William Frederick "Billy" Klair (1875-1937) was the undisputed czar of Lexington, Kentucky, for decades. As political boss in a mid-sized, southern city, he faced problems strikingly similar to those of large cities in the North. As he watched the city grow from a sleepy market town of 16,000 residents to a bustling, active urban center of over 50,000, Klair saw changes that altered not just Lexington but the nation and the world: urbanization, industrialization, and immigration. But Klair did not merely watch these changes; like other political bosses and social reformers, he actively participated in the transformation of his city. As a political boss and a practitioner of what George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall referred to as "honest graft," Klair applied lessons of organization, innovation, manipulation, power, and control from the machine age to bring together diverse groups of Lexingtonians and Kentuckians as supporters of a powerful political machine. James Duane Bolin also examines the underside of the city, once known as the Athens of the West. He balances the postcard view of Bluegrass mansions and horse farms with the city's well-known vice district, housing problems, racial tensions, and corrupt politics. With the reality of life in Lexington as a backdrop, the career of Billy Klair provides as a valuable and engaging case study of the inner workings of a southern political machine.

A behind-the-scenes history of the Bluegrass State’s iconic sport. Horse racing and the Commonwealth of Kentucky are synonymous. The equine industry in the state dates as far back as the eighteenth century, and some of that history remains untold. The Seventeenth Earl of Derby made the trip from England to Louisville for the famed Kentucky Derby. Many famous African American jockeys grew up in the area but fled to Europe during the Jim Crow era. Gambling on races is a popular pastime, but betting in the early days caused significant changes in the sport. Hidden History of Horse Racing in Kentucky details the rich and the lesser-known history at the tracks in the Bluegrass State.

Isaac Burns Murphy (1861–1896) was one of the most dynamic jockeys of his era. Still considered one of the finest riders of all time, Murphy was the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three times, and his 44 percent win record remains unmatched. Despite his success, Murphy was pushed out of Thoroughbred racing when African American jockeys were forced off the track, and he died in obscurity. In The Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy, author Pellom McDaniels III offers the first definitive biography of this celebrated athlete, whose life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the adoption of Jim Crow legislation. Despite the obstacles he faced, Murphy became an important figure—not just in sports, but in the social, political, and cultural consciousness of African Americans. Drawing from legal documents, census data, and newspapers, this comprehensive profile explores how Murphy epitomized the rise of the black middle class and contributed to the construction of popular notions about African American identity, community, and citizenship during his lifetime.

A biography of the Kentucky women’s rights activist and progressive reformer, featuring personal interviews and recently discovered correspondence. Preeminent Kentucky reformer and women’s rights advocate Madeline McDowell Breckinridge (1872-1920) was at the forefront of social change during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A descendant of Henry Clay and the daughter of two of Kentucky’s most prominent families, Breckinridge had a remarkably varied activist career that included roles in the promotion of public health, education, women’s rights, and charity. Founder of the Lexington Civic League and Associated Charities, Breckinridge successfully lobbied to create parks and playgrounds and to establish a juvenile court system in Kentucky. She also became president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association, served as vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and even campaigned across the country for the League of Nations. In the first biography of Breckinridge since 1921, Melba Porter Hay draws on newly discovered correspondence and rich personal interviews with her female associates to illuminate the fascinating life of this important Kentucky activist. Deftly balancing Breckinridge’s public reform efforts with her private concerns, Hay tells the story of Madeline’s marriage to Desha Breckinridge, editor of the Lexington Herald, and how she used the match to her advantage by promoting social causes in the newspaper. Hay also chronicles Breckinridge’s ordeals with tuberculosis and amputation, and emotionally trying episodes of family betrayal and sex scandals. Hay describes how Breckinridge’s physical struggles and personal losses transformed her from a privileged socialite into a selfless advocate for the disadvantaged. Later as vice president of the National American Women Suffrage Association, Breckinridge lobbied for Kentucky’s ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in 1920. While devoting much of her life to the woman suffrage movement on the local and national levels, she also supported the antituberculosis movement, social programs for the poor, compulsory school attendance, and laws regulating child labor. In bringing to life this extraordinary reformer, Hay shows how Breckinridge championed Kentucky’s social development during the Progressive Era. Praise for Madeline McDowell Breckinridge and the Battle for a New South “An important contribution to American history, one that is of special significance to Kentucky history, the Progressive Era, and the women's rights movement.” —Paul Fuller, author of Laura Clay and the Women’s Rights Movement “Hay brings to life a multi-dimensional woman, emblematic of her times, with whom readers can identify and sympathize.” —Melanie Beals Goan, author of Mary Breckinridge: The Frontier Nursing Service and Rural Health in Appalachia

The conflicts of the Civil War continued long after the conclusion of the war: jockeys and Thoroughbreds took up the fight on the racetrack. A border state with a shifting identity, Kentucky was scorned for its violence and lawlessness and struggled to keep up with competition from horse breeders and businessmen from New York and New Jersey. As part of this struggle, from 1865 to 1910, the social and physical landscape of Kentucky underwent a remarkable metamorphosis, resulting in the gentile, beautiful, and quintessentially southern Bluegrass region of today. In her debut book, How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders, former turf writer Maryjean Wall explores the post–Civil War world of Thoroughbred racing, before the Bluegrass region reigned supreme as the unofficial Horse Capital of the World. Wall uses her insider knowledge of horse racing as a foundation for an unprecedented examination of the efforts to establish a Thoroughbred industry in late-nineteenth-century Kentucky. Key events include a challenge between Asteroid, the best horse in Kentucky, and Kentucky, the best horse in New York; a mysterious and deadly horse disease that threatened to wipe out the foal crops for several years; and the disappearance of African American jockeys such as Isaac Murphy. Wall demonstrates how the Bluegrass could have slipped into irrelevance and how these events define the history of the state. How Kentucky Became Southern offers an accessible inside look at the Thoroughbred industry and its place in Kentucky history.

Growing up in a predominantly black community in Lexington, Kentucky, I was astonished that I didn't know much about the other black communities within the city. To some degree, I didn't know much about my neighborhood. Once I sought information and began learning about the various communities, I realized there are just not many books dedicated to the black communities of Lexington. You will find a blurb here and there in some books but that's really it. Since I noticed the need, I decided I should be the one to do it, and the idea for this book was born. This book is eighteen chapters of research into black Lexington. In this text, you will discover whom these communities were named after, various characters who resided in the community, the origin story of the various churches in these communities, and much more. Neighborhoods like Pralltown, Brucetown, Maddoxtown, Davis Bottom, Speigle Hill, Charlotte Court, and Bluegrass Aspendale are covered. There are also chapters on lesser-known communities such as Frogtown, Adamstown, and Chicago Bottoms. It is also semi-biographical in nature. Many of my ancestors lived in these communities, and some of my genealogy research into their lives was shared within. There isn't a book quite like this in the city of Lexington, Kentucky. Until Now!

This first volume of "CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual picks up where its predecessor, the acclaimed biannual periodical "CrossRoads: A Journal of Southern Culture, left off when the latter ceased publication in the mid-1990s. Formerly edited by several graduate students affiliated with the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture (primarily by current editor Ted Olson), "Cross Roads: A Southern Culture Annual will continue its original mission: to provide a forum for diverse perspectives on the South and on Southern culture through combining compelling new fiction and poetry from well-known as well as emerging Southern authors, with eloquent articles, memoirs, oral histories, and photo essays that interpret and celebrate relevant manifestations of the Southern cultural experience. "CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual will deepen readers' awareness of and connection to the South.