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

Lewis, Oliver

(born: 1856  -  died: 1924) 

Oliver Lewis won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875 aboard Aristides. Ansel Williams, also an African American, was the trainer. Oliver Lewis was born in Fayette County, KY, the son of Elnora Keys Lewis and Goodson Lewis [source: Cincinnati Ohio Death Certificate]. He was the husband of Lucy Lewis and thought to be a brother to jockey George Garrett Lewis. In 2010, the Newtown Pike Extension in Lexington, KY, was renamed Oliver Lewis Way. For more see Black Winning Jockeys in the Kentucky Derby, by J. R. Saunders and M. R. Saunders; Dictionary of American Negro Biography, by R. W. Logan & M. R. Winston; and Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 56, 2006. See also K. Ward, "Newtown Pike extension to be renamed Oliver Lewis Way," Lexington Herald Leader, 08/31/2010, p. A3.

References

Cited in this Entry

NKAA Source: Black winning jockeys in the Kentucky Derby
NKAA Source: Dictionary of American Negro biography
NKAA Source: Contemporary Black biography. Profiles from the international black community, vol.56
NKAA Source: Lexington herald-leader (newspaper)

Related Entries Citing this Entry

NKAA Entry:  Williamson, Ansel

Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Lewis, Oliver,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed April 1, 2023, https://ukscrc001.net/nkaa/items/show/664.

Last modified: 2017-07-19 17:51:22