Reckoning, Remembering, Restoring A Symposium on the History of Racial Violence in Kentucky

Co-sponsored by the Gaines Center, Reckoning, Remembering, Restoring: A Symposium on the History of Racial Violence in Kentucky will take place from 9.00am until 4.00pm on Saturday, November 9, 2024, at the Lyric Theater & Cultural Arts Center in Lexington. This event will explore how digital humanities—through databases, newspapers, census data, legal cases, and archives—can shine a light on the widespread racial violence that contradicts the myth of Kentucky as a racially progressive state.

Inspired by Dr. George C. Wright’s pivotal work, Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865 – 1940: Lynchings, Mob Rule and “Legal Lynchings,” this symposium is a public, community-focused discussion on the extralegal and legislative efforts that violently enforced Jim Crow laws in Kentucky, often without holding the perpetrators accountable.

Join a diverse group of community members, local organizations, library professionals, and university academics to share ideas and research on past civil and human rights violations against African American Kentuckians. We’ll also explore attempts at restorative justice and how new technologies can help reimagine a more historically accurate and nuanced history of race in Kentucky. Let’s come together to uncover, document, and honor Kentucky’s rich and complex history.

Learn more about the symposium program and register HERE!