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The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers traveling exhibit developed and shared by Keeneland Library, highlights the lives and careers of 100 African American horsemen and -women from the mid-1800s to the present. One-of-a-kind photographs from Keeneland Library collections capture moments across their varied careers, while biographical vignettes honor their lasting legacies.
From racetrack superstars to behind-the-scenes caretakers, The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers showcases select stories of the countless African Americans who forged their way in Lexington and beyond from the era of slavery to the present, making the racing industry what it is today.
Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union.
Join Roda Ferraro, Director of Keeneland Library, as she presents The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers, a talk with Q&A that highlights the lives and careers of African American horsemen and women from the mid-1800s to today.
Stories of Lexington's history told through the Kentucky Room archives.
Located in the Tates Creek Branch rotunda.
Monday-Thursday: 9:30am-7:00pm
Friday: 9:30am-6:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am-5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm-5:00pm
140 East Main Street
Lexington, KY 40507
Celebrate Lexington, Kentucky’s 250th anniversary all year long. Join us for programs, galleries, podcasts, and more highlighting our city’s history, heritage, and legacy.
The Elmer L. Foote Collection is a group of 190 lantern slides. They were created by Elmer L. Foote, a Cincinnati photographer and library staff member whose pictures appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.
Description coming soon.
The library has a variety of directories and yearbooks with local information. In the library's current digital collection, there is a selection of residential and street directories, yearbooks, school directories, and organizational directories. These are all fully word-searchable.
Lexington’s Kentucky Association racetrack operated from 1828 through 1933. During its heyday, it witnessed the skills of many African American horsemen, four of whom have been inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.
The documentary features archival photographs of Maddoxtown and it's residential family as well as Faraway Farm, where Ms. Williams' father worked as a groom for notable thoroughbred racehorses, including the Horse of the Century, Man o' War.
Description coming soon.
