Kentucky Women in the Civil Rights Era

Mae Street Kidd was a major activist in Kentucky for a long time, and was a major political voice as well. One of most important bills that she was involved in during his political career however, was originally known as House Bill 27. This bill was what she has said was one of the most important […]

In 1963 a movement led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) , and by Martin Luther King Jr. marched into Birmingham, Alabama. At the time Birmingham was known as one of the most, if not the most segregated cities in the southern states. There goal was to use non-violent demonstrations and make a stand to fight laws that […]

Yesterday my group and I attended the monthly Midway Women’s club meeting and had the chance to meet some very interesting individuals that we will be meeting with in the coming weeks. I will admit going into it, I was not sure what it was going to be like and was a little unsure about […]

Ella Baker was a very prominent and successful leader. She was part of many important groups and worked along side many of the biggest names during the civil rights era. Her grandmother was a slave, and growing up she would listen to stories of slave revolts. She graduated college from Shaw University, as the valedictorian […]

Julia Britton Hooks lived a life dedicated to helping others. Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, she went on to attend Berea College and was only the second African American woman to graduate from college. Afterwards she went on to teach at Berea College and was the first African American employee of the school teaching music for […]

After reading Rebecca Hanly’s article on Cromwell and Flannery (“Emma Guy Cromwell and Mary Elliott Flannery: Pioneers for Women in Kentucky Politics,” Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 99, Summer 2001, pp. 287-301) it made me stop to think about, not only how much the accomplished, but how much they had to continue to overcome throughout […]