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

Knight, Mattye Breckinridge Guy

(born: 1914  -  died: 1986) 

Mattye Breckinridge Guy Knight, a teacher and  civic and community leader who was also a musician, is remembered for leading the drive to get new homes to replace those lost in the mudslide at Sanctified Hill in Cumberland, KY. Knight had also lost her home in the slide.

Knight was a graduate of Mayo-Underwood High School and Kentucky State College [now Kentucky State University], both in Frankfort, and Hampton Institute [now Hampton University] in Virginia. She received a number of awards for her leadership, including a HUD award in 1979.

Knight taught for more than 30 years in the Franklin County, Lebanon, and Harlan County public schools, teaching English, history, and music; she also taught Sunday School and served as the minister of music and director of education at her church. She also founded the Greater Harlan County Community Center.  

For more see J. Hewlett, "Mattye Knight Dies," Lexington Herald-Leader, 2/28/1986, Obituaries, p. B15. Also see the entry Sanctified Hill, Cumberland, KY.

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Harlan County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Franklin County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Marion County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Sanctified Hill, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Cumberland, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Frankfort, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Lebanon, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Outside Kentucky Place Name

Item Relations

Cited in this Entry

NKAA Source: Lexington herald-leader (newspaper)

Related Entries Citing this Entry

NKAA Entry: Sanctified Hill (Cumberland, KY)

Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Knight, Mattye Breckinridge Guy,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed September 15, 2024, https://ukscrc001.net/nkaa/items/show/1761.

Last modified: 2021-01-21 18:42:22