Downtown Tour


Take a walk through downtown Lexington to discover stories of the rich history of African-Americans in the city. The featured sites highlight people and places that played a significant role in the story of African Americans in the community from times of slavery, through Jim Crow discrimination, and up to the  Black Freedom Struggle. 

Fighting for Justice

As a journalist and lawyer, Robert Charles O'Hara (RCO) Benjamin was a vocal critic of racial violence and voter intimidation. He was the first African American admitted to the California Bar...

Lunch Counter Sit-ins - Peaceful Demonstrations

Before the famous Greensboro sit-ins Lexington staged their own starting in July of 1959. Members of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored...

Women of the Movement - Voices In the Black Freedom Struggle

Peaceful defiance by tireless women led the fight for racial equality in Lexington's Black Freedom Struggle. The Phoenix Hotel sit-ins, organized by local Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) president...

Churches - Spiritual and Social Places

Churches have profoundly shaped the African-American experience in Lexington. Black congregations offered some forms of freedom from the daily oppressions witnessed during times of enslavement and the...

The Jacksons - Community Leaders

Jordan Carlisle Jackson Jr. (1848-1918) and Eliza "Belle" Mitchell Jackson (1848-1942) were an extraordinary married couple. The Jacksons became prominent community leaders, dedicating their lives to...

Slave Trade - Slavery and Slave Trade In Lexington

Over the centuries, Lexington has been a political, social, and economic reflection of the Bluegrass State. Ties to slavery have been no exception. As an early metropolitan center, Lexington was a...

Ladies Hall - Empowerment Through Education

African-Americans in Lexington believed strongly in education, establishing private schools before the Civil War. Many were educated as missionaries and sent around the world, including to Liberia....

Charlotte Dupuy - Suing For Freedom

Charlotte "Lottie" Dupuy was born in 1787 in Cambridge, Maryland, to George and Rachel Stanley who were enslaved. At the age of eight, Charlotte was sold to James Cordon for $100 and forced to leave...