Owensboro’s Black History is riddled with success stories for not just the local community, but the entire country. Stories range from the beginning of the Underground Railroad with Josiah Henson, to the birthplace of one of the first Black men to play against an NFL team with Joseph Kendall.
And as can still be seen today, history is still being written, with the Rev. Rhondalyn Randolph marking Owensboro as the first city in western Kentucky to have a female lead at a Baptist church.
And several of the structures that are established today within the city were formed by Black people. The West End Day Care Center was started in the 1960s by Estelle Moss — also one of the early founders of the NAACP — and is one of the longest standing day cares in the city.
Projects like the Kendall-Perkins Park mural were made to promote a sense of the history of Owensboro, especially as it pertains to Black history.
“I want to show the past but I also want the kids to see people with braids, dreadlocks, like some of the kids have themselves,” said Rafe Buckner, Northwest Neighborhood Alliance Chairperson.
The list of contributions by Black people of Owensboro goes on.
Joseph P. Perkins, Jr. — the son of Joseph Perkins, Sr., for whom Kendall-Perkins Park is partially named — was a product of Owensboro. His story about the Freedom Riders is told across the country.
The Freedom Riders, a group of Black and white activists, rode through the Deep South in protest for not being allowed to have the same transportation rights as their white counterparts.
The story ultimately ended in 1961 when their bus was bombed. Perkins, Jr. was one of the heads for the decisions of the plan to create the Freedom Riders. He was an active member in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and led sit-ins and other protests leading up to the trip making him known as a skillful organizer nationwide.
Stories like Perkins’ showcase a point that Rev. Rhondalyn Randolph and local artist Leeza Dukes emphasize.
“If an opportunity is not given to you, then you have to start creating your own opportunities. And don’t wait for people to give you anything, you have to create your own,” Randolph said.
Both women said that there were people before them that paved the way for them to be in the place they are today, and they noted the importance of someone giving back to their community.
That sentiment can be shown in several more stories. Olive Burroughs became the first Black female Commissioner, citing then-Mayor Waymond Morris as helping her. Perkins and Kendall gave credit to their coaches.
Thurston Cabel was a slave who fought with the 28th infantrymen in the Civil War and freed slaves in Richmond, Virginia; Katherine Hayden was the first Black woman to enter a convent in Owensboro and one of the first students to integrate Brescia University.
Black History Month takes the moments of the past and projects them to the present so society can learn for the future. With a list that could go on, there is plenty of opportunity to learn about the people who have helped shaped Owensboro.
