Famous African Americans of the GRADD Region

Josiah Henson (1789-1883) is widely believed to be the basis for the famous literary character "Uncle Tom." In the 1820s, Henson was sent to live with his master’s brother, Amos Riley, in eastern Daviess County. He worked as an overseer on Riley’s farm along Blackford Creek, near the Hancock County border. When Henson discovered that he was to be sold away from his family, he escaped across the Ohio River and eventually found freedom in Canada. There he founded a colony for former slaves and devoted his life to bringing awareness to the issue of American slavery. Historians believe that Henson's memoirs provided the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s highly influential novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Stowe's book is regarded as the most popular nineteenth-century work of fiction, as it took the great national debate over slavery into the arena of popular culture.
>>Read Henson's firsthand account of his time in Daviess County

William Christopher (W.C.) Handy (1873-1958), the acclaimed musician and songwriter, is credited as being the "Father of the Blues." As a young man during the 1890s, Handy lived in the city of Henderson, working odd jobs and struggling to advance his musical career. He met his future wife, Elizabeth Price, while performing at a local barbecue in 1896. In his autobiography, Handy revealed that Henderson was where he discovered his true calling. "I didn't write any songs in Henderson, but it was there I realized that experiences I had had, things I had seen and heard, could be set down in a kind of music characteristic of my race. There I learned to appreciate the music of my people ... then the blues were born because from that day on, I started thinking about putting my own experience down in that particular kind of music." Today Handy's legacy lives on through the annual W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival held each June in downtown Henderson.
>>Find details on the 2010 W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival

Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era, breaking the baseball color barrier when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Robinson was stationed at Camp Breckinridge (the current site of the Earl C. Clements Job Corps Academy) near Morganfield. As a lieutenant there in 1944, he coached Army athletic teams and signed the contract that began his professional baseball career. Robinson went on to play 10 distinguished seasons with the Dodgers, earning a Rookie of the Year award, a Most Valuable Player award, 6 All-Star team selections, and the 1955 World Series championship. His exemplary talent and character challenged the traditional basis of segregation and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement. Robinson was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1962, and his jersey number--42--was retired by every MLB team in 1997.
>>See photos of Robinson during his time at Camp Breckinridge

Moneta Sleet, Jr. (1926-1996) was the first black American to win a Pulitzer Prize in photography, contributing extensively to the field of photojournalism through his documentation of the civil rights movement. Sleet was born in Owensboro and began developing his reporting instincts as editor of his school newspaper at Western High School. After graduating from Kentucky State College and earning a master's degree from New York University, he joined Ebony magazine as staff photographer. Sleet covered Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership of the civil rights movement in great detail. At Dr. King's funeral in 1968, Sleet snapped his Pulitzer-winning photograph of grieving widow Coretta Scott King and her youngest daughter Bernice. Published after his death, Sleet's book Special Moments in African American History, showcases his photos of King, Muhammad Ali, Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holiday, and countless other newsmakers.
>>View Sleet's Pulitzer-winning photograph and other pictures