Young, Laura R.

Laura Ray Young was the daughter of Richard and Ella Meaux Ray. She was was born in Lebanon, KY. Laura Ray was a teacher at the Lincoln Institute. She was also the postmaster at Lincoln Ridge, and is often referred to as the first African American postmaster in Kentucky and the second African American woman postmaster in the U.S. Wth more recent research, it has been found that this statement is not correct. Laura R. Young was among the few African American woman postmasters in the United States when she became the Lincoln Ridge postmaster in 1940. There had also been a few African American male postmasters in Kentucky before the year 1900.

Laura Ray was the wife of Whitney M. Young, Sr. and the mother of Eleanor Young, Arnita Young Boswell, and Whitney Young, Jr.

For the names of the first African American postmasters see Earliest known African American Figures in Postal History, a Smithsonian webpage.

For the names of the first African American postmasters in Kentucky see the NKAA entry First African American Postmasters in Kentucky.

For more about Laura Ray Young see Who's Who in Colored America, 1933-37; and 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.