THE HISTORIC LYRIC · CULTURAL EXHIBITS
Black education in Lexington & the Bluegrass.
Schools. Communities. Generations of possibility.
Behind every schoolhouse was a world of ambition. Follow the places, meet the people, and discover an extraordinary chapter of the Bluegrass.
FROM THE ARCHIVE · 1901Cadentown School · Fayette County · 1901
A HISTORY OF POSSIBILITY
Under segregation, Black families and educators created places where children could learn, belong, and imagine what came next. These schools held the hopes of entire communities.
This growing collection connects documented school histories with photographs, places, and the legacy that remains. Explore at your own pace. There is always another story to find.
Start with a place ↓01 · THE DISCOVERY ATLAS
Choose a place. Open a story.
See the Bluegrass in a new way.
THE SEARCH CONTINUES
02 · TAKE A DIFFERENT PATH
A few stories. A little wonder.
Choose a digital journey through the collection.
These are story journeys through the exhibit, rather than driving or walking routes.
Ed Davis School
Learning. Leadership.
A community’s ambition.
On Chambers Avenue, Black educators and families built a place for Georgetown’s children to learn and look ahead. Under Edward B. Davis, the school expanded to a four-year high school. Named in his honor in 1929, Ed Davis nurtured scholars, community leaders, and the football team remembered as the Mud Turtles.
School history: Georgetown & Scott County Museum ↗ · Kentucky Historical Society marker 2112 ↗
CADENTOWN · JULY 2004 · HABS KY-288-1303 · LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER
Pause inside Cadentown. What can a photograph help us notice—and what must we learn from the archive?
Doerrfeld & Rapier · Library of Congress · Photo & captions ↗04 · ACROSS THE YEARS
Select a year to follow the story.
THE STORY IS STILL HERE
Historic photographs show a moment in time. Newer views reveal how these places continue to change.
FRANKFORT · KENTUCKY’S PUBLIC HBCU
1886 — 2026 / 140 YEARS OF POSSIBILITY
From a classroom for future teachers
to a future shaped by generations.
On a hill above Frankfort, a school founded to prepare Black teachers grew into a university with a mission of education and service. Discover Kentucky State’s place in the story of Black education—and the legacy still unfolding on The Hill.
Jackson Hall · Matthew Peek, 2011 · Photo source · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Display crop.
05 / THE FUTURE · BLACK MALE WORKING ACADEMY
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY · SINCE 2005Black Male Working Academy
A mentor who believes.
A scholar who sees what comes next.
The story of Black education continues in the opportunities we create today. At BMW Academy, Saturday learning, mentorship, college preparation, and journeys beyond Kentucky help young men imagine—and prepare for—a larger future.
THE EDUCATOR BEHIND THE VISION
Founder & Executive Director
An educator’s belief in young people became a program built around their potential.
The academy’s mission, carried forward.
Program film, founder portrait, and photographs: Black Male Working Academy. Travel image: South Africa collection, June 2018. Other photograph dates not supplied.
FROM BMW TO A NEW CHAPTER
From a Saturday promise
to a school of possibility.
The mentoring model developed by Black Male Working Academy helped inspire a public-school pathway. Since fall 2012, Carter G. Woodson Academy has paired college preparation with African American history and culturally responsive teaching. [1–2]
LOOK CLOSER
THE IDEA THAT GREW
Select a year. Discover how community belief helped open a new door.
SATURDAY LEARNING. LASTING BELIEF.
In her account of BMW Academy’s beginnings, Roszalyn “Rosz” Akins describes starting with one middle school and 40 boys in 2005. Mentors, academic support, and college and cultural experiences helped young men see more possibilities for their lives.
Read the founder’s account ↗A MODEL FOR SOMETHING NEW
On October 24, 2011, WUKY reported that Fayette County Public Schools would use Black Males Working Academy as the model for its first all-male school. Akins was to serve as dean of students. The connection was one of educational influence; BMW’s community program continued its own work.
Read the 2011 reporting ↗THE VISION BECOMES A SCHOOL
Carter G. Woodson Academy launched in fall 2012. The college-preparatory program now serves young men in grades 6–12, connecting rigorous study with African American history and culture. Mentoring, tutoring, and learning beyond the classroom extend that vision.
Explore the school’s approach ↗SCHOLARS MAKING THEIR OWN HISTORY
Woodson’s Agriculture Scholars earned the inaugural National Junior MANRRS Chapter of the Year award. Adviser Jacob Ball and students accepted it in early April 2025. Their work connects leadership with opportunities in agriculture, science, technology, engineering, and related fields.
Discover the national recognition ↗HIGH EXPECTATIONS. A LARGER HORIZON.
Open the academy’s six “Well Principles.” Together, they point toward preparation for college, career, and life. Explore the school’s philosophy ↗
Take responsibility for choices and meet the community’s expectations.
Bring consideration and respect to interactions with others.
Arrive ready to learn, following the academy’s dress expectations.
Develop the confidence to communicate clearly and thoughtfully.
Read regularly to build vocabulary, understanding, and expression.
Learn through cultural experiences, field trips, and journeys abroad.
The academy bears the name of the historian and educator known as the Father of Black History. A Berea College graduate, Woodson argued that African American experiences and achievements belonged in everyone’s education. The school connects his name to a curriculum that makes that history visible.
Discover the namesake ↗KEEP DISCOVERING
Every profile links to its evidence.
Go deeper in the collections.
Photographs, names, and memories can help the history grow.
Connect with the Lyric ↗From The Lyric Book Collection
Schools, teachers, and families who insisted on the right to learn.
Reference
Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel, John A. Hardin
A reference work brings together people, institutions, and events in Black Kentucky history.
History
James D. Anderson
A study of who built, financed, and contested Black education across the post-emancipation South.
Essays
W. E. B. Du Bois
Du Bois explores emancipation’s aftermath, segregated education, and the experience he calls double consciousness.
