Slavery and Freedom in the Bluegrass State

Revisiting My Old Kentucky Home

Gerald L. Smith

• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780813197111
  9780813196152
• eBook ISBN:
  9780813196176
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: African American History
• Index: Social Sciences

Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home" has been designated as the official state song and performed at the Kentucky Derby for decades. In light of the ongoing social justice movement to end racial inequality, many have questioned whether the song should be played at public events, given its inaccurate depiction of slavery in the state.

In Slavery and Freedom in the Bluegrass State, editor Gerald L. Smith presents a collection of powerful essays that uncover the long-forgotten stories of pain, protest, and perseverance of African Americans in Kentucky. Using the song and the museum site of My Old Kentucky Home as a central motif, the chapters move beyond historical myths to bring into sharper focus the many nuances of Black life. Chronologically arranged, they present fresh insights on topics such as the domestic slave trade, Black Shakers, rebellion and racial violence prior to the Civil War, Reconstruction, the fortitude of Black women as they pressed for political and educational equality, the intersection of race and sports, and the controversy over a historic monument.

Taken as a whole, this groundbreaking collection introduces readers to the strategies African Americans cultivated to negotiate race and place within the context of a border state. Ultimately, the book gives voice to the thoughts, desires, and sacrifices of generations of African Americans whose stories have been buried in the past.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. 149 North Broadway: Slave Incarceration at the Foundation of Kentucky Finance
• 2. Race Matters in Utopia: The Shakers and Slavery at Pleasant Hill
• 3. “This Priceless Jewell—Liberty”: The Doyle Conspiracy of 1848
• 4. Necessary Violence: African American Self-Preservation, Violence, and Survival in Civil War–Era Kentucky
• 5. Unfinished Freedom: The Legal History of Reconstruction in Kentucky
• 6. William J. Simmons and the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute
• 7. “Very Strong Colored Women”: Black Women’s Uplift, Activism, and Contributions to the Rosenwald Rural School-Building Program in Kentucky
• 8. “Home Ain’t Always Where the Heart Is”: African American Women, Confinement, and Domestic Violence in the Gilded Age Bluegrass
• 9. The “Live Issue” of Black Women Voters in Kentucky
• 10. “Give ‘Us’ Something to Yell For!”: Athletics and the Black Campus Movement at the University of Kentucky, 1965–1969
• 11. Archer Alexander and Freedom’s Memorial
• Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Index