Education
Former president of UK in 1917. He fought for funding for the university and vehemently opposed the evolution bills.
Frank McVey
A type of surface mining which removes the tops of mountains. It continues to be used by coal companies today, despite negative environmental impacts.
Mountaintop Removal
He applied to law school at UK but was denied twice because of his race. The NAACP filed a lawsuit to have him admitted and won. There is a building on campus named after him.
Lyman T. Johnson
First elected to the U. S. Senate in 1984, he is the longest serving senator in U.S. history.
Mitch McConnell
In 1965 she sat down in front of a bulldozer which was about to be used to dig up her land for coal.
Widow Combs
KERA, Kentucky Equal Rights Act, was the most sweeping piece of education reform in the nation. What did it do?
KERA provided better pay for teachers, more technology in classrooms, and local control of education through school-based decision making councils. Funding was tied to performance and raised through a 6 cent sales tax.
A disease which infects the lungs of miners as they breathe coal dust, leading to inflammation, fibrosis, and in severe cases necrosis.
Black Lung
First African American female aviator.
Willa Brown
One of the most influential Kentucky politicians of the twentieth century. He was Senate majority leader in 1938 and a strong supporter of FDR's New Deal. He used his position to send projects to Kentucky during WWII, such as expanding Fort Knox.
Alben Barkley
This is the name of a boycott in Louisville in the 1960s. African Americans were not allowed to try on merchandise before purchasing, so in protest they refused to buy new Easter clothes that year.
Nothing New for Easter
Created by Cora Wilson Stewart to allow adults to get an education. It was held at night so that working adults could attend.
Moonlight schools
Coal mining company that filed for bankruptcy in 2019
Blackjewel
Anne Braden
Governor of Kentucky from 1947-1950. Due to a friendly legislature and ample postwar revenue, he was able to raise pay for teachers, better roads, state parks, and a legislative research commission to study pressing issues.
Earle C. Clements
He chose to advocate for Appalachian people through his writing, most notably in his book Night Comes to the Cumberlands, published in 1963. He wrote critically of coal but also condemned Appalachians for alleged degeneracy.
Harry Caudill
This measure provided for Kentucky's education funds to be distributed based on need.
Equalization
In 2000, a mining company caused the catastrophic spill. Massey Energy chose to pay to clean up the spill but refused to take responsibility, showing that coal companies could damage lives and the environment and the Kentucky state government could not hold them fully accountable for their crimes.
This legislation, passed in 1966 under Governor Ned Breathitt, prohibited discrimination in housing, employment, credit, and public accommodations.
An investigation conducted by the FBI in 1992 which charged more than a dozen Kentucky legislators with corruption for accepting bribes and led to reform legislation.
BOPTROT
This committee was created by Harry Schacter 1943 to find civic leaders interested in creating a "moral climate conducive to progress." They published Kentucky on the March to educate the public about the issues, the most damaging of which, in their opinion, was segregation.
Committee For Kentucky
This program began in 1998 and was an investment in KY's higher education institutions. It created incentives to recruit faculty from around the world to serve in KY's institutions, with an initial investment of $110 million.
Bucks for Brains
Refers primarily to political rhetoric which attempted to bolster the coal industry in the face of increasing criticism and declining employment. Its roots can be traced to the 1960s with activists such as Harry Caudill and Widow Combs, but it gained increasing traction in the 1980s following the OPEC oil crisis which had briefly bouyed the industry.
"War on Coal"
First African American to be elected to the Kentucky senate. She introduced a fair housing bill as her first act as senator. She was a civil rights activist and championed rights for women and people with disabilities, as well.
Georgia Davis Powers
He was the first Kentucky governor to oversee a $1 billion budget. The first time he ran he was defeated by Happy Chandler, who promised not to raise taxes but did anyway. During his second run in 1959, he won and imposed a 3 cent sales tax to raise money for veterans, parks, and raises for college educated teachers. He was one of a number of governors who prioritized education in order to raise standards in Kentucky.
Bert Combs
She established the Mud Creek Healthcare Clinic in 1973 to work against black lung and improve conditions for miners.
Eula Hall