Great Black Kentuckians

In honor of Black History Month, Magic 101.3 is recognizing African Americans who are making a significant contribution to Kentucky in various industries and professions. Black Faces in High Places pays tribute to the following individuals for their dedication and achievements in the fields they represent to make Kentucky an exciting and prosperous place to live!

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky. Ali is considered the greatest boxer of all time. Ali won a Gold Medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics and that same year won his first professional fight. In 1964, Ali defeated Sonny Liston to gain the title of "Heavyweight Champion Of The World." In 1967, Ali was stripped of his boxing title, because his Muslim faith was against the war in Vietnam. After winning an appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court, Ali defeated Heavyweight Champion George Foreman. Ali became the first boxer in heavyweight history to win the World Title Championship three times.

Charles Anderson was Kentucky's first African-American legislator to be elected in the South following Reconstruction. Anderson worked hard to improve the economic conditions of the poor in Kentucky -- both Black and White. He was also an advocate for civil rights and desegregation of Kentucky high schools and colleges. Anderson was a leader in the fight to desegregate medical schools which allowed African-American physicians to do residencies at white hospitals; ultimately giving African-Americans a solid foundation in the profession.

Thomas Blue of Louisville was a theologian by training. Blue joined the Western Branch Library in Louisville in 1908 as its librarian. Blue recognized the need for training of qualified African-Americans for library positions since African-Americans were excluded from existing training programs at that time. Through a library training course for blacks that he designed, Blue introduced Library Science to trainees from Evansville, Houston, CIincinnati, Memphis and a number of other cities. Blue gave African-Americans their first opportunity to become professionals in the library system.

Reverend Elisha W. Green was born a slave around the year 1816 in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Green fought for human rights and equality throughout his life. His most noted victory was that against a white professor in 1883. While Reverend Green was riding a train to Paris, Kentucky, the white professor insulted him and demanded his train seat. When Reverend Green refused to give up his seat on the train, the man attacked him. Reverend Green pressed charges in one of the earliest civil rights cases and won a twenty-four dollar settlement.

Lionel Hampton, an internationally acclaimed jazz musician, was born in Louisville, Kentucky although he was raised by his mother in Birmingham, Alabama. He later moved to Chicago and started playing drums in Major N. Clark Smith's "Chicago Defender" Newsboy's Band. In 1936, Benny Goodman asked Hampton, who played the xylophone, to join his small group which immediately became the legendary "Benny Goodman Quartet." The group was the first racially integrated group of jazz musicians and became famous for its brilliant music style. Hampton went on to form his own group and produced top of the chart best sellers "Flying Home" and "Hamp's Boogie-Woogie."

Isaac Hathaway, an internationally known sculptor, made many first-time achievements for African-American artists across the nation. Hathaway was born in Lexington in 1874. He was the first known African-American male sculptor in Kentucky, the first black artist to be shown working professionally in a movie newsreel, and the first black artist to have coin models accepted by the U.S. Fine Arts Commission. Hathaway's work has included busts, plaques and masks of many famous persons including George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington.

Although he was born in Tennessee, Lyman T. Johnson made a significant contribution to civil and human rights in Kentucky. An educator, plaintiff, activist and civil rights leader, Johnson sued the University of Kentucky in 1948 to gain access for him and others to attend graduate school. By winning this lawsuit and through his work as the president of the NAACP, Johnson laid the foundation for desegregation in higher education in Kentucky. Johnson was a long-term teacher at Central High School in Louisville, a member of the Jefferson County Human Relations Commission and School Board, and a role model for countless children.

Mae Street Kidd was born in Millersburg, Kentucky in 1909. Her career blossomed as Assistant Director of the European Theater for the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Kidd was involved in many community service groups such as the YWCA and Girl Scouts of America. In 1968, she was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives where she went on to sponsor two bills which provided open housing and low-income housing in Kentucky. Kidd received many honors and awards including the "King / Kennedy Award", "The NAACP Unsung Heroine Award", and the "Top Ten Outstanding Kentuckians Award."

Elijah McCoy was a well known inventor. His parents were slaves in Kentucky and fled to freedom in Canada just before Elijah was born. McCoy studied in Scotland and then returned to the United States. After witnessing several serious injuries and deaths to industrial workers, McCoy designed a cup that slowly released oil into the machinery while in operation. He started his own company and invented and sold fifty-seven different kinds of devices including an ironing board and a lawn sprinkler. Because his products worked better than those of other companies that tried to copy his work, people said, "... and make sure it's a real McCoy." That's where the term "The Real McCoy" began.

Mary Merritt became the first graduate nurse in Kentucky -- African-American or white. Merritt began her career in 1911 at the Red Cross Hospital in Louisville. She helped establish the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses. Merritt worked very hard throughout her career to provide excellent nursing service and was awarded "The Mary Mahoney Medal For Distinguished Service In Nursing" for the role she played in desegregating the American Nurses Association. Merritt also received a Certificate of Merit from President Woodrow Wilson for her Red Cross camp work in World War Two.

Garrett Morgan, a self-educated Kentuckian from Paris, Kentucky was well known for his creative inventions. Included in his many inventions are the three-way traffic sign and a gas mask that was used by the U.S. Army in World War One. Morgan received the First Grand Prize at The Second International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation in 1914 ... among many other awards. Although Morgan invented the traffic signal in 1923, it wasn't until forty years later that the U.S. Government recognized Morgan's contribution that is now used world-wide.

Moneta Sleet, Jr. was the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize in photography. The prestigious recognition came for his photograph of Martin Luther King'sS wife Coretta at her husband's funeral. Born in Owensboro, Kentucky, Sleet became interested in photography at an early age when his parents gave him a crude box camera. He received a Master's degree in Journalism from New York University. His award-winning photos earned him a position at Ebony magazine. Sleet received many honors including awards from the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Urban League.

Rev. William E. Summers, III was the first African-American radio executive in Kentucky. Summers began his broadcasting career when he was hired as a part-time sportscaster for WLOU-AM in Louisville. He advanced within the organization quickly and became the assistant manager of the station's ownership company. Summers founded Summers Broadcasting Inc. and eventually bought WLOU in 1971. The station became the first broadcast property in Kentucky to be owned and operated by an African-American. Summers, also a well respected minister, was the recipient of many awards throughout his lifetime and is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.

Colonel Charles Young was born in Mays Lick, Kentucky in 1864. Upon his graduation from West Point in 1889, Colonel Young was assigned to the Tenth Calvary where he served in many military canpaigns including the Spanish-American War, the Mexican Revolution and World War One. At the beginning of World War One, Colonel Young became the highest ranking African-American officer in the U.S. High blood pressure eventually forced Colonel Young to resign from the Army. He was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Whitney Young, Jr. was born in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. In 1961, he was appointed "Executive Director" of the National Urban League. Young worked to broaden the League's programs and to give it aggressive and outspoken leadership. He went on to launch one of the League's most successful projects -- the National Skills Bank -- which collects job profiles on skilled African-Americans and worked to place them in positions in government and industry. Young also worked to improve the economic and social needs of the urban poor. In 1981, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring the Kentuckian.