Dr. Anne Butler History Award
Dr. Butler (1948-2013), served as Associate Professor and Director, Center of Excellence for the Study of Kentucky African Americans (CESKAA), Kentucky State University. Her research in 2004 uncovered the fact that Oliver Lewis, the first jockey to win the 1875 Kentucky Derby, was buried in African Cemetery No. 2. Butler created a database of eighty-seven other horsemen buried there, the first that had ever been developed. To further inform the public, Butler wrote news articles and produced exhibits and displays for the Kentucky State Fair and local events in Louisville and Lexington.
In 2019, in honor of Dr. Butler, Phoenix Rising Lex established an award in her name to be given annually to an individual who has researched and promoted the history of African Americans in the equine industry.
2019
Yvonne Giles
Yvonne Giles and Dr. Butler were members of the board of African Cemetery No. 2. During Giles’ first years as a member, Butler asked, then urged, her to become involved in the research in which she was engaged. Giles has continued to add to Dr. Butler’s database of African Americans in the equine industry. To date, one-hundred-sixty-two horsemen rest in African Cemetery No. 2. (www.africancemeteryno2.org/horsemen)
Giles served as consultant to the International Museum of the Horse as they developed the exhibit Black Horsemen of the Kentucky Turf and the website Chronicle of African Americans in the Horse Industry. She has written articles for the Kentucky Humanities magazine and the exhibit catalog for the J.B. Speed Art Museum and co-authored the brochure for Phoenix Rising Lexington.
2020
Reinette Jones
Jones was recognized for her work in documenting Kentucky horsemen as well as those who worked in other states, but originally from Kentucky. She is co-creator and database manager for the Notable Kentucky African Americans website.
The extensive collection features those who performed all types of work with horses. It tells the story of African Americans involvement in creating a multimillion-dollar industry. https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/
Jones, a native of Bourbon County, Kentucky, received a B.A. degree in 1983 and M.A. degree in 1988 in library science. She is Professor/Librarian 1, Special Collections Research Center with the Margaret I. King Research Library, UK. She is author of Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, published by McFarland & Company, Inc, North Carolina, 2002.
2021
Becky Ryder
A native of Virginia, Becky always wanted to be a librarian and set her sights on gaining as much experience and education as possible to achieve her goal. As a student at the University of Virginia she worked as a music librarian and after graduation moved to work as a reference librarian. Having earned her Master of Library Science in 1992, she traveled across to Kentucky where she became Head Librarian for Preservation Services at UK.
In May 2010 she moved to Keeneland Library as Director and administer of library operations, capital planning, succession planning and personnel management. During this time, Becky has organized the library’s holdings on African Americans in the industry into extensive files and folders. She speared headed the formation of Phoenix Rising Lexington when she hosted and promoted Dr. Pellom McDaniel’s III visit to Lexington to present his biography, Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy. For these reasons and her tireless, passionate interest in promoting the history of African Americans in the Thoroughbred industry, she was chosen as the recipient of the 2021 Dr. Anne Butler History Award.
2022
Lisa Higgins-Hord, Assistant V.P. for Community Engagement, University of Kentucky
In 2010 as Dr. Anne Butler was starting to research and gather information on the African American men in the racing industry, Lisa encouraged African Cemetery No.2’s application for a Community Collaborative Grant awarded by the University of Kentucky. She had pitched and supported this nomination to the administration. A $10,000 award enabled the Cemetery to hire student researchers for their Young Equestrian Scholars initiative, place informational panels in the cemetery, and produce and print informational brochures.
In 2012, Lisa presented the concept of a bus tour through East End Lexington to William Wells Brown Elementary school and others. The tour centered heavily around the former racetrack and from this tour, a printed tour guide was developed for future presentations.
Lisa has continued to support Phoenix Rising and its mission and programs as well as other programs in support of the African American community.
2023
Maryjean Wall, Turf Writer/Historian/Author
Ms. Wall worked as a groom and assistant trainer to a pony person but wanted to ride Thoroughbreds as a jockey. Because of gender restrictions, her desire was not fulfilled. So, she decided to write about the equine industry. Of her forty-one years as a journalist, she covered Turf events for thirty-five years. Ms. Wall became a pioneer for female turf writers, forging her path and standing firm for equal rights to interview sportsmen. Ms. Wall wrote a special report in 2001- In Their Own Words - interviewing now-deceased African American horsemen, Dick Spiller, Tom Harbut and Jackie Thompson. Ms. Wall retired from the Lexington Herald-Leader in 2008. She continues to write articles for the Keeneland Magazine about Kentucky people and places of interest. She earned a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Kentucky. Her published manuscripts – How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers and Breeders and Madam Belle: Sex, Money and Influence in a Southern Brothel - were released in 2010 and 2014, respectively. Ms. Wall is a recipient of Media Eclipse Awards for the years 1980, 1997 and 1998. She has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize twice. She was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 and has received the John Hervey Award for coverage of harness racing. In 2016 her name was added to the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga, NY.
(Sources: Muck Rack; University Press of Kentucky; National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame; Lexington Herald-Leader archived articles)
2023
Bill Cooke, Director Emeritus, International Museum of the Horse
Mr. Cooke was born in Harrodsburg, KY. When you listen to the oral history interview of Bill Cooke for the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, you conclude that he was in the right place at the right time. In 1977 he was hired as Director of the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park, a position he held until 2018. At that time, the museum was a giant hole in the ground with an expected date of opening within a year. He was charged with finding artifacts and memorabilia to fill the space. Because the museum was international in scope the world became a field of research and the timeline could stretch backward to the beginning of the species. Thus began his forty -two years of education, research, discovery, adventure, challenges, and rewards. During his tenure, he secured the Calumet Farm trophy collection, directed three blockbuster international exhibits with loans from all over the world including: Imperial China: The Art of the Horse in Chinese History in 2000; All the Queen’s Horses: The Role of the Horse in British History in 2003; and A Gift from the Desert: The Art, Culture and History of the Arabian Horse in 2010. The final exhibition that Cooke oversaw was Black Horsemen of the Kentucky Turf in 2018. As a founding board member of Phoenix Rising Lex, Cooke has greatly helped bring the accomplishments of African Americans in the horse industry to the attention of the public.
(Sources: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History (https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt731z41v918); Cooke, Bill, interview by Alan Lytle. April 30, 2018, Horse Industry in Kentucky Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.)
2024
Frank X. Walker, Poet/Historian
Frank X Walker penned a book of persona poems in 2010 titled Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate This Ride. This book led to the production of a play and was performed at the Lyric Theatre when Keeneland Library hosted Celebrating Isaac Murphy October 19-24, 2015. Kentucky Educational Television produced a documentary that is downloadable for educators and the public.
Walker had consulted with Dr. Anne Butler as he prepared for the publication. He says: “Dr. Butler and her resources in Frankfort were foundational in my Isaac Murphy research. It would mean a lot to be connected to something that honored her great work and legacy. I’m very proud of the Isaac play, book, and Emmy-award-winning documentary.”
Walker, a 1996 graduate of the University of Kentucky in English earned his Master of Fine Arts in 2003 from Spaulding University, Louisville. He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, Spalding University, and Centre College. Walker is now College of Fine Arts Professor in the English Department. He teaches creative writing. Walker became the first African American to be appointed Kentucky Poet Laureate in 2013.
Source: ttps://bio.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/cv/FrankXWalkerCV2019.pdf