Kentucky: Roots, Times and Generations
Black History Month is being recognized with this exhibit of African Americans in Kentucky. The photographs range in date from the 1890s up to the 1970s, and include a few generations of Kentuckians. It is a glimpse of life and activities in Burdine, Lexington, Louisville, Paris, Wheelwright, Winchester, and Kentucky in general.
The exhibit is part of a much larger celebration taking place in the United States and Canada. It all began in 1926 as Negro History Week, founded by historian Carter G. Woodson, a Berea College graduate and founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The second week of February was selected for the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The first month long celebration took place at Kent State in 1970. Since 1987, the United Kingdom has celebrated Black History Month in October to coincide with Marcus Garvey celebrations and the London Jubilee.
For years, a favorite for Negro History Week was the performance of the pageant Ethiopia at the Bar of Justice written in 1924 by Edward J. McCoo, minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Newport, KY. The play was to depict the trials and struggles of the Negro. In December of 1927, the well known dramatist Henrietta Vinton Davis staged the play at the Ward Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica. The performance was in service to the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities Imperial League, founded by Marcus Garvey.
There is more, much more history than can be exhibited in these images from the University of Kentucky Special Collections Library, and the information is available every day, of every week, of every year.
This exhibit was completed by Reinette Jones with assistance from Lewis Ward, Jason Flahardy, and Deirdre Scaggs.