2001 Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame - Inductees from Lexington

Bishop Robert W. Estill
(1927 - )

Bishop Estill is one of a few prominent leaders from the white establishment who provided exemplary leadership during the fifties and sixties in the struggle against discrimination in public accommodation and employment.  He led by example employing an African American woman who served as his executive secretary for five years at his church.  In 1960, he became the first chairman of the Kentucky Human Rights Commission, where he served until 1966.  He is said to have set the tone for the "current acceptance of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights as a legitimate and respected agency with full enforcement powers."  He also served on the Lexington Human Rights Commission.  In 1962, he chaired the first Mayor's Meeting on Human Rights.  During the same year he was instrumental in helping to desegregate the Phoenix Hotel in Lexington.  He helped rally the march of approximately 10,000 people on Frankfort in 1964, which was lead by the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He once said, "The role of a minister is to make comfortable people uncomfortable, and uncomfortable people, comfortable."

Rev. William A. Jones, Sr.
(1907 - 1968)

The historic Pleasant Green Baptist Church of Lexington where the late Rev. Jones served from 1940 to 1968, was the cradle of the civil rights movement in central Kentucky.  He was chief strategist and advisor to the Lexington Chapter of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which was founded in Pleasant Green.  He organized local African American ministers to encourage their parishioners and African American constituents to vote en bloc during an election that produced the first African American City Councilman and Mayor pro-tem in Lexington.  He appeared as the sole African American before the Fayette County Board of Education in the sixties in opposition to the premature closing of Dunbar High School.  His efforts assured the continuation of the school for a number of years.  In death, Rev. Jones was the first African American person to be buried in the theretofore racially segregated Lexington Cemetery.

Julia Etta Lewis
(1932 - 1998)

In the mid sixties, the late Ms. Lewis was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Lexington, and was a key leader in the Kentucky Congress of Racial Equality.  She was a registered nurse by profession who focused on problems of segregation in theaters, education, shopping, trying on clothing and hats before purchase and public transportation.  Nonviolent demonstrations and sit-ins were her weapons.  Her voice and ability to extemporaneously quote Martin Luther King, William Shakespeare, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and the Bible would inspire and motivate marchers to continue in the fight for freedom.  She was a leader of the march and deliberations that integrated the city's food chain restaurants.  She lectured in the state on the importance of freedom and responsibility.  She participated with the historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church activities. She served as a council in regard to civil rights issues to mayors, governors and presidents.

Dr. Abby L. Marlatt
(1916 - )

Dr. Marlatt was instrumental in forming the Lexington chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).  She organized protests and marches in downtown Lexington.  Even under pressure from officials where she was Director of the School of Home Economics at the University of Kentucky, she persevered.  She helped start the Lexington Committee on Religion and Human Rights, which was a force in calling attention to injustice in Lexington.  She was a charter member of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Ethics Commission as a representative of the League of Women Voters.  She currently serves on the Board of Community Action and the Board of Emerson Center.  Her primary focus is ensuring that barriers are eliminated for those unable to speak for themselves such as children, the elderly and minorities.  The National Conference of Community and Justice honored her with its Brotherhood Award in 1985 for her tireless devotion to promoting justice in Kentucky.

George Leslie Logan
(1929 - )

Long an advocate of civil rights, Mr. Logan has been recognized by four governors for his work in securing Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday.  He enrolled at the University of Kentucky as one of the first African American students in the graduate school.  He was the first African American professor in the Kentucky Department of Education to become state Director of Drivers Education Supervisors (the first in the United States), and to hold a national office in the American Academy of Safety.  He was instrumental in drawing boundary lines for a legislative district to represent a predominately African American area, ensuring fair representation.  He is a historian who continues to speak to school and community groups about the importance of African American contributions to both state and national history.  One of his most significant impacts comes from his work with young people.

William Wade Smith, Sr.
(1924 - 1997)

One of his supporters wrote: "Billy was born to be a leader.  He reminds me of Moses who led the Israelites.  No matter what the task was he was always ready for the challenge."  The late Mr. Smith played a tremendous role in the fight for injustice and fairness for citizens of Versailles and Woodford County.  His efforts go back to the 1940s and continued until his death in 1997.  "Mr. Smith knew that African Americans were being discriminated against so he set out to change some things."  He worked with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights to form the local commission in his area.  In the 1980s when it began to languish, he led the effort to revitalize its structure so it would thrive.  He received the NAACP President's Award for this accomplishment.  In 1997, he received the Kentucky NAACP Clarence Mitchell Award.  He was a leader in getting the county and city police forces, as well as retail stores and banks, integrated in the area.  He was a U.S. Army WW II veteran.  He retired in 1981 after 26 years as a printing supervisor for several state departments.  He received the Ruth Roach Community Through Unity Award.