Arts & Culture

Brush Up on Juneteenth, Civil Rights History With UPK Titles

Book covers in collage

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 17, 2022) — Looking to learn more about the history of Juneteenth and civil rights in Kentucky? The University Press of Kentucky’s Civil Rights catalog has you covered.

With titles spanning the topics of African American studies, race and sports, and the struggle for Black equality, there are plenty to choose from.

Several of the titles in the catalog are authored and edited by University of Kentucky faculty members and community members, including Gerald L. Smith, Derrick E. White, Crystal Wilkinson — all faculty in the UK College of Arts and Sciences — and former faculty member Nikky Finney. The press is currently running a sale through June 30 on civil rights and African American studies titles on their website, so it’s the perfect time to stock up.

 A limited sampling of titles are listed below, with the entire Civil Rights collection available at this link.

African American Studies

  1. African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision” second edition, edited by Tamara L. Brown, Gregory S. Parks and Clarenda M. Phillips.
  2. The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia edited by Gerald L. Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel and John A. Hardin.
  3. Perfect Black” by Crystal Wilkinson, illustrated by Ronald W. Davis with a foreword by Nikki Finney.

Civil Rights

  1. Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South: Louisville, Kentucky, 1945-1980” by Tracy E. K’Meyer.
  2. Fifty Years of Segregation: Black Higher Education in Kentucky, 1904-1954” by John A. Hardin.
  3. Freedom on the Border: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky” by Catherine Fosl and Tracy E. K’Meyer.

“Race in Sports” series edited by Gerald L. Smith and Derrick E. White

  1. Integrated: The Lincoln Institute, Basketball and a Vanished Tradition” by James W. Miller.
  2. We Will Win The Day: The Civil Rights Movement, the Black Athlete, and the Quest for Equality” by Louis Moore.

“Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century” series edited by Steven F. Lawson, Cynthia G. Fleming and Hasan Kwame Jeffries

  1. Art for Equality: The NAACP’s Cultural Campaign for Civil Rights” by Jenny Woodley.
  2. Constructing Affirmative Action: The Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity” by David Hamilton Golland.
  3. Freedom Rights: New Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement” edited by Danielle L. McGuire and John Dittmer.

The University Press of Kentucky is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Spalding University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, University of Pikeville, and Western Kentucky University.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.