SPONSORED CONTENT -- (StatePoint) When it comes to learning history, there is something about the act of walking around a historical site that will drive a lesson home in a way that is nearly impossible to replicate with films, books and other media.
For instance, there are thousands of pages written on the historical importance of places like Camp Nelson in Nicholasville, Kentucky, where the Union Army used the installation as a vital supply depot, forward operating base, and safe haven for enslaved people escaping bondage in the south. Entire books have been written on how Camp Nelson was responsible for recruiting and training regiments of United States Colored Troops, which helped hasten the end of the nation’s bloodiest war. All of this can be read and understood without leaving one’s house or classroom.
However, there is a certain perspective that can only be gained while standing on the same ground that turned people who had once been referred to as property, into soldiers fighting for the freedom of all Americans. And a feeling of heaviness that can only be experienced during a quiet walk amongst the pristine rows of Civil War headstones in the Camp Nelson National Cemetery; each marker a reminder of the ultimate price someone had to pay for that freedom.
This emphasis on experiencing history firsthand is what lead to the creation of the Kentucky African American Heritage Trail. This trail includes more than 50 sites located across Kentucky that collectively tell the story of how African Americans overcame, innovated and thrived, while playing an essential role in forming the commonwealth and the nation as a whole.
The trail is a collaboration between the Kentucky Department of Tourism, Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Heritage Council, and was formed with the purpose of teaching accurate and culturally significant lessons to all visitors. By working together, the sites on the trail are able to further amplify marginalized voices and contributions while supporting local economies through tourism.
One such site is the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, which not only celebrates the life and personal achievements of one of the world’s greatest boxers, but also calls attention to Ali’s contributions to global humanitarianism and social justice. Visitors learn about the society Ali was born into and what he overcame to become a champion boxer and a champion for people. Another is the SEEK Museum in Russellville, which shines a spotlight on Kentucky’s “Struggles for Emancipation and Equality” by telling the story of five buildings in a National Register Historic District. These buildings take visitors on a journey through centuries of enslavement, emancipation, Jim Crow segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, all within a few city blocks.
The Kentucky African American Heritage Trail serves as a way of teaching visitors about Black Kentuckians, their achievements and related narratives in specific places, while helping to connect those stories to the vast and vibrant tapestry that is Kentucky’s story.
The trail can be found on Apple Maps as well as www.kentuckytourism.com.
Plan your journey through Kentucky history today.
