We Were Here! Located in central Kentucky, Boyle County was once home to a thriving vibrant African American community beginning in the years after the Civil War. Much of African American life was located in the county seat of Danville, which featured a variety of black businesses on Second Street, but it was scattered over small towns in the county as well. A degree of blight set in during the mid-20th century and, with the rise of integration, African Americans began to shop elsewhere resulting in a deterioration of black businesses. Much of the African American community was razed during urban renewal projects in the 1970s and the community today, unfortunately, is a shadow of its former self.
In 2013, members of the community formed the Danville Boyle County African American Historical Society (DBCAAHS) to preserve the area's rich African American heritage which was in danger of being forgotten. The group sponsors several local events, including an annual Soul of Second Street festival and it operates a history center and holds conferences. The group helped sponsor a play, "Good Blues Tonight" which was produced locally and concludes with the inspiring shout "We Were Here!". The group also gathers and preserves historical records and with two of its members, Michael Thomas Hughes and Michael Denis, produced this book "African Americans in Boyle County", (2022) a photographic history in the Images of America,Series, to celebrate and preserve the story of Boyle County's African American past.
This book offers a view of what made African American Boyle County a community. The book insightfully begins with a chapter on African American churches which emphasizes the role of religion in community life. This is followed by a related chapter documenting the extensive social and civic organizations that helped bring people together during a time of segregation. The book offers a fascinating portrait with photos and texts of the many businesses on Second Street, Danville over the years, including the wonderful photo of taxi drivers, their taxis, and the pool hall in the background that forms the cover of the book. The African American community was heavily involved in education which centered around Bate High School which for years offered academic, sports, and social activities to young people. Danville also was home for many years to an African American school for the deaf. The book examines local neighborhoods in Danville and in smaller communities and it emphasizes baseball and other sports as a means of bringing the community together. A final chapter gives attention to local people and places, including Danville-born Robert Todd Duncan, a pioneering African American opera singer who was the first to sing the song "Unchained Melody" and Danville native Frank X. Walker a scholar and, a founder of the "Afrilachia" school of poetry.
I have never been to Boyle County but was fortunate to find this book in the local public library and to learn about it. It was moving to see the community and to see how an active community association is working to preserve its history. It is valuable to learn about local American places in all their uniqueness and to think about what makes them cohesive. Our country has been formed by countless local communities, including the African American community in Boyle County lovingly portrayed in this book.
