that Seales was wealthy, traveled extensively, and was rarely at his home in San Francisco, and that he often spent time in Cleveland, OH, with his wife and children. Seales' family had moved to Cleveland some years prior to 1891, and the reason for the move, according to the article, was because the Cleveland schools were better for his four children. During his travels, Seales sometimes visited Lexington, KY, and his arrival was announced in the newspaper. The same was true when he visited other cities, and Seales would also submit letters to the editors of newspapers in cities he visited. In California, Seales was a member of the newly formed Colored citizens state convention, an organization that fought for the equal rights of African Americans and for representation in the state legislature. Seales filed several lawsuits against public establishments that denied access to African Americans based on race. One of the cases took place in 1885 in the Cleveland Common Pleas Court; the suit was against La Grand Rink in Cleveland, because Daniel Seales Jr. had been denied admission due to his race. The following year, Seales Sr. was awarded $200 in damages. It is not known if Seales was ever a slave. He was an educated man, an 1850 graduate of Oberlin College. Immediately after graduation, Seales moved to California, where it was said that he made his fortune mining gold. While in San Francisco, his brother Enoch Seals, who was a minister, sent him a letter in 1867, announcing that he was appointed a deputy sheriff and tax collector for Colored people in Louisville, KY; the appointment was thought to be the first office held by a Colored person in Louisville. Daniel Seales had the announcement printed in the Elevator, a newspaper in San Francisco. Daniel Seales' family is listed in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census as free persons living in Lexington, KY. Their last name is spelled 'Seals.' Daniel Seales, Sr. continued to visit Lexington from time to time and eventually moved to Cleveland where he died at the family home on Woodland Avenue. For more see "The San Francisco Elevator...," Cleveland Gazette, 02/14/1891, p.3; "Daniel Seales, Sr. died...," Cleveland Gazette, 04/15/1905, p.3; "Daniel Seales," Lexington Leader, 05/24/1898, p.7; "Colored millionaire," Lexington Leader, 11/13/1890, p.5; "Kentucky - Daniel Seals, Esq...," Elevator, 09/27/1867, p.3; "Call for a state convention," Elevator, 11/08/1873, p.2; "Daniel Seales, Sr...," Cleveland Gazette, 05/29/1886, p.4; "What do you think of this?," Cleveland Gazette, 09/19/1891, p.3.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration West
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / San Francisco, California / Cleveland, Ohio
Sears, George
Birth Year : 1847
Death Year : 1907
The following information comes from "Historic Joplin: George Sears, first Negro in Murphysburg, is dead." George Sears is still recognized as the first African American in Murphysburg, MO. Sears is said to have been born in Louisville, KY, in 1847. He was a young man when he came to Joplin and worked as a miner. When he no longer worked in the mines, George Sears was employed as a janitor at the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a member of the Baptist Church. He also belonged to the Knights of Pythias and was a Mason. He attended and gave speeches at Republican Conventions, and was known as a good barbeque cook. According to the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, George Sears, a lead miner, was the husband of Martha (b. 1856) and the father of Emma (b. 1872), Lucy (b. 1874), and Ralph Sears (b. 1880). His wife Martha was born in Tennessee, their daughter Emma in Kansas, and the other two children in Missouri. The family lived on Kentucky Avenue. According to the Joplin website, George Sears married again in 1885 and had a third daughter. George Sears was active in the community and helped organize the 1891 Emancipation Day Celebration [source: "A Grand Day!," The Southern Argus, 09/10/1891, p. 1, column 3]. Sears was the president of Officers of the Day and co-chairman of the Soliciting Committee. George S. Sears is listed in the city directory as a colored janitor who lived at 112 Pearl Street in Joplin, MO [source: p. 381 of Hoye's Joplin and {Carthage, Carterville, Webb City, Jasper Co.} Directory, 1905-1906]. He is also listed in the 1902 directory. George Sears died February 8, 1907 in Joplin, MO [source: "Mr. George Sears of Joplin, MO...," St. Louis Palladium, 03/23/1907, p. 4].
Subjects: Migration West, Miners, Mines, & Steel Mills, Fraternal Organizations, Emancipation Day / Juneteenth Celebrations
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Kansas / Murphysburg and Joplin, Missouri
Sebree, Charles E.
Birth Year : 1914
Death Year : 1985
Sebree was born in Madisonville, KY. A painter, costume designer, professional dancer, theatrical producer, and choreographer who had many other talents, he created over 150 works of art, directed workshop productions at the American Negro Theatre, and designed sets and costumes for Broadway appearances. Sebree was company artist at the U.S. Naval Base in the Great Lakes. He produced Mrs. Patterson, which played at the National Theatre and starred Eartha Kitt, Enid Markey, and Avon Long; Mrs. Patterson was Eartha Kitt's debut in the U.S. For more see St. James Guide to Black Artists, ed. by T. Riggs; Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, vol. 14 (Sept. 1984-Aug. 1986); and Charles Sebree: a retrospective, by C. Sebree.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Artists, Fine Arts
Geographic Region: Madisonville, Hopkins County, Kentucky
Segregated Public Housing Projects in Kentucky
Start Year : 1938
End Year : 1966
The U.S. Housing Authority was created from the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. The organization provided loans and funding to local housing agencies for low-rent housing and slum clearance. In 1942, the name of the organization changed to the Federal Public Housing Administration, and in 1947 the name became Public Housing Administration (PHA). The Race Relations Service in public housing helped develop policies and procedures for minority groups; there was to be no discrimination [not the same as segregation]. The selection of tenants and the assigning of units were left to the discretion of local agencies. Beginning in the late 1930s, up to the mid 1960s, three fourths of all public housing projects in the United States were segregated as all white or all Negro. The building locations for the complexes were reflective of the segregated housing in most U.S. cities. It was a common and accepted practice by the PHA for public housing complexes for whites to be built in white neighborhoods, and if there was a complex for Negroes, it was built in the Black neighborhood. In Kentucky, the first public housing complexes built exclusively for Negroes were located in five cities: Covington - Jacob Price Homes, 163 units; Lexington - Charlotte Court, 206 units, and Aspendale Park, 142 units; Louisville - Beecher Terrace, 808 units, and College Courts, 125 units; Madisonville - Rosenwald Housing, 45 units; and Paducah - Abraham Lincoln Court, 74 units. In the late 1940s, there were discussions of integrating the public housing projects in the U.S., with the initial steps being the assignment of one Negro family to an apartment in an all white complex. This was followed by other integration steps such as the building of additional segregated housing complexes for Negroes, and/or designating a building or section of buildings for Negroes, while the remainder of the complex was reserved for whites. These types of integration plans took place in various cities in Kentucky. For more see E. Rutledge, Integration of Racial Minorities in public housing projects; H. M. Jackson, "Public housing and minority groups," The Phylon Quarterly, vol.19, issue 1 (1st Qtr., 1958), pp.21-30; J. D. Luttrell, "The Public Housing Administration and discrimination in federally assisted low-rent housing," Michigan Law Review, vol.64, issue 5 (Mar., 1966), pp.871-890; and "Public Housing projects occupied wholly or partially by Negro tenants and managed by the Federal Public Housing Authority or by local housing authorities, as of January 31, 1943" on pp.83-90 in The Negro handbook, 1944 by Florence Murray.
Subjects: Housing Authority, The Projects, Housing, Fair Housing, Open Housing, Housing Agencies
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Semmes, LaVaughn "Bonnie" Taylor
Birth Year : 1929
Death Year : 2006
Semmes was born in Carrollton, KY, the daughter of Paul B. and Lucille Jackson Taylor. She grew up in Lafayette, IN. In 2000 she was named the Woman of the Year by the Fort Quiaterion Chapter of the American Business Women's Association. She was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by then Governor Joe Kernan; it is the highest award given by an Indiana governor. Semmes was also awarded the Marquis De Lafayette Award for Community Service. For more than 50 years she served as director of the Hanna Community Center, the Southside Community Center, and the Lincoln Community Center. She was also a board member of the Lafayette Housing Authority. Semmes was treasurer of Church Women United and was awarded the organization's Valiant Woman Award. She was an officer of the Dorcas Chapter No. 14, Order of Eastern Star and a former president and treasurer of the Mary L. Federated Colored Women's Club. For more see Journal and Courier articles, "Woman of the Year," 01/19/2000, Communities section, p. 3B; and "LaVaughn Bonnie Taylor Semmes," 12/21/2006, Obit section, p. 2B.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Housing Authority, The Projects, Migration North, Women's Groups and Organizations, Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Community Centers and Cultural Centers
Geographic Region: Carrollton, Carroll County, Kentucky / Lafayette, Indiana
Settles, Joseph
Settles was a slave on the Wilson Farm in Mays Lick, KY. [Mays Lick is nine miles from Maysville, KY]. In 1863, he escaped with his wife, baby daughter, and his brother-in-law who was the overseer on the Wilson Farm. Settles located his friend John Greiner in Ripley, OH, and his family lived with Greiner for two years. Less than a week after their arrival in Ohio, Settles returned to Kentucky and led eight other slaves to freedom. For more see Beyond the River by A. Hagedorn
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North
Geographic Region: Mays Lick and Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky / Ripley, Ohio
Seymour, William
Birth Year : 1843
Death Year : 1920
William Seymour was born a slave in Kentucky. He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, were members of the Exodusters Movement: they settled to Ottawa, Kansas, and later moved on to Colorado Springs, Colorado in the latter part of the 1890s. When the family of eight left Kentucky, it included Sorelda Seymour, the mother of William, his wife and five children. All were born in Kentucky. While in Kansas, William and Mary Elizabeth Seymour had three more children, according to the 1885 Kansas State Census. In 1903, William Seymour would become the first African American to serve on a jury in El Paso County, Colorado. A bronze sculpture of Seymour stands on the lawn of the Pioneer Museum, which was the former location of the El Paso County Courthouse. Seymour also helped found the St. John's Baptist Church. According to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, the Seymour family lived on Moreno Street in Colorado Springs. For more about Seymour and his descendants, see E. Emery, "Bronze honors golden ideals 1st black to sit on El Paso jury," Denver Post, 03/01/2002, p. B-03.
See William Seymour statue at the waymarking.com website.
Subjects: Migration West, Nicodemus, Religion & Church Work, Exodusters [African Americans migrating West around Reconstruction Era]
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Kansas / Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado
Shadows of the Past by Louis Stout
Start Year : 2006
This 2006 publication by Louis Stout is the first of its kind, an historical overview of the Kentucky High School Athletic League (KHSAL) that covers the administrators, schools, coaches, and athletes that participated in the development of the association. KHSAL was formed in 1932 as an interscholastic athletics organization for the Negro schools of Kentucky. There were 69 member schools, and KHSAL remained active until 1958 when Kentucky schools and athletic associations began to desegregate. Basketball and football were recognized by KHSAL, though many of the schools had other sporting events such as boxing and track and field. Fifty-two schools are highlighted in the book, with photographs and a brief history of the schools, teams, and coaches. A fair portion of the history and the photographs deal with the basketball teams.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Basketball, Boxers, Boxing, Football, Track & Field, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Shake Rag (Bowling Green, KY)
The Shake Rag District of Bowling Green, KY, was an African American community with families, schools, businesses, and churches. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The community was settled by former slaves, families and soldiers who had fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. A large portion of Bowling Green's domestic employees lived in Shake Rag. The Southern Queen Hotel and Covington-Moses home, located in Shake Rag at 140 State Street, is still the only African-owned hotel in Bowling Green. It was built in 1906 by James Covington, and family members still live in the home. Prior to school integration, State Street High School was where African American students in Bowling Green attended school. In 2008, the 5th Annual Shake Rag Heritage Festival was held by the New Era Planning Association, an organization that is working to revitalize the Shake Rag District. For more see ShakeRag: a pictorial history from 1946 to 1967, by D. Thompson and K. R. Singleton; and the following articles from the Daily News (Bowling Green): J. Dooley, "Visitors' bureau highlights Shakerag area," 10/08/2002, News section; A. Carmichael, "Shake Rag looks toward resurgence," 08/17/2003, News section; A. Harvey, "Shake Rag's festival returns - fifth annual event pays tribute to BG's historic black area," 05/15/2008, Feature section; and B. Speakman, "Celebrating Shake Rag," 05/17/2008, (bgdailynews.com).
Subjects: Communities, Freedom, Bed & Breakfast, Hotels, Inns, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Shake Rag (Bowling Green), Warren County, Kentucky
Shankle, James and Winnie [Shankleville, Texas]
James Shankle (1811 - 1887), born in Kentucky, was the husband of Winnie (1814 - 1883), born in Tennessee; they were both the slaves of Isaac Rollins in Wayne County, Mississippi. Winnie and her children by Isaac Rollins were sold, and James Shankle became a fugitive when he went looking for them. After many months of searching, he found them in Texas, and Winnie's new owner also purchased James. After they became free, James and Winnie bought land and founded the African American town of Shankleville. They would become the parents of six more children, one of whom married Stephen McBride, founder of McBride College, which was located in Shankleville. The school existed from 1883 to 1909. For more see Shankleville, Texas, at The Handbook of Texas Online website; and "James and Winnie Brush Shankle" in vol. 7 of the African American National Biography, edited by H. L. Gates, Jr. and E. B. Higginbotham.
Subjects: Communities, Education and Educators, Freedom, Migration West, Migration South
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Tennessee / Wayne County, Mississippi / Shankleville, Texas
Shanklin, Barbara
Shanklin, of Louisville, KY, was awarded the Anderson Laureate Award in 2006. She was elected to serve on the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Council in 2002 and was the first woman and the first African American to serve as president. Shanklin, who is a teacher and dedicated activist and civic leader, had previously served as Majority Caucus Chair of the Council. She is a graduate of Central High School, Waterson College (associate degree), McKendree College (B.A.), Webster University (M.A.), and Spalding University (Ed. D.). For more see "Anderson Laureate Award Winner Announced - During the 2006 Governor's EEO Conference," [pdf] 10/20/2006, by the Kentucky Commission on Women; Dr. Barbara Shanklin biography, on the LouisvilleKy.gov website; and The Honorable Dr. Barbara Shanklin on p.127 in Who's Who in Black Louisville.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Civic Leaders, Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shanks, Irvine Lee
Birth Year : 1930
Death Year : 2004
Born in Kenton County, KY, Shanks was the first African American to play basketball at Berea College, during the 1954-1955 seasons. A 6 foot 5 inch center, he was the only African American on the team. No opposing team ever canceled a game due to his presence. In 1955, he helped Berea College win the Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. He was married and had two children when he became a student athlete at Berea. Shanks had been a sergeant in the U.S. Army and fought in the Korean War. He is buried in the Madison County Memorial Gardens, according to the U.S. Veterans Gravesites information. For more see "B" For Berea: The Amazing Story of Berea College Basketball in the Words of the Men Who Played It, by T. Chase; Berea College Magazine, Spring 2002; and "Irvine Shanks, sports pioneer - war veteran broke basketball color barrier in Kentucky," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/09/2004, City & Region section, p. B4.
Subjects: Basketball, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Kenton County, Kentucky / Richmond and Berea, Madison County, Kentucky
Shanks, Sharon
Birth Year : 1956
Born in Bardstown, KY, Shanks became the Executive Director of the Nelson County Library (Bardstown) in 2003. It is believed that she is the first African American public library director in Kentucky. Shanks earned her degrees from Eastern Kentucky University. She was formerly with the Family Resource Youth Services Center Coalition of Kentucky for several years, serving as president her last year with the Coalition. She was also the School System Program Coordinator for the Family Resource Youth Services Center for Bardstown City School District and was a designated state board member of the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy. For more information contact Sharon Shanks at the Nelson County Public Library.
Subjects: Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky
Shannon, John W.
Birth Year : 1933
Born in Louisville, KY, Colonel Shannon has served as liaison officer in the Office of the Secretary of the Army. He was sworn in as the Under Secretary of the Army in 1989, serving in that post until 1993. He has earned numerous awards in the area of military force development and structure, personnel policy, and administrative and congressional affairs. Shannon is a graduate of Central State University and Shippensburg State College [now Shippensburg University]. For more see African American Biographies: profiles of 558 current men and women, by W. L. Hawkins.
See photo image of John W. Shannon at Wikipedia.
Subjects: Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shaw, Ed
Death Year : 1891
Shaw's birth date was in the late 1820s. He was a free man born in Kentucky who moved to Memphis, TN, around 1852. He owned a saloon and gambling house. Shaw has been described as a radical Republican political leader and as the most powerful African American leader in Memphis. He was defeated in a run for Congress in 1869. He spoke up for the rights of African Americans, for integrated schools, and against poll taxes. He served on the City Council and the County Commission and was elected wharf master. Shaw was also a lawyer and editor of the Memphis Planet newspaper. For more see "Ed Shaw" in the article "Free Blacks had impact on county history - Historian traces roots of black population," Commercial Appeal, 10/14/1993, Neighbors section, p. e2; and in the History of Memphis at cityofmemphis.org.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Lawyers, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Migration South, Gambling, Lottery
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Memphis, Tennessee
Shaw, Renee
Birth Year : 1972
Renee Shaw was born in Portland, TN, and is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, with a B.A. in political science and broadcast journalism (1994) and an M.A. in corporate communications (1996). She is an adjunct professor of media writing at Georgetown College and has trained journalists in Cambodia on reporting in an open democracy. For several years Shaw was a reporter and associate producer with WKYU-TV and WKYU-FM, where she earned state and national awards for her radio reporting. Her career with Kentucky Educational Television (KET) began in 1997, and in 2005 she launched "Connections with Renee Shaw" on KET, the first statewide minority affairs program. Shaw is a public affairs program producer and co-produces KET's longest running public affairs program, "Comment on Kentucky." She is also producer/managing editor and host of KET's legislative coverage. She is a 2007 graduate of the Leadership Kentucky program and heads Public Relations and Marketing for the First Baptist Church Bracktown, where she is also a Sunday School teacher. For more, contact Renee Shaw at Kentucky Educational Television (KET).
See photo image of Renee Shaw at the KET website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Radio, Television, Sunday School
Geographic Region: Portland, Tennessee / Bracktown, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Shaw, Thomas
Birth Year : 1846
Death Year : 1895
Born a slave in Covington, KY, Thomas Shaw ran away to join the Union Army in 1864. His owner, Mary Shaw, wrote the federal government asking for compensation for her loss. After the Civil War, Thomas Shaw remained with the Army and was on the western frontier with Company K, 9th U.S. Cavalry. He earned the Medal of Honor for the defense of his comrades during a fight with Apache Indians in 1881. Shaw retired from the Army in 1894. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. For more see African American Recipients of the Medal of Honor, by C. W. Hanna.
See photo image of Thomas Shaw at the Wikipedia website.
Subjects: Freedom, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky
Shawler, John
Birth Year : 1869
Death Year : 1922
John Shawler was a horseman and rider in Chicago, IL. He was born Christmas Day, 1868, in Hardinsburg, KY, the son of George and Martha Tabor Shawler [source: Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index]. The family of nine was still in Kentucky in 1880, and John, the oldest child, 12 years old, worked on the farm with his father [U.S. Federal Census]. By 1910, John's father had died and the family of five lived on Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, IL. John worked with horses [U.S. Federal Census]. John Shawler died January 9, 1922 and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Migration North
Geographic Region: Hardinsburg, Breckinridge County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois
Sheckles, William "Bill"
Birth Year : 1954
In 2010, William Sheckles became the first African American mayor in Bardstown, KY. Sheckles was born in Bardstown. He has served on the city council for 12 years prior to running and winning the election for mayor. Sheckles is well known in Bardstown, he has owned a restaurant and he was a car salesman. He has also served as president of the Kentucky Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials with the Kentucky League of Cities. In 2014, he was elected the first African American president of the Kentucky League of Cities. William "Bill" Sheckles is a graduate of Bardstown High School and he earned a B.S in business administration at Western Kentucky University (WKU). He lettered all four years as a baseball player at WKU. For more see M. Davis, "New Bardstown mayor gives how-to on a countywide coup," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/07/2010, p.B1; and "A Resolution Honoring Bardstown Mayor William Sheckles," the Kentucky Senate [SR130].
Subjects: Baseball, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky
Sheffield, Arthur A., Jr.
Birth Year : 1946
In 1973, Arthur Sheffield, Jr. became the first African American fireman in Covington, KY.
See photo image of Arthur Sheffield, Jr. at the Faces and Places, NKy Photographic Archives, Kenton County Public Library website.
Subjects: Firefighters
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky
Shelby County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Shelby County, formed in 1792 from portions of Jefferson County, was named in honor of the first Kentucky Governor, Isaac Shelby. The county is located in north-central Kentucky and surrounded by six counties. The county seat, Shelbyville, was also named for Governor Shelby. Shelby County was the 12th county formed in Kentucky, and according to the Second Census of Kentucky, in 1800 the total population was 8,191, with 6,681 whites, 23 free coloreds, and 1,487 slaves. In 1830, there were four free African American slave owners: one in Shelby County and three in Shelbyville. By 1860, the population was 9,799, excluding the slaves. Below are the number of slave owners, slaves, and free Blacks and Mulattoes for 1850-1870.
1850 Slave Schedule
- 1,266 slave owners
- 5,875 Black slaves
- 908 Mulatto slaves
- 138 free Blacks
- 55 free Mulattoes
- 1,192 slave owners
- 5,668 Black slaves
- 998 Mulatto slaves
- 103 free Blacks
- 61 free Mulattoes
- 3,260 Blacks
- 2,070 Mulattoes
- About 296 U.S. Colored Troops listed Shelby County, KY, as their birth location.
Subjects: Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county N-Z]
Geographic Region: Shelby County, Kentucky
Shelby, John T., Jr. "T-Bone"
Birth Year : 1958
Born in Lexington, KY, Shelby was an outstanding basketball and baseball player at Lexington's Henry Clay High School. He continued his career as a student at Columbia State Community College in Columbia, TN. His professional career began in 1981 when he was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Orioles. Shelby played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1987-1990 and ended his playing career in 1991 with the Detroit Tigers. He was a member of two World Series teams: the 1983 Orioles and the 1988 Dodgers. In 1998, Shelby was named to the coaching staff of the Los Angeles Dodgers and was the first base coach for all but the first two years of his coaching career there. In 2005, he was named first base coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Shelby and his family reside in Lexington. His oldest son, John T. Shelby, III, played baseball at the University of Kentucky and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2006. For more see "Smithtown's slugger - neighborhood celebrates L.A. Dodgers' John Shelby," Lexington Herald-Leader, 08/08/1999.
See John Shelby 31, a Pittsburgh Pirates' website.
Read about the John T. Shelby oral history interview available in the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, item record in the SPOKE Database.
Subjects: Baseball, Basketball, Migration West
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Columbia, Tennessee / Baltimore, Maryland / Los Angeles, California / Detroit, Michigan / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania / Chicago, Illinois
Shelton, Dorothy C.
In 1981, Shelton became the first African American woman on the Morganfield City Council. For more see "40 blacks serve on city councils in 35 Kentucky cities," in 1982 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Sixth Report by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, p. 27.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Morganfield, Union County, Kentucky
Sheppard, William Henry
Birth Year : 1865
Death Year : 1927
William H. Sheppard was born in Waynesboro, Virginia. He was a devoted Presbyterian whose parents were freed slaves; his father was a barber and his mother managed a women's health bath. Sheppard became a minister, then found a way to go Africa, even though at that time African Americans were not chosen to head African missions. Sheppard was an evangelist who fought to improve the living conditions of Africans. He was also the first American to collect African art. Sheppard referred to himself as "The Black Livingston." In his final years, Sheppard resided in Louisville, KY, where he was a leader in the community as well as pastor of the Grace Hope Presbyterian Church (1912-1927). The Smoketown housing development, Sheppard Square, is named in his honor. William Sheppard was featured during Family Saturday at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY, February 2003. The African art collection included items donated by Sheppard's family. In 2007, William H. Sheppard was inducted into the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Hall of Fame. For more see M. Larry, "Speed will showcase William Sheppard's life," Courier-Journal (Louisville), 02/14/03; M. Lewis, "Jewel of the Kingdom," Mission Frontiers; and William Sheppard: Congo's African American Livingstone, by W. E. Phipps.
See photo image of William H. Sheppard at the Wikipedia website.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Barbers, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada
Geographic Region: Waynesboro, Virginia / Africa / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shipley, Reuben
Birth Year : 1811
Death Year : 1873
Shipley was born around 1811 in Kentucky, according to the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, and later moved to Missouri with his master. While there, he married a slave woman with whom he had two boys who became the property of his wife's owner. Around 1850, Shipley left Missouri and traveled to Oregon with his master. He became a free man and attempted to buy the family he had left in Missouri. But Shipley learned that his wife had died, and her owner refused to sell Shipley his sons. Shipley remained in Oregon and purchased 80 acres of land in Corvallis. He married Mary Jane Holmes, and they had six children. Shipley deeded two acres of his land to the county for a cemetery on the condition that African Americans would also be buried there. The land transfer for the Mt. Union Cemetery was completed in 1861. Shipley, his wife, and her second husband, R. G. Drake, are all buried in the cemetery. For more see chapter 6, "A few Colored men in Oregon: Blacks in Oregon 1850-1900" in A Peculiar Paradise, by E. McLagan.
Subjects: Early Settlers, Migration West, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Missouri / Corvallis, Oregon
Shipman, V. Joseph [Continental National Bank]
Birth Year : 1937
V. Joseph Shipman, born in Georgia, was the president, chief executive officer, and director of the Continental National Bank of Kentucky beginning in 1974 and continuing through the 1980s. The bank, located at 500 S. 6th Street in Louisville, KY, was the only Black bank in Kentucky and one of 30 in the U.S. For more see Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton; and "Louisville bank raises funds to open doors," Baltimore Afro-American, 01/10/1976, p. 7.
See photo image of V. Joseph Shipman on p. 115 of Black Enterprise, June 1977, via Google Books.
Subjects: Bankers, Banks, Finance, Financial Advisors
Geographic Region: Georgia / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shipp, Ellen
Birth Year : 1830
Ellen Shipp was born around 1830 in Kentucky and is listed in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census as a free mulatto who was living in Cincinnati, OH. She was the wife of Thomas Shipp, born around 1821 in South Carolina, who is also listed as free. They were the parents of two boys, Thomas Shipp and Jesse A. Shipp Sr. (1863-1934). Jesse wrote the book for In Dahomey, one of the first successful Negro musicals on Broadway. (His name is sometimes spelled Jessie.) He was a playwright, vaudeville performer, manager, director, and lyricist. His son, Jesse A. (or Jessie) Shipp, Jr., founded Shipp Association, a booking agency in Harlem, NY. For more on Jesse Shipp, Sr., see his entry in the Internet Broadway Database.
[Dahomey was a country located in West Africa that is today southern Benin. The history of Dahomey dates between 1600 and 1900. See Dahomey in Encyclopaedia Britannica online.]
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Authors, Mothers, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio / New York
Shobe, Benjamin F.
Birth Year : 1920
Death Year : 2016
Born in Bowling Green, KY, Benjamine F. Shobe was a civil rights attorney who served as a counselor to Lyman T. Johnson in the lawsuit that forced the University of Kentucky to integrate. Shobe was also hired by the NAACP as an attorney in Sweeny v. The City of Louisville, which was pursued to open public accommodations. He was the first elected city police judge in Louisville, KY, in 1976 and retired from the bench in 1992. He was a graduate of Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University] and the University of Michigan Law School. Shobe was also a recipient of Anderson-Mayer Funds. He is a member of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights' Great Black Kentuckians. He was the son of W. L. Shobe , who was principal of Lynch West Main High School, 1939-1956. For more see The American Bench. Judges of the nation, 2nd ed., ed. by M. Reincke and N. Lichterman; and Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Lawyers, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Judges, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shockley, Ann A.
Birth Year : 1927
Shockley was born in Louisville, KY, the daughter of Bessie Lucas and Henry Allen, the first African American social workers in Louisville. Shockley was a librarian at Fisk University and made major contributions to library reference sources by authoring works such as Living Black American Authors and Afro-American Women Writers, 1746-1933. She was editor of the ALA Black Caucus Newsletter and author of a collection of short stories and two novels, one of which, Loving Her, was one of the first novels with an interracial lesbian couple. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-2008; The Writers Directory, 3rd ed.-present; and Who's Who in Library and Information Services, ed. by J. M. Lee.
Subjects: Authors, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Nashville, Tennessee
Short, Rodman J. and Myrtle Render
Born in Rockport, KY, Rodman Short (1883-1936) was the son of Kate E. and John Waltrip Short, the owner of a bit of farmland in Muhlenberg County, KY. Rodman, who left Kentucky for Danville, IL, was a brother of Nancy Short, who settled in Detroit, and John Will Short, who remained in Kentucky after his siblings left, and two younger brothers. Rodman was a coal miner in Danville, IL, and he later returned to Lynch, KY, without his family to find work in the mines during the Depression. He became ill from the mine work and died in Kentucky. His wife, Myrtle Render Short (1888-1971), also a Kentucky native, took his body to Danville, IL, to be buried. Myrtle and Rodman were the parents of cabaret singer and pianist Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short (1924-2005), the ninth of their ten children. For more see the Bobby Short entry in Current Biography; Music legend Bobby Short's jazzy legacy, an NPR.org website; and Black and White Baby, by B. Short.
Subjects: Fathers, Migration North, Miners, Mines, & Steel Mills, Mothers, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Grandparents
Geographic Region: Rockport, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky / Danville, Illinois / Lynch, Harlan County, Kentucky
Shrader, Mildred
Shrader may have been the first White member of the NAACP in Kentucky. (She became a member in the 1960s.) She was also active in the Women's Movement and the Peace Movement. The Shraders lived in Fern Creek, KY, near the African American community of Newburg. They participated in civil rights marches and protests. Mrs. Shrader died of environmentally-induced cancer. For more see the preface of Environmental Justice: creating equality, reclaiming democracy, by K. S. Shrader-Frechette.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Fern Creek, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shultz, Arnold
Birth Year : 1882
Death Year : 1931
Shultz was born in Racine, KY, and buried in the Morgantown, KY, Colored Cemetery. He was a blues guitarist and fiddler who is credited as a major influence on white guitarists in western Kentucky. There are no recordings of Shultz's music. He was the son of Dave and Lizzie Shultz, both of whom were born in Ohio County, KY, according to Arnold Shultz's death certificate. For more see Old Family Photo Album, an African American Web Connection website; and Kentucky Country: folk and country music of Kentucky, by C. K. Wolfe.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Racine, Ohio County, Kentucky / Morgantown, Butler County, Kentucky
Simmons Bible College Records and Historical Materials
This archive includes school catalogs, yearbooks, promotional literature, scrapbooks, and photographs, together with minutes and other publications of the school's sponsoring agency, General Association of Kentucky Baptists, formerly the General Association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky. Available at the University of Louisville Libraries' Special Collections. The Finding Aid to the collection is available through the Kentucky Digital Library. See also the Simmons University (Louisville, KY) NKAA entry.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Simmons College (Louisville, KY)
Start Year : 1879
Simmons (at times referred to as Simmons University) is the oldest African American college in Kentucky. Shortly after the formation of the State Convention of Colored Baptists in Kentucky, Elisha W. Green suggested that the newly formed organization focus on establishing a college for African Americans in Kentucky. A school was opened briefly in 1874, headed by Elder A. Berry. On November 25, 1879, a permanent school was established in Louisville at Seventh and Kentucky Streets, headed by the Marrs brothers, Elijah P. and J. C. The school, State University, was much later renamed Simmons University. In 1931 part of the campus was sold for the establishment of the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes, and Simmons was reorganized into the Simmons Bible College. The Simmons Bible College Records and Simmons University Records, 1869-1971 are collected in an archive that includes school catalogs, yearbooks, promotional literature, scrapbooks, and photographs, together with minutes and other publications of the school's sponsoring agency, the General Association of Kentucky Baptists, formerly the General Association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky. The archive is available in the University of Louisville Libraries' Special Collections. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education named Simmons College the second HBCU in Kentucky and the 107th HBCU overall. [Kentucky State University was the first HBCU in Kentucky]. For more about the history of Simmons University, see Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1879-1930, by L. H. Williams.
See photo image of Simmons University faculty and students in the 1920s, within the Univeristy of Louisville Libraries Digital Collections website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Simmons, George W., Jr.
Birth Year : 1911
Death Year : 2004
Simmons was born 1911 in Tehula, MS, to George Simmons, Sr. and Corrie Cade Smith Simmons. He came to Frankfort, KY, in 1937 to attend Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University]. Simmons had very little and worked tirelessly to afford his education; he flunked out of school and was inducted into the Army in 1942. He was honorably discharged in 1945; he had received 5 Battle Stars and a Good Conduct Medal. Simmons completed his college degree at Kentucky State in 1950 and taught high school in Scott County until 1956 when the school system was integrated; Simmons, who did not have tenure, was let go. He was hired in a special position in adoptions with the Kentucky Department of Economic Security; the state was attempting "to stimulate the Negro phase of the adoption program." In 1993, Simmons was recognized along with other African American teachers from Scott County's segregated schools. Learn more about George W. Simmons, Jr. in his book A Determined Man: an autobiography; see also J. Lucke, "Scott teachers honored for giving lessons of life," Lexington Herald-Leader, 02/15/19993, City/State section, p. B1.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Migration North, Social Workers
Geographic Region: Tehula, Mississippi / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Scott County, Kentucky
Simmons, Lawrence "Bumpy"
In 1952, Simmons became the first African American athlete at the University of Louisville (U of L). Simmons had lettered as a football player at Central High School in Louisville, KY. He was recruited by U of L and participated in spring practice, played in the season opener, then left the school. For more see the Commerce Cabinet Press release by Billy Reed dated 02/21/05, "Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch Represents Pinnacle of Proud African-American Athletic Tradition at U of L: Cards a Leader in Integrating Southern Sports."
Subjects: Football
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Simmons, William J.
Birth Year : 1849
Death Year : 1890
William J. Simmons was the second president of Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute (later Simmons University). He was an education advocate who fought for better education for African American children. He was editor of the American Baptist newspaper and established Eckstein Norton Institute in Cain Springs, KY. Simmons was the author of Men of Mark (1887), the forerunner to the irregular serial publication, Who's Who of the Colored Race. Simmons was also an activist; while serving as chair of the executive committee of the Convention of Colored Men of Kentucky, he was the first African American to speak before the Kentucky Legislature on the injustices put upon African Americans in Kentucky. For more see Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1879-1930, by L. H. Williams; and Life Behind a Veil, by G. C. Wright.
See photo image of William J. Simmons at the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC).
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Cain Springs, Kentucky
Simms, James N.
Birth Year : 1871
Death Year : 1932
James N. Simms was born in 1871 in Port Royal, KY. He was the first African American graduate of the Indiana Law School [source: "No color line," Freeman, 05/29/1897, p.8]. A lawyer, he compiled Simms' Blue Book of National Negro Business and Professional Directory, published in Chicago in 1923. A photo of Simms can be viewed at the New York Public Library Digital Gallery. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37.
Subjects: Authors, Lawyers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Port Royal, Henry County, Kentucky
Simms, Willie
Birth Year : 1870
Death Year : 1927
Willie Simms was born in Augusta, GA. This jockey compiled a 24.8% winning record, winning the Kentucky Derby in Louisville twice, in 1896 aboard Ben Bush and in 1898 on Plaudit. Simms was the first and only African American to win the Preakness, in 1898. He won over 1,100 races during his 14 year career. Simms was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1977. For more see The Great Black Jockeys, by E. Hotaling.
See photo image of Willie Simms and additional information at the African American Registry website.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby
Geographic Region: Augusta, Georgia / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Simpson, Abram Lyon
Birth Year : 1894
Death Year : 1956
Simpson, born in Louisville, KY, was a chemistry professor at Morris Brown College prior to WWI, where he unsuccesfully attempted to organize a chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 1914. He was later president of Allen University in South Carolina (serving 1932-1937) and was acting president of Bethune-Cookman College [now Bethune-Cookman University] from 1937-1939. He also served as supervisor and counselor in the United States Employment Services (U.S.E.S.) in Washington, D.C. Simpson composed the Alpha Phi Alpha National Hymn. A veteran of World War I, he was the youngest African American Army captain at the age of 23. He is thought to be one of the characters in and the inspiration behind his friend Joseph S. Cotter, Jr.'s poem "On the fields of France." Simpson graduated from Wilberforce University (in 1914) and the University of Chicago. He was the son of James Edward and Lida Simpson, and according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, the family of five lived on West Broadway. For more see Who's Who in Colored America 1950; Lost Plays of the Harlem Renaissance, 1920-1940, by J. V. Hatch and L. Hamalian; and Complete History of the Colored Soldiers in the World War: authentic story of the Greatest War..., Bennett and Churchill, 1919 [full-text at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Education and Educators, Employment Services, Military & Veterans, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Columbia, South Carolina / Daytona Beach, Florida / Washington, DC / Chicago, Illinois / Wilberforce, Ohio
Simpson, Arnold
Arnold Simpson was the first African American to become city manager of Covington, KY, and also, in 1994, the first elected state representative from northern Kentucky's House District 65 (Kenton County). Simpson has won consecutive re-elections to the Kentucky General Assembly since. He is the son of James Simpson, Jr. Simpson is a graduate of Kentucky State University and the University of Kentucky College of Law. For more see J. Reis, "Winning the Right to Vote," Kentucky Post, 01/15/01, Editorialextra section, p. 4K; Representative Arnold Simpson (D) on the Legislative Research Commission website; and contact the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
See photo image at Arnold Simpson website.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Legislators, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Simpson County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Simpson County, in south Kentucky, slightly to the west, is on the Tennessee line and borders the three Kentucky counties from which it was formed in 1819: Allen, Logan, and Warren Counties. Simpson County was named in honor of John Simpson, who was killed during the War of 1812. The county seat is Franklin, established in 1819 and named for Benjamin Franklin. The 1820 county population was 674 [heads of households], according to the U.S. Federal Census, the population increased to 5,841 by 1860, excluding the slaves. Below are the number of slave owners, slaves, free Blacks, and free Mulattoes for 1850-1870.
1850 Slave Schedule
- 394 Slave owners
- 1,664 Black slaves
- 271 Mulatto slaves
- 37 free Blacks
- 7 free Mulattoes
- 462 Slave owners
- 1,928 Black slaves
- 381 Mulatto slaves
- 92 free Blacks
- 4 free Mulattoes [last names Husketh, 1 Earnest]
- 1,770 Black slaves
- 381 Mulattoes
- About 42 U.S. Colored Troops listed Simpson County, KY, as their birth location.
Subjects: Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county N-Z]
Geographic Region: Simpson County, Kentucky
Simpson, James Edward
Birth Year : 1854
Death Year : 1956
Simpson was born in Brownville, PA, and moved to Louisville, KY, where he taught Latin at Louisville Colored High School [later Louisville Central High School]. He was also a graduate of Louisville National Medical College, but never practiced medicine. Simpson was a member of the committee that established the retirement and pension for the City of Louisville, and he was the first teacher to retire under the new system. He was the husband of Lida Simpson, and they were the parents of three children, all born in Louisville, KY, two of whom were Abram L. Simpson and Jane Simpson Williams. James E. Simpson died in Washington, D.C. For more see "James Edward Simpson" on page 440 in The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians by A. A. Dunnigan.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Medical Field, Health Care, Migration South
Geographic Region: Brownville, Pennsylvania / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Washington, D. C.
Simpson, James, Jr.
Birth Year : 1928
Death Year : 1999
James Simpson, Jr. was the first African American elected to the Covington, KY, City Commission in 1971. He was the father of Arnold Simpson. He was born in Somerset, KY, and was an active community member in Covington. He was owner of Simpson & Jones Funeral Home. The street, James Simpson Jr. Way, in Covington, KY, was named in his honor. For more see J. Reis, "Winning the Right to Vote," Kentucky Post, 01/15/01, Editorialextra section, p. 4K; and "36 city officials include mayor, police court judge," in Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials [1972], by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 11. See also the James Simpson Jr. biography at the Kenton County Public Library website.
Subjects: First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign), Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky / Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky
Simpson, Marguerite E.
Simpson was from Washington, KY. Around 1946, she founded an education digest, Scholarship, which was published to establish a scholarship fund. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers
Geographic Region: Washington, Mason County, Kentucky
Simpson, Melissa
Birth Year : 1817
Death Year : 1901
Melissa Simpson was the founder of the Rock Valley A.M.E. Church in Clinton, KS. Born in Logan County, KY, she had been a slave. She was taken out west when she was 16 years old and sold to W. H. Bradley in Warrenburg, Johnson County, MO. Simpson was a free woman when she moved to Clinton, Kansas in 1866. She worked as a farm hand on the Petefish Farm in Clinton; Simpson did whatever was required, from making rails to keeping house. She was considered fairly well-off for a married woman and the mother of 10 children, six of whom were still living when Simpson died on July 3, 1901. She had kept her own money and at the time of her death had acquired between six and seven thousand dollars. Melissa Simpson was the wife of Patrick Simpson, who was also born around 1817 in Kentucky. The couple married in 1840 in Missouri. They owned their farm in Clinton, KS. The family is listed in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census. For more see "Mrs. Melissa Simpson..," Plaindealer, 07/12/1901, p. 4.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration West, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Logan County, Kentucky / Warrenburg, Johnson County, Missouri / Clinton, Kansas
Simpson, Ophelia
According to John Jacob Niles, Ophelia Simpson was the first "shouter" in the Ohio Valley to be accepted and paid. Niles credited shouters' singing as a style of ancient origin, calling it "coon-shouting." It had two distinct styles: sacred shouting and the shouted moaning in blues and ballads. The singing technique had voice-breaks, slides, and high, rasping wails. Ophelia Simpson's shouting was new and novel and most effective when she sang the blues in Dr. Parker's Medicine Show. She was also the cook and helped prepare Parker's tapeworm eradicator. Ophelia Simpson was married to Henry (Dead Dog) Simpson, who worked at the fertilizer factory near Louisville, KY. In the winter of 1898 the Simpsons had a disagreement, and Ophelia killed Henry. While in jail, she wrote the long remembered ballad, Black Alfalfa's Jail-House Shouting Blues. After her release from jail, the name Ophelia Simpson was lost in time. For more see J. J. Niles, "Shout, Coon, Shout!" Musical Quarterly, vol. 16 (1930), pp. 516-521.
Subjects: Bakers, Cooks and Chefs, Medical Field, Health Care, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Simpson, Peter
Birth Year : 1848
Born in Clark County, KY, Simpson attended Berea College and became a teacher. He taught at a number of schools, many of which he helped build with his bare hands. He earned $12 per month. He later owned a grocery store in Winchester, KY, where he was considered a prominent businessman of ample means. He is listed in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census as a single man, and he was still a grocer. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson.
Subjects: Businesses, Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky / Berea, Madison County, Kentucky / Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky
Simpsonville Slaughter (Simpsonville, KY)
Start Year : 1865
In January 1865, Company E of the 5th United States Colored Cavalry (USCC) was taking a herd of 1,000 cattle from Camp Nelson to Louisville, KY, when they were ambushed by a band of Confederate guerrillas near Simpsonville, KY. It was estimated that between 22-35 of the soldiers were murdered and later buried in a mass grave. In 2008, the Shelbyville Historical Society received a Lincoln Preservation Grant of $5,000 to identify and preserve the burial site. A historical marker was placed at the site in 2009. For more see The 5th USCC at Simpsonville, KY website; Kentucky.gov press release, "Three projects awarded Kentucky African American Heritage Commission Lincoln Preservation Grants," 03/05/2008, Diane Comer; and J. McDanald, "Marker revives memory of Simpsonville Slaughter," Lexington Herald-Leader, 01/21/09, Communities section, p.B1 & B3.
Subjects: Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Simpsonville, Shelby County, Kentucky
Sisney, Ricardo
Birth Year : 1939
Born in Henderson, KY, Ricardo Sisney became the first African American assistant principal at the Senior High School in Bowling Green, KY, in 1971. He was co-founder of the Eta Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 1972. Sisney is a graduate of Henderson Douglas High School and Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University]. For more see Who's Who Among Black Americans, 3rd-4th & 6th-8th ed.; and Ricardo Sisney in The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky Oral History Project at the Kentucky Historical Society.
Read the transcript and listen to the recording of Ricardo Sisney within the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky Oral History Project at the Kentucky Historical Society.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Fraternal Organizations, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Sissle, George A. and Martha A.
George A. Sissle (1852-1913), born in Lexington, KY, was a prominent minister in Indianapolis at the Simpson M. E. Chapel and in Cleveland at the Cory United Methodist Church, one of the oldest Black churches in the city. He was also an organist and choirmaster. He was the husband of Martha Angeline Sissle (1869-1916), and she too was from Kentucky. She was a school teacher and probation officer. The couple was married in 1888, and were the parents of several children, including composer and jazz musician, Noble Lee Sissle (1889-1975). Martha Sissle was raised by her mother's close friend; her mother had been a slave and could not afford to raise her child. George Sissle's father had been a slave on the Cecil Plantation; he disliked the name Cecil and changed the spelling to Sissle. For more see Slave and Freeman: the autobiography of George L. Knox, by G. L. Knox; The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History [online], sponsored by Case Western Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society; A Life in Ragtime by R. Badger; and The Theater of Black Americans, v.1, edited by E. Hill. *The last name is sometimes spelled "Sisle" in the U.S. Federal Census.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Fathers, Migration North, Mothers, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Corrections and Police, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana / Cleveland, Ohio
Skanks, Eva B. Allensworth
Birth Year : 1880
Death Year : 1968
Eva B. Allensworth Skanks was the first woman appointed a Notary Public in New Mexico. Skanks was born in Bowling Green, KY, the daughter of Allen Allensworth and Josephine Leavell Allensworth. She was a graduate of Girls High School in San Francisco, CA. She was the wife of Harrie B. Skanks, the couple married June 16, 1909 in Los Angeles, CA. They had a daughter named Louise Skanks. [Eva Skanks is listed as white in the 1910 and the 1920 U.S. Federal Census.] Eva Skanks died December 14, 1968 in Los Angeles, CA [source: California Death Index]. For more see "Eva Allensworth Skanks," Negro Who's Who in California, 1948 edition, p.11.
Subjects: Migration West, Notary Public
Geographic Region: Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Los Angeles, California
Skillman, Charles
Birth Year : 1844
Death Year : 1888
Charles Skillman was the first African American to be buried in the Lexington Cemetery. Skillman, born in Kentucky, was a shoe and boot maker. He is listed in Prather's Lexington City Directory 1875 and 1876. His first wife was Emma Skillman (b. 1850 in KY); the couple is listed in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census. His second wife was Caroline Skillman (b. 1850 in KY) [source: Civil War Pension Index]. Charles Skillman was a Civil War veteran; he enlisted June 24, 1864 in Lexington, Kentucky, and served in Company C, U.S. Colored Troops, 114 Infantry Regiment. He was a member of the Charles Somner Post, No. 68, G. A. R. Charles Skillman died in April of 1888, and his funeral was attended by about 100 members of the Charles Somner Post and about 1,000 attendees in all. He was the first African American buried in the government quarter of the Lexington Cemetery. For more see "G. A. R. Internment," Lexington Morning Transcript, 04/19/1888, p. 4.
Subjects: Military & Veterans, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries, Fraternal Organizations, Shoes: Finishers, Makers, Repairers, Shiners, Stores
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Skinner, Freddie
Skinner was elected to the Bloomfield, KY, City Council in 1977. The ticket included Ernestine Lewis; it was the first time the city council had two African American members. 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. 15.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Bloomfield, Nelson County, Kentucky
Slaughter, Henry P.
Birth Year : 1875
Death Year : 1958
Born in Louisville, KY, Henry P. Slaughter was a leading journalist and the editor of the Lexington Standard. He also edited The Odd Fellows Journal, a Philadelphia newspaper. A holder of law degrees from Howard University, Slaughter was employed as compositor by the Government Printing Office (GPO) in D.C. He also collected papers and publications on the life and history of African Americans. The large collection (over 10,000 volumes) was sold to the Clark Atlanta Library. For more see Dictionary of American Negro Biography, ed. R. L. Logan and M. R. Winston; and Notable Black American Men, by J. C. Smith.
Subjects: Historians, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Lawyers, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Migration North
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Washington, DC
Slave Built Building (Lexington,KY)
When the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) moved into their new office in downtown Lexington, KY, in 2000, the organization wanted the building to be recognized as a standing memorial to slave-built architecture. The 200-year-old building was constructed by slaves owned by Kentucky Legislator Henry Clay. Along the baseboard in the front entrance of the building is a gap that gives a view of the bars and the dirt floor in the small cramped basement, where the slaves may have been kept. For more see "Slave-built building will stand as a memorial," The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 09/27/2000; M. Ku, "Goal is a memorial honoring enslaved artisans," Lexington Herald-Leader, 09/27/2000, College & Region section, p. B1; and contact NCCJ at 112 North Upper Street, Lexington, KY, (859) 255-6999.
Subjects: Architects, Construction, Contractors, Builders
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Slave Deaths due to Cholera, 1850 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule
Start Year : 1850
The federal mortality schedules, for which data were first collected in 1849, included the cholera deaths of slaves, many listed by name. Prior to 1870, it had been the free African Americans who were listed in the U.S. Federal Census by name, while slaves were listed in the Slave Schedules by sex and age under the names of their owners. The mortality schedules were published 1850-1880, and the number of overall deaths in the U.S. were under reported in the data collection. There were hundreds of deaths in Kentucky due to cholera before, after, and during the year 1850. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine caused by the consumption of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae (more info at MedlinePlus). In 1850, as the U.S. was striving for better public health measures, doctors were still searching for the exact cause of the disease, how it was transferred and how it could be treated and prevented. A nationwide cholera epidemic had taken place in 1848-49. Former U.S. President James K. Polk died of cholera in 1849 after a visit to Louisiana. His presidency was followed by that of 12th U.S. President Zachary Taylor, who died of cholera in 1850. [He was born in Virginia and grew up in Kentucky.] Mary A. Fillmore, daughter of the 13th U.S. President, Millard Fillmore, died of cholera in 1854. Lucy Ware Webb Hayes (whitehouse.gov), the wife of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, lost her father to cholera in 1833 when he came to his hometown, Lexington, KY, to free the slaves that he had recently inherited. In addition to Dr. James Webb, his mother, father, and brother also died of cholera. After the 1830s cholera epidemic, there were publications written for southerns on the medical treatment of cholera in slaves. With the second epidemic in the late 1840s, there was a request for a publication on what was considered an effective treatment by Dr. C. B. New. In 1850 he published Cholera: observations on the management of cholera on plantations, and method of treating the disease [available online]. Included in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule are 71 black slaves in Kentucky who died of cholera, most from Scott, Warren, and Woodford Counties; the schedule also lists the death of seven Kelly slaves in Warren County, in June 1850. There were also 16 mulatto slave deaths in Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Union and Warren Counties. S. M. Young, a free mulatto woman from Scott County, also died of cholera in 1850. For more see The Health of Slaves on Southern Plantations, by W. D. Postell; Observations on the epidemic now prevailing in the City of New-York, by C. C. Yates [available full-text at Google Book Search]; Cholera; its pathology, diagnosis, and treatment, by William Story [available full-text at Google Book Search]; T. L. Savitt's Medicine and Slavery; and Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records, by L. D. Szucs and M. Wright. See also the list of Cholera deaths in Lexington, KY, [Whites and Blacks] for the year 1833, a rootsweb site, and for the year 1849.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries, Inheritance
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Slave Execution Reimbursement
Start Year : 1798
The Kentucky Slave Code of 1798 allowed for the slaveholder to be paid the value of any slave who was executed. The process for payment was as follows: Once the slave was taken into custody by the sheriff, he or she was to be assessed a value. The auditor of public accounts was authorized and required to issue a warrant to the treasury for the amount in favor of the slave owner. The owner was to produce the certificate of the clerk of the court that said the slave was condemned, along with the sheriff's certificate that said the slave was executed or perished before execution; then the treasurer was required to pay the owner the assessed value of the slave. For more see A Digest of the Statute Law of Kentucky, vol. 2, Chapter CLXXIV - Slaves, Sec. 24, pp. 1154-1155.
Subjects: Executions, Slave Injury and Death Reimbursement & Insurance
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Slave Jail (Woodford County, KY)
A 1938 Lexington, KY, newspaper article mentions an old slave jail that was once owned by a slave trader named Offutt in Woodford County, KY. The property where the jail was located, a farm located near the Versailles-Midway highway, was later owned by Sheriff William B. Cogar. The building had been two stories high and had barred windows. Sheriff Cogar removed the top half of the building and removed the bars. For more see "Ancient slave jail stands near Midway," Lexington Leader, 06/30/1938, section 3, p. 14.
Subjects: Slave Trade (U.S.)
Geographic Region: Woodford County, Kentucky
The Slave Rebellion Website [online]
Start Year : 2010
The Slave Rebellion Website is sponsored by The New World African Press. In reference to Kentucky, the site includes references to African and slave insurrections and actions. The population database covers the census years 1790-1890 for all states, and includes the number of slaves per county between 1790-1860. There are also some data on free persons of color by sex, county, and decade.
Subjects: Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county A-C], Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county D-J], Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county K-M], Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county N-Z]
Geographic Region: Kentucky / United States
Slave Record Book
Birth Year : 1858
Death Year : 1861
The book, found in the basement of the Adams County Courthouse in Mississippi, lists the vital statistics of slaves brought from Kentucky to Mississippi just prior to the Civil War. Recorded are the sale of slaves between 1858-1861. A microfilm copy of the book is available at the Department of Archives and History and the Adams County Chancery Clerks Office, both in Mississippi. For more about the finding of the book see K. Whipple, "Rare slave records found in Natchez - An AP Mississippi member feature," The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 08/29/1999.
*Adams County Vital Records / Adams County Chancery Clerk / 115 S. Wall Street / Natchez, MS 39120
Subjects: Slave Trade (U.S.)
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Mississippi
Slave Revolt Scare (Lexington, KY)
Start Year : 1810
The fear of a slave revolt was such a terrifying thought that a number of slaves were arrested and jailed in 1810 in response to a supposed slave revolt plot. Rumors of slave uprisings were constantly circulated. In response, in 1811 the Kentucky Legislature made insurrection or a conspiracy to start an insurrection by [free] Negroes or slaves punishable by death. For more see The Antislavery Movement in Kentucky, by L. H. Harrison; p. 59 of Acts passed at the...Session of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, First Session, December 1810, by Commonwealth of Kentucky [available full-text at Google Book Search]; and J. E. K. Walker, "The Legal status of free Blacks in early Kentucky, 1792-1825," Filson Club History Quarterly, vol. 57, issue 4 (1983), pp. 382-395.
Subjects: Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Slave Riot Scare (Harlan County, KY)
Start Year : 1842
In September 1842, David Todd and William S. Westervelt, both white students from Oberlin College, were on trial in Harlan County, KY, charged with attempting to incite a slave revolt. David Todd was the son of Captain James Todd, who was against slavery and was known for successfully leading the 2nd Regiment's 1st Brigade of the Pennsylvania Militia during the War of 1812. The charges against David and William stemmed from the facts that they were white men in Kentucky without a good enough reason for being there; they were seen talking to slaves in a friendly manner; and they had come from Ohio and were students at Oberlin College, where a large number of abolitionists resided. The circumstantial evidence was supposedly the sign that led to the discovery of a planned slave insurrection that alarmed the county. For more see John Todd and the Underground Railroad, by J. P. Morgans.
Subjects: Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Harlan County, Kentucky
Slave School in Greensburg, KY
Start Year : 1816
In 1816, a notice was served to a slave named Joe, the property of W. Barret's heirs, ordering him to close the school he had started for slaves. If he refused, upon conviction he was to receive 15 lashes, and so would any slave who assembled to be educated at Joe's school. Information taken from the first record book of the Trustees For The Town of Greensburg, p. 79. For more see "To Stop A School," Green County Review, vol. II, issue 4 (1979), p. 59. Published by the Green County Historical Society, Box 276, Greensburg, Kentucky 42743. See also entries for African American Schools in the NKAA Database.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Greensburg, Green County, Kentucky
Slave Trade Between Kentucky and Southern States
Lexington was initially the slave trade center for Kentucky in the 1800s due to many factors that included the demand for slaves in southern states, the large number of slaves in Kentucky and the decreasing profits of slavery, the Kentucky anti-importation law of 1833, and attacks by abolitionists against the African slave trade and slavery in general. As the economic demands for more slaves increased in southern states, the Kentucky and Virginia slave markets responded to the demand in the cotton belt, economically benefiting the states. In 1840, Robert Wickliffe, the largest slave owner in Fayette County, boasted to the Kentucky Legislature that as many as 6,000 slaves per year were being sold to southern states from Kentucky, though the actual number was not known because there were no definitive accounting records for all sales. Prior to the late 1840s, the sale of slaves was a personal business transaction that was not tracked or announced to the public, other than through public auctions, as was the case with the sale of livestock. In 1843, two of the more prominent slave trade firms in Kentucky were the firm of Downing and Hughes and the much larger firm of Griffin and Pullum, both located in Lexington. In 1849, the Kentucky anti-importation law of 1833 was repealed, allowing slaves from other states to be brought into Kentucky and sold. That same year, the Kentucky Legislature adopted a resolution denouncing abolition. It was also around 1849 that two other major changes took place. First, Kentucky newspapers garnered a greater share of the slave trade economy and promoted the trade with an increased number of paid advertisements and hand bills for the sale of slaves or those looking to buy slaves, for the services of slave trade firms and brokers, and for the recapture of runaway and kidnapped slaves. Second, the slave trade in Louisville became a major competitor to the trade in Lexington, and adjoining towns were developing their own slave trade businesses. In 1859, when there were discussions of re-establishing the African slave trade, loud voices of opposition were heard from Kentucky and Virginia. For more see T. D. Clark, "The Slave trade between Kentucky and the Cotton Kingdom," The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 21, issue 3 (Dec., 1934), pp.331-342; and Lexington's slave dealers and their Southern trade, by J. W. Coleman, Jr. See also Kentucky and slavery: the constitutional convention of 1792 (thesis) by M. Herrick.
Subjects: Businesses, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Migration South, Slave Trade (U.S.)
Geographic Region: Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky / Virginia
Slavery and Medical Care in Kentucky
Currently, no work is dedicated solely to the medical care of slaves in Kentucky. Medical care, health, nutrition, diseases, medicine, and the medical use of Negro corpses are discussed within the written histories of slavery and Kentucky in general. Descriptions of individual cases and experiences may be found within the slave narratives, family papers and archives, medical journals, court cases, and Kentucky government publications. The cases described range from insignificant to exceptional, including some world-renowned cases, such as the first successful amputation at the hip joint that took place in Bardstown, KY. According to Todd L. Savitt, "slaves had a fairly significant role in medical education and in experimental and radical medical and surgical practice of the Antebellum South." Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, KY, who performed the first successful ovariotomy (removal of an ovary) on a white woman, Mrs. Jane Todd Crawford, in 1809, perfected his technique while performing ovariotomies on African American women in Kentucky. When the Louisville (KY) Medical Institute was established in 1837, it was in part located in that particular city due to the large population of slaves, freemen, and transient whites who made up the population most available for clinical teaching. During the Civil War, African American recruits from Kentucky were said to be the healthiest and stoutest the Union Army medical examiners had seen, which was often equated with the assumption that slavery was less harsh in Kentucky than other border and southern states. For more see A History of Blacks in Kentucky, by M. B. Lucas; Birthing a Slave, by M. J. Schwartz; and T. L. Savitt, "The Use of Blacks for Medical Experimentation and Demonstration in the Old South," The Journal of Southern History, vol. 48, issue 3 (August 1982), pp. 331-348 [quotation from p. 331].
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Slavery Era Insurance Policies Registry
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Insurance, provides a register of slave insurance that includes the names of the slaves, the slave holder, and the insurance policy number. The register, in .pdf, includes slaves owned in Kentucky.
Subjects: Slave Injury and Death Reimbursement & Insurance
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Illinois
Slaves of William "Billy" Stafford
Prior to the Civil War, Stafford was a slave owner who owned land around the Big Sandy River in Johnson County, KY. When slaves died, they were buried on the land. "The graves were located about one hundred feet down in the lower [corner] of the cemetery below the family burials." This information comes from E. R. Hazelett, "Slave burials in Johnson County," Sandy Valley Heritage, vol. 23, issue 2 (June 2003), p. 16.
Subjects: Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries
Geographic Region: Johnson County, Kentucky
Sleet, Anne
Birth Year : 1932
In 2007, Anne Sleet became the first African American woman mayor of Perryville, KY. A former nurse and caterer, Sleet had also been a member of the city council prior to becoming mayor, succeeding her late husband, Raymond Sleet, who had been elected to the council four times. Anne Sleet was re-elected to the council for three consecutive terms and was unopposed when she ran for mayor. For more see G. Kocher, "Perryville's next mayor - Anne Sleet adds new chapter to family's proud history in Boyle County," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/27/2006, Main News section, p. A1. See also the Sleettown entry.
See Anne Sleet interview [#210] at "Connections with Renee Shaw," 02/10/2007, a KET (Kentucky Educational Television) website.
Subjects: Bakers, Cooks and Chefs, Medical Field, Health Care, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Mayors, Nurses
Geographic Region: Perryville, Boyle County, Kentucky
Sleet, Moneta J., Jr.
Birth Year : 1926
Death Year : 1996
Born in Owensboro, KY, Moneta J. Sleet, Jr. was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize in photography; he was given the award for a photo of Mrs. Martin L. King and her daughter, Bernice, at Dr. King's funeral. A photographer for Ebony Magazine, he covered African nations gaining independence. He also co-authored Special Moments in African American History: 1955-1996. Sleet was the son of Moneta Sr. and Ozetta L. Allensworth Sleet. For more see Notable Black American Men, by J. C. Smith; and Who's Who of Pulitzer Prize Winners, by E. A. Brennan and E. C. Clarage. See also the Sleettown entry.
See photo image and additional information about Moneta J. Sleet in "Great Black Kentuckians" at the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights website.
Subjects: Authors, Photographers, Photographs
Geographic Region: Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky
Sleettown (Perryville, KY)
Start Year : 1865
End Year : 1931
Sleettown was an African American community developed after the Civil War on 96-acres near Perryville, KY. During the war, the land had been used as a staging ground for the Confederate Army during the Battle of Perryville, the largest Civil War battle in Kentucky. The history of Sleettown was collected and written by Perryville Mayor Anne Sleet and Mary Q. Kerbaugh. The Sleet Family's earliest known ancestors were Warner and Octavia Sleet. Their sons, Henry, Preston, and George, led in the development of Sleettown. The community had a general store, eating places, and a cemetery. As younger residents began leaving for employment in the city, the population steadily decreased until the last person left Sleettown in 1931; only one old house remains standing. Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Moneta Sleet was a member of the Sleettown family. In 2007, the Kentucky Parks Department purchased the land where Sleettown had existed. The site will be used to tell the history of both the Battle of Perryville and Sleettown. For more see A. Jester, "Sleettown tells a part of the tale," Lexington Herald-Leader, 09/30/2001, KyLife section, p. J3; G. Kocher, "Perryville's next mayor - Anne Sleet adds new chapter to family's proud history in Boyle County," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/27/2006, Main News section, p. A1; and "Sleettown to become part of historic site," Lexington Herald-Leader, City&Region section, p. B3.
Subjects: Communities, Freedom, Parks & Resorts
Geographic Region: Sleettown [no longer exists] and Perryville, Boyle County, Kentucky
Sloan, John Steward
Birth Year : 1918
Death Year : 2001
John Steward Sloan was a decorated Tuskegee Airman, a private pilot, an author, a journalist, and the first African American personnel counselor at Inland Steel Company in Chicago. Sloan was born in Louisville, KY, the son of Abram and Patsie Sloan. He was a history and sociology graduate of Kentucky State University. He was a journalist with the Kentucky Reporter newspaper. During WWII, Sloan was a pilot with the 32nd Fighter Group of the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first Black fighter squadron in the U.S. His plane was shot down over Monte Cassino, Italy in 1944; Sloan suffered a fractured thigh when he was hit by shrapnel. He managed to bail out of the plane and survived. Sloan received a Purple Heart and an Honorable Discharge. He returned to Kentucky for a brief period before he and his wife, Wilhelmina Carson Sloan, moved to Chicago, IL, where John Sloan was employed at the Inland Steel Company. Prior to his retirement from the company in 1978, Sloan had advanced to become a corporate finance manager. He was also a private pilot and had worked as a radio DJ. Sloan was a member of the Chicago Urban League. He is the author of two books: The Game Plan for Handicapping Harness Races (1975) and Survival! a Purple Heart Tuskegee Airman (2000). John Steward Sloan died December 28, 2001 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. For more see John Steward Sloan in "Interesting People," Chicago Metro News, 08/04/1979, p.9; E. Smith, "Lt. John S. Sloan shot down over Italy," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/26/2009; and R. E. Igoe, "John Sloan, Sr., Inland Exec, Tuskegee Airman," Chicago Tribune, 01/05/2001, Obituaries section, p.8.
Subjects: Authors, Aviators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Radio
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois
Small, George
Birth Year : 1851
Death Year : 1876
George Small was born in Fayette County, KY. He was 21 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in Lexington, KY, on February 12, 1872. He served with the 9th Cavalry, Company L, until his death March 24, 1876. Private George Small and two other Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Union, Private Anthony Harvey from Canada, and Private John Hanson from Maryland, were all killed in a shootout with Gus Heffron and David Crockett at Henry Lambert's Bar in the St. James Hotel in Cimarron, NM. David Crockett was the nephew or grandson of frontiersman David "Davy" Crockett (1786-1836). After the shootout, David Crockett, the younger, and Agustus "Gus" Heffron left Cimarron and were on the run for a few months. They returned to Cimarron during the summer and were arrested, tried, and set free after the charges were dismissed. The men claimed self-defense, and there was a lack of evidence in the case. October of 1876, Crockett and Heffron again returned to Cimarron, got drunk and terrorized the town, resulting in a sheriff's posse killing Crockett and capturing Heffron. Heffron later escaped from jail and disappeared from history. George Small and John Hanson were buried at Fort Union, NM. For more see George Small in On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier II, by I. Schubert and F. N. Schubert; A. L. Lee, "Black Landmarks in the Un-Black West," 07/24/2005, an AfriGeneas Western Frontier Forum website; Santa Fe Trail Research Site: Fort Union Historic Resource Study, chapter seven: The Third Fort Union: Construction and Military Operations, part two (1869-1891); and "David Crockett y Gus Hefferson...," The Daily New Mexican, 08/18/1876, p. 4 [article in Spanish].
Subjects: Migration West, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Fayette County, Kentucky / Cimarron and Fort Union, New Mexico
Smith, Andrew Jackson
Birth Year : 1842
Death Year : 1932
Born in Lyon County, KY, Smith's father and owner was Elijah Smith, his mother was a slave named Susan. At the age of 19 he ran away and became a servant of Major John Warner of the Union Army. When Warner returned home to Clinton, IL, Smith went with him. Smith would leave Illinois to join the 55th Massachusetts Colored Volunteers, participating in the Battle of Honey Hill, SC; for the bravery he displayed in this battle he was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2001. He was promoted to Color Sergeant and sent to Boston for his formal mustering out. After his discharge, Smith went back to Clinton, IL, and then returned to Eddyville, KY, where he bought and sold land in Between the Rivers. For more information see Andrew Jackson Smith, by Andrew Bowman, grandson of Andrew Jackson Smith; and the Kentucky Historical Marker Database: Andrew Jackson Smith (Marker Number: 2107).
* Between the Rivers is located in Lyon and Trigg Counties, Kentucky, and Stewart County, Tennessee.*
See photo image of Andrew Jackson Smith in his military uniform at Wikipedia.
Subjects: Migration North, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Eddyville, Lyon County, Kentucky / Honey Hill, South Carolina / Clinton, Illinois
Smith, Andrew W.
Birth Year : 1941
Andrew W. Smith was born in Lexington, KY. He earned a bachelor's degree from Kentucky State University and a master's from Roosevelt University. He made his operatic debut in 1969 and has sung with the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic. He was also an international baritone soloist with the Metropolitan Opera. He returned to Kentucky in 1997 to direct the Kentucky State University opera program. For more see "Andrew Smith, Baritone," The Negro Almanac, 5th ed.; "Love 'Jones'," Lexington Herald-Leader, 11/16/1997; and M. Davis, "Opera took him away, brought him back," Lexington Herald-Leader, 01/31/2006, Health/Family section, p. D1.
See photo image and additional information on Andrew W. Smith at the Kentucky State University website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois / Cleveland, Ohio / Buffalo, New York
Smith, Benjamin
Birth Year : 1850
Benjamin Smith, from Harrison County, KY, enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 3, 1872 in Louisville, KY. He served with the 9th Cavalry, Company L. On August 26, 1876, Private Benjamin Smith accompanied Private James "Jimmy" Miller to a dance hall in West Las Animas, Colorado. The men were stationed at Fort Lyon, and Miller had been to the dance hall earlier that night and was insulted and forced to leave at gunpoint. The dance hall was reserved for whites on this particular night. When Miller returned with Smith, the two men fired into the dance hall from the porch and killed John Sutherland. Smith and Miller were tried in a civilian court: both were found guilty and sentenced to death. Smith's sentence was commuted to life in prison by Colorado Governor John L. Routt (1826-1907), who was born in Eddyville, KY. James "Jimmy" Miller, from Philadelphia, was hanged on February 19, 1877. It was the first execution in Colorado; statehood had been granted to the Colorado Territory on July 1, 1876. For more see "James Miller" in the Catalog of Colorado Executions website; the James Miller and the Benjamin Smith entries in On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier II, by I. Schubert and F. N. Schubert; and "How a soldier was hanged," Logansport Journal, 02/20/1877, p. 2.
Subjects: Executions, Migration West, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Harrison County, Kentucky / Las Animas, Colorado
Smith, Carl H.
Since 1958, Carl H. Smith has been the director of the Kentucky State University (KSU) Choir, exept for the year he took off to earn his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh. Smith was born in Terrell, TX, and grew up in Tulsa, OK. He did his undergraduate work at Lincoln University of Missouri, and after graduating, he accepted the choral director's position at KSU. He has developed many great musicians, music teachers, and professional singers. Smith is known in Kentucky and throughout the United States for his music instruction and choral music. In 2009, he was honored at the 5th Annual Presidential Scholarship Gala held at KSU, a tribute to all that Carl H. Smith has accomplished. He has received numerous awards, and in 2009, Smith was chosen to conduct the performance of the 2nd Historically Black Colleges and Universities National Concert Choir performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Kentucky State University Singers, with director Carl H. Smith, can be heard singing on A Session of Afro-American Folk Songs. For more see M. Davis, "KSU is set to honor a choral icon," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/29/2009, City Region section, p. C1; and additional information available at CESKAA, Kentucky State University.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Migration East
Geographic Region: Terrell, Texas / Tulsa, Oklahoma / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Smith, Carl Lee "Cal"
Birth Year : 1903
Death Year : 1937
Cal Smith, born in Cave City, KY, played the banjo and guitar. He and his six brothers formed the Smith Brothers String Band, and in 1919 Cal Smith joined Henry Smith's Jug Band in Louisville. He also played and recorded with Earl McDonald's and Clifford Hayes' bands, and worked with W. C. Handy. Smith died of tuberculosis. For more see Cal Smith in the Oxford Music Online Database. Cal Smith is one of the three banjoist featured on the album cover of Clifford Hayes and the Dixieland Jug Blowers.
See album cover and listen to "Clifford Hayes' Louisville Stompers - Frog Hop (1929)" on YouTube.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Tuberculosis: Care and Deaths
Geographic Region: Cave City, Barren County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Smith, Charles Herbert
Birth Year : 1931
The following information comes from the written biography of Reverend Charles H. Smith, provided by Yvonne Giles. Reverend Charles H. Smith, born in Lexington, KY, was recognized by the Herald-Dispatch newspaper as the 6th most influential person of the 20th Century in the Huntington Tri-State area (West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky). Rev. Smith is a graduate of Virginia Union University (BA in English) and the school's Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Religion (Masters of Divinity), and he holds post-graduate certification in Epidemiology in Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania and Executive Management Certification from Harvard University. In 1960, he became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Huntington, WV, and took on the mission of eliminating segregation in Huntington. He was co-founder and executive director of the Tri-State Opportunities Industrialization Center (O.I.C.) in Huntington [employment and training programs], which had an integrated faculty and student body. He was director of the West Virginia Jobs Program. He was co-founder of ACTION, Inc. (A Community to Improve its Neighborhood), which advocated for social and economic justice for the common good of the community. He led his church in establishing Rotary Gardens, a 21-acre low income integrated housing development in Huntington. Rev. Smith was active on many fronts, including serving as chair of the West Virginia State NAACP Life Membership Committee, deputy executive director of the national NAACP, and a member of the board of directors of the national NAACP. Rev. Smith established a seafood business, Fisherman's Wharf, and a catering business that provided food services to child development centers and commercial institutions. A few years after leaving Huntington, Reverend Charles H. Smith and his wife Kimanne I. Core Smith lived in Madison, NJ, where Rev. Smith was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Madison, NJ. His publishing company, Jubilee Creations, produced Jubilee Legacy Collection, which traces the spiritual origins of African Americans, from Africa to the 20th Century.
Additional information:
Reverend Charles H. Smith, the son of Rev. T. H. and Helen Smith, was a civil rights activist in his hometown of Lexington, KY; he participated in the early sit-ins in downtown Lexington [source: Blackford, Linda B., "Lexington civil rights pioneer credits church for his many successes," Lexington Herald-Leader, 10/27/2013, p. A3]. He also helped organize the first chapter of CORE at Shiloh Baptist Church where his father, Rev. T. H. Smith, was pastor for 30 years. CORE meetings were held at Pleasant Green Baptist Church in Lexington. Rev. Charles H. Smith had returned to Lexington in 1955, after his graduation from Virginia Union University and following his brief time as pastor of a church in Philadelphia, PA. In 1960, he left Kentucky for Huntington, WV, where he was pastor of the First Baptist Church and a civil rights activist; he is a member of the West Virginia Hall of Fame. He continues to be remembered for being the eulogist at the funerals of the 13 who died in the 1970 plane crash when most of the Marshall University football team was killed.
Rev. Charles H. Smith served as the chair of the NAACP's Board's Committee on Economic Development in 1973 while also serving as pastor of his church in Huntington [source: "NAACP Board selects Illinois leader as successor to Ming," The Crisis, December 1973, pp. 349-350]. The First Baptist Church in Huntington, WV, is located at 801 6th Avenue, and within the building is the Charles H. Smith Fellowship Hall. The Rotary Gardens Housing Complex is located at 65 Smith Drive (also named for Rev. Charles H. Smith) [source: T. Stuck, "First Baptist Church to host youth group reunion," Herald-Dispatch, 08/17/2014, p. 1]. During his tenure at the First Baptist Church in Huntington, "the church was engaged in a grocery store, fish market, restaurant, credit union, low-income housing and state supplemented day care."- - [source: First Baptist Huntington History webpage (link below)]. In 1980, after 20 years as the church pastor, Rev. Smith left the First Baptist Church in Huntington to become Deputy Executive Director of the NAACP [source: "Deputy Executive Director named," The Crisis, June/July 1980, p. 222]. At that time, he was the husband of Lillie Hamilton, from Richmond, VA, and they were the parents of three daughters. In 1983, Rev. Smith was named deputy national political director of the John Glen presidential campaign (OH U.S. Senator, Democrat) [source: "On the move," Black Enterprise, July 1983, p. 76, bottom of column 3]. Throughout his career, Rev. Smith frequently visited the Huntington First Baptist Church for anniversaries and other special occasions, as noted in articles in the Herald-Dispatch. Rev. Smith was pastor at the First Baptist Church in Madison, CT for ten years, serving as interim pastor, having replaced Rev. Johnnie Brewster, who died in 2000, and becoming the permanent pastor in 2002 [S. Capone, "Madison well-wishers say goodbye to Rev. Smith," Madison Eagle, 08/24/2012 - online]. Rev. Smith left the church in 2012 for his new home in Georgia, though he continues to serve as pastor emeritus at the First Baptist Church in Huntington. Rev. Smith is the father of five daughters.
See photo image and history about the First Baptist Church in Huntington, WV.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Businesses, Migration North, Religion & Church Work, Migration East
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Huntington, West Virginia / Wayne and Madison, New Jersy / Georgia
Smith, Dwight
Birth Year : 1946
Death Year : 1967
Dwight Smith was born in Princeton, KY. He played high school basketball at Dotson High School in Princeton and was also valedictorian of his graduating class. Smith, a 6'4" guard, and Clem Haskins were the first two African American basketball players at Western Kentucky University (WKU), Smith playing for the Hilltoppers from 1965-1967. He helped lead the team to three post-season tournaments and was the nation's top rebounding guard his sophomore (11.3) and senior (11.9) years. Smith was the sixth all-time leading scorer at WKU with 1,142 points. He was the first college graduate in his family. Smith was drafted in the second round of the 1967 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. May of 1967 produced a rainy Mother's Day weekend; Greg Smith was driving his brother Dwight and their sister Kay back to WKU after a visit home. They were on an unfamiliar route, and after taking a blind curve the car hydroplaned and flipped over into a water-filled ditch. Dwight and Kay drowned before help arrived. Dwight Smith was inducted into the WKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995. For more see Dwight Smith at the 1995 WKU Athletics Hall of Fame website.
See photo images and additional information at "Hilltopper Legends.... Dwight Smith" a Western Kentucky University website.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Princeton, Caldwell County, Kentucky / Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky
Smith, Edwin M.
Birth Year : 1950
Edwin M. Smith was born in Lexington, KY, then his family moved to Louisville, KY, when he was 3 years old. He entered the first grade just as the Louisville school system was being integrated in 1956. He left Louisville to attend Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1972. Smith graduated from the Harvard Law School in 1976. He was appointed by President Clinton to the Scientific and Policy Advisory Committee of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Smith is presently the Leon Benwell Professor of Law and International Relations at the University of Southern California Law School. He is co-author of The United Nations in a New World Order and has contributed to at least 12 other books and written a host of articles and other works. Edwin M. Smith is the son of Edwin M. and Carrie C. Smith of Louisville and the grandson of Lucy Hart Smith. For more see Who's Who in American Law, 1994-1995; and Who's Who in the West, 1992-1995.
See photo image and additional information on Edwin M. Smith at the USC Experts Directory website.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Lawyers, Migration West, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Harvard, Massachusetts / Los Angeles, California
Smith, Effie Waller
Birth Year : 1879
Death Year : 1960
Effie Waller Smith was born in Pike County, KY, the daughter of Sibbie and Frank Waller, a blacksmith. Smith earned her teaching certificate at Kentucky Normal School for Colored Persons [now Kentucky State University]. She was a school teacher in Pike County and was certified by Superintendent Perry A. Cline in the early 1890s. Effie W. Smith was well-read in classical literature, she published three books of poetry, and her poems also appeared in literary magazines. She stopped publishing her work in 1917 at the age of 38. Her husband, Deputy Sheriff Charles Smith, had been killed in 1911 while serving a warrant, they were married two years. Effie W. Smith left Kentucky for Wisconsin in 1918 and is buried in the city of Neenah. A Kentucky Historical Marker [#1959] was placed at the police department in Pikeville in honor of Effie Waller Smith. For more see The Collected Works of Effie Waller Smith; Effie W. Smith in Kentucky Women, by E. K. Potter; Effie W. Smith in the Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000; "State honors Black poet...," Lexington Herald Leader, 12/11/01, p. B3; "Effie Waller Smith: An Echo Within the Hills," The Kentucky Review, Vol. 8, issue 3 (Autumn 1988), pp. 26-46; and W. R. Cummings, "History of the Perry A. Cline High School," Kentucky Negro Educational Association Journal, vol. 9, no. 1-2 (Oct.-Nov. 1938), p. 49. See photo image and bio of Effie Waller Smith on pp. 131-132 in The Negro in Revelation, in History, and in Citizenship, by J. J. Pipkin.
See the YouTube video AAHIAH Episode #19: "The Life & Poetry of Effie Waller Smith." [AAHIAH=African American History is American History]
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Migration West, Poets, Corrections and Police, Blacksmiths
Geographic Region: Pike County, Kentucky / Neenah, Wisconsin
Smith, Elijah Strong
Smith, born in Henderson, KY, was a graduate of State University [later named Simmons College] in Kentucky. He moved to Alabama and was employed at the Union Mutual Aid Association in Mobile; the insurance company was started by C. F. Johnson, one of the wealthiest African American men in Alabama. Union Mutual Aid Association was incorporated in 1898, and had over $170,000 in income in 1913. Elijah Smith excelled within the company and after a short time was a district manager. He would soon become the district manager of the Tuscaloosa area. Smith was also president of the Negro Business Men's League in Tuscaloosa, a delegate to the national league in 1912, and secretary of the state league in 1916. He also held a number of positions within the Tuscaloosa Baptist Church and was president of the District Baptist Young People's Union and an advisory member of the Federation of Colored Women of Alabama. For more see "Elijah Strong Smith" in the Afro-American Encyclopedia; and for more on C. F. Johnson and the Union Mutual Aid Association see vol. 2, p. 208 of The Story of the Negro, by B. T. Washington [available full-text at Google Book Search]; and pp. 1134-1135 in the Annual Report of the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Alabama for year ending December 31, 1913 [available full-text at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Businesses, Insurance Companies, Insurance Sales, Religion & Church Work, Migration South, Fraternal Organizations, Women's Groups and Organizations, Negro Business League, Association of Colored Women's Clubs
Geographic Region: Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky / Mobile and Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Smith, Ella Cowan and Josephus [Joseph] William
Birth Year : 1873
Both Ella and Joseph Smith were born in 1873 in Lexington, KY, where their parents had been slaves. In 1878, when both were five years old and their families were free, the families moved to Atchison, Kansas; they were members of the Exodusters leaving Lexington for Kansas. Their families later moved on to Oklahoma during the Land Rush. For more about the Smith Family see Echoes of Yesterday by Josephus (Joseph Smith).
Subjects: Authors, Freedom, Migration West, Exodusters [African Americans migrating West around Reconstruction Era]
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Atchison, Kansas / Oklahoma
Smith, Elmore "The Big E"
Birth Year : 1949
Elmore Smith was born in Macon, GA, and was a graduate of Ballard-Hudson High School, where he also played basketball. As a college player, he was the seven foot center for the Kentucky State University (K-State) men's basketball team. Elmore Smith is listed among the top rebounders in college basketball. He was a member of the 1970 and 1971 NAIA Championship teams at K-State, coached by Lucias Mitchell. He holds the NAIA record for most rebounds in a season (799 rebounds in 1971), and tops the NCAA All-Division list. He left for the NBA his senior year in 1971 and played professional basketball until 1979. He went to the Buffalo Braves [now Los Angeles Clippers] as the 3rd pick in the first round of the 1971 NBA Draft. In his first season, Smith averaged 17.3 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game; he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Smith's rebounding record is 8th among NBA rookies. He holds the NBA record for most individual blocked shots in a game (17). Elmore Smith ended his basketball career with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2008, he was inducted into the Georgia Hall of Fame. After his basketball career, Smith went into the Barb-Q sauce business. For more see Elmore Smith in Basketball-Reference.com; and Elmore Smith in Basketball Biographies by M. Taragano. This entry was submitted by Lacy L. Rice Jr.
See photo image of Elmore Smith at Cavshistory.com
Subjects: Basketball, Bakers, Cooks and Chefs
Geographic Region: Macon, Georgia / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Smith, Garfield
Birth Year : 1945
Garfield Smith was born in Campbellsville, KY. He was a 6'9" center on the Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) basketball team, 1964-1968. Smith played in 67 games and was the school's 3rd all-time leading rebounder. He was one of the first three African American basketball players at the school. (The other two were Bobby Washington and Toke Coleman.) Smith was selected by the Boston Celtics in round 3 of the 1968 NBA draft. He played with the Celtics for two years, then played for one year with the San Diego Conquistadors, an ABA team. Smith played in a total of 134 games and scored 428 points during his three seasons. In 2012, Garfield Smith was inducted into the Eastern Kentucky University Hall of Fame [more info.]. For more see Garfield Smith at the databaseBasketball.com website.
See photo images of Garfield Smith (the bottom of page) at nasljersys.com.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Campbellsville, Taylor County, Kentucky
Smith, Gerald L.
Birth Year : 1959
Born in Lexington, KY, Gerald L. Smith is a history professor and fomer director of the African American Studies and Research Program at the University of Kentucky (UK). Smith is a three time graduate from UK, having earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. He has had more than 30 items published in history journals and reference books. Smith is the author of a number of books, including A Black educator in the segregated South: Kentucky's Rufus B. Atwood and the Black America series title, Lexington, Kentucky. Smith is also an ordained minister. For more see Gerald L. Smith, Ph.D.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Historians, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Smith, Gregory D.
Birth Year : 1947
Smith was born in Princeton, KY. A 6'5" forward, he was a star high school basketball player at Dotson High School in Princeton. In 1996 Smith was inducted into the Dawahares-Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. He played college ball at Western Kentucky University (WKU) from 1965 to 1968. Smith was the sixth all-time leading rebounder for the school, pulling down 11.6 rebounds per game; he had five games with more than 20 rebounds. In 1998, Smith was inducted into the WKU Athletics Hall of Fame. He was chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 4th round of the 1968 NBA draft and was a member of the Bucks' 1971 NBA Championship team. Smith ended his pro basketball career in 1976 with the Portland Trail Blazers. Over the eight years of his pro career, Smith played in 524 games, had 3,249 rebounds and scored 4,097 points. Greg was the brother of Dwight Smith. For more see Greg Smith at Basketball-Reference.com.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Princeton, Caldwell County, Kentucky / Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Milwaukee, Wisconsin / Portland, Oregon
Smith, Henderson
Birth Year : 1858
Death Year : 1923
Smith was born in Frankfort, KY, and his family later moved to Warren, OH, where Smith studied music at the Dana Musical Institute. He performed with a number of groups, including Sprague's Original Georgia Minstrels and Haverly's Genuine Colored Minstrels. Smith was also a bandleader and vaudeville entertainer, sometimes passing for white and performing with groups such as Patrick S. Gilmore's Famous Cornet Band. He also worked with Kentucky native Tom McIntosh and led John W. Vogel's "Darkest Africa" band, which toured Australia with the Orpheus McAdoo Company. Smith, who was sometimes referred to as America's Black Sousa, died in Chicago, where he had settled after retiring from the entertainment business. For more see "Henderson Smith" in the Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians, by E. Southern.
Subjects: Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Warren, Ohio / Chicago, Illinois
Smith, Henry C.
Birth Year : 1839
Smith, from Kentucky, was one of the early African American police officers in the South; he is listed in the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Federal Census with the occupation of city policeman in San Antonio, TX. In 1910, San Antonio was one of four Texas cities that continued to employ African American policemen. New Orleans, LA, is recognized as the southern city that hired the first African American police officers, beginning in 1868. For more see Black Police in America, by W. M. Dulaney.
Subjects: Migration West, Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Kentucky / San Antonio, Texas
Smith, Holloway
Birth Year : 1896
Death Year : 1970
Kentucky native Holloway Smith was the second African American football player at Iowa State. The first African American player was Jack Trice, who died in 1923 from injuries received during a football game; Iowa State football stadium is named in his honor. Holloway Smith arrived at Iowa State three years after Jack Trice died. Smith had played one year of football at Michigan State and the following year he became a right tackle on the Iowa team while working toward his bachelor's degree in agricultural education. Smith was an all-state lineman; he stood 6'4" and weighed around 220 pounds. He dominated on the football field, but that was not enough to surpass the Missouri Valley Conference agreement with southern opponents to not use colored players in their competitions. The black press referred to it as the "gentlemen's agreement" [source: F. M. Davis, "World of sports," Capital Plaindealer, 12/13/1936, p. 7; note Smith's name is misspelled as "Hollingsworth"]. In 1926 that agreement kept Holloway Smith out of three games. In 1927, he was only barred from the Missouri game, in spite of which, Smith had a good season and was named 3rd Team All-Missouri Conference. After graduating from Iowa State in 1928, Holloway Smith was a school teacher in Marianna, AR. He was a boarder at the home of Henry and Anna Baker, according to the 1930 U.S. Federal Census. In 1935, he had lived in Louisville, KY, according to the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. By 1936, Holloway Smith was still a teacher when the African American newspapers proclaimed him the last Negro football player in the Big Six Conference with Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Nebraska. Holloway Smith had moved on from his football days. While in Pine Bluff, AR in 1940, he was a teacher and he was also a National Youth Administration (NYA) worker, according to the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, and he would become the state NYA supervisor. Holloway, his wife, and his sister Bettie Smith, lived at 2020 Reeker Street in Pine Bluff. Holloway Smith left Arkansas in the 1940s. He served as a temporary member of the YMCA U.S.O. Club on 3rd Street in Pittsburg, CA, in 1945, according to the USO-Staff Conference minutes dated June 11, 1945. At the U.S.O., Holloway was standing-in for Maurice Hardeman, who was attending an orientation course in New York. [The USO-Staff Conference minutes are within the National Jewish Welfare Board War Correspondence. National Jewish Welfare Board, Army-Navy Division Records, I-180, at the American Jewish Historical Society.] By 1951, Holloway Smith was living in Monterey, California, according to Polk's Monterey Pacific Grove City Directory, 1951, p. 430; he operated Ella's Southern Kitchen Restaurant. He is last listed as a cook in the 1957 Monterey city directory. Holloway Smith last moved to Reno, Nevada, where he died in January of 1970, according to the U.S. Social Security Death Index. Holloway Smith was born in Spottsville, KY, November 19, 1896, according to his WWI Draft Registration Card completed in Henderson, KY. He was the son of James and Harriett Smith, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. He had been the husband of Eunice Smith who was born around 1902 in Jackson, Mississippi, according to the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. For more information see Black History Month: Holloway Smith; After Trice, an Iowa State website; and "Holloway Smith" in Nevada State Journal, 01/22/1970, p.39.
See photo image of Holloway Smith at Iowa State website.
Subjects: Businesses, Education and Educators, Football, Migration North, Migration West, Military & Veterans, National Youth Administration (NYA)
Geographic Region: Spottsville, Henderson County, Kentucky / Detroit, Michigan / Ames, Iowa / Marianna and Pine Bluff, Arkansas / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Pittsburg and Monterey, California / Reno, Nevada
Smith, James E. "J.E."
Birth Year : 1883
Death Year : 1969
Smith was elected State Representative for the 42nd District, serving 1964-1968, and was a delegate to the 1964 Democratic Presidential Convention. He was president of the National Negro Insurance Association and co-founder of the Domestic Life and Accident Insurance Company. Smith graduated from Jacksonian College in Jackson, Michigan. He was the husband of Vera Smith and father of Charlotte McGill. The family lived in Louisville, KY. For more see the Smith/McGill Family Papers, 1879-1987 at the University of Louisville; and contact the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
Subjects: Businesses, Insurance Companies, Insurance Sales, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Legislators, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Smith, James T. "Jimmy"
Birth Year : 1913
Death Year : 1999
James T. Smith, born in Maceo, KY, was a national track athlete in Indiana and was considered by some to be the best black long distance runner in the United States. Smith attended high school in Evanston, IL, and in 1934, became a student at Indiana University. He was not an outstanding track athlete in high school, but he excelled in college. James T. Smith was a member of the four mile relay team and set the national collegiate record by running his leg in 4 minutes and 14 seconds. In 1936, he set the mile record at the Indiana State Intercollegiate Track Meet with a time of 4 minutes and 11 seconds; it was the Indiana collegiate record for 29 years. Smith also won the National Junior A. A. U. Cross Country Championship his freshman year. He was the co-captain of the Indiana University Cross Country Team and was a member of the All-American Cross Country Team. He was selected for the Big Ten All-Star Track Team. In 1938, he broke the Big Ten record for the two mile run. James T. Smith's college track coach was E. C. Hayes. The Achievement Commission of Kappa Alpha Psi awarded James T. Smith the Gold Key for outstanding achievement by an undergraduate member of the fraternity. Smith put himself through college by working at various jobs on and off campus. He was a business major and graduate from Indiana University in 1938. He became a public accountant and was owner of Smith's Big 10 Grocery. His brother Lannie Smith assisted him with his grocery business. James T. Smith was the first president of the black organization the Indy Trade Association. In 1982, he graduated from Christian Theological Seminary and became an associate pastor at the Light of the World Christian Church. In 1998, James T. Smith graduate from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH, with a doctorate of ministry. For more see C. B. Ashanin, "Thankful for the life of Rev. James T. Smith," Indianapolis Star, 12/25/1999, p.A22; J. Cebula, "Ministry born of little sister's suffering," Indianapolis Star, 12/12/1998, p.D8; "Rev. James T. Smith to be honored," Indianapolis Recorder, 05/04/1985, p.10; R. Woods, "Grocers love for people makes successful business," Indianapolis Recorder, 01/15/1966, p.11; see 'Now there is Jimmy Smith...' in the article "World of Sports" by Frank M. Davis in the Plaindealer [Kansas], 05/07/1937, p.3; see 'The Achievement Commission...' in the article "Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity discusses national problems at conclave," Negro Star, 01/15/1937, p.3; "Smith looms out as a formidable candidate for Indiana University track," Indianapolis Recorder, 11/24/1934, p.2; and G. J. Fleming, "After Jimmy graduates, what?," The Crisis, August 1938, v.45, no.8, pp.264 & 277.
*Maceo, Kentucky was settled after the Civil War by former slaves, according to author Robert M. Rennick. The land was provided by the freedmen's former owners. One of the earlier names of the community was Powers Station in honor of Colonel J. D. Powers of Owensboro. In 1897, the community was renamed Maceo for Capt. Alonzo Maceo who was a Cuban mulatto killed during the Cuban revolt against Spain. Source: Kentucky Place Names by R. M. Rennick, p.183.
Subjects: Businesses, Accountants, Bookkeepers, Certified Public Accountants, Stenographers, Communities, Migration North, Religion & Church Work, Track & Field
Geographic Region: Maceo, Daviess County, Kentucky / Evanston, Illinois / Indianapolis, Indiana
Smith, John Robert [Johnny Hammond]
Birth Year : 1931
Death Year : 1997
Smith, born in Louisville, KY, was an organist who also played piano and acoustic piano, electronic keyboard and synthesizers. Smith was also a song writer. He left Kentucky to begin his career in Cleveland, OH, and after performing on the Hammond organ, he used the name Johnny Hammond Smith. He performed under this name while an accompanist with Nancy Wilson. In the 1950s he moved to New York, where he had his own group and recorded with other bands. In 1971, he performed on keyboards under the name Johnny Hammond. When he returned to playing the Hammond organ and recorded with Hank Crawford and Dan Papaila, he resumed using the name Johnny Hammond Smith. He is recognized as an organist who promoted the Hammond organ in soul and jazz music, and as a renowned Hammond B-3 organist. Smith died in California, where he had been teaching music at Cal Poly Pomona [California State Polytechnic University, Pomona]. For more see "Johnny Hammond" in the Oxford Music Online Database; and in The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. For an extensive list of recordings see Johnny Hammond, a Discogs website. View image and listen to Star Borne - Johnny Hammond Smith on YouTube.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration West, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / California
Smith, John T.
Birth Year : 1919
Death Year : 1994
John T. Smith was born in Lexington, KY, the son of Helen E. and Dr. Thomas H. Smith. Helen and her son both graduated from Old Dunbar High School around 1936; Helen had returned to high school after raising her children to become the first graduate from the Adult Education Program. In 1975, John became the first Vice President of Minority Affairs [then an administrative division] at the University of Kentucky (UK). Smith was also the first African American from Kentucky to earn a doctorate from UK. He had also been director of Jefferson Community College [now Jefferson Community and Technical College] in Louisville, KY, and principal of the old Constitution School. In 1973 he was named Distinguished Citizen of Louisville. In 2005, the UK Board of Trustees approved the naming of a new residence hall in honor of Smith. John T. Smith was a brother of Kathryn Smith Stephens. For more see Fifty Years of the University of Kentucky African-American Legacy, 1949-1999; UK Inclusive Learning Community Diversity 2004-05 Annual Report, 04/28/2005, p. 2; and J. Hewlett, "John T. Smith, UK's First Vice Chancellor for Minority Affairs, Dies," Lexington Herald Leader, 07/13/1994; additional information in this entry submitted by Nelda S. Jackson. For more about the Smith family see P. Prather, "Dynasty made in heaven sons follow father's footsteps to long term ministries," Lexington Herald-Leader, 06/11/1995, Lifestyle section, p. H1.
See photo image and additional information on John T. Smith at the University of Kentucky Alumni Association website.
Read about the John T. Smith oral history interviews available in the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, item records are in the SPOKE Database.
Subjects: Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Smith, John W.
Smith was the first African American elected to the Henry County, KY, Board of Education. For more see "17 blacks are local school board members," in 1978 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Fifth Report by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 25.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Board of Education
Geographic Region: Henry County, Kentucky
Smith, Joshua I.
Birth Year : 1941
Smith was born in Garrard County, KY. In 1978 he established an information technology firm, Maxima Corporation, that had over $62 million in revenues. It was one of the largest African American owned businesses. In 1989, Smith was named head of a 14 member commission by President George Bush to assist in devising ways for improving business development. Smith is presently chairman and managing partner of The Coaching Group. He is a graduate of Central State University. For more see African American Biographies: profiles of 558 current men and women, by W. L. Hawkins; and About Us: Joshua Smith a Datawind website.
Subjects: Businesses, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Garrard County, Kentucky / Wilberforce, Ohio
Smith, Kevin L.
Birth Year : 1967
Kevin L. Smith was the pastor of the Watson Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. In 2006, during the Kentucky Baptist Convention, Bill Henard nominated Smith for vice president, and Smith won the election. It was thought to be the second time that an African American was elected as a state convention officer. Smith was an assistant professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 2015, Kevin L. Smith was elected President of the Kentucky Baptist Convention; and in 2016, he was elected the executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware. Kevin L. Smith is the first African American to serve in both positions. He will leave his positions as teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church and as an assistant professor of Christian preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. For more see T. Henderson, "Ky. Baptists pick young leaders for top offices, celebrate giving," Associated Baptist Press Archives (11/20/2006); and "Kentucky Baptists' first African American president moving to Maryland," online at the Kentucky Today website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Smith, Kirke
Birth Year : 1865
Death Year : 1935
Smith, born in Virginia, graduated from Berea College (KY) in 1890. From 1895-1910, he was an activist and superintendent of the Colored Schools of Lebanon, KY. Between 1910 and 1912, he was also one of the main financial solicitors for Lincoln Institute, known as "New Berea." Smith was Dean of Men and the Dean of the Normal Department of Lincoln Institute from 1912-1933. Kirke Smith was a promoter of higher education for African Americans in Kentucky. He was the husband of Sallie J. Smith. Information for this entry was submitted by Eric Smith (CA) with reference to The Kirk Smith Papers at Berea College and the Lincoln Institute File at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.
See photo image and brief bio of Kirke Smith at BlackPast.org.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky / Berea, Madison County, Kentucky
Smith, Leslie S.
Birth Year : 1908
Death Year : 1997
Smith was born in Pleasant Ridge, KY. A schoolteacher in Kentucky and West Virginia, she published short stories, poems, and her book, Around Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, A Black History (1979), which covers 1795 to 1979. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Historians, Poets
Geographic Region: Pleasant Ridge, Lewis County, Kentucky
Smith, Lucy H.
Birth Year : 1888
Death Year : 1955
Lucy H. Smith was born in Virginia, then came to Kentucky in 1910 as an assistant school principal. She pushed for the study of Black history in schools. She was the second woman president of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association and served as principal of the Booker T. Washington School in Lexington, KY. [Maude S. Brown was the first woman president of KNEA.] Smith compiled the Pictorial Directory of the Kentucky Association of Colored Women [full-text available at the Kentucky Digital Library]. She earned her master's degree in education at the University of Cincinnati. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones; Notable Black American Women, Book II; and "Mrs. Lucy Smith pioneered in Ky. education," Baltimore Afro-American, 05/11/1946, p. 13.
See photo image of Lucy H. Smith on [p. 5] of Pictorial Directory of the Kentucky Association of Colored Women.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Migration West, Women's Groups and Organizations, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky, Association of Colored Women's Clubs
Geographic Region: Virginia / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Smith, Lucy W.
Birth Year : 1861
Death Year : 1889
Lucy Wilmot Smith was born in Lexington, KY, the daughter of Mrs. Margaret Smith. She began teaching in 1877 in Lexington and became a journalist in 1884 with The American Baptist. She provided sketches of women journalists for the New York newspaper, Journalism. She served as an editor and wrote special columns for Our Women and Children and was also on the staff of the Baptist Journal. She spoke out on women's rights and voting. Smith was a graduate and a teacher at State University [later Simmons University] and was the private secretary of school President William J. Simmons. She was a historian for the Negro Baptist. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; and "Lucy Wilmot Smith," in Noted Negro Women: their triumphs and activities, by M. A. Majors; see p.9 in Negro Baptist History, 1750-1930 by L. G. Jordan [bio & picture]; and see Lucy Wilmot Smith in "The Death Roll," Lexington Leader, 12/03/1889, p.2.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Historians, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Voting Rights, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Smith, Mary L.
Birth Year : 1936
Mary L. Smith was born in Mississippi. She graduated from Jackson State University in 1957 and earned her masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Kentucky. She began teaching at the elementary level in 1957 and at the college level in 1964. In October 1991, she became the first woman president of Kentucky State University. She had previously served as interim president April of 1989 until July of 1990. She then replaced Dr. John T. Wolfe when he left in the summer of 1991. As the permanent president, she oversaw the establishing of the Center for Diversity and the Center of Excellence for the Study of Kentucky African Americans (CESKAA). Two accredited masters degree programs were added: Public Administration and Aquaculture. She oversaw the building of the Exum Athletic Center, the Cooperative Extension Building, and renovations to Hume Hall. For more see Notable Black American Women, Book II; and the Office of the President Records, a Kentucky Digital Library webpage.
See photo image and additional information on Mary L. Smith at the University of Kentucky Alumni Association website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North
Geographic Region: MIssissippi / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Smith, Morgan and Marvin
Birth Year : 1910
Born in Nicholasville, KY, the sons of Allena Hutchinson Smith and Charles Smith. The Smith twins were photographers who left Kentucky and settled in Harlem, NY. The memorable photo of Robert Day playing Hi-Li was taken by Morgan Smith. Marvin later took up abstract painting and Morgan became interested in film. The resonant life in Harlem was captured on film and in photographs with events and images such as the first African American policeman. Morgan Smith died in 1993 and Marvin Smith died in 2003. For more see The Photography Encyclopedia, by G. S. McDarrah, et al.; M & M Smith: for posterity's sake, by H. Lyons, et al; Morgan and Marvin Smith, from North By South: The African American Great Migration; and Harlem: the vision of Morgan and Marvin Smith, by M. and M. Smith.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Migration North, Photographers, Photographs
Geographic Region: Nicholasville, Jessamine County, Kentucky / Harlem, New York
Smith, Orlando "Tubby"
Birth Year : 1951
Tubby Smith was born in Scotland, Maryland. In 1997 he became the first African American basketball coach at the University of Kentucky; in 1998 the team won the NCAA Basketball Championship. He left the University of Kentucky in 2007 for the head coaching job at the University of Minnesota. Smith has led three schools to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen: the University of Tulsa, the University of Georgia and the University of Kentucky. His ten years at the University of Kentucky ended with a record of 263 wins and 83 losses; four NCAA Elite Eights; five SEC tournament titles; five SEC regular season titles; 2003 AP Coach of the Year; and 10 selections to the annual NCAA. For more see J. Tipton, "Tubby bolts from the Blue - feels wanted in new post but says he loves Kentucky," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/23/2007, Main News section, p.A1.
See photo image of Tubby Smith at rivals.com.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Scotland, Maryland / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Minnesota
Smith, Robert W.
Birth Year : 1923
Death Year : 1998
Born in Indiana, Robert W. Smith became the first African American to own an automobile dealership in Louisville, KY. In 1971 Smith purchased the Universal Chevrolet dealership and became president of the Bob Smith Chevrolet Company, Inc. For more see The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. by J. E. Kleber; and Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
See photo image of Robert W. Smith and additional information at Black History Month: Robert W. Smith, 02/09/2011, courier-journal.com.
Subjects: Automobile Dealerships and Factories
Geographic Region: Indiana / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Smith, S. E.
Birth Year : 1859
Death Year : 1907
Born in Barren County, KY, Rev. S. E. Smith had lived in Owensboro, KY. He was a minister and a civil rights activist. He spoke out against the Separate Coach Act in Kentucky. In 1886, he was one of the spokesmen who appeared before the Kentucky Senate demanding just laws for African Americans. He was a trustee of State University [later named Simmons University]. Smith was a delegate to the National Republican Convention over a period of 16 years. He was author of History of the Anti-Separate Coach Movement in Kentucky [full-text available online at Kentucky Digital Library]. Kentucky Governor Bradley appointed Rev. Smith as the Kentucky representative at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897. Rev. Smith was the National Grand Secretary of the Order of Samaritans. He was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Lexington, KY, and just prior to his death, he had accepted the position as pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Columbus,OH. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson; S. E. Smith in Chapter 12 of The Reformed Reader [available online]; and "Noted colored man dies," The Washington Post, 08/08/1907.
See photo of Rev. S. E. Smith on p. 295 in Sermons, Addresses and Reminiscences and Important Correspondence, by E. C. Morris, at NYPL Digital Gallery.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Authors, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Religion & Church Work, Fraternal Organizations, Appointments by Kentucky Governors
Geographic Region: Barren County, Kentucky / Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Columbus, Ohio
Smith, Sam
Birth Year : 1944
Sam Smith was born in Hazard, KY. A 6'7" guard/forward, he played high school basketball in Hazard and in 1962 became one of the first three African American basketball players recruited by the University of Louisville (U of L). (The other two players were Eddie Whitehead and Wade Houston.) Freshmen were not eligible to play on the varsity team, so the three had to wait until their sophomore year to get playing time. Of the three, Smith was the first to play in a game and the first African American starter in 1964. Academic problems for Smith at U of L led him to transfer to Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) in 1964. In 1966, the KWC basketball team won its first College Division National Championship [now the NCAA Division II Championship]. Smith played in the ABA from 1968-1971 with the Minnesota Muskies, Kentucky Colonels, and Utah Stars, playing in 255 games and scoring 2,097 points. Smith was a member of the Utah Stars 1971 ABA Championship team that defeated the Kentucky Colonels. He was picked by the Atlanta Hawks in the 3rd round of the NBA draft in 1977. Smith played for two seasons in the NBA, first with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 1978-1979 season, then with the Chicago Bulls for the 1979-1980 season. During those two years, he saw action in 46 games and scored 315 points. For more see the Commerce Cabinet Press release by Billy Reed dated 02/21/05, "Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch Represents Pinnacle of Proud African-American Athletic Tradition at U of L: Cards a Leader in Integrating Southern Sports"; Sam Smith at databaseBasketball.com; and Sam Smith at Basketball-Reference.com.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Hazard, Perry County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky / Minneapolis, Minnesota / Salt Lake City, Utah / Milwaukee, Wisconsin / Chicago, Illinois
Smith, Thomas J.
Birth Year : 1871
Smith was born in Ballard County, KY. He was principal at the Colored high school in Versailles, KY (1896-1917) while serving as a pastor in Dayton, OH. He was also pastor at Zion Baptist Church in Paris, KY (1912-1917). Smith served as historian for the Kentucky State Teachers Association (1900-1917). He wrote The Boy Problem in Church, School, and Home, published by State Normal Press in 1903. African American men within the Baptist denomination made it their mission to better guide African American boys and young men for the sake of the race as a whole. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1928-29; and A. M. Hornsby, "The Boy problem: North Carolina race men groom the next generation: 1900-1930," The Journal of Negro History, vol.86, issue 3 (Summer, 2001), pp.276-304.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Ballard County, Kentucky / Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky / Dayton, Ohio / Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky
Smith, Verna
Birth Year : 1889
Death Year : 1966
Verna Smith was the first African American woman president of the Democratic Club and president of the National Housewives League. She served as an alternate delegate to the 1944 Democratic Presidential Convention. She was the wife of James E. Smith and mother of Charlotte McGill. For more see the Smith/McGill Family Papers, 1879-1987, at the University of Louisville Libraries: Special Collections and Archives.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Smith, Walton N.
Birth Year : 1924
Death Year : 2003
Smith, born in Hopkinsville, KY, was the first African American appointed to the executive board of the Hopkinsville Chamber of Commerce and also the first to chair the Area Development District in Kentucky. The Hopkinsville Housing Authority named the Walton Smith Park in his honor in 1982. Smith was a WWII veteran. For more see Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
Subjects: Housing Authority, The Projects, Parks & Resorts, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky
Smith-Hyatt, Mary E.
Born in Estill County, KY, Smith-Hyatt practiced medicine in Indianapolis, IN, specializing in women's and children's diseases. She was also a dressmaker and milliner as well as a voice and piano teacher. She wrote medical articles published in newspapers and journals and published a book of poetry and a book on health. Smith-Hyatt composed the words and music of My Little Hoosier Song and Consecration. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37.
Subjects: Authors, Businesses, Medical Field, Health Care, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Poets
Geographic Region: Estill County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana
Smithtown (Lexington, KY)
The community, developed by African Americans at the end of the Civil War, is bordered by North Broadway, West Fourth, Jefferson, and West Sixth Streets. John Shelby, former Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach, grew up in Smithtown. For more see J. Kellogg, "The Formation of Black Residential Areas in Lexington, Kentucky, 1865-1887," The Journal of Southern History, vol. 48, issue 1 (Feb. 1982), pp. 21-52.
Subjects: Communities
Geographic Region: Smithtown, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Smith-Wright, Pamela L.
Birth Year : 1949
In 2007, Pamela Smith-Wright was the first African American elected president of the the Kentucky AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary. Smith-Wright is from Owensboro, KY, and she has served as president of Post 119 and Post 75, and she has been a member and leader of a number of organizations. AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary is a service organization made up of wives, daughters, and granddaughters of veterans. As state president, Smith-Wright oversaw 16 posts throughout Kentucky. In her political life, since 2011, Smith-Wright has been serving as the first woman Mayor Pro Tem in Owensboro, KY. She was the top vote getter in the primary and general election for a seat on the Owensboro City Commission. Pamela Smith-Wright is the daughter of the late Ethel and Willie Smith, Jr. She is graduate of Owensboro High School and was a member of the school's first track team which won the state track meet during her senior year. She is also a graduate of Cosmetology School in St. Louis, MO, and owned her own beauty shop for over 30 years. Pamela Smith-Wright also owned her own catering service for 20 years. In 2012, she was the winner of the Kentucky Martin Luther King, Jr. Citizenship Award. For more see J. Campbell, "Owensboro woman elected state leader," Messenger-Inquirer, 06/23/2007, State and Regional News section, p.1; "Mayor pro tem receives MLK Award," Messenger-Inquirer, 01/06/2012, Local News section, p.B.1; and S. Vied, "Smith-Wright elect Mayor Pro Tem," Messenger-Inquirer, 01/05/2011, Section A, p.1.
Subjects: Bakers, Cooks and Chefs, Cosmetologists, Beauty Shops, Hairdressers, Beauty Supplies, Military & Veterans, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky
Smythe, Carrie F.
Birth Year : 1909
Death Year : 1990
Smythe was born in Louisville, KY. She was a teacher at the Samuel Coleridge Taylor School in Louisville for 18 years and principal at William H. Perry, Sr. Elementary School for 25 years. Smythe received a number of awards, including the Certificate of Honor (Quiz Kids) as best teacher in the U.S. For more see Profiles of Contemporary Black Achievers of Kentucky, by J. B. Horton.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Sneed, Stephen Taylor, "S. T."
Birth Year : 1861
Death Year : 1940
Stephen T. Sneed had served five terms as deputy sheriff in Cincinnati, OH, in 1918 [source: "Captain S. T. Sneed...," The Crisis, vol. 17, issue 1 (November 1918), p. 245]. He was over the 18th Ward, Precinct K. Sneed was also a barber who owned his own shop. He was owner of Fraternal Regalia Company, which was established in 1905. In most sources, Stephen T. Sneed is referred to as S. T. Sneed. In 1891, Sneed had moved from Covington, KY, to 106 George Street in Cincinnati, OH [source: "Republican clubs," The Freeman, 04/18/1891, p. 1]. Sneed served as Brigadier General in organizing a regiment of the Uniform Rank of the Ohio Knights of Pythias [source: "The Lodge news," Cleveland Gazette, 08/01/1891, p. 1]. He was appointed a deputy sheriff in 1911 for the city of Cincinnati. Five years later, Sneed polled enough votes to ensure the first colored judge of elections in his precinct, Walter Johnson [source: "Cincinnati, O., News," The Freeman, 11/11/1916, p. 1]. Sneed was a member of several fraternal organizations, including the United Brothers of Friendship, and he was a Past Grand Chancellor and Supreme Representative of the Knights of Pythias. R. T. Sneed was the commander of the World's Champion Drill Team, Palestine Company B, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias. The team was undefeated when Sneed retired in 1911, and he would join the team when requested over the next several years for performances in various states. S. T. Sneed was born in Pendleton County, KY, the son of Anna Hitch Sneed (1852-1905) and Southey Sneed (1834-1889). S. T. Sneed and his first wife, Mary E. Sneed (b. 1864 in KY), were the parents of three girls: Bessie (1882-1882), Ada (1885-1885), and Carrie (1886-1908). In 1907, S. T. Sneed married Mary Patterson (b. 1878 in KY). Stephen T. Sneed died in Cincinnati on January 7, 1940 [source: Ohio Department of Health Death Index, p. 1695]. For more see Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, by W. P. Dabney. Cemetery records for Amy, Southy, Bessie [Snead], Ada, and Carrie Sneed are in "Linden Grove Cemetery Records (.pdf), 1868-1898" within the Northern Kentucky Genealogy Database-geNKY at the Kenton County Public Library website.
Subjects: Barbers, Businesses, Migration North, Corrections and Police, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Pendleton County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio
Snorton, Charles C.
Birth Year : 1908
Death Year : 2000
Snorton was a civil rights leader in Cleveland, OH. He was born in Crofton, KY, and was a 1937 sociology graduate of Kentucky State University. Snorton was one of the first members of the Future Outlook League in Cleveland, the organization was formed in 1935 and one of the goals was to encourage white business owners in predominately Black neighborhoods to hire African Americans. When talking did not work, members picketed and used economic boycotts. According to Snorton's newspaper obituary, he is credited for integrating the Ohio Bell Telephone Co., Cleveland Transit System, and trade union apprentice programs. Snorton, who was a World War II veteran, had been a chauffeur and a liquor store manager in Cleveland. For more see A. Baranick, "Charles Snorton, pushed white employers to hire blacks," Plain Dealer, 05/25/2000, Metro section, p.9B.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Sociologists & Social Scientists, Telephone Company Employees, Telephone Inventions, Telephones and Race
Geographic Region: Crofton, Christian County, Kentucky / Cleveland, Ohio
Snowden, Harris
Birth Year : 1887
Death Year : 1917
Harris Snowden was a race horse trainer from Kentucky. He was born around 1887 in Kentucky and died in Nashville, TN, December 16, 1917 [source: Tennessee Deaths and Burials Index]. Snowden is buried in Mt. Ararat Cemetery in Nashville.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Migration South
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Nashville, Tennessee
Snowden, Leanna C. Holland and John B.
Leanna Snowden, born Leanna C. Holland in 1880 in Lexington, KY, was married to John B. Snowden, Jr. (1875-1944), one of the very few African American U.S. mail carriers in Kentucky. John Jr., also born in Lexington, KY, was the son of John Sr. and Ellen Buckner Snowden. He and Leanna were married in 1889. She was a teacher in the Lexington public schools for Negro children and also a community leader. Leanna was president of the Allen C. E. League and was an active member of several organizations connected to the St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Lexington. She was the first president of the City Federation of Women's Clubs in Lexington and the first vice-president of the State Clubs. John and Leanna had a daughter, Leland Weldon Snowden (1900-1921), who attended Kentucky Negro Industrial Institute [now Kentucky State University]. For more see Centennial Encyclopedia of the American Methodist Episcopal Church..., by Richard Allen and others, Philadelphia, PA (1816), at the Documenting the American South website. Birth and death dates for the Snowdens were found in the Kentucky Death Records and the U.S. Federal Census (1900-1930).
See photo image of Leanna C. Snowden on p.211 in the Centennial Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church by R. R. Wright.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Kentucky African American Churches, Postal Service, Women's Groups and Organizations, Association of Colored Women's Clubs
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Solomon Temple and Daughters of Jerusalem (Trenton, KY)
Start Year : 1900
The Solomon Temple and Daughters of Jerusalem was a secret home benevolent society located in Trenton, KY, and believed to have been established around 1900. There were both male an female African American members. The purpose of the organization was to provide for the sick and the needy and to bury the dead. Little is know about the organization. For more see Constitution and By-Laws of Solomon Temple and Daughters of Jerusalem: Home Lodge Located at Trenton, KY.
Subjects: Benevolent Societies
Geographic Region: Trenton, Todd County, Kentucky
South Before the War
Start Year : 1891
This Louisville, KY, production was the first of three plays set in the South. Produced by whites, it featured a company of mostly black and some white players; the show had as many as 100 cast members at its high point. John Whallen and Herman Wallum (alias Harry or Henry Martell), who took the production to New York City, managed the show. For more see A History of African American Theatre, by E. Hill; and The South Before the War Company Papers at Yale University.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / New York City, New York
South Union, KY - Shakers, Slaves, and Freemen
Start Year : 1807
South Union, located in Auburn, KY, was the southernmost Shaker Community during the War of 1812. It was founded in 1807 and closed in 1922. The community was known as Gasper River until 1813 when it was renamed South Union. According to the thesis of Ryan L. Fletcher, in 1812, Willie Jones, from Halifax, NC, wanted to bring 107 of his slaves to South Union to receive the gospel. There were already slaves at South Union who belonged to Shaker Believers. It had not been easy to convert the slaves into Believers. They were referred to as the Black Family and were segregated from the remaining members. The thought of adding Willie Jones' slaves was not immediately embraced. It was decided that Jones' slaves would either willingly convert to Shakers and move to South Union, or they would remain slaves in North Carolina. Either way, they would still be slaves. Four of the slaves converted and the remainder were sold with none of the profits going to the South Union Shakers; they refused to have anything to do with the money. Willie Jones and his four slaves joined South Union, until Jones was accused of being a backslider and he left, taking his four slaves with him. Jones' downfall was attributed to slavery and the inequality that came with it. Shaker Believers supposedly followed a doctrine of egalitarianism, and slavery was causing disunion in South Union. In 1817, there was a protest referred to as a Shaker slave revolt. The revolt was nonviolent, it was led by African American Elder Neptune. The slaves wanted their freedom and equality, as was professed in the Shaker gospel. They began leaving South Union and re-establishing themselves in Bowling Green, KY. Elder Neptune soon joined them. Owners attempted to regain their slaves without legal or violent means, it was the Shaker way. Elder Neptune returned to South Union and in 1819, the ministry advised slave owners to emancipate their slaves. By the 1830s, all slaves at South Union had been emancipated. Many of the former slaves, including Elder Neptune, left the community and were captured and sold back into slavery; their emancipation in South Union was not recognized beyond the community. For more see "Does God See This?" Shakers, Slavery and the South by R. L. Fletcher (thesis); By Their Fruits by J. Neal; Shaker Papers, Shakers 1769-1893; and visit Shaker Museum at South Union.
Subjects: Early Settlers, Freedom, Religion & Church Work, Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky
Geographic Region: South Union, Auburn, Logan County, Kentucky / Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky
Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF)
Start Year : 1938
End Year : 1975
Founded in the 1938 by both communists and non-communists, the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) was a division of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW). The headquarters, located in New Orleans, LA, was well funded by supporters in the northern sector of the United States. The mission of SCEF was to eliminate segregation and racial injustice in the South with the joint efforts of southern Blacks and whites. In 1948, the parent organization SCHW folded and SCEF continued as an independent organization that was labeled by opponents as the Communist voice in the South. SCEF was investigated in 1958 by the U.S. House of Representatives' Un-American Activities Committee. The hearings were held in Atlanta, GA, and Anne and Carl Braden, from Louisville, KY, were two of the persons subpoenaed for the hearings. Anne was not called to testify, but Carl was, and when he refused to answer any questions, he was found in contempt of Congress and sentenced to a year in jail. He served 10 months. Out of fear of such retaliation, civil rights and other similar organizations pulled away from SCEF, but former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, along with Ella Baker, stood by the organization as members and supporters. With the Bradens' support, SCEF became a major civil rights organization for the South with strong ties to the up and coming Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) [article in King Encyclopedia online]. In 1966, the SCEF headquarters were moved to Louisville, KY, where they remained until the last days of the organization. With the Bradens' influence as former journalists, the SCEF newspaper Southern Patriot gained a circulation of 20,000 and was used to disseminate information about the efforts of SCEF and SNCC. For more see Freedom's Daughters, by L. Olson; In Struggle, by C. Carson; and "Southern Conference Educational Fund" in Organizing Black America, by N. Mjagkij. The Southern Conference Educational Fund records are at Georgia State University Library.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights
Geographic Region: New Orleans, Louisiana / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Atlanta, Georgia
Southern Press Association [Negro newspapers]
Start Year : 1905
The Southern Press Association [Negro newspapers] was an impromptu organization formed during a gathering at the Atlanta Independent on June 30, 1905. [Not to be confused with the Southern Press Association for white owned newspapers.] The organization was said to be the suggestion of John H. Murphy, editor of the Afro-American Ledger (Baltimore); during the meeting, Murphy was named president of the Southern Press Association (SPA). There were two members from Kentucky, W. H. Steward, editor of the American Baptist, was named second vice president; and R. T. Berry, editor of the Kentucky Reporter, was a member of the executive committee. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was also a member of the organization. The SPA office was located at 126 1/2 S. Pryor Street in Atlanta, and SPA Secretary, B. J. Davis of the Atlanta Independent, was in charge of the office. Members of the American Press Association [Negro newspapers] questioned why the SPA had been formed, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett was criticized for not explaining the formation of the organization. The SPA was a short-lived organization. For more see "Press association organized," Baltimore Afro-American, 07/29/1905, p.5; and "Ida B. Wells-Barnett," v. 15, in Black Women in United States History by D. C. Hine.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers
Geographic Region: Atlanta, Georgia / Kentucky
Southgate Street School
Start Year : 1886
Southgate Street School is the oldest standing African American building in Kentucky. Located in Newport, KY, the school is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was the first African American school in Kentucky funded by a city general fund. For more see Jim Reis, "Southgate Street School stood alone for decades," Kentucky Post, 02/17/03; and The Voice of the East Row Historic Foundation, vol. 2, issue 11 (Nov. 2001). See also African American Schools in the NKAA Database.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Newport, Campbell County, Kentucky
Spann, Ann Roberta Peyton
Birth Year : 1939
June 1, 1961, Ann Peyton became the first African American to earn an undergraduate degree from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). She was on the Dean's List all four years that she attended the school. Ann R. Peyton majored in elementary education, according to the 1961 Milestone, an Eastern Kentucky University yearbook, p.80. Ann Peyton was a native of Madison County, KY, the daughter of James R. and Rena F. Jenkins Peyton [source: 1940 U.S. Federal Census]. In 1940, the family lived on Peytontown Road. The Peytontown community is located between Richmond and Berea, KY [source: Kentucky Place Names by R. M. Rennick]. The community is also referred to as one of Berea's black hamlets in Black America by A. Hornsby Jr., p.323. Peytontown, a predominately African American community, is thought to have existed prior to the American Civil War, and was named for the prominent and slave owning family of Peytons in Madison County [source: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedule]. In the 1870 Census, all but one of the 21 African Americans in Madison County, with the last name Peyton, lived in Kirksville. By 1920, James R. Peyton, Ann's father, lived with his grandparents on Peytontown Road in the community of Duncannon [source: 1920 U.S. Federal Census]. Not much more is known about the community of Duncannon at this time, though the community is mentioned in several newspaper articles in the late 1800s and early 1900s. All of which is to say that Ann R. Peyton's ancestors lived in Madison County communities for many generations before she became the first African American undergraduate to earn a degree at Eastern Kentucky University in 1961. For more on Ann Peyton see the EKU websites The Battle of Civil Rights: an Eastern perspective; and Colonel Capsule by H. Hagans; S. Hopkins, "First black student graduated Eastern in '61," The Eastern Progress, 12/09/1999, p.A1; and p.6 in Connections: the Richmond, Kentucky area African-American heritage guide, City of Richmond Tourism & Visitory Center, 1998?. Notification and documentation of Ann Peyton as the first African American graduate at EKU, comes from EKU Special Collections and Archives [Library Associate, Sarah Adams], 02/12/2016.
Subjects: Communities, Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Richmond, Peytontown, Kirksville, & Duncannon, Madison County, Kentucky
Spaulding, Jane Morrow
Birth Year : 1900
Death Year : 1965
Jane M. Spaulding was born in Logan County, KY, and raised in Nashville, TN. Her ancestors founded Keysburg in Logan County. She was the first African American female assistant secretary in the cabinet of a U.S. President; she was later appointed by President Eisenhower as Assistant to the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. At that time the position made her the highest paid African American employed by the federal government. In 1953, she was named Woman of the Year by the National Council of Negro Women. Spaulding had served as chairman of finance for the organization. In 1951, she served as the U.S. representative to the Triennial Council of Women in Athens, Greece. She was a graduate of Fisk University. Jane Spaulding was the wife of Dr. Albert L. Spaulding, Sr. and mother of Dr. Albert L. Spaulding, Jr. For more see J. Eads, "In Washington," The Independent Record, 06/29/1953, p.4; 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 Notable Black American Women. Book II, edited by J. C. Smith.
Subjects: Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Migration North, Social Workers, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Keysburg, Logan County, Kentucky / Nashville, Tennessee / Washington, D.C.
Spears, Jewell A. King
Birth Year : 1933
Spears was the first African American director of nursing at the Reid Hospital in Richmond, IN. She was promoted to the position in 1977, later becoming vice president of the hospital before retiring in 1995. In 1974, she was chosen by Indiana Governor Otis Bowen as the only registered nurse on the Emergency Medical Services Commission; Spears became president of the commission in 1977. She was also president of the Wayne County Welfare Board. Jewell Spears was born in Hazard, KY, the daughter of Janie and Saul King (1902-1968). The family moved to Richmond, IN, in the 1940s. Jewell Spears is a graduate of Earlham College. She was married to Glen A. Spears (1928-2007). For more see "Earlham grad becomes Reid's director of nursing," Palladium-Item, 02/27/2008, Region section, p. 3A; the Jewell A. Spears entry in The Black Women in the Middle West Project, by D. C. Hine, et al.; and "Glen A. Spears," Palladium-Item, 10/14/2007, Obituary section, p. 3C.
Subjects: Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North, Nurses, Hospitals and Clinics: Employment, Founders, Ownership, Incidents
Geographic Region: Hazard, Perry County, Kentucky / Richmond, Indiana
Spears, Joshua, Sr.
Birth Year : 1858
In July of 1934, Joshua Spears, Sr. retired from the Indianapolis Police Department after 51 years of service. He was the longest serving officer in the history of the department. Spears was born in Paris, KY, the son of Lucy Murray Spears and Sol Spears [source: Ohio Marriages Index, 1800-1858]. He joined the police force in 1883 and in 1925, Spears was promoted to the rank of sergeant and said to be one of the most efficient men on the police force. He was the first African American police officer to be promoted to the rank of sergeant, the promotion was made by Chief of Police, George V. Coffin. Joshua Spears, Sr., his wife Maria, and their son Joshua Jr. lived on Center Street. All were born in Kentucky [source: 1900 U.S. Federal Census]. Maria died in 1912, she was born in Paris, KY, in April of 1852, and after moving to Indianapolis, she often entertained guests from her home town. October 18, 1915, Joshua Spears, Sr. married Viola Frances Jackson (b.1886) who was from Indianapolis, and in 1940, the couple lived at 468 Fall Creek Parkway Drive in Indianapolis [source: 1940 U.S. Federal Census]. They are last listed as Joshua and Viola Spearis* in Polk's Indianapolis (Marion County, IND.) City Directory, 1942, p.1242. Three other Indianapolis patrolmen from Kentucky were Edward Harris (b.1851), Frank Hurt (b.1859), and Carter Temple (b.1842). Harris, from Louisville, KY, joined the force in 1874. Hurt joined the force in 1883. Temple, from Logan County, KY, joined the force in 1874. For more see "Retired police officer, with longest service record, feted by citizens, officials," Indianapolis Recorder, 07/28/1934, p.1; see "Joshua Spears" near the end of the article "Indianapolis, Ind. home of race's pioneer manufacturers," Afro-American, 02/07/1925, p.13; "The sudden death of Mrs. Maria Spears...," Indianapolis Recorder, 03/23/1912, p.2; "Sergeant Joshua Spears," Indianapolis Recorder, 04/16/1938, p.2; "Patrolman Spears marries at Cincinnati," Indianapolis Recorder, 11/06/1915, p.6; and "Our Colored patrolmen," Freeman, 03/16/1889, p.5.
*In some sources the last name is spelled "Spearis," "Spearls," and "Spevis."
Subjects: Migration North, Corrections and Police
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana / Logan County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Spencer County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1870
Spencer County is located on the western side of central Kentucky and surrounded by five counties. It was formed in 1824 from portions of Bullitt, Nelson, and Shelby Counties, and named for Spier Spencer, who died in the Battle of Tippecanoe. The county seat is Taylorsville, named for Richard Taylor, a gristmill owner and land owner. Taylorsville existed prior to 1790 and was incorporated in 1829. The county population was 868 [heads of households] in 1830, according to the U.S. Federal Census. The population increased to 15,615 by 1860, excluding the slaves. Below are the number of slave owners, slaves, and free Blacks and Mulattoes for 1850-1870.
1850 Slave Schedule
- 445 slave owners
- 1,674 Black slaves
- 477 Mulatto slaves
- 33 free Blacks [most with the last name White]
- 10 free Mulattoes
- 440 slave owners
- 1,938 Black slaves
- 273 Mulatto slaves
- 15 free Blacks
- 18 free Mulattoes
- 1,267 Blacks
- 133 Mulattoes
- About 74 U.S. Colored Troops listed Spencer County, KY, as their birth location.
Subjects: Slave Owners, Slaves, Free Blacks, Free Mulattoes in Kentucky, 1850-1870 [by county N-Z]
Geographic Region: Spencer County, Kentucky
Spencer, Felton L.
Birth Year : 1968
Spencer was born in Louisville, KY. The 7'1" center played high school ball at Louisville Eastern; during his junior and senior years, he led the school to its first state tournaments in 25 years. He averaged 24 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocked shots and was rated one of the top 25 players in the nation. Spencer played college ball at the University of Louisville, the tallest player ever to play for the school, and he was the all-time field goal percentage leader. He was the 6th pick in the first round of the 1990 NBA Draft, going to the Minnesota Timbewolves for three seasons before being traded to the Utah Jazz. Spencer played for a few other teams during his 12 year career in the NBA; he retired in 2002. He played in 640 games, scored over 3,000 points, and blocked over 500 shots. For more see Felton LaFrance Spencer at basketball-reference.com; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1992-2006.
See photo image of Felton L. Spencer at Basketball-Reference.com.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Spencer, Moses
Death Year : 1877
Spencer was listed as a free person in William's Lexington [Kentucky] Directory, City Guide, and Business Mirror, Volume I, 1859-60, compiled by C. S. Williams, Lexington, [Kentucky]: Hitchcock & Searles, 1859. At one time, he was Lexington's most successful African American businessman. Spencer was a secondhand furniture dealer whose business was located on Main Street. He owned a slave. After the Civil War, he sold the furniture business and opened a new store on Short and Market Streets. For more see Lexington, Heart of the Bluegrass, by J. D. Wright.
Subjects: Businesses, Freedom, Free African American Slave Owners
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Spencer, Onah Lee
Birth Year : 1899
Death Year : 1972
Onah L. Spencer was a music composer, music and entertainment journalist, folklorist, and a historian. He was a member of Chicago's Black Renaissance. Onah L. Spencer was born in Kentucky, the son of Clara F. Bueler Spencer (1879-1961) and Lee Spencer [source: Onah L. Spencer in the Ohio County Marriages Index; and the Ohio Deaths Index]. Onah L. Spencer was described as a "light Negro" on his WWI Draft Registration Card, and he and his family are listed as white in the 1920 Census. They are listed as black, mulatto, or Negro in the 1910 and subsequent census records after 1920. It is not known when the family left Kentucky, but Onah's two younger sisters, Bessie and Elsie, were born in Ohio around 1902 and 1904, according to census records. The children were living in Cincinnati with only their mother when she, Clara Spencer, was listed as the widow of Lee Spencer on p.1713 in William's Cincinnati Business Directory for 1907. His mother was a laundrywoman and Onah L. Spencer started working at an early age. In the 1910 census his occupation was listed as a houseboy, and in 1920, he was a butcher at the Meat Emporium in Cincinnati. November 30, 1928, Onah L. Spencer married Cora B. Gray, and in 1930, Onah was employed as a printer [sources: Ohio County Marriages Index; and 1930 U.S. Federal Census]. By 1940, Onah L. Spencer was divorced and living in Chicago in a boarding house on Oakwood Boulevard, he was employed as a writer with the WPA Writers' Project [source: 1940 U.S. Federal Census]. His work includes a major contribution of articles and essays on Negro Music and Musicians, all of which can be found in the Illinois Writers' Project Papers in the Vivian Harsh Research Collection at the Chicago Public Library [finding aid to collection]. More information on the WPA work by Onah L. Spencer and others can be found in The Negro In Illinois by Brian Dolinar, who credits Spencer as the author of the 1934 pageant "O, Sing a New Song" (p.xxxix). In addition to his literary and news writing, Onah L. Spencer was also a composer, and in 1937 one of his works was premiered June 2 on Station WSAI in Cincinnati; the orchestra played "The Oriental Swing," a piece that Spencer collaborated on with Nobel Sissle while producing the 1934 pageant [source: "Spencer writes new swing tune," The Afro-American, 06/19/1937, p.10]. The song "Oriental Swing" was recorded by Lil Hardin Armstrong in 1938. Onah L. Spencer was also a composer on "Stack O'Lee Blues: melancholy" that was recorded by Johnny Dodds prior to Dodds' death to 1940. At the close of his time with the WPA, Onah L. Spencer continued writing as a correspondent for the publication Down Beat, covering jazz on the south side of Chicago, and also traveling to other cities for interviews and reviews, as well as writing for other publications. He also continued his work as a composer on a number of records, such as the 1949 title "Mercenary Papa: you got to pay those dues," recorded by Cootie Williams around 1949. In December of 1951, he was composer of the Chess record "Leo the Louse" played by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats [image]. The record was released in January of 1952. By 1958, Onah L. Spencer had returned to Cincinnati where he died February 1, 1972 [sources: p.1262 in William's Cincinnati (Hamilton County, Ohio) City Directory, 1958; and Ohio Deaths Index].
Listen to Cootie Williams and His Orchestra - Mercenary Papa (Mercury 8168) on YouTube.
Listen to Lil Hardin Armstrong & Her Swing Orchestra - Oriental Swing on YouTube.
Listen to Johnny Dodds - Stack O'Lee Blues at Internet Archive.
Subjects: Authors, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio / Chicago, Illinois
Spicer, Jack, Sr.
Birth Year : 1875
Death Year : 1925
In 1918, Jack Spicer, Sr. was sworn in as the coroner of Lee County, KY, which made him the first African American to hold an office in the county [source: "Negro official in Lee County," The Clay City Times, 01/17/1918, p.1]. Jack Spicer is listed as coal miner in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census. He was born March 31, 1875, according to the WWI Registration Card, and worked for the Beattyville Fuel Company. He was the husband of Margaret Spicer. According to his death certificate [Registered No. 787], Jack Spicer was born in Jackson, KY, the son of Patsy Strong. He was a minister at the time of his death in Lexington, KY, October 19, 1925.
Subjects: Miners, Mines, & Steel Mills, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries
Geographic Region: Jackson, Breathitt County, Kentucky / Beattyville, Lee County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
The Spirituals: An Oral History Project
Start Year : 2003
End Year : 2006
The following information comes from the description on the "Pass the Word" website. "Thirty-nine interviews with scholars, historians, members of the Kentucky based American Spiritual Ensemble, ethno-musicologists, and laypeople concerning the Negro spiritual. These interviews were conducted to create a PBS documentary. The documentary recounts the history from which the spiritual art form arose, the importance of the spirituals to the Civil Rights movement, and goes on the road with The American Spiritual Ensemble as they gallantly try to preserve the vanishing folk songs of the slaves."
See list of interviews at "Pass the Word" website.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Oral History Collections
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Spradling, Mary E. Mace
Birth Year : 1911
Death Year : 2009
Mary E. Mace Spradling was born in Winchester, KY, the daughter of Mynor J. and Ella Nora Travis Mace. Mary Spradling was the librarian at Lynch Colored School in the 1930s and teacher-librarian in Shelbyville in the 1940s. She chaired the Library Conference of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association in 1950, and was a librarian at the Louisville Free Public Library. Spradling left Kentucky in 1950 and would become the first African American professional librarian with the Kalamazoo Public Library. She also established the Alma Powell Branch Library in Kalamazoo. She retired in 1976, and in 1998 donated her personal library of 28,000 volumes to the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Library. Spradling was the author of "Black Librarians in Kentucky" [in The Black Librarian in the Southeast, ed. A. L. Phinazee], and of the reference volumes, In Black and White. Mary Spradling was the wife of Lewis Spradling (1905-1964). For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-2006; A Biographical Directory of Librarians in the United States and Canada, 5th ed.; and "Many lives enriched by Mary Spradling," Kalamazoo Gazette, 01/30/2009, Editorials section.
See photo, and article by Stephanie Esters, "Memorial service for Kalamazoo's first black librarian set for Saturday" in Kalamazoo Gazette, 04/22/2009, General News section.
Subjects: Authors, Education and Educators, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Migration North, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky / Shelbyville, Shelby County, Kentucky / Lynch, Harlan County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Kalamazoo, Michigan
Spradling, Washington, Sr.
Birth Year : 1805
Death Year : 1868
Spradling was the son of an overseer, William Spradling, and Maria Dennis, a slave who belonged to Isaac Miller. Maria and her children were freed after the death of William Spradling in 1814. Washington Spradling moved to Louisville, KY, and opened a barbershop in 1825. He also purchased real estate and by 1860 was one of the richest African Americans in Louisville. He was the father of William Spradling, born 1827. For more see The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. by J. E. Kleber; "Death of a Colored millionaire in Louisville," Chicago Tribune, 05/22/1868; and History of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, by W. H. Gibson, Sr.
Subjects: Barbers, Businesses, Freedom
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Spradling, William Wallace
Birth Year : 1866
Death Year : 1940
Born in Louisville, KY, Spradling owned more real estate in Louisville than any other African American. He was Vice President of the Louisville Cemetery Association and Director of the Falls City Realty Co. He served as vice president of First Standard Bank, the first African American bank in Kentucky. Spradling was a delegate to the convention that nominated Republican Mayor Grinstead in 1907. He was the son of Washington and Henrietta Richardson Spradling, and the husband of Mary E. Wilson Spradling (1876-1964), who was born in KY. The couple had lived at 501 Rose Lane Street, according to William Spradling's death certificate. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915.
Subjects: Businesses, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries, Realtors, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Investments
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Spring Valley, Illinois
Start Year : 1884
Located in northern Illinois, the town was built by the Spring Valley Coal Company and the Spring Valley Townsite Company in 1884. Men from Europe, northern Africa, and the United States were employed to work the mines, including a small group of African Americans from Kentucky. Homes for all African Americans were located two miles outside of town due to a local ordinance forbidding them within the city limits. The Spring Valley Coal Company was the state's largest coal producer. Lockouts and strikes were common occurrences at the mines, and in 1895 racial tension escalated when Italian miners attacked African American miners and their families, forcing them to abandon their homes. As news of the rioting spread to Chicago, African Americans put out a call to arms. Illinois Governor Altgeld and Spring Valley Mayor Delmargo intervened and restored calm. The African American miners from the south and their women were blamed for the trouble. By 1910, there were 32 nationalities in Spring Valley; the population included 230 African Americans, two-thirds of whom were Kentucky natives, according to author Paul Debono. When the mines closed, many took work at the resorts where hotel employees played baseball as entertainment for the resort guests; Spring Valley has been noted as playing a contributing role in the development of Negro League baseball. For more see The Indianapolis ABCs: history of a premier team in the Negro Leagues, by P. Debono; Black Coal Miners in America: race, class, and community conflict, 1780-1980, by R. L. Lewis; and the following articles in the New York Times: "A Race riot in Illinois: Italians attack the Negroes at Spring Valley," 04/05/1895, p. 8; "Rioters hold full sway," 08/06/1895, p. 3; "All Negroes driven out," 08/07/1895; "Chicago Negroes call to arms," 08/07/1895; "Spring Valley Negro war ended," 08/08/1895; "Negroes may return to Spring Valley," 08/09/1895; "Arrested for shooting Negro laborers," 08/17/1895; "Negroes arming for Spring Valley," 08/19/1895; and "Cause of the Spring Valley riots: Negroes said to have been responsible for the trouble," 08/26/1895. See also chapter 5, "Making the Italian other," in Are Italians White?, by J. Guglielmo and S. Salerno.
Subjects: Baseball, Communities, Migration North, Miners, Mines, & Steel Mills, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Spring Valley, Illinois / Chicago, Illinois
Spurgeon, James Robert
Birth Year : 1870
Death Year : 1942
Spurgeon, a Kentuckian who is said to be a Yale graduate, was appointed by President McKinley as Secretary Minister of the American Legation in Monrovia, Liberia. Spurgeon wrote The Lost Word; or The Search for Truth, a speech delivered before the Free Masons in Monrovia in 1899. Two years later, President McKinley was shot and killed, and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States. By the end of December 1902, Spurgeon had lost his post when President Roosevelt appointed his replacement, 25 year old George Washington Ellis. There had been trouble in Monrovia, and it escalated when Spurgeon forwarded a report to the State Department stating that Liberian Minister J. R. A. Crossland, an African American from Missouri, was mentally unbalanced. Crossland had just shot another Negro, Thomas J. R. Faulkner, an electrical engineer from Brooklyn, who allegedly had tried to cut Crossland with a razor. After the incident, Spurgeon's and Crossland's working relationship continued to deteriorate and both men kept loaded weapons in their desk drawers. The United States was embarrassed by the entire matter and Spurgeon was dismissed. Spurgeon remained in Liberia, and in November 1904, he was speaking to a crowd in Monrovia on behalf of Franklin Leonard, Jr., Democratic candidate for Congress, when a riot broke out. The crowd was made up of about 1,000 Negroes from the United States who were supporters of Roosevelt. Spurgeon was booed and hissed at, and someone set fire to the banners decorating the wagon on which he was standing. The police arrived, the fire was put out, and there were scuffles between the crowd and the police. A white janitor at a nearby building began pushing members of the crowd off the building steps, and a woman who was shoved away returned with her husband, who was carrying a loaded gun. There was a fight over the gun, and while no one was shot, the woman and her husband were arrested. Order was finally restored. Spurgeon returned to the United States, and in 1907 he was named Prince Hall Past Master by Affiliation of Carthaginian no. 47 (Brooklyn, NY). For more see "Razors fly through air of Liberia," The Atlanta Constitution, 12/26/1902, p. 5; "Row at Negro meeting,"The New York Times, 11/08/1904, p. 2; and photo of Spurgeon as Past Master at New York Public Library Digital Gallery.
Subjects: Authors, Migration North, Fraternal Organizations, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada, Appointments by U.S. Presidents/Services for U.S. Presidents
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Monrovia, Liberia, Africa / Brooklyn, New York
Spurgeon, Samuel J. W.
Birth Year : 1861
Spurgeon, who came to Kentucky from Tennessee, was the minister at Mt. Sterling, KY, Christian Church, then later relocated to the Constitution Street Christian Church in Lexington, KY. Spurgeon founded and edited the Christian Worker and was a correspondent for other journals. He was also a contributing editor of The Messenger, a weekly published in Lexington. For more see Biographical Sketches of Prominent Negro Men and Women of Kentucky, by W. D. Johnson.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Kentucky African American Churches, Migration North, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Tennessee / Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
St. Augustine Church (Louisville, KY)
Start Year : 1870
The first African American Catholics were slaves who arrived in Kentucky with the settlers from Maryland in 1785. In 1869, Father John L. Spalding was appointed to organize African American Catholics in Louisville, KY. Worship was held in the burial crypt in the basement of the Cathedral of the Assumption. By 1870, Father Spalding had raised enough money for the building of a new church, St. Augustine, on Broadway between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets. St. Augustine is the oldest African American Catholic church in Louisville; when it opened in 1870, it was one of six in the United States. St. Augustine School opened in 1921; the name later changed to Catholic Colored High School and then changed again to Catholic High in the 1940s. The present St. Augustine Church, dedicated in 1912, is located at 1310 W. Broadway. For more see Centennial 1870-1970: St. Augustine Church, 1310 Broadway, Louisville; B. Pike, "Long-closed school not forgotten," The Courier-Journal, 02/28/99; and S. Edelen, "Looking Back; 135-year-old St. Augustine plans museum,"The Courier-Journal, 01/26/05.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Maryland
St. Clair, I. W., Sr.
Birth Year : 1889
Born in Louisville, KY, St. Clair was the first African American to earn a fine arts degree from Indiana University. He was a teacher and principal of schools in Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky. For more see Who's Who in Colored America. 1933-37.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Education and Educators
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Bloomington, Indiana / North Carolina / Kansas
St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church (Cynthiana, KY)
Start Year : 1852
According to an article by Marilyn Wash in the Harrison Heritage News, the St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church was already established when the first house of worship was built in 1852 on Pleasant Street in Cynthiana, KY. In 1854, abolitionist Minister R. A. Graham from Ohio spoke to the congregation of free persons and slaves during an evening service. Graham was accused of keeping the slaves out too late with his talk of escape and finding freedom in Ohio. The following day, Graham was ordered out of Kentucky. He refused to leave until his tractor was sold; the tractor was the initial reason given for his visit to Cynthiana. When Graham attempted to ride a horse over into the next county (Bourbon County) he was attacked by a mob of slaveholders and chased through the streets until he was finally placed in the Harrison County jail for his own protection. The following day, he was to be escorted to the train station for his exit from Kentucky. A few members of the mob got to Graham while he was in jail and blackened his face with lunar caustic. After Graham's departure, services at the African Methodist Church continued. One of the early pastors was Rev. Levi Evans, who led the building of the present St. James AME Church structure beginning in 1872. Evans, a leader in the AME Church, was a free man (not a slave) who had been a trustee of the Fourth Street Colored Methodist Church in Louisville, KY, in the 1840s. He also dug the first shovels of dirt for the foundation of Quinn Chapel in Louisville. Evans was at St. James for a brief period and continued the work that had begun when the first pastor arrived around 1865. The St. James AME Church is one of the oldest African American Churches in Harrison County. For more see M. Wash, "St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) - 153 years in Cynthiana," Harrison Heritage News, vol. 6, issue 2, February 2005; the Black Methodist Churches section of "African-American life in Cynthiana - 1870-1940," Harrison Heritage News, vol. 5, issue 2, February 2004; History of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, by W. H. Gibson; and "Slaveholders mob," Frederick Douglass' Paper, 09/15/1854, p.3.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky
St. Joseph Hospital (Lexington, KY)
The hospital was in operation in 1877, when the five Sisters of Charity arrived in October of that year. Though the hospital was segregated, there was a separate building for African Americans, and "a few women of disreputable character were also housed in a separate area." Sister Euphrasia Stafford was the administrator of the hospital for the first 40 years. She was a great supporter of Dr. John E. Hunter, the first African American physician in Lexington. Hunter, who was from Virginia, was a surgeon at the hospital for 63 years, arriving in 1889. For more see A story of Saint Joseph Hospital Lexington, Kentucky: the first 120 years, 1877-1997, by F. Krumpelman.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Virginia / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
St. Julien, Marlon
Birth Year : 1972
Born in Louisiana, St. Julien was the first African American jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby since 1921: he rode Curule in 2000 and finished 7th. For more see Jet, 05/22/00, vol. 97, issue 24, p. 51.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby
Geographic Region: Louisiana / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
St. Paul United Methodist Church (Paris, KY)
Located at 1117 High Street in Paris, KY, it is thought to be the oldest African American Methodist church in Kentucky, the building having been constructed some time between 1870 and 1876. For more information contact the Paris Bourbon County Tourism Commission.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work
Geographic Region: Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky
Stafford, Frank
Birth Year : 1937
Stafford, a retired coal miner, is the mayor of Mortons Gap, KY. As of 2008, he has been mayor for 18 years, which is longer than any current mayor in Hopkins County. He was initially an appointed interim mayor, fulfilling the unexpired term of the previous mayor who stepped down due to controversy. Stafford then ran against the previous mayor's brother, in 1991, and was elected [only 4% of Mortons Gap residents are African American]. Stafford is also a pastor at Lively Stone Church in Nortonville, KY. For more see A. Cross, "Rural Democrats think Obama can win state," Courier-Journal, 06/08/2008, Forum section, p. 3H.
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Religion & Church Work, Mayors
Geographic Region: Mortons Gap and Nortonville, Hopkins County, Kentucky
Standard Oil (New Jersey) Collection
The collection was the second major photo-documentary project directed by Roy E. Stryker. The project's aim was to document the benefits of oil on everyday life in the United States. More than half of the images reflect that focus; other photographs, more than 100,000 images, are set at Standard Oil sites throughout the world. In total there are 500,000 items that include images of African Americans. Available at the University of Louisville Libraries' Photographic Archives.
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stanley, Frank L., Jr.
Birth Year : 1937
Death Year : 2007
Frank L. Stanley, Jr. was a journalist and was editor and publisher of the Louisville (KY) Defender newspaper until 1976. He chaired the Allied Organizations for Civil Rights (AOCR), the organization that coordinated the 1964 March on Frankfort, KY, where Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed 10,000 citizens. The march was in support of the public accommodations bill, which was not passed. Stanley was active in many civil rights efforts in Louisville, including voter registration and public demonstrations. In 1968, he was executive director of the Los Angeles National Urban League. Kentucky Governor Julian Carroll appointed him executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Corrections and Community Service in 1974. Ten years later he planned to run as a Democratic candidate for mayor of Louisville. Frank L. Stanley, Jr. was the son of journalist Frank L. Stanley Sr. He was a graduate of Louisville Central High School, the University of Illinois, and George Washington University. For more see Kentucky's Black Heritage, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; and P. Burba, "Frank Stanley, Jr., champion of civil rights in Louisville, dies at 70," Courier-Journal (Louisville), 03/02/2007, News section, p. 4B.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Corrections and Police, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Appointments by Kentucky Governors, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Los Angeles, California
Stanley, Frank L., Sr.
Birth Year : 1906
Death Year : 1974
Frank L. Stanley, Sr. was senior editor and publisher of the Louisville Defender newspaper for 38 years. He was also a civil rights activist: in 1950 he drafted Senate Resolution no. 53, which led to the integration of higher education in Kentucky; and he pushed for the organization of the Kentucky Human Rights Commission. In 1962, Stanley was one of the four journalist the State Department sent to African to conduct a journalism seminar for African editors and radio program directors. In 1974, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Kentucky during the commencement exercise; Stanley was a member of the group that fought to desegregate the University of Kentucky. Frank L. Stanley, Sr. was the father of Frank L. Stanley, Jr. In 1983, Frank L. Stanley, Sr. was inducted into the University of Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. The Frank L. Stanley Papers are at the University of Louisville Libraries' Special Collections and Archives. For more see Biography Index: A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. vol. 10: Sept. 1973-Aug. 1976; "Editor gets honorary doctorate degree," Chicago Metro News, 06/08/1974, p.14; and Who's Who in Colored America, 1950.
See photo image of Frank L. Stanley at the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, Great Black Kentuckians.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
"The State of African Americans in Kentucky"
Start Year : 2009
The State of African Americans in Kentucky is an online publication (.pdf) by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. The report was published in February 2009.
Subjects: Resources Dedicated to Kentucky African Americans [Statewide], Kentucky Commission on Human Rights
Geographic Region: Kentucky
"The Status of African Americans in Kentucky, 2010 Revised Edition"
Start Year : 2010
Produced by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, The Status of African Americans in Kentucky, gives a very good review and overview, and an update on the standing of African Americans in Kentucky. The publication is available online in .pdf.
Subjects: Resources Dedicated to Kentucky African Americans [Statewide], Kentucky Commission on Human Rights
Geographic Region: Kentucky
Steed, Maggie M.
Birth Year : 1877
In 1909 Steed, a widow, built the first hotel in Paducah, KY, owned and operated by and for African Americans: The Hotel Metropolitan at 724 Jackson Street. The list of guests who stayed at the hotel include Louis Armstrong, Chick Webb, and Ike and Tina Turner. In 2007, the Metropolitan Hotel Museum Project received $50,000 in state funds to complete the renovation of the building that will also be used as a bed and breakfast. Maggie Steed was the widow of Henry Steed who was born in Tennessee. She too was born in Tennessee and came to Paducah, KY in 1893. For more see Hotel Metropolitan: Paducah, Kentucky; and "Mrs. Maggie M. Steed" on p.211 in Golden Jubilee of the General Association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky. See also The Development of an African American Museum: anthropology and museum practices at work (dissertation) by M. D. Hernandez
Subjects: Businesses, Bed & Breakfast, Hotels, Inns
Geographic Region: Tennessee / Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky
Stephens, Fred E.
Birth Year : 1908
Death Year : 1985
Fred E. Stephens was the first African American Chaplain of the first African American service unit in the Air Corps [today the Air Force] of the U.S. Army. Prior to WWII there were no African Americans in the Air Corps. In 1943, Stephens was one of 22 African American, commissioned, graduates from the 9th class of the Army Chaplain School of Harvard University [more information]. The first class had graduated in August of 1942. Fred E. Stephens was born in Tatesville [Tateville], KY, the son of Sandy and Bertha A. Davis Stephens. According to the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Sandy was a farmer, Bertha was a farmhand, and the family lived in Patesville, Hancock County, KY. They later moved to Evansville, IN, were Fred Stephens graduated from high school. He earned his A.B. from Indiana University in 1932, and his LL.D. from Shorter College in 1942. He was pastor of AME churches in Atlanta, GA; Tucson, AZ; and Columbia, MO. He was a member of the NAACP national board and general chairman of the branch in Kansas City, MO. He was a member of the YMCA, the Masons, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and was vice president of the Young Democratic League. He was also the author of newspaper and journal articles, and was a radio announcer in Arizona and Missouri. In the late 1950s, Stephens served as pastor of the Bethel AME Church in Kansas City, MO. In the 1970s, Stephens was pastor of the first AME Church in Los Angeles; in 1975 he married Ralph Russell and Debraca Denise Foxx, daughter of comedian and actor Redd Foxx. Rev. Fred E. Stephens died in Los Angeles, April of 1985. For more see Chaplain Fred E. Stephens in The Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church compiled by Bishop R. R. Wright; P. D. Davis, "22 receive commission as Chaplain," Plaindealer, 07/09/1943, p.5; and Rev. Fred Stephens in photograph on p.203 in The Crisis, April 1958 [available online at Google Book Search], and p.361 in The Crisis, Jun-Jul 1958 [available online at Google Book Search].
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration West, Military & Veterans, Radio, Religion & Church Work, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Fraternal Organizations, YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association)
Geographic Region: Tatesville [probably Tateville], Pulaski County, Kentucky / Patesville, Hancock County, Kentucky / Evansville, Indiana / Kansas City, Missouri / Los Angeles, California
Stephens, H. A. and Kathryn S.
Dr. Herman. A. Stephens (1905-1987) was born in Yazoo City, MS. His wife, Kathryn Smith Stephens, was born in 1935 in Lexington, KY. Kathryn Stephens was a sister of the late John T. Smith. She was also the first African American in Kentucky to be a licensed nursing home administrator. Stephens Nursing Home was located at 909 Georgetown Street in Lexington, where it was in operation for almost 30 years. Dr. Stephens, who assisted with the management of the nursing home, had a private practice on Georgetown Street. He was a graduate of the University of Detroit and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. Dr. Stephens had practiced medicine in a number of cities, practicing for a while with his brother, Dr. William B. Stephens. Before African Americans were allowed to deliver their babies at Lexington hospitals, Dr. H. A. Stephens delivered them at his home. According to Stephen's daughter, Nelda Jackson, things changed in Lexington when Dr. Stephens insisted on using a delivery room at St. Joseph Hospital. For more see A. Jester, "Kathryn S. Stephens: it all starts with the individual," Lexington Herald Leader, 02/27/05; and J. Hewlett, "H. A. Stephens dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 10/31/1987, Obituaries section, p. B11. Additional information submitted by Nelda Stephens Jackson.
Read about the Herman A. Stephens oral history interview available in the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, item record in the SPOKE Database.
Subjects: Medical Field, Health Care, Migration North
Geographic Region: Yazoo City, Mississippi / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Stephens, Jeanette
Birth Year : 1957
Jeanette Stephens was the first African American woman to serve on the Radcliff City Council, making her the first woman elected to public office in Hardin County [source: 2012 Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights in cooperation with the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice, p. 16]. Stephens served on the council for six years.
Subjects: Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Radcliff, Hardin County, Kentucky
Stepp, Marcellus "Marc"
Birth Year : 1923
Marcellus Stepp was born in Versailles, KY, then his family moved to Evansville, IN, when he was a child. He is an Army veteran and holds an accounting degree from the University of Detroit. He was employed at the Chrysler Highland Park plant for 19 years and served as vice president of Local 490 to the Chrysler-UAW National Negotiating Committee. He was appointed International Representative with Region 1B in 1967 and was elected International Vice President in 1974. He also served as executive director of the Institute for Urban & Community Affairs at the University of Detroit. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Detroit Common Council in 1965. For more see African American Biographies: profiles of 558 current men and women, by W. L. Hawkins; Marc Stepp Collection Papers, 1940-2000, at Wayne State University Reuther Library; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1977-2006.
See photo image of Marcellus Stepp, about mid-page, at the 2011 Hall of Honor Inductees, a University of Detroit Mercy website.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Civic Leaders, Migration North, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Union Organizations
Geographic Region: Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky / Evansville, Indiana / Detroit, Michigan
Steppe, Cecil H.
Birth Year : 1933
Steppe was born in Versailles, KY, the son of Esther and Grant Steppe and the nephew of Rebecca Craft. When Grant and Esther separated, Esther took the children and moved to San Diego, where they at first lived with Craft. Cecil Steppe is a graduate of San Diego City College and California Western University [now Alliant International University]. Since 2001, Steppe has served as president and CEO of the San Diego County Urban League. He came to the Urban League after two years retirement from San Diego County; Steppe had been employed with the county for 35 years, both as director of social services and as Chief Probation Officer of San Diego County. In 2007, Steppe announced that he would retire from the Urban League. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1985-2006; K. Kucher, "Steppe leaves lasting imprint on county," San Diego Union-Tribune, 07/05/1999, NEWS section, p. A-1; and "Urban Leagues leader to resume his retirement," San Diego Union-Tribune, 02/15/2007, Local section, p. B-2.
Subjects: Welfare (Social Services) Organizations, Migration West, Corrections and Police, Social Workers, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky / San Diego, California
Steve Crosby v Edmund "Kid" Rucker (boxing)
Start Year : 1897
In 1897 the state of Kentucky and the city of Louisville did not permit boxing matches between African Americans and whites for fear of race riots. But that did not prevent the fight between African American Steve Crosby, a lightweight professional fighter, and a white Louisville native, amateur fighter Edmund "Kid" Rucker. The publicity was handled by Louisville Times newspaperman Verney "Screw" Sanders, and admission orders came from Nashville, TN; Evansville and Indianapolis, IN; and Lexington, KY. The location of the bout was not publicized. The day of the fight, those with purchased admission knew to be on the riverbank by 8:00 p.m. when tugboats would take the boxers and what was thought to be an all-male audience to Six Mile Island in the Ohio River. At the island, the white audience stood on one side of the makeshift ring and African Americans were on the opposite site. As the fight progressed, Rucker was knocked down again and again, but he continued to get up and keep fighting. During the 13th round, a rifle was taken away from a spectator who wanted to shoot Crosby for a perceived foul that left Rucker lying face down in the ring. Rucker was taken to his corner and given a whiff of nitrate of amyl, and the bout continued until the 20th round when the referee called it a tie. The fight was reported in the Louisville Courier Journal on September 18, 1897. For more see E. Rucker, "A Prize Fighter in the Nineties," Harper's Magazine, 179 (June/November 1939) pp. 243-255.
Subjects: Boxers, Boxing
Geographic Region: Six Mile Island and Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stevens, George
Birth Year : 1815
Stevens was born in Georgetown, KY, the son of Washington Stevens. A slave, he had many owners until he joined the Army during the Civil War. He was present at a number of battles and was on the tugboat "Thompson" when Vicksburg was taken in 1863. At the end of the war, Stevens settled in Springfield, IL, where he lived at the corner of Fifteenth and Jefferson Streets, and worked in a lumberyard. In 1868, the 14th Amendment was ratified, and George Stevens voted for Ulysses S. Grant during the presidential election. For more see History of Sangamon County, Illinois; together with sketches of its cities, by Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago); and contact the Springfield, Illinois, African American History Foundation.
Subjects: Freedom, Voting Rights, Migration North, Military & Veterans, Logging, Lumbering, Lumber Business, Lumber Employees
Geographic Region: Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky / Vicksburg, Mississippi / Springfield, Illinois
Stevens, Oluwole A. "Olu"
Birth Year : 1970
Louisville Judge Olu Stevens is the presiding Judge in the 30th Judicial Circuit, Division 6. He had been a prosecutor with the Jefferson County Attorney's Office; he was in private practice for ten years; and was with the firm Stoll Keenon and Ogden. Stevens is a graduate of Morehouse College and George Washington University Law School. He is a past president of the Louisville Bar Association and a past president of the Louisville Bar Foundation. In 2009, Olu Stevens was one of three African American judges who received appointments from Kenucky Governor Steve Beshear; Stevens was appointed a circuit judge in Jefferson County. The other two appointments went to Sadiqua Reynolds and Erica Lee Williams, both were district judges [source: Wolfson, A. "Governor appoints three Black judges," Louisville Courier-Journal, 07/01/2009, News section]. In 2010, Judge Stevens was one of three African American judges to be elected in Jefferson County, and he retained his circuit court judgeship, defeating Thomas J. Cannon, garnering 60% of the votes [source: J. Riley, "3 African-American appointees elected," Louisville Courier-Journal, 11/03/2010, p.K8, News section]. The other election winners were District Judge Brian C. Edwards in Division 11, who had also received an appointment from Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear in 2009, and District Judge Erica Lee Williams in Division 17.
See photo image and additional information at the Judge Olu Stevens website.
Subjects: Lawyers, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Judges
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stevenson, William H.
Stevenson was the founder and president of the Stevenson-Gregory Co-operative Fire Insurance Company in Lexington, KY. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1927.
Subjects: Businesses, Insurance Companies, Insurance Sales
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Stevenson, Willie B.
Birth Year : 1904
Born in Lexington, KY, Stevenson taught voice in Chicago, supervised music and vocals at Western High School in Paris, KY, and received a number of awards for her poetry, including first place at the Golden State Anthropology Exposition in San Francisco. For more see Who's Who in Colored America 1950.
Subjects: Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Poets
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois / Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky
Steward, William H.
Birth Year : 1847
Death Year : 1935
A former slave, William H. Steward was the first African American mailman in Louisville, KY. He was also founder of the American Baptist newspaper. Steward served as the acting president of State University [later Simmons University], 1905-1906. He was born in Brandenburg, KY, and educated in a Louisville school run by Rev. Henry Adams. He taught in Louisville and Frankfort and later worked for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Steward was also president of the National Negro Press Association. For more see the Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000; and The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians by A. A. Dunnigan.
See photo image of William H. Steward at courier-journal.com.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Postal Service
Geographic Region: Brandenburg, Meade County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Stewart, Charles
Birth Year : 1869
Charles Stewart was born in Frankfort, KY, the son of Henry and Harriet Stewart. Charles Stewart was a newspaper correspondent and press agent for the National Baptist Convention. He was also president and manager of Stewart's General Press Bureau in Chicago. He had previously worked for the Courier-Journal (Louisville) and the Chicago Inter Ocean. He attended State University [later Simmons University] and a business school in Chicago, and he graduated from Alabama A & M College [now Alabama A & M University]. He was a member of the National Negro Press Association. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915; and the Booker T. Washington Papers at the University of Illinois Press website, vol. 5 (1899-1900), p. 53.
Subjects: Businesses, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stewart, Fannie B. C.
Birth Year : 1877
Death Year : 1957
Fannie Belle Caldwell Stewart was from Louisville, KY. In 1898, she married George P. Stewart, who co-founded the Indianapolis Recorder in 1897 and became sole owner in 1899--it is one of the oldest newspapers in the U.S. When George Stewart died in 1924, Fannie took over the newspaper as owner and publisher. She is credited with keeping the newspaper within the Stewart family for another 64 years. The newspaper was sold to Eunice Trotter in 1988. For more see the George P. Stewart Collection, 1894-1924, at the Indiana Historical Society; and The Indianapolis Recorder: a history of a Negro weekly newspaper, by H. Harlin.
Subjects: Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Indianapolis, Indiana
Stewart, George N.
Stewart was elected Second District Constable in 1969, the first African American in public office in Boyd County, KY. For more see "Magistrates, constables are only black county officials" in Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials [1972], by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 8.
Subjects: First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign)
Geographic Region: Boyd County, Kentucky
Stewart, Harry T., Jr.
Birth Year : 1924
Harry T. Stewart, Jr. was born in Newport News, Virginia. In 1948, Stewart, a decorated member of the Tuskegee Airmen, was sighted falling from the eastern Kentucky sky by 9-year-old Callie Daniels, who mistook his parachute for a white eagle. Stewart's P-47 fighter plane crashed into a hilltop in Butcher Hollow, and Stewart landed beneath a rock cliff. His leg was broken in two places. Young Callie's father, Lafe, found Stewart and took him to the house where his wife, Mary Daniels, cleaned and bandaged Stewart's leg. Stewart was given moonshine, which he mistook for water, to help ease the pain; afterward he was able to be taken to the Paintsville Clinic, where members of the U. S. Air Force would later arrive to transport him to Ohio. Over the years, the story was told that the Air Force shot down a B-52 bomber that had been stolen by a black man. Stewart was actually on a simulated armed reconnaissance from Columbus, OH, to Greenville, SC, when his plane had engine failure and he had to bail out. For more see L. Mueller, "WWII Pilot to Revisit Site of Kentucky Crash - Over Van Lear, Tuskegee Pilot Bailed Out in '48," Lexington Herald-Leader, 07/06/05.
See photo image of Lt. Colonel Harry T. Stewart, Jr. at The Gatherings of Mustangs and Legends website.
Subjects: Aviators, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Newport News, Virginia / Butcher Hollow and Paintsville, Johnson County, Kentucky / Columbus, Ohio / Greenville, South Carolina
Stewart, James W.
Stewart was the first African American elected to the Sonora, KY, Board of Trustees. For more see Kentucky Black Elected Officials Directory [1970], p. 5, col. B, published by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights.
Subjects: First City Employees & Officials (1960s Civil Rights Campaign)
Geographic Region: Sonora, Hardin County, Kentucky
Stewart, Logan H.
Birth Year : 1879
Born in Union County, KY, Stewart became a real estate operator and builder. He led the real estate movement in Evansville, Indiana. African Americans owned less than $10,000 in real estate in 1900; that increased to more than $100,000 in 1926. For more see Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915; Who's Who in Colored America, 1927; and We Ask Only a Fair Trial: a history of the Black community of Evansville, by D. E. Bigham.
Subjects: Businesses, Migration North, Realtors, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Investments
Geographic Region: Union County, Kentucky / Evansville, Indiana
Stewart, Loretta Reeves
Birth Year : 1941
Loretta Reeves Stewart is an exceptional student and educator. She attended the segregated schools in Paducah, beginning at Woodland, a one room school, then graduating at the age of 15 from Lincoln High School. In later years, Stewart was inducted into the Lincoln High School Hall of Fame [the school closed in the 1960s]. Her picture now hangs in the Paducah Tilghman High School. Stewart completed her bachelor's degree at Kentucky State University at the age of 19, and began teaching at Murray Douglass High School, in Murray, KY. She was teaching at Lincoln High School when she earned her master's degree from Murray State University in 1964. She earned her Rank I at the University of Louisville in 1975. Stewart taught school for 37 years before retiring in 1998. Her last post was that of assistant principal at Central High School in Louisville, KY. She had also been employed at the Black Affairs Program at the University of Louisville and taught part-time in the School of Business. In 1983, she was selected by the Zonta Club of Louisville to serve as a delegate to the International Convention held in Sydney, Australia. Zonta International is a global organization of executives and professionals who work together to advance the status of women worldwide. [The Zonta Club of Louisville was chartered in 1960.] Stewart became the owner of Madeline's Flowers and Things, and maintained the business from 1990-2005. During the same period, she was also senior program specialist with The Lincoln Foundation. She left that position in 2007 and became a specialist with the "School to Career" program at the Jefferson County Public Schools. Stewart was named one of the 100 Outstanding Alumni of Kentucky State University. She has also been named a Courier-Journal Forum Fellow. She has served on the board of the Louisville Ballet, Broadway Series, and the Heritage Weekends Committee. Loretta Reeves Stewart is the daughter of George and Birdie Reeves, the wife of retired teacher George Stewart, and sister to Bobbie Reeves Wiggins. This information was taken, with permission, from the Loretta Reeves Stewart resume and biography.
Subjects: Businesses, Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stewart, Traquelia T. Riley Wharton
Birth Year : 1890
Death Year : 1970
Traquelia T. Riley Wharton Stewart was a recognized teacher at the African American schools in Indianapolis, IN. The Traquelia Stewart Memorial Library in Attucks High School was named in her honor in 1961. Stewart was born in July of 1890 in Kentucky, the daughter of Dovie M. Turner Riley and Walter H. Riley. Her father was a teacher in Cincinnati, OH, in 1900 when the family of six lived on McMillan Street and shared their home with three boarders who were also teachers [source: U.S. Federal Census, name spelled "Traquellia"]. By 1920, the family had moved to Indianapolis where Walter H. Riley was a Methodist minister and Traquelia was a music teacher [source: U.S. Federal Census, name spelled "Traquellia"]. The family lived on Boulevard Place and shared their home with an aunt. Traquelia F. Riley was a graduate of the University of Illinois where she earned her A.M. degree (music) and her A.B. degree in English. She began teaching in Indianapolis in 1914 at School 64. She later taught at School 17 before moving to Attucks High School were she taught English for 35 years. During the summer breaks, she attended Northwestern University and earned a Master of Arts degree in English in 1932. Three years later, Traquelia Wharton and fellow teacher Maude Meriwether, sailed to Europe to study the school systems in eight countries. Traquelia Stewart retired from the Indianapolis schools in 1958. Her brother Hurlbut T. Riley was a science teacher in the Indianapolis schools for 25 years. Herman M. Riley, twin brother to Hurlbut, was also an educator, he began teaching in 1924 and was principal at several African American schools in Indianapolis. Trequelia T. Riley Wharton was the wife of Rufus Mose Wharton from Pennsylvania, the marriage ended in divorce in 1939. She later married John F. Stewart [source: Polk's Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) City Directory, 1957, p.895]. For more see "Mrs. Traquelia R. Stewart's funeral rights Thursday," Indianapolis Recorder, 02/14/1970, p.1; see Traquelia Wharton in "Attucks chatter," Indianapolis Recorder, 09/24/1932, p.4; "Local teachers to study school system abroad," Indianapolis Recorder, 06/22/1935, p.5; "Hurlbut Riley, school teacher 25 years, buried," Indianapolis Recorder, 11/30/1946, pp.1-2; "H. M. Riley's funeral rites held Monday," Indianapolis Recorder, 03/31/1951, pp.1 & 3; and "Wharton case given hearing at Noblesville," Indianapolis Recorder, 11/04/1939, p.7.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio / Indianapolis, Indiana
Still, Sina Williams
Birth Year : 1874
Sina Williams Still was a beauty culturist in Cincinnati, OH. She was born in Midway, KY, the daughter of Henry and Mary Williams. Sina Still completed a course in beauty culture in Louisville, KY, and moved to Cincinnati around 1900. She established her business around 1916 using the Poro System developed by Annie Turnbo Malone. (During the Civil War, Malone's parents left Kentucky and settled in Illinois. See Turnbo Family entry in the NKAA Database.) The Poro System was developed in Malone's Poro College in St. Louis, MO, where women were trained to become independent saleswomen of beauty and haircare products [source: Marcus Garvey Life and Lessons, edited by R. A. Hill and B. Bair, p. 406]. Sina Still was president of the Poro Club in Cincinnati; the club was founded and organized by Mrs. Callie Parrish in 1919. Sina Still was also a member of the Household of Ruth and a manager of the Orphan Asylum in Cincinnati. She was the wife of Louis (or Lewis) Still (b. 1870 in AL); the couple married in 1896. Sina Still had two daughters from her previous marriage. For more on Sina Still see her entry in Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, by W. P. Dabney. For more about the Poro Club in Cincinnati see Three Negro Pioneers in Beauty Culture, by G. L. Porter. For more information about the Poro System see E. M. Phillips, "Ms. Annie Malone's Poro: addressing whiteness and dressing black-bodied women," Transforming Anthropology, vol. 11, issue 2, pp. 4-17.
Subjects: Businesses, Cosmetologists, Beauty Shops, Hairdressers, Beauty Supplies, Migration North, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Midway, Woodford County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio
Still, Valerie
Birth Year : 1961
Born the ninth of ten children, Valerie Still, the 6' 1" forward was the leading scorer and rebounder in the history of the University of Kentucky basketball with 2,763 points and 1,525 rebounds; she was second in the nation in both categories. Her jersey (no. 12) was retired in Memorial Coliseum in January 2003. She played professional basketball in Italy for 12 years and also acted and had a television show there. She was a WNBA player with the Washington Mystics. Still was born in Camden, NJ. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans, 11th -15th ed., and Who's Who of American Women, 21st ed.
See photo image of Valerie Still at UK Athletics Blog, Cat Scratches.
Subjects: Basketball, Television, Migration Outside the U.S. and Canada
Geographic Region: Camden, New Jersey / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Italy, Europe
Stitch, Rudell
Birth Year : 1933
Death Year : 1960
Rudell Stitch, a welterweight boxer from Louisville, is one of a few persons to receive two Carnegie Hero Fund Medals. Stitch received the first medal for saving Joseph Schifcar from drowning in the Ohio River (Louisville) on September 15, 1958. Almost two years later, Stitch attempted to save his friend and fishing buddy, boxer Charles Oliver, who had fallen into the Ohio River; both Stitch and Oliver drowned June 5, 1960. Rudell Stitch was the son of Lena Mae Henderson Stitch and Charles Rudell Stitch. He was the husband of Rosa Huguley Stitch (1932-1964, born in Alabama). The couple had six children. Rudell Stitch was a champion boxer: in 1960, prior to his death, Stitch had been ranked the No. 2 welterweight contender by Ring Magazine. His record was 27 wins, 7 losses. Some of his fights had been televised nationally. Stitch was a respected boxer who was often referred to as "classy" in the more than 2,000 U.S. newspaper articles about his individual bouts, career and death. Later in 1960, the National Boxing Association established the Rudell Stitch Sportsmanship Award; the first award was presented to his family the following year. Rudell Stitch was also an elder at Hope Presbyterian Church in Louisville, under Rev. C. E. Allen. For more see "Stitch gets hero honors," The Times Recorder, 05/09/1959, p. 11; "Act of heroism claims top-rated boxer's life," Bakersfield Californian, 06/06/1960, p. 32; "Rudell Stitch Sportsmanship Award," Presbyterian Life, vol. 13 (1960), p. 24; the column, "A Century of Heroes," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/27/2004, p. A2; and B. Crawford, "Boxer made the greatest sacrifice of all," Courier-Journal (Louisville), 11/25/2005, p. B1.
See photo image of Rudell Stitch at boxrec.com.
Subjects: Boxers, Boxing, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Facilities
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stone, Bessie Tucker Russell
Birth Year : 1916
Death Year : 2003
Bessie Stone was born in Louisville, KY. She was the daughter of Harvey C. Russell, Sr. and Julia Jones Russell and a sister of Harvey C. Russell, Jr. and Dr. Randa D. Russell; the family lived in the area that became known as Russell. Bessie Stone was among the first recipients of the Anderson-Mayer Fund, established to pay the tuition of African American students who were pursuing college degrees out of state due to the higher education segregation laws in Kentucky. Stone had earned a bachelor's degree from Louisville Municipal College for Negroes in 1936, the same year she received $62 from the Anderson-Mayer Fund to attend Hampton Institute Library School [now Hampton University], from which she graduated in 1937. She was the third African American librarian from Kentucky to graduate from Hampton [the first was Estella G. Grayson, from Lawrenceburg, the second Elnora M. Roy from Louisville]. Stone also earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling at the University of Cincinnati. She was a librarian at Kentucky State University, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, and the Porter Junior High School Library in Cincinnati. Stone received a number of awards for her volunteerism, and prior to her death she received the Alpha Kappa Alpha Golden Legacy Award; she had been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha for 67 years and was the oldest sister in the organization. For more see R. Goodman, "Librarian Bessie R. Stone guided young," Cincinnati Enquirer, 04/18/2003, Metro section, p. 4B; and Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones.
See photo image of Bessie Russell Stone at enquirer.com.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Migration North, Women's Groups and Organizations
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio
Stone, George E.
Birth Year : 1946
Stone was born in Murray, KY. A 6'7" forward, he played basketball at William Grant High School in Covington, KY. He was an outstanding player who earned a scholarship in 1964 to Marshall University in Huntington, WV. In 1967 the Marshall team defeated Nebraska in the second round of the NIT; George Stone scored 46 points, a record for most individual points in an NIT game in Madison Square Garden. He was the school's 9th all-time leading rebounder. In 1999, Stone was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame and named to the 1st team of the All-Century Marshall University Basketball Team. Stone's professional basketball career began in 1968 with the Los Angeles Stars, an ABA team, for whom he played in 74 games, leading the team in scoring for the season with 1,328 points. His playing career ended in 1972 with the Utah Stars, also an ABA team. In total, Stone played in 259 games and scored 3,530 points in the ABA. For more see "Here is the Daily Mail's list of Marshall University's 10 biggest," Charleston Daily Mail, 07/08/1999; "Cleaning the boards," Charleston Daily Mail, 01/17/2000; and George Stone in Basketball-Reference.com.
Subjects: Basketball
Geographic Region: Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky
Stone, James "Colle"
Death Year : 1893
James Colman Stone, a jockey, was born a slave in Bloomfield, KY. Stone, his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother had all belonged to the same family in Bloomfield. His uncle had been a slave of Judge Advocate Joseph Polt of Washington. In June 1888, Stone killed bartender Henry Miller at Steinzig's Saloon on Coney Island in New York. The story was carried in many of the major newspapers in the U.S. After three trials, Stone was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to hang in Brooklyn in June of 1889. A month before the hanging was to take place, Judge Henry Moore received a letter from Kentucky, the writer asking that Stone's sentence be commuted and his life be spared. The letter came from the sister of Stone's former owner. The letter was printed in the newspaper, but the name of the writer was withheld. It was reported on February 1, 1890 that Governor Hill of New York had commuted Stone's sentence to life in Sing Sing Prison. For more see "A Kentucky Negro," Newark Daily Advocate, 05/15/1889; "James Stone a jockey..." in The National Leader (D.C.), 05/18/1889, p.4; James Stone briefing in the News (Frederick, MD), 02/01/1890, p. 5; and the second paragraph of the article "Brooklyn Briefs," New York Age, 02/08/1890, p.3. See also "January 11 - James Stone, the jockey, imprisoned for life for murder, died at Auburn, N.Y." on p.34 under the heading "1893" in The New York Clipper Annual for 1894, by the Frank Queen Publishing Company.
Subjects: Freedom, Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Migration North
Geographic Region: Bloomfield, Nelson County, Kentucky / Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York
Stone, James A., Sr.
Birth Year : 1829
Death Year : 1862
James A. Stone, Sr. was a fugitive slave from Kentucky who had settled in Lorain, Ohio. He is listed in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census with no indication of race, Stone lived with African Americans Sarah Baker from Vermont and Godfrey Gaskins who was also from Kentucky. In the 1860 Census, Stone is married and has several children. There is no indication of race for the entire family. James Stone would pass for white and join the Union Army. He fought as a soldier in Kentucky and was injured and soon after died. After his death, it was revealed that Stone was African American. He is recognized as the first African American Union Soldier; Stone enlisted two years before African Americans were allowed to join the Union Army. According to his U.S. Civil War Record, Stone enlisted on August 23, 1861 in the Ohio 1st LA Battery E Light Artillery Battery. He was mustered out on his death date October 30, 1862; Stone died at the General Hospital in Nashville, TN. He is buried in the Nashville National Cemetery in South Madison, TN, Section B Site 6657 [source: National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Veterans Gravesites]. James Stone's wife and children were listed as Mulattoes in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census. Sources: Black Studies Center - Timeline; The Civil War Month by Month: August 1861 by the Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library; and The Black Book by M. A. Harris, p.159.
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Military & Veterans
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Lorain, Ohio / Nashville, Tennessee
Stone, Kara L.
Birth Year : 1929
Death Year : 1995
Kara Stone was born in Richmond, KY, the daughter of J. Lynn Stone. She was a graduate of Richmond High School and Knoxville College. After teaching for a couple of years, she joined the WACs and spent three years in France. Stone returned to the U.S. and in 1960 graduated from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). After completing her master's degree, Stone taught at the Louisville School for the Blind; she taught in the Paris, KY, School System; and she was a history professor at EKU. While at EKU, Kara worked for Central University College (CUC) from 1967-1969. CUC was a unit inside EKU that handled only freshen and sophomore general education. In 1969, Kara Stone was hired as a faculty member at EKU. She was the first African American female teacher at EKU. A. B. Dunston completed Kara Stone's oral history in 1993; the recording is part of the African American Community of Madison County Oral History Project at Eastern Kentucky University Libraries. It has been mistakenly written that Kara Stone was the first African American to graduate from Eastern Kentucky University, and that error has been corrected in this entry. Though, she may have been the first African American woman to complete an EKU graduate program. For more information about Kara Stone, contact EKU Special Collections and Archives; see Who's Who Among African Americans, 1980-2004; and M. Bailey, "Richmond teacher has made a lasting impression," Lexington Herald-Leader, 10/10/1984, Lifestyle section, p. D1.
*Updates and corrections were made to this entry with information provided by Eastern Kentucky University Special Collections and Archives [Library Associate, Sarah Adams], 02/12/2016.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Military & Veterans, Women's Groups and Organizations, Women's Army Corps (WACs), Blind, Visually Impaired
Geographic Region: Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky / France
Stone, Lee Owen
Birth Year : 1903
Death Year : 1977
Stone was born in Lexington, KY, the son of Walter and Lillace Peasons Stone. He was a 1936 graduate of Bishop Payne Divinity [merged with Virginia Theological Seminary in 1949], and a 1944 graduate of Lewis and Clark College. Stone taught at the Kentucky House of Reform before leaving Kentucky for Portland, OR, where he spent the rest of his career as Vicar of St. Philips Episcopal Church. Stone was a leader of the Portland African American community; in 1942 he called for Union Reform during WWII. He was a board member of the Portland Urban League, the Portland Council of Social Agencies, and the Portland U.S.O. The Lee Owen Stone Cooperative Preschool was named in his honor. Lee Owen Stone is buried in the Rose City Cemetery in Portland Oregon. For more see "Lee Owen Stone" in Biographical Directory of Negro Ministers by E. L. Williams; "Biography-Rev. Lee Owen Stone," Vertical File, Oregon Historical Society Research Library; "Church-Episcopal-Portland-St. Phillip the Deacon," Vertical File, Oregon Historical Society Research Library; and Lee Owen Stone's obituary in The Oregonian, 03/11/1977, p.A13.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Education and Educators, Migration West, Religion & Church Work, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Portland, Oregon
Stone-Campbell Movement in Kentucky
Start Year : 1800
Also referred to as the Restoration Movement, the Stone-Campbell Movement began in the early 1800s. The name refers to Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell, two leading figures of independent movements which were merged. As a result of the merger, a new way of preaching and teaching developed. The roots of the movement were planted at The Great Revival held at Cane Ridge (Bourbon County), KY, in 1801. African Americans, most of them slaves, were among the thousands who attend the revival. Samuel Buckner, a slave and a preacher, was a member of the Cane Ridge Church; he was ordained in 1855. The first African American congregation in the movement was the Colored Christian Church in Midway, KY (1834), followed by Hancock Hill Church in Louisville, KY (1850s), and Little Rock Christian Church in Bourbon County (1861). The College of Scriptures was established in Louisville in 1945, providing correspondence course work for African Americans not allowed to attend the school. The school was located in Louisville because "this location was considered not too far North and not too far from its primary constituents, would-be preachers for African American congregations." In 1971, Walter D. Bingham was elected moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) by the General Assembly meeting in Louisville. Bingham was the first African American Disciple named to the post. For more see In Other Words... Stories of African-American Involvement in the Early Years of the Stone-Campbell Movement in Kentucky, by M. A. Fields and S. B. Fields; and The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, edited by D. A. Foster, P. M. Blowers, A. L. Dunnavant, and D. N. Williams [quotation taken from p. 227].
Subjects: Kentucky African American Churches, Religion & Church Work, Higher Education Before Desegregation, Kentucky
Geographic Region: Cane Ridge and Little Rock, Bourbon County, Kentucky / Midway, Woodford County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stoner, Fred
In 1960, Fred Stoner was the first African American to be named to the Kentucky Boxing Commission. Stoner was a boxing trainer in Louisville, KY, for Cassius M. Clay [Muhammad Ali], Rudell Stitch, and other lesser known boxers. In addition to being a trainer, Stoner was also a barber, and is listed in the 1939-40 Caron's Louisville (Kentucky) City Directory. For more see "Another first," Los Angeles Sentinel, 03/03/1960, p.C6; and "Kentucky Boxing Commission selects first Negro," Jet, 03/17/1960.
Subjects: Boxers, Boxing
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stonestreet, Frederick M., Sr.
Birth Year : 1858
Death Year : 1931
F. M. Stonestreet, Sr. was born in Kentucky, the son of Lucinda "Lucy" Stonestreet (1837-1897), a widow who was also born in KY. The family moved to Missouri, then on to Kansas in 1862. Fred Stonestreet and his family members may have been slaves in Kentucky. Their last destination was Topeka, KS, where Fred, his mother, and grandmother, Matilda Miller (b.1800 in KY), all lived on Madison Street. Lucy Stonestreet took in washing and ironing to support the family, according to the Topeka City Directory for 1868-69. In 1880, Fred Stonestreet, Sr. worked at the statehouse in Topeka, and in 1883, he was reassigned as a messenger. In 1902, he was the marshal of the city courts in Topeka. Prior to becoming a marshal, he was the first African American fireman in Topeka. He had also won the 1894 election to become a constable, was re-elected in 1896, and when the city court was developed, he was appointed a marshal by Kansas Governor Stanley, and won the election to become the first elected marshal of Topeka. In 1892, Stonestreet was listed on p.26 of the Eight Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society for his donation of a book [online at Google Books]. Fred Stonestreet was the husband of Mary Frances "Fannie" Stonestreet (1862-1909). In 1885, the couple had a one year old son, Fred Jr., and shared their home with Fred Sr.'s mother and great-grandmother, according to the Kansas State Census. The family was also listed in the 1895 Kansas State Census, Matilda Miller had died, and Fred and Fannie had two more children. In 1897, Fred's mother, Lucy Stonestreet, died. By 1900, Fred and Fannie had four children, and they would lose their youngest child, Clarence (b.1899), to illness. In 1903, Fred was co-owner of an undertaking business with G. W. Hamilton: "Stonestreet & Hamilton, Successors to J. M. Knight. Undertakers and Funeral Directors" [source: ad in Plaindealer, 10/02/1903, p.3]. Fannie and Fred had their last child, Bernice, in 1905. Fannie died in 1909. According to the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Fred was still an undertaker and was assisted by his sons Fred, Jr. (b.1882) and Wilbur (b.1889). He had a new business partner and the business was named "Stonestreet and Gaines, Undertakers and Embalmers [source: ad in Plaindealer, 03/04/1910, p.8]. Fred Jr. died in 1912. Fred Sr. and Wilbur became the owners of the Stonestreet and Sons funeral business. In 1920, Fred and Wilbur were still in business, and Fred and his youngest daughter, Bernice, were living with Fred's oldest daughter Daisy and her family on Woodward Avenue. Bernice, who was a sickly child, died in 1922. Wilbur died in 1930. Fred Stonestreet outlived all but one of his children, Daisy Stonestreet Carper (1893-1985). Fred Stonestreet was a leading politician and businessman in Topeka, he was a land owner, and was active in the community. He belonged to several organizations, including serving as secretary of the Mt. Moriah No. 5 A. F. and A. M., in 1894 he was elected high priest of Lincoln Chapter No.2 R.A.M., and he was president of the Benjamin Banneker Club. In 1892, he was a delegate to the Kansas Republican Convention that was held in Hutchinson. For more see "A card on the Stonestreet matter," Topeka Tribune, 07/15/1880, p.1; "Topeka whispers," Western Recorder, 06/21/1883, p.3; "After a long and painful illness, Mrs. Lucinda Stonestreet...," Enterprise, 02/27/1897, p.3; "Clarence Stonestreet ...," Plaindealer, 08/02/1901, p.3; "F. M. Stonestreet..." Plaindealer, 12/19/1902, p.7; "Gone but not forgotten, Mrs. Mary Frances Stonestreet...," Plaindealer, 05/14/1909, p.5; "The Funeral of Fred M. Stonestreet, Jr...," The Topeka Daily Capital, 01/15/1912; "Obituary, Bernice Zerelda Stonestreet," Plaindealer, 04/21/1922, p.2; "Wilbur F. Stonestreet local undertaker dead," Plaindealer, 05/30/1930, p.1; "Local news," Topeka Call, 05/08/1892, p.1; 8th item in the column "Capital city news," Leavenworth Herald, 05/19/1894, p.2; and "Mr. Fred M. Stonestreet passed away...," Plaindealer, 02/06/1931, p.1.
Subjects: Businesses, Firefighters, Migration West, Corrections and Police, Undertakers, Cemeteries, Coroners, & Obituaries, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Kentucky / Missouri / Topeka, Kansas
Stoney Point (Warren County, KY)
Start Year : 1848
According to author J. W. Cooke, the African American community of Stoney Point actually began in 1848 when John White died; six of his slaves were freed, and they were allotted land, livestock and other necessities needed to establish their independent livelihoods. In 1866, some of previously freed families were still living in the area that had become known as Stoney Point, though the boundaries of the community had continuously changed as lots and adjoining lands were bought and sold. Other former slaves from the local area who were Civil War veterans were among the new landowners. The Stoney Point Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1866 and also served as a school before the new schoolhouse was built in 1908. The schoolhouse was used for a couple of decades before it was closed and the children of Stoney Point began attending school in Smiths Grove. For more see J. W. Cooke, "Stoney Point, 1866-1969," The Filson Club History Quarterly, vol. 50, issue 4 (1976), pp. 337-352.
Subjects: Communities, Freedom, Kentucky African American Churches, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Stoney Point and Smiths Grove, Warren County, Kentucky
Story, Nathaniel Edward "Nat"
Birth Year : 1904
Death Year : 1968
Nathaniel E. "Nate" Story, born in Oak Station, KY, was a trombonist. He performed on riverboats with Floyd Campbell and Kentucky native Fate Marable. He moved to New York in the 1930s and played with a number of bands, recording with Luis Russell's band and Chick Webb's band. In the 1940s, Story played with the bands of Lucky Millinder and Kentucky native Andy Kirk. He can be heard playing on the recordings Stompin' at the Savoy, A-tisket A-tasket, and Strictly Jive. For more see "Nat Story" in the Oxford Music Online Database.
Listen to "Chick Webb - Stompin' at the Savoy - JazzAndBluesExperience" [Nate Story on trombone] on YouTube.
Subjects: Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers
Geographic Region: Oak Station, McCracken County, Kentucky
Stout, Louis
Birth Year : 1939
Death Year : 2012
Louis Stout was born in Cynthiana, KY and was a graduate of Cynthiana High School. He played basketball under Joe B. Hall at Regis College [now Regis University] in Denver, CO. In 1994 he became the first African American to serve as the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Commissioner, making him the first African American in the nation to head a state athletic association. He had been with the association since 1971 and retired in 2002. Prior to that he was a basketball coach at the old Dunbar High School in Lexington, KY (1965-1967), and after school integration, he became head basketball coach at Tates Creek High School in Lexington. Stout is the author of Shadows of the Past. In 2011, he was named president of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). He was honored with inductions into the National Federation of High Schools' Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, the AAU Hall of Fame, and the AAU Softball Umpire Hall of Fame. He also was inducted into the Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame, an organization where he had championed the induction of many, many athletes. Louis Stout was the son of Elizabeth Wilson Ford and John Stout, Sr. He was the brother of Fielding "Toke" Coleman. For more see Louis Stout in the Blacks in Lexington Oral History Project, 1900-1989 at Special Collections, University of Kentucky; and M. Fields, "Former KHSAA commissioner Louis Stout dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 09/09/2012.
See photo image of Louis Stout at KET Basketball Gallery.
Read about the Louis Stout oral history interviews available at the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, item records in SPOKE Database.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Authors, Basketball
Geographic Region: Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Stoval, John
Birth Year : 1864
Death Year : 1900
Stoval was a winning jockey born in Louisville, KY. He rode six times in the Kentucky Derby, his two best rides were 3rd place finishes riding Ten Booker in 1885 and Jacob in 1887. Stoval died of heart disease at the Gravesand Racetrack in New York, where he was employed as an exerciser. Earlier in his career, Stoval had been a jockey for Milton Young of Louisville. He also rode for Robert Pate, Amos Campbell, and J. L. Harris. His riding skill gained him some of the largest retainers paid to a jockey, until he was ruled off the track after being accused of fraud in a race. For more see "Ex-jockey Stoval Dead," The New York Times, 09/14/1900, p. 18.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Migration North
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / New York
Stowers, Walter H.
Birth Year : 1859
Death Year : 1932
Said to be born in Owensboro, KY, Walter H. Stowers became a lawyer and author. Michigan and Canada are also given as his birth locations in the U.S. Federal Census. Stowers was a deputy sheriff and deputy county clerk in Detroit, MI. He established two newspapers, Venture and Plaindealer (Detroit). He led the fight against restrictive covenants in Detroit. Because of the controversial content of his book, the pen name Sanda was used when he co-authored Appointed: an American Novel, published by the Detroit Law Printing Co. For more see Evidences of Progress Among Colored People, by G. F. Richings; and Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37.
See image of Walter H. Stowers at The American Literary Blog.
Subjects: Authors, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Lawyers, Migration North
Geographic Region: Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky / Detroit, Michigan
Strader v. Graham
Start Year : 1850
Three African American slaves, George, Henry, and Reuben, were often allowed to travel with a man named Williams; the three men were musicians in Williams' band and they received musical training from Williams. The men belonged to Christopher Graham, from Harrodsburg, KY. In 1837, the band left Kentucky aboard the steamboat Pike (owned by Jacob Strader, James Gorman, and John Armstrong) and traveled into Ohio and Indiana. In 1841, George, Henry, and Reuben escaped to Canada. Graham sued Strader, Gorman, and Armstrong for the loss of his slaves. The prominent legal question became whether the three slaves had become free men by virtue of their travel into a free state. In 1851, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the status of slaves depended on the laws of the state; thus, the three men were still considered slaves according to Kentucky Law. The case would be used to argue the fate of other African Americans in prominent cases such as Dred Scott v. Sanford and Rachel v. Walker. For more see Jacob Strader, James Gorman, and John Armstrong, Plaintiffs in Error, v. Christopher Graham. Supreme Court of the United States, December Term 1850. 51 U.S. 82, 10 How. 82, 1850 WL 6936, 13 L.Ed. 337 [available full text at Justia.com].
Subjects: Freedom, Migration North, Musicians, Opera, Singers, Song Writers, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky / Ohio / Indiana / Canada
Stradford, John the Baptist "J. B."
Birth Year : 1861
Death Year : 1935
Stradford was born a slave in Versailles, KY, the son of Julius Caesar Stradford. The J. B. Stradford family moved to Tulsa, OK, in 1899. J. B. was a graduate of Oberlin College and Indiana Law School. He and his wife, Augusta, had lived in several cities, including Lawrenceburg, KY, before settling in Tulsa. J. B. became the richest African American in Tulsa via his rooming house, rental properties, and the largest African American-owned hotel in the United States. He initiated the development of Greenwood, a prosperous neighborhood referred to as "the Black Wall Street." By 1920 the political, racial, and economic times were on a downward turn in Tulsa. On May 30, 1921, a story circulated that an African American man had assaulted a white woman, and there were rumors of a lynching. The next day Whites and African Americans armed themselves and met outside the Tulsa County Courthouse. A scuffle led to an exchange of gunfire and the beginning of the infamous Tulsa Race Riot. All 35 blocks of Greenwood were burnt to the ground. It was one of the worst riots in the nation's history. Twenty African American men, including J. B. Stradford, were indicted for starting the riot. Stradford jumped bail and left Tulsa. He later became a successful lawyer in Chicago. In 1996, the charges were officially dropped against Stradford. For more see "Oklahoma Clears Black in Deadly 1921 Race Riot," New York Times, 10/26/1996, p. 8; and Death in a Promised Land: the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, by S. Ellsworth.
See Tulsa Race Riot Photographs at the University of Tulsa Department of Special Collections and University Archives.
Subjects: Businesses, Communities, Lawyers, Migration West, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky
Geographic Region: Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky / Tulsa, Oklahoma / Lawrenceburg, Anderson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Illinois
Stradford, Julius Caesar "J. C."
A slave from Versailles, KY, Stradford was taught to read by his owner's daughter. He forged a travel permission slip, signing his owner's name, and escaped to Stratford, Ontario. While there he changed the spelling of his last name and earned enough money to return to Kentucky and purchase his freedom. He is the father of John the Baptist Stradford, better known as J. B. Stradford, the wealthiest African American in Tulsa, OK; J.B. was accused of inciting the 1921 race riot in Tulsa. For more see Riot and Remembrance, The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy, by J. S. Hirsch.
Subjects: Fathers, Freedom, Migration North, Riots and Protests Outside Kentucky
Geographic Region: Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky / Ontario, Canada
Strange Fruit (radio program), Louisville, KY
Start Year : 2012
The following information was written and submitted by Laura Ellis, producer of the radio program Strange Fruit at 89.3 WFPL. The entry was added to the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database with permission from Laura Ellis. Received via email 03/30/2015. Strange Fruit is believed to be the first and the only radio program in Kentucky to focus on race, gender, and LGBTQ issues.
Strange Fruit is a weekly talk show that airs on 89.3 WFPL in Louisville, Kentucky, and is podcast on strangefruitpod.org. Our tagline is "Musings on Politics, Pop Culture, and Black Gay Life," we focus on race, gender and LGBTQ issues (especially where they intersect!), and we've been in production since September, 2012. Our hosts are Jaison Gardner and Dr. Kaila Story.
This program was borne out of some racial tension that was affecting Louisville's LGBTQ community. The owner of a gay bar in Louisville made some racist remarks online, was called out on it by anti-racist activists, and the result was a pile-on which was hugely polarizing in our community. It also raised questions within WFPL about why we tend to reach out to the same (largely male, white and affluent) folks each time we cover an event in the gay community.
We decided to seek out some lesser-heard and ask them to tell us their stories. The result was our nine-part series, Defining Fairness, which ran that spring. Jaison Gardner was one of those interview subjects. He and Dr. Story had also been guests on another show on our station, State of Affairs, to talk about drag and house ball culture. We felt like the conversation started in Defining Fairness needed to continue, and we loved Jaison and Kaila's rapport and expertise, so Strange Fruit was born.
Our hosts are two queer people of color, who have been close friends for years, so they bring a lot of humor and chemistry to Strange Fruit. Dr. Kaila Story is a professor, Pan-African Studies Graduate Director, and the Audre Lorde Endowed Chair in Race, Gender, Class, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Louisville. While there, she has created new courses in Black Lesbian Lives, Introduction to LGBTQ Studies, Black Feminisms in Action, and Queer Perspectives in Literature and Film. Dr. Story is also one of the co-chairs of the Fairness Campaign's Coordinating Committee.
Jaison Gardner is has been a social justice activist and community organizer for more than fifteen years, working primarily around issues related to youth empowerment, LGBT rights, people of color issues and women's liberation. A current member of the Fairness Campaign's Coordinating Committee, Jaison is also the proud founder of BlkOut, an organization dedicated to empowering black LGBT students on the University of Louisville campus, and Derby City Black Pride, a city-wide celebration of Louisville's black LGBT and Same Gender Loving community.
We were faced with a steep learning curve when we started, as our hosts had no radio experience, but this turned out to be a good thing; we immediately heard from listeners who appreciated that Strange Fruit sounds nothing like other public radio shows. We cover a broad range of topics, but always with a focus on LGBTQ people of color. While it sounds like a small niche, our listeners who fall outside that demographic tell us they appreciate hearing about issues they had no idea were affecting other people in their community.
Each episode opens with what we call our Juicy Fruit segment, where we talk about some relevant stories that have been in the news or in social media that week. Jaison typically keeps up with current events, and Kaila gives us some more academic analysis of the systemic things at play behind the stories.
After Juicy Fruit, we typically do a feature interview where we speak with someone who has done some relevant work, or an LGBTQ and/or black artist or activist, either local or national. In some circumstances, we may break format and spend an entire hour talking about one subject. The week of the George Zimmerman verdict, for example, and the week of Michael Brown's shooting in Ferguson, we skipped our Juicy Fruit segment and went straight into reaction and analysis.
In late 2014, we celebrated our 100th episode.
Contact Laura Ellis at email@example.com or (502) 814-6536.
Visit the Strange Fruit website at strangefruitpod.org.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Radio, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, ...
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Strauss, Mattye O.
Birth Year : 1886
Death Year : 1962
Strauss was born in Paducah, KY. She was a schoolteacher for 14 years before becoming assistant principal of Lincoln High School in Paducah, then served as principal of Garfield School beginning in 1928. While at Garfield she organized a number of clubs. She sought funding to provide needy children with free lunches; an additional two snacks per day were given to underweight children. Strauss was awarded the Kentucky State Life Certificate for her outstanding work. For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1941-1944.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky
Straws, David
Birth Year : 1799
Death Year : 1872
Straws, born in Kentucky, purchased his freedom from slavery and was listed as a freeman in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census. (He was also listed in the 1830 U.S. Census). Straws moved to Louisville, KY, where he opened a barbershop. He also had real estate holdings and provided funds for the establishment of the Fourth St. Colored Methodist Church. He was the husband of May Straws. Author W. H. Gibson, Sr. gives Straws' death date as 1868. For more see The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. by J. E. Kleber; and History of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, by W. H. Gibson, Sr.
Subjects: Barbers, Businesses, Freedom, Kentucky African American Churches
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Streetcar Demonstrations (Louisville, KY) [R. Fox v. The Central Passenger Railroad Company]
Start Year : 1870
The streetcar companies in Louisville, KY, had discriminating policies toward African Americans and in 1870 it led to a protest movement. Horace Pearce and the brothers, Robert and Samuel Fox, boarded a Central Passenger streetcar at Tenth and Walnut Streets, they deposited their fares and sat down. They were told to leave, but refused. Other streetcar drivers were called to the scene, and the Fox brothers and Pearce were kicked and knocked about, then thrown off the streetcar. Outside, a crowd of African Americans hurled mud clods and rocks at the car and encouraged the men to reboard because they had a federal right to ride the streetcars. When the police arrived, the three men were taken off the car, put in jail, and charged with disorderly conduct. Reverend H. J. Young posted their bail. At their hearing, no African Americans was allowed to testify, and each of the three men was fined $5. A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court: R. Fox v. The Central Passenger Railroad Company. At the trial, the jury decided in favor of the three men and they were each awarded $15 for damages. In spite of the decision, as more African Americans tried to board the streetcars, they were thrown off, leading to more protests and near riots. Louisville Mayor John G. Baxter called a meeting and it was decided by the streetcar companies that all persons would be allowed to ride any of the routes. For more see M. M. Noris, "An early instance of nonviolence: the Louisville demonstrations of 1870-1871," The Journal of Southern History, vol.32, issue 4, (Nov., 1966), pp. 487-504.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Rioting, Insurrections, Panics, Protests in Kentucky, Railroad, Railway, Trains, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Strickland, Nathaniel
Birth Year : 1927
Nathaniel Strickland was born in Irvine, KY, the son of Mitchell and Helen Strickland. In 1973 he was elected city council member and Mayor Pro Tem in Irvine and re-elected in 1975 and 1977. He was the city's first African American elected official. Strickland was head grocery clerk at an Irvine supermarket where he had worked for 32 years. According to World War II Army Enlistment Records, Strickland was a veteran, having served in the Panama Canal Department. For more see "Mayor, 45 councilmen are black city officials," in the 1978 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Fifth Report, by the Commission on Human Rights, p. 18.
Subjects: Military & Veterans, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Irvine, Estill County, Kentucky
Strider, Benjamin F. [Colored Shoe Makers Union]
Birth Year : 1870
Death Year : 1942
In 1911, the Colored Shoe Makers Union was held in Hamilton, OH. Benjamin Franklin Strider (1870-1942), from Lexington, KY, was the speaker at the barbecue held during the meeting. The Boot and Shoe Makers Union had very few Colored members in 1911. It is not known when the Colored Shoe Makers Union was formed or how long it existed. Strider was the son of Mary Triggs Strider and Rev. Benjamin J. Strider [source: B. F. Strider's death certificate]. Strider is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Lexington. For more see Benjamin Strider, Jr. in "Colored Notes," Lexington Leader, 06/25/1911, p.5.
Subjects: Union Organizations, Shoes: Finishers, Makers, Repairers, Shiners, Stores
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Hamilton, Ohio
Strider, Maurice
Birth Year : 1913
Death Year : 1989
Maurice Strider, born in Lexington, KY, was a graduate of old Dunbar High School, Fisk University, and the University of Kentucky. He was an artist and an art educator. After furthering his study of art in New York, he returned to Lexington in 1934 to become an art teacher at old Dunbar School. His painting, The Carnival, won the John Hope Purchasing Award in 1960. He was a researcher of African American art, culture, history, and race relations. His artwork has been exhibited in many locations, including the Carnegie Institute. Strider was also a correspondent and photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier and Louisville Defender. He received the Chicago Defender Award in 1958. In 1966 he became the first African American full professor at Morehead State University. The Maurice Strider Library/Media Center is located at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington. For more see Who's Who Among African Americans 1975-2004.
See photo image and additional information on Maurice Strider on p. 6 in the Kentucky Alumnus, vol. 4, no. 44, 1974, at Kentucky Digital Library.
Read about the Maurice Strider oral history interview available at the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, item record in SPOKE Database.
Subjects: Artists, Fine Arts, Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Photographers, Photographs
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania / Chicago, Illinois
Strong, Charlie R.
Birth Year : 1960
Charlie Strong became the second African American head football coach at the University of Louisville, December 9, 2009. Strong, born in Batesville, Arkansas, played football at the University of Central Arkansas, where he lettered all four years, 1980-1984. Strong is also a graduate of the University of Florida where he earned his master's degree in education. He has more than 25 years experience coaching at the college level. He was an assistant at a number of colleges, and while at the University of South Carolina in 1999, became the first African American coordinator in the Southeastern Conference. In 2010, Strong was one of three African American head football coaches hired at Kentucky universities: Joker Phillips at the University of Kentucky, and Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky University. In January 2014, Charlie Strong left the University of Louisville to become the head football coach at the University of Texas where he is the first African American head coach of any sport at the school. For more see "Strong to be named U of L football coach," CBS - 32 WLKY: Video (Louisville, KY), 12/09/2009; J. Fowler, "Cards go Strong - Louisville offers job to UF defensive coordinator," The Orlando Sentinel, 12/09/09, Sports section, p.C1; and the 2010 interview "Coach Charlie Strong," program #531 at Connections With Renee Shaw on Kentucky Educational Television (KET).
See "U of L Football Coach Charlie Strong" on YouTube.
See "Charlie Strong introductory press conference [Jan. 6, 2014]" on YouTube.
Subjects: Football
Geographic Region: Batesville, Arkansas / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Stubblefield, Wilker H. T. "Mickey" "Mayfield Moundsman"
Birth Year : 1926
Born in Mayfield, KY, Stubblefield began his career with local baseball clubs, then, in 1947, he played with the Omaha Rockets, mostly at shortstop and pitcher. He joined the Kansas City Monarchs in 1948 before moving on to the minor leagues. He returned to Mayfield to play in the Kitty League, the only African American who played in that league. Stubblefield ended his career in the Northern League in 1951. His entire name was Wilker Harrison Thelbert Stubblefield. He was the son of Harrison and Mary Wiskers Stubblefield, according to the 1930 U.S. Federal Census. For more see The Negro Leagues Revisited, by B. Kelley; and Micky Stubblefield, a Kitty League website.
Subjects: Baseball
Geographic Region: Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky / Omaha, Nebraska / Kansas City, Missouri
Student Library Assistants of Kentucky (SLAK)
Start Year : 1952
End Year : 1968
The Student Library Assistants of Kentucky (SLAK) group was organized in 1952 by Central High School librarian C. Elizabeth Johnson and Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University] librarian James R. O'Rourke, Sr. The members were African American student library assistants from schools, colleges, and the public libraries in Kentucky. Annual conferences were often held in conjunction with the conference of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association (KNEA). SLAK introduced students to library skills and librarianship as a profession; it was the only state-wide organization of its kind in the U.S. A booklet was written to help train other students, Student Library Assistants of Kentucky, it was distributed by request nationally and internationally. A copy of the booklet is available at CESKAA at Kentucky State University. SLAK had between 50-100 student members from throughout the state. The organization existed until the late 1960s. SLAK was a continuation of library education for African Americans that began in Kentucky in the early 1900s. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, by R. F. Jones, pp. 130-132.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Librarians, Library Collections, Libraries, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Stumm, Mrs. C. C.
Birth Year : 1857
Born in Boyle County, KY, the daughter of Thomas and Eliza Penman, Mrs. Stumm was a teacher, journalist, and editor; she wrote under her husband's name. She attended Berea College and taught in Hearn Academy in Texas and Bowling Green Academy in Kentucky. Stumm was a contributing journalist to the Bowling Green Watchman, The Hub, Advocate, and other newspapers. She was a Philadelphia agent for The National Monitor and Our Women and Children. For more see The Afro-American Press and Its Editors, by I. G. Penn; and "Mrs. C. C. Stumm" in Noted Negro Women: their triumphs and activities, by M. A. Majors.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Journalists, Newspapers, Magazines, Book Publishers, Music Publishers, Migration North, Migration West
Geographic Region: Boyle County, Kentucky / Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky / Texas / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Stumpy Harris and His Kentucky Cardinals (Uniontown, KY, baseball team)
In 1936, "Stumpy" Harris and his Kentucky Cardinals from Uniontown, KY, were scheduled to play the Carbondale Giants on September 13th. The Cardinals were said to be the best team in Kentucky and one of the best in the South. The Cardinals had defeated such teams as the Evansville Tigers, and the Elite Eights from Nashville, TN. The Cardinal pitcher was a left-hander named Big Jim. He would be going against "Big Chippy" McAlister, the pitcher for the Giants. By July 1945, "Stumpy" Harris had left the Cardinals and was managing an Evansville Colored team. In 1954, he was back with the Kentucky Cardinals, and in June of that year they were scheduled to play the Harrisburg Merchants in Uniontown. For more see "Kentucky Colored team here Sunday," The Carbondale Free Press, 09/11/1936, p.4; "Evansville Colored team at Wasson tomorrow," The Daily Register, 08/04/1945, p.5; and the last paragraph of the article "Merchants beat Thebes, 13-2," The Daily Register, 02/17/1954, p.7.
Subjects: Baseball
Geographic Region: Uniontown, Union County, Kentucky
Sublett, John W.
Birth Year : 1902
Death Year : 1986
Born in Louisville, KY, and also known as John Bubbles, Sublett was a singer and tap dancer who teamed up with Ford Lee Washington; they were known as Buck and Bubbles. Rather than tap-dancing on his toes, Sublett tap-danced by bringing his heels to the floor like a drummer; he also used a number of other techniques. Sublett also played the piano in some of their performances. For more see Who's Who in Hollywood. The largest cast of international film personalities ever assembled, by D. Ragan; and Blacks in Black & White. A source book on Black films by H. T. Sampson. View Buck & Bubbles sing "The Rhythm's OK in Harlem" - 1937 on YouTube.
Subjects: Actors, Actresses, Orphans and Orphanages in Kentucky, Minstrel and Vaudeville Performers, Movies and Films
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Sudduth, Horace
Birth Year : 1888
Death Year : 1957
Horace Sudduth was born in Covington, KY, the son of Charles and Mattie Sudduth. He was president of the Walnut Hills Enterprise Company, president of the Industrial Loan and Savings Company, president and organizer of the Creative Realty Company, and owner of the Sudduth Real Estate Agency. The Horace Sudduth Award, for outstanding achievements in land and real estate, is named in his honor. For more see Who's Who in Colored American, 1933-37; Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, vol. 1: Jan 1946-July 1949; and S. Middleton, "We must not fail!: Horace Sudduth, Queen City entrepreneur," Queen City Heritage, vol. 49, issue 2 (1991), pp. 3-20.
See photo image of Horace Sudduth on p.23 in Jet, 11/19/1953.
Subjects: Bankers, Banks, Finance, Financial Advisors, Businesses, Migration North, Realtors, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Investments
Geographic Region: Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky / Cincinnati, Ohio
Summers, Jane R.
Birth Year : 1895
Death Year : 1992
Summers, an Alabama native, was the first woman to manage Jacob Price public housing in Covington, KY. She also assisted in organizing Meals on Wheels in Covington. Summers became a paralegal at the age of 77 to assist senior citizens with simple legal problems. For more see "Jane Summers" at the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, Great Black Kentuckians; and ;"Jane Summers, 97, mentor to many in Covington," The Kentucky Post, 07/01/1992, News section, p. 10A.
Subjects: Civic Leaders, Care of the Elderly
Geographic Region: Alabama / Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky
Summers, William E. III
Birth Year : 1918
Death Year : 1996
Born in Louisville, KY, William E. Summers, III was the first African American to manage a radio station in the U.S. (1967) as well as the first African American radio station owner in Kentucky (1970). Summers was also a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He served on the Kentucky Derby Board beginning in 1972, and was chair in 1984. For more see "1st black to own radio station in Ky., William Summers, dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/18/1996, Obituaries section, p. C2; and "First African-American to manage radio station," Lexington Herald-Leader, 02/27/2004, City&Region section, p. B1.
Subjects: Radio
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Summers, William E., IV
Birth Year : 1943
William E. Summers, IV was born in Louisville, KY, the son of Sallie S. and William E. Summers, III. He was the second African American to serve as chairman of the board of the Kentucky Derby Festival. His father, William E. Summers, III, was the first African American to chair the festival. Beginning in 2003, William E. Summers, IV served as Deputy Mayor of Metro Louisville. For more see William E. Summers, IV in Jet, 05/22/2000, vol. 97, issue 24, p. 51; Who's Who Among African Americans, 1990-2006; and Who's Who in Black Louisville, Inaugural Edition, pp78-79.
Subjects: Jockeys, Horsemen, Horse Breeders, Trainers, Betting, & The Derby, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Sumner, Thomas R.
Birth Year : 1949
Born in Louisville, KY, Sumner is a graduate of the University of Illinois and John Marshall Law School. Since 1988, he has been an associate judge in the Illinois Circuit Court. Sumner was a trial attorney with the Cook County Public Defenders Office from 1978-1982 and was a partner with Sumner and Smith from 1982-1988. He was president of the more than 700 member Cook County Bar Association. For more see L. Sweet, "Orbach, 12 others appointed judges," Chicago Sun-Times, 06/04/1988, News section, p. 14; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1980-2006.
Subjects: Lawyers, Migration North, Judges
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky / Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Sunday School Unions (Louisville, KY)
Start Year : 1850
End Year : 1861
In the early 1850s, several of the African American churches in Louisville, KY, joined together to form a singing school for children. The classes were alternated among the various churches on Sunday afternoons. The school was well received: an overwhelming number of parents and children attended the sessions. The school, led by W. H. Gibson, Sr., continued until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. For more see History of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, by W. H. Gibson, Sr.
Subjects: Religion & Church Work, Sunday School
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Supreme Lodge Colored Brotherhood of Honor [Simpson County, KY]
Start Year : 1886
In May of 1886, the Kentucky General Assembly approved the Act that chartered the Supreme Lodge Colored Brotherhood of Honor in order to unite Colored men to promote benevolence, morality, and economical industry among the Colored people of Kentucky and the United States. Enoch C. Dinning, the group's adviser, is listed as white in both the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Federal Census. Dinning was born in Kentucky around 1847 and lived in Simpson County, KY. J. Wes McClanahan, the treasurer, was also white; he was born in Robertson, TN, around 1828. McClanahan lived in Franklin, KY. All of the corporate managers were also white men, most of whom were born in Kentucky and lived in the Simpson County area: Charles W. Milliken, a lawyer, b. 1827; Eli H. Blewitt, an auctioneer, b. 1838; James B. McLean; William B. Booker, b. 1820; John A. Norris, b. 1862; and Henry G. Booker, b. 1850. Two years later after the group was chartered, the Kentucky General Assembly amended the original act to include Colored women into the Supreme Lodge Colored Brotherhood of Honor. The establishing of the lodge for African American men and the opening of the membership to African American women were both fairly progressive acts for Kentucky. For more see Chapter 904 of the 1886 Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky [available online at Google Book Search]; and Chapter 85 of the 1888 Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky [available online at Google Book Search].
The following additional information was provided by Gayla Coates, Archives Librarian at the Simpson County Kentucky Archives. The men who founded the Supreme Lodge Colored Brotherhood of Honor were very prominent in Franklin, KY. Most of them have biographical sketches in Kentucky, a history of the state, by Perrin, Battle, and Kniffin. Four of them belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and two were Masons. One belonged to the Supreme Order of the Knights of Honor, a benevolent and fraternal organization that provided death benefits for its members; the organization was established in Louisville, KY, in 1873. James McLean (listed above), was also one of the founders of the Franklin Knights of Pythias, which was established in 1896. Other African American fraternal organizations in Franklin are the American Legion Post 202, the Good Samaritan Lodge, The Knights of Pythias Lodge (organized in 1916), and the oldest organization in Harristown, the Odd Fellows Lodge, established in 1862 according to African American Heritage of Simpson County, Kentucky.
Subjects: Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky
Susan Eliza
Birth Year : 1854
Death Year : 1868
Susan Eliza, a 13 year-old, was the last African American female child hanged in Kentucky: on February 7, 1868, she was hanged behind the New Castle, KY, courthouse for the murder of a white child who had been left in her care. [Her name is also given as Eliza in some newspaper articles.] Susan's body was allowed to hang for 20 minutes before she was pronounced dead. The rope used to hang her was cut up and the pieces were distributed amongst the spectators who had come to witness the hanging. Susan had been scheduled to hang in December 1867, but it was delayed after an appeal was made for a new trial. The appeal was denied. The child Susan killed was the three year old son of the Graves Family. She had stoned the child to death and hid his body. For more see Female hangings 1632-1900; "Execution of a Negro girl for the murder of a white child," New York Times, 02/14/1868, p. 6; and "Execution of a Colored girl in Kentucky," The Daily News and Herald, 02/22/1868, issue 44, col B.
Subjects: Executions
Geographic Region: New Castle, Henry County, Kentucky
Suter Brothers, Barbers
Start Year : 1871
End Year : 1908
Andrew and Richard Suter were born near Midway, KY, two of at least eight children born to Charles and Winnie Suter. Prior to becoming a businessman, Andrew Suter (b. 1847) served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He returned to Midway, KY, and in 1870 married Kentucky native Ellen P. Clark (1857-1918 [source: Still Voices Yet Speak]). Also in 1870, Andrew Suter had an account with the Freedman's Bank in Lexington [source: Freedman's Bank Records], and the following year he became a barber in Lexington, KY, staying in business for 37 years. For a few of those years, Andrew and his brother, Richard Suter (b. 1842), were in business together, "S., R. & A.," and their shop was located in the basement at 2 S. Upper Street [source: Prather's Lexington City Directory 1875 and 1876]. By 1878, Andrew Suter and William Anderson were in business together as "Suter and Anderson"; the barber shop was located on the corner of Upper and Main Streets [source: R. C. Hellrigle and Co.'s Lexington City Directory 1877-78]. Richard Suter, who was also a chiropodist (foot doctor), was doing business on his own and in 1882 was a barber in the Phoenix Hotel [source: William's Lexington City Directory 1881-82]. "Suter and Anderson" continued to thrive within the barbering business. Andrew Suter had a Colored servant, Amy Ferguson, who was employed at his home [source: William's Lexington City Directory 1881-82]. By 1898, "Suter and Anderson" had several other employees: William Anderson Jr., Clarence Suter (Andrew's son), Henry Dupee, and Churchill Johnson. During the same period, Richard Suter and McCagih Robinson had a barbering business, "Suter and Robinson," in the basement of a building at the corner of Main and Limestone Streets [source: Emerson and Dark's Lexington Directory 1898-9]. In addition to being a barber, Andrew Suter was a member of the Colored First Baptist Church in Lexington. He was re-elected treasurer of the church in June of 1904, at which time he had been treasurer for 27 years. Suter was dedicated to his duties, and in August of 1904, when the church split, he refused to recognize the departing members' vote to make him their treasurer. Andrew Suter was also a mason, treasurer of Mt. Carmel Chapter No. 3 R A M, and treasurer of Bethany Comandery No. 2 [source: Emerson and Dark's Lexington Directory 1898-9]. Andrew, Richard, and Clarence B. Suter are all buried in African Cemetery No. 2 according to their death certificates, and Ellen Suter is also buried there, according to the book Still Voices Yet Speak. Andrew Suter died of heart disease on July 29, 1908. He and his family had lived at 916 Lexington Avenue. His son, Clarence B. Suter, died of Bright's Disease on January 26, 1904, and his brother, Richard Suter, died of pneumonia on April 10, 1913. Andrew Suter's daughter, Katie Suter Miller, was born in 1877 and died May 28, 1929, and was also buried in African Cemetery No. 2. For more see "Andrew Suter," Lexington Leader, 07/29/1908, p. 7; and "Andrew Suter's position," Daily Leader, 08/14/1904. For more about the Suter family members buried in African Cemetery No. 2, see Still Voices Yet Speak, by Y. Giles.
Subjects: Barbers, Businesses, Military & Veterans, Religion & Church Work, Fraternal Organizations
Geographic Region: Midway, Woodford County, Kentucky / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Sweeney, Pruitt Owsley, Sr.
Birth Year : 1893
Death Year : 1960
Born in Boyle County, KY, P. O. Sweeney became a dentist and later president of the Louisville, KY, Dental Association. He was also president of the Louisville NAACP branch and the Teachers' Equalization Committee. In 1947 he filed a lawsuit against the city of Louisville for operating a segregated public golf course. The suit was settled in 1952 when the city-owned golf course was opened to all citizens. Sweeney, a Kentucky native who was born in Junction City, KY, was the son of Edgar and Florence Sweeney. For more see The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan; and Who's Who in Colored America 1927. For more general information see African American golfers during the Jim Crow Era by M. P. Dawkins and G. C. Kinloch; and Forbidden Fairways: African Americans and the game of golf, by C. H. Sinnette.
Subjects: Activists, Civil Rights, Golf and Golfers, Medical Field, Health Care, NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Dentists, Court Cases
Geographic Region: Junction City, Boyle County, Kentucky / Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Swope, William "Bill", Jr.
In April 2008, Bill Swope became the first African American to be named the State Fire Marshal for Kentucky. The appointment was made by Governor Steven Beashear. At the time of the appointment, Bill Swope was a 23 year veteran of the Lexington Division of Fire and Emergency Services. For more information see "Meet the state fire marshall," NASFM News, May 2009 [online .pdf].
See photo image of William B. Swope at "State Fire Marshal Named," a Department of Public Protection news release at the Kentucky.gov website.
Subjects: Firefighters
Geographic Region: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky / Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Sykes, Harry N.
Birth Year : 1927
Death Year : 2012
Born in Starkville, MS, in 1963 Harry N. Sykes became the first African American elected to the City of Lexington, KY, Council; he also served as mayor pro-tem, 1967-1969. Sykes ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Lexington in 1971. He founded the Lexington Fayette County Urban League in 1968, serving as president from 1968-1972. Sykes was also a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, 1952-1954. For more see Harry Sykes, Lexington Herald Leader, 08/02/03, Final Ed., p. B1.
See photo image of Harry Sykes and additional information at The HistoryMakers website.
Read about the Harry N. Sykes oral history interviews available in the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, item records are in the SPOKE Database.
Subjects: Basketball, Politicians, Politics, Appointments & Elections, Urban Leagues
Geographic Region: Starkville, Mississippi / Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky