From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)

Perkins, James (policeman)

(born: 1925  -  died: 1984) 

James Perkins, born in Woodford County, KY,was  the son of Bertie and Willie Perkins, Sr. He was a graduate of old Dunbar High School in Lexington, KY and Western Kentucky Industrial College [now West Kentucky Community and Technical College].

Perkins was the first African American sergeant, lieutenant, and captain with the Lexington Police Department, having joined the force in 1952, along with Charles Taylor; Perkins retired in 1984.

For more see J. Hewlett, "Former policeman James Perkins dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 7/12/1984, Obituaries section, p. B7. See his photograph at the Kentucky Photo Archive website. Listen to the recorded James Perkins interview in the Blacks in Lexington Oral History Projects, 1900-1989 in the SPOKEdb of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky.

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Woodford County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Fayette County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Lexington, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Item Relations

Cited in this Entry

NKAA Entry: Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Lexington, KY)
NKAA Source: Lexington herald-leader (newspaper)

Related Entries Citing this Entry

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Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Perkins, James (policeman),” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed October 9, 2024, https://ukscrc001.net/nkaa/items/show/1470.

Last modified: 2021-06-11 16:28:26