Kentucky State Colored Educational Convention

African Americans from Kentucky and neighboring states came together at a number of meetings to plan for the educational future of the race. A convention was held in 1868 in Owensboro, KY, where Marshall W. Taylor was named president. The 1869 convention was held in Louisville, KY at Benson's Theater. Seven hundred delegates attended, with Reverend H. J. Young of Louisville serving as convention president. A convention was held in Fayette County, KY in 1875, led by African American ministers and Reverend E. H. Fairchild, President of Berea College.

The purpose of these meetings was not only to address educational needs but also to coordinate the issues and present them to the Kentucky Legislature to encourage better funding for Negro schools and teachers. The result was the development of the state-recognized Colored Teachers' State Association and the State Colored Educational Conventions, the first of which was held in Frankfort, KY in 1877. The organization name would later become the Kentucky Negro Educational Association. From 1916 -1929, the conventions were recorded in the Proceedings of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association.

For more see Kentucky State Colored Educational Convention, held at Benson's Theater, Louisville, Ky., July 14, 1869; A History of Blacks in Kentucky: from slavery to segregation, 1760-1891, by M. B. Lucas; Proceedings of the State Colored Educational Convention held at Frankfort, Kentucky, August 22, 1877; and Proceedings of the State Colored Educational Convention (1800s). See also entries for African American Schools in the NKAA Database.