From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Mule Races for Colored Riders, Kentucky
(start date: 1860s - end date: 1960s)Racing mules has been a minor sport in Kentucky since the early 1800s. Mule races took place at city and county fairs, at race tracks, and at community gatherings and celebrations. From the 1860s-1960s, in Kentucky, African American men participated in the designated Mule Race for Colored Riders and they participated in the mule races held at colored fairs.
The distinction between the two events was that the Mule Races for Colored Riders was one of the few events held exclusively for African Americans at fairs and other events that catered to a predominately white attendance. The races were not unique to Kentucky. These events and races were held throughout the United States. Mention of the races can be found in newspapers as early as 1867 in Louisiana and later in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington D. C., and several other states.
In the 1830s and 1840s, colored fairs in Kentucky were small, random events held by African American churches and organizations to highlight the accomplishments of African Americans. The colored fairs would become larger annual events with mule races mentioned in the newspapers starting in the 1870s. There was a mule race in 1874 at the Louisville Colored Fair. In Lexington, in 1888, Cash Clay was the winner of the mule race at the Lexington Colored Fair, and Roger Points came in second. The Lexington Colored Fair was the largest in Kentucky and had been held since 1869. There was no connection between the mule races at the colored fairs, and the Mule Races for Colored Riders that were held at the city and county fairs and community celebrations.
At the 1905 Harrodsburg [KY] Fair, the Mule Race for Colored Riders paid $10 for 1st place and $5 for 2nd place. The fair was held at the Old Graham Springs Grounds. There continued to be annual mule races specifically for African Americans at the Harrodsburg fair and other fairs around the state. At the Premiums Grayson County Fair in Leitchfield, KY, in 1908, the Mule Race for Colored Riders was a 1/2-mile dash. First place winner was Jake Fentress ($7.50) and the 2nd place winner was Jim Fentress ($2.50). In 1912, the Lawrenceburg Fair Association and other fair associations gave specific instructions: "Fastest mule, any age, colored riders only, and no spurs, whips or saddles to be used."
At the Capital Fair in Frankfort, KY, the Mule Race for Colored Riders was said to be a big hit in 1913. The mules were owned in Franklin County. First place winner was Charles Fields ($7) and 2nd place winner was Jim Ceil ($3). At the Blue Grass Fair in Lexington, KY, in 1915, the Mule Race for Colored Riders was named Dark Town Derby. In 1919, mule races were included in the activities at the first Colored Fair held in Berea, KY. In 1925, at the Green County Fair, J. Cha[]ey took first place in the Mule Race for Colored Riders, and Ivy Ford came in 2nd. Eight years later, at the 1933 American Legion Fall Festival at the Lawrenceburg [KY] Fair Grounds, the Mule Race for Colored Riders paid $2 for 1st place and $1 for second place.
In 1941, at the Franklin [KY] Lions Club Show, "An old fashioned mule race with Negro jockeys was the concluding feature of the show." The winner of the mule race was not named in the newspaper article. One of the last Mule Race for Colored Riders in Kentucky took place in 1965 in Falmouth. Will Graves was the winner. Winning required the two best of three heats, and Will Graves had come in first in two heats and second in one heat.
Mule races continued to be held at colored fairs in Kentucky until the 1950s. The number of mule races started to decline as the number of colored fairs declined. In 1940, there was a mule race during the 12th Annual Session of the Lawrenceburg Colored Fair that was a two-day event held at the American Legion Fair Grounds. In 1942, there were to be two mule races at the Lexington Colored Fair, one on the opening day and another race on the second day of the fair. More than a decade later, in 1956, at the Southern Kentucky's Colored Fair and Horse Show, a mule race was one of the activities planned for the event. The fair was held in Glasgow, KY, at the American Legion Fair Grounds, August 21-September 1. The Colored Barren County Fair was held as late as 1962 in Glasgow, KY. It was one of the last colored fairs held in Kentucky.
*A mule is the hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
Sources:
"A Mule race exclusively for colored people." The New Orleans Crescent, 08 May 1867, p.5; "The Colored Fair." The Courier-Journal, 12 September 1874, p.4; "The Colored Fair." The Kentucky Leader, 17 September 1888, front page; "[Harrodsburg Fair]." The Harrodsburg Herald, 27 July 1905, p.2; "Premium Grayson County Fair." The Leitchfield Courier, 28 August 1908, p.4; "Premium List Lawrenceburg Fair Association--August 20-3, 1912." The Anderson News, 11 July 1912, p.3; "Baby show is feature of Capital Fair." The State Journal, 05 September 1913, p.6; "Horses at fair." Lexington Leader, 29 July 1915, p.3; "The Colored Fair." The Citizen (Berea, KY), 21 August 1919, p.6.
"The Great Fair." The Green County Record, 16 October 1925, p.2; "American Legion Fall Festival." The Anderson News, 14 September 1933, p.8; "Colored fair begins, 12th Annual Session." The Anderson News, 29 August 1940, p.13; "Oklahoma horse takes feature." The Park City Daily News, 20 August 1941, p.5; "Colored fair opens in city." The Lexington Leader, 24 August 1942, p.2; "Fair, horse show is scheduled in Glasgow." The Glasgow Daily Times, 31 July 1956, front page; "Hang on to your bonnets[,] the colored fair coming." The Glasgow Republican, 06 September 1962, front page; "Will Graves, better known as Lightning, ..." The Falmouth Outlook, 27 August 1965, p.13.