Celebrating Winchester’s Black Trailblazers, conclusion

Dr. Cora Fletcher

First African American chair of the Berea College School of Nursing.

A native of Winchester, Cora Fletcher grad­u­at­ed from Meharry Medical College of Nashville.  She received a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  At Berea College, she chaired the Nursing Department and was direc­tor of Black Studies.  She found­ed the Berea Health Ministry Rural Health Clinic.  She was induct­ed into the University of Kentucky Public Health Hall of Fame, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and received the Humanitarian Award from the Winchester Black History and Heritage Committee.

Carrie P. Hudson

Wincester’s first African American elect­ed to city com­mis­sion­er and vice-mayor.

Carrie Patton Hudson (1948−2019) grew up in Winchester and attend­ed Howard University, Fugazzi Business College, and the University of Kentucky.  After being appoint­ed to fill a vacan­cy on the City Commission, Hudson was elect­ed to five two-year terms.  In addi­tion, she served on the Human Rights Commission, the Parks and Recreation Board, the WMU Commission, and chair of the Urban Renewal and Community Development Agency.  She was also active in the League of Women Voters and the local branch of the NAACP.

Rev. G. D. Jackson

Opened his own bar­ber­shop on West Washington Street.

Rev. George D. Jackson (1900−1979) was a min­is­ter for fifty-two years.  He held pas­torates at St. James, L&E Junction, Leeburg, Mortonville, and Sadieville church­es.  He came to Winchester in 1925 and was employed as a bar­ber at the Brown Proctor Hotel until he estab­lished his own bar­ber­shop on West Washington Street in 1929. 

Rev. Nessie B. Jackson

Winchester’s first Black female pastor.

Winchester’s first Black-owned mas­sage parlor.

Nessie B. Jackson (1899−1971) was the wife of Rev. G. D. Jackson.  She was a grad­u­ate of the National College of Massage and Physio-Therapy.  In 1940 she adver­tised her mas­sage busi­ness on Oliver Street.  She lat­er opened Grandmother’s What-Not-Shop on West Washington where she sold antiques, chi­na, etc.  She estab­lished the St. James Pentecostal Church and served as its min­is­ter (lat­er became the Greater St. James Church).

Dr. Oliver Lucas

The first African American head foot­ball coach at George Rogers Clark High School.

Dr. Oliver Lucas came to GRC after turn­ing around the foot­ball pro­grams at Bryan Station and Louisville Manual and com­pil­ing a 173–73 record.  The coach has a B.S. degree in biol­o­gy, a master’s in edu­ca­tion admin­is­tra­tion, and a doc­tor­ate in lead­er­ship and man­age­ment.  For his per­for­mance in the class­room, he was twice named “Teacher of the Year.”  He retired after four sea­sons at GRC.

Dr. Beatrice Newell

First African American female pedi­a­tri­cian from Winchester.

Beatrice O. Newell grad­u­at­ed with hon­ors from Kentucky State University (1973) and went on to obtain her med­ical degree from Creighton University (1979), with spe­cial­ties in pedi­atrics and inter­nal med­i­cine. She has prac­ticed in Ohio and Oklahoma and is cur­rent­ly with the Stanton Family Clinic in Stanton. She is also affil­i­at­ed with the Cherokee Nation W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Martha Miller

Kentucky’s first African American chief deputy and cir­cuit court clerk.

Martha Miller served Clark County for 47 years in the Circuit Court Clerk’s office.  She began as a deputy clerk in 1977 and made his­to­ry by becom­ing the first African American chief deputy clerk in 2013 and cir­cuit court clerk in 2018.  Miller has served on the Clark Regional Medical Center board, the Preschool Council, Equity Coalition, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Hillcrest Cemetery.  She has also chaired the Labor Day Parade Committee.

Rev. Alonzo Gatewood

First African American super­vi­sor of Kentucky Pretrial Services.

Alonzo Gatewood (1937−2009) served in the Marine Corps and was a mem­ber of the Harold G. Epperson Marine Corps League.  He was an offi­cer and super­vi­sor with Kentucky Pretrial Services.  He served as pas­tor of Pine Grove CME Church at West Bend and was a mem­ber of the Powell County Ministerial Association, Elks Lodge, and Masonic Lodge.

Arthur Clay

First African American patrol­man and deputy sher­iff in Winchester.

Arthur Clay joined the Winchester Police Department as a patrol­man in 1969 and became a deputy sher­iff in 1977. He served as chair of the local NAACP chap­ter; dur­ing his tenure, they won the Thalheimer Award (1981), select­ed as the most out­stand­ing chap­ter of its size at the National NAACP Convention. Clay also served on the Human Rights Commission, as chair of the Whitney Young Youth Program, and as vice-chair of Micro City Government.

Thanks to GRC stu­dent Heiraelle Osborne for her arti­cle on the Trailblazers in the school news­pa­per, Smoke Signals, and for her pho­tographs used in these articles.