Because the nation acknowledges Juneteenth, a commemoration of the top of slavery, Kentucky has launched the Kentucky African American Heritage Path, with greater than 50 stops throughout the state that honor the typically lesser-known histories of influential Black individuals who helped forge its legacy.
Areas embrace museums, historic landmarks, and neighborhoods; all might be skilled by strolling or driving excursions. 4 stops intersect with the U.S. Civil Rights Path, and two are listed on the Lewis and Clark Nationwide Historic Path.
The Kentucky Division of Tourism spearheaded the initiative in partnership with the Kentucky Historic Society and the Kentucky Heritage Council. The undertaking took greater than two years to develop.
“The Kentucky African American Heritage Path is greater than a set of historic websites—it’s a journey by means of the guts of our shared historical past,” Mike Mangeot, commissioner of the Kentucky Division of Tourism, stated through e-mail. “This initiative honors the resilience, contributions, and cultural affect of African American folks and communities whereas creating new alternatives for schooling, tourism, and financial progress.”
One other cease on the path is the Muhammad Ali Middle in Louisville, which pays homage to the heavyweight champion turned humanitarian.
Courtesy of Go to Kentucky
Highlights alongside the way in which, from Louisville to Paducah
The path is organized by area. place to begin is Louisville, a hub of Black tradition and commerce, the place stops embrace the Muhammad Ali Middle, which pays homage to the town’s late boxing legend, and the Roots 101 African American Museum, the place guests can dig into historical past that begins on the shores of West Africa and strikes by means of the Center Passage and Jim Crow period to the current. In the meantime, the Kentucky Derby Museum has a newly expanded Black Heritage in Racing exhibit spotlighting distinctive Black equestrians, together with Oliver Lewis, the primary jockey to win the Kentucky Derby in 1875.
Farther south, Hodgenville is house to the primary nationwide monument devoted to the sixteenth U.S. president, who famously opposed slavery: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Nationwide Historic Park, which features a duplicate of Lincoln’s humble childhood log cabin house. In Bowling Inexperienced, guests can take a self-guided strolling tour of the Shake Rag Historic District. This neighborhood, listed on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations, was a thriving Black neighborhood from the early nineteenth century by means of the period of segregation.
Camp Nelson Nationwide Cemetery honors the previously enslaved Black troopers who served within the Union Military.
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Locations of curiosity alongside the way in which embrace State Avenue Baptist Church, in-built 1898 and the oldest African American church in Bowling Inexperienced, and Alice’s Magnificence Store, which served as a cosmetology faculty from the Forties by means of 1995. Immediately, it’s beneath totally different possession however nonetheless operates beneath its authentic title.
Southwest of Bowling Inexperienced, Russellville is house to the SEEK Museum (Struggles for Emancipation and Equality in Kentucky). This former plantation-turned-museum shares the Black expertise in Kentucky throughout seven buildings. The story in the principle home facilities on the greater than 150 enslaved individuals who as soon as lived and labored on the property and the person who enslaved them, Main Richard Bibb, who had a change of coronary heart concerning the establishment of slavery. Upon Bibb’s demise in 1839, his will freed the enslaved folks he owned and offered many with land and cash. The museum additionally commemorates Alice Allison Dunnigan, a Russellville native and the primary Black girl to work within the White Home press corps.
Different highlights on the path embrace the Whitney Younger Birthplace and Museum in Simpsonville, which can be a part of the U.S. Civil Rights Path and honors the civil rights chief and former Nationwide City League director, and Camp Nelson Nationwide Monument in Jessamine County, the place hundreds of previously enslaved Black males enlisted and educated within the Union Military between 1863 and 1866. The positioning later grew to become a haven for different previously enslaved folks looking for refuge.
Lastly, the Resort Metropolitan in Paducah, a historic inn designated within the Negro Motorist Inexperienced E-book offered housing for Black entertainers throughout segregation. Immediately, it serves as a museum that provides non-public excursions led by govt director Betty Dobson, who portrays the lodge’s authentic proprietor, Miss Maggie Steed, and clothes in interval clothes.
