The Struggle for Equal Education in Kentucky, 1866-1884

Abstract

The progress of events during the Civil War opened up the floodgates that had held back the thirst for education among black Americans in the Antebellum South. The eagerness for book learning in the border states, such as Kentucky, was as pronounced as in the secession states. As the war drew to a close, the antislavery American Missionary Association, which was well established in Kentucky, with churches strategically located in Berea, Camp Nelson, and Maysville, was ready to extend its religious and educational services to the freedmen of Kentucky.1 John G. Fee, acting for the American Missionary Association, became the pioneer in education for Kentucky's freedmen by working among the ex-soldiers at Camp Nelson.2 From Camp Nelson he travelled to the adjacent counties and set up County Educational Societies among the Blacks to promote education among them. He endeavored to establish County Aid Societies among the benevolent whites to aid the schools.3 By October, 1865, Fee had established a school at Camp Nelson with thirteen teachers, and education was being given to noncommissioned officers, privates, and children. This development was met with hostility from the whites, but James Brisbin, commander under General John Palmer, promised to protect Fee in this