There are more notable African Americans with Kentucky roots and ties than any one person knows about. Very little has been written about many of them and it is a challenge to find what was written in the past. For some, their stories have only been told by word of mouth. The Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (NKAA) has been developed as a finding aid to bring together a brief description of pertinent names, places, and events, and to list the sources where additional information may be found. This is not currently an all inclusive database, but we are working toward that goal and suggestions are welcomed.

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Bridges, Travis

Pvt. Travis Bridges from Mt. Sterling, KY was one of the twenty soldiers in Company H, 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps in 1897. Starting on the 14th of…

Conventions of the Colored Christian Churches in Kentucky

There were three divisions to the annual Convention of Colored Christian Churches of Kentucky: the State Missionary Convention, with male delegates;…

Old Danville Road Cemetery

The Old Danville Road Cemetery, located in Jessamine County, KY, was the first African-American cemetery restored in the Jessamine County Historical…

Stone, James A., Sr.

James A. Stone, Sr. was a fugitive slave from Kentucky who had settled in Lorain, OH. He is listed in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census with no indication…

African American Coach Cleaners in Kentucky

By Reinette F. Jones, December 6, 20221.Was the Coach Cleaners' Quartet located in Kentucky?The group was located in Lexington, KY. The members were…

Automobile Industry Employment: Kentucky, African Americans

Automobile Industry African American Employees 1910 to 1930.mp4

By Reinette F. Jones, with assistance from Kathy L. Schiflett - 03/28/20181910-1930 DRAWING POWER OF THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRYRepeated family tales give…

First African American Police Women in Lexington, KY

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The request for a "colored" police woman was put to the City of Lexington in January of 1922. In October of the following year there was a mass…

Hawkins, Horace H.

Horace H. Hawkins was born in Kentucky. In 1835, he was an enslaved man who escaped with 13 others heading north. The group was assisted by Quakers.…