African American Schools - Kentucky, 1866

In 1866, there was a new law for the benefit of the Negroes and Mulattoes of the Commonwealth; all taxes from these persons were set aside in a separate fund, one half to support Negro and Mulatto paupers, and one half for the education of the children. There were 13 colored schools counted in December of 1866, they were included in the publication of the Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky, for the School Year Ending December 31, 1864 [see below]. The schools were under-counted; a large majority of the colored schools had not been reported to the Commissioner of Common Schools, because the schools were not part of the Common School system, and the commissioners had procrastinated in establishing common schools for colored children. As stated in the annual report, there were 41,804 colored children between the ages of six and twenty in Kentucky, and 9,995 of those children lived in one of the 12 counties reported as having a colored school. The Colored Fund held $5,656.01 (as of March 1867), one half of which went to the colored schools and one half was used to care for paupers. It was expected that the following year, there would be a more accurate count of the colored schools.

• Bracken County - 1 school
• Clinton County - 1 school
• Estill County - 1 school
• Fayette County - 1 school
• Greenup County - 1 school
• Harrison County - 1 school
• Hopkins County - 1 school
• Jefferson County - 2 schools
• Laurel County - 1 school
• Logan County - 1 school
• Madison County - 1 school
• Mercer County - 1 school

For more information see "Chapter 636" on pp.231-232, and "Colored Schools" on pp.22-23 of the Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky, for the School Year Ending December 31, 1864. See NKAA Database entries for African American Schools, Freedmen Schools, 1866-1870; African American Schools, 1886; and African American Schools.