Pass the Word

This project, “African American Education in South Central Kentucky, 1920 – 1960”, was conducted by Joseph Carl Ruff, and includes 26 interviews with African Americans who were educated in and/or taught in south central Kentucky. Their first-hand accounts provide a unique perspective on the evolution of the education of African Americans in the region. Each interview reflects the determination of a people to overcome the obstacles created by a flawed doctrine, ‘separate but equal’, to achieve success, and for many of the interviewees, to become community leaders as teachers and school administrators. This project was funded by a grant from the Kentucky Oral History Commission.