Browse Collections (3014 total)

Event: General Orders No. 41 authorizes the US Army to use enslaved African Americans for military construction projects. Enslaved men and women constructed roads and fortifications in Central Kentucky, including at Camp Nelson. Their enslavers were compensated by the federal government.

View the items in Event: General Orders No. 41 authorizes the US Army to use enslaved African Americans for military construction projects. Enslaved men and women constructed roads and fortifications in Central Kentucky, including at Camp Nelson. Their enslavers were compensated by the federal government.

Event: George Floyd killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, MN. His death gives rise to worldwide protests against historic racism and police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

View the items in Event: George Floyd killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, MN. His death gives rise to worldwide protests against historic racism and police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Event: Jessamine County’s Black leaders meet at the Nicholasville A.M.E. Church to elect a committee of preachers, teachers, and entrepreneurs capable of writing a resolution to oppose the state’s “Jim Crow Car Bill.”

View the items in Event: Jessamine County’s Black leaders meet at the Nicholasville A.M.E. Church to elect a committee of preachers, teachers, and entrepreneurs capable of writing a resolution to oppose the state’s “Jim Crow Car Bill.”

Event: Juneteenth is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time. The anniversary commemorates the ending of slavery in the US, and recalls the celebrations held by Black communities across the States in the Civil War’s immediate aftermath.

View the items in Event: Juneteenth is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time. The anniversary commemorates the ending of slavery in the US, and recalls the celebrations held by Black communities across the States in the Civil War’s immediate aftermath.

Event: Kentucky ends neutrality and supports the United States as a Border State – a slave state that remained in the Union.

View the items in Event: Kentucky ends neutrality and supports the United States as a Border State – a slave state that remained in the Union.

Event: Kentucky Governor Ned Breathitt signs the State’s Civil Rights Act. It is recognized by Martin Luther King, Jr., as “the strongest and most important comprehensive civil-rights bill passed by a southern state.” It ends racial discrimination in public places throughout the state, and, on the recommendation of Republican Representative Jesse Warders, the only Black member of the General Assembly, repeals dead-letter segregation laws including the “Day Law.”

View the items in Event: Kentucky Governor Ned Breathitt signs the State’s Civil Rights Act. It is recognized by Martin Luther King, Jr., as “the strongest and most important comprehensive civil-rights bill passed by a southern state.” It ends racial discrimination in public places throughout the state, and, on the recommendation of Republican Representative Jesse Warders, the only Black member of the General Assembly, repeals dead-letter segregation laws including the “Day Law.”

Event: Kentucky State government declares neutrality. An estimated two-thirds of White Kentuckians supported the U.S. government.

View the items in Event: Kentucky State government declares neutrality. An estimated two-thirds of White Kentuckians supported the U.S. government.

Event: Louisville, KY, attorney, civil rights leader and Republican candidate Charles W. Anderson, Jr., is the first African American to be elected to the Kentucky legislature. He serves until 1946, and works to pass legislation equalizing teachers’ pay regardless of skin color; outlawing public hanging in Kentucky; and providing state aid for African Americans seeking degrees in higher education out-of-state due to Kentucky’s segregation laws.

View the items in Event: Louisville, KY, attorney, civil rights leader and Republican candidate Charles W. Anderson, Jr., is the first African American to be elected to the Kentucky legislature. He serves until 1946, and works to pass legislation equalizing teachers’ pay regardless of skin color; outlawing public hanging in Kentucky; and providing state aid for African Americans seeking degrees in higher education out-of-state due to Kentucky’s segregation laws.

Event: Major General Ambrose Burnside appointed to command the reorganized Department of the Ohio. All troops are organized into the Army of the Ohio.

View the items in Event: Major General Ambrose Burnside appointed to command the reorganized Department of the Ohio. All troops are organized into the Army of the Ohio.

Event: Massacre at Simpsonville, Kentucky. Twenty-two soldiers from Company E of the 5th US Colored Cavalry are killed by Confederate guerrillas while driving cattle from Camp Nelson to Louisville. Many of these recruits were formerly enslaved, and many came from Shelby County and the area near where the massacre took place.

View the items in Event: Massacre at Simpsonville, Kentucky. Twenty-two soldiers from Company E of the 5th US Colored Cavalry are killed by Confederate guerrillas while driving cattle from Camp Nelson to Louisville. Many of these recruits were formerly enslaved, and many came from Shelby County and the area near where the massacre took place.