Launched by the Keeneland Library in February 2023, The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers explores the lives of Black horsemen and women who helped shape the Thoroughbred racing industry. This exhibit has traveled, reaching more than 225,000 youth and adults from every U.S. state and 35 countries.
The exhibit showcases these stories from the era of enslavement to today through panels, never-before-seen photographs, artifacts, commissioned artwork, and video interviews. Over 100 photographs from Keeneland Library collections are featured, alongside artwork by LaVon Williams and loans from the Kentucky Derby Museum, the International Museum of the Horse, and private collections.
The Heart of the Turf also highlights Lexington’s East End, once home to the Kentucky Association track and many prominent Black horsemen, including four future Racing Hall of Famers. Their skill, knowledge, and perseverance laid the foundation for both the Bluegrass economy and the modern Thoroughbred industry.
From race track stars to behind-the-scenes caretakers, the exhibit honors the countless African Americans whose contributions made racing what it is today. For more information about the exhibit visit: https://www.keeneland.com/keeneland-library/heart-turf-racings-black-pioneers
From January 30th to March 1st, Scott County Public Library will be hosting the exhibit in our gallery area. For more information visit: https://scottpublib.org/art-gallery-centennial-exhibit/heart-of-the-turf/
As well as the exhibit, to honor Black History Month, we’ve curated a special list of books by Black authors! This collection highlights diverse voices, and impactful stories worth exploring. Stop by the library to check them out and discover your next great read.
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age–and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
Natasha, a science-loving Jamaican immigrant facing deportation, and Daniel, a Korean-American poet, who fall in love in New York City over a single, fateful day, exploring themes of fate, chance, love, immigration, and family pressures as their different worldviews clash and connect, leading to a bittersweet, hope-filled ending. The story follows their intertwined paths as Natasha seeks to stay in the U.S. and Daniel attends a crucial Yale interview, questioning if love can overcome circumstances.
After her best friend’s mysterious death, Elizabeth Smith’s picture-perfect life in the Memphis suburbs has spiraled out of control; so much so that she hires a personal assistant to keep her on track. Composed and elegant, Brianna is exactly who she needs and slides so neatly into Elizabeth’s life, almost like she belonged there from the start; but Brianna has questions too. She wants to know why the police killed her young Black son. Why someone in Elizabeth’s neighborhood called the cops on him that day. Who took that first step that stole her child away from her. And the only way she’s ever going to be able to find out is to entwine herself deep into Elizabeth’s life, where the answers to her questions lie. As the two women hurtle towards an electrifying final showdown, and the lines between employer and friend blur, it becomes clear that neither of them is what they first appear.