Kentucky.gov

On Saturday, October 27, Berea College professor Jackie Burnside will sign “Berea and Madison County,” one of the newest titles in Arcadia Publishing’s Black America series. Her book signing will be from 10:30 – 3:30 at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.

Burnside’s new is book about Madison County’s history and development and includes 200 vintage images accompanied by fact-filled detailed captions. “Berea and Madison County” focuses on the founding and 40 year development of the interracial town of Berea – which was begun based on the religious principle of the kinship of all people, especially between whites and blacks in a former slaveholding state after the Civil War.

Following the Civil War, black families were invited to Berea by white abolitionist Rev John G. Fee to develop an interracial school and church. From 1866 to 1904, residents’ lives revolved around Berea College, which educated black and white students together from primary school through college. In 1904, Kentucky’s Day Law prohibited interracial education. Berea College trustees retained white students on it’s campus while funding blacks to attend all-black colleges elsewhere. From 1904-1950, when the Day Law was amended, many residents upheld racial equality principles.

Burnside’s book is filled with images of people and scenes from Berea and southern Madison county’s early settlement. Professor Burnside states, “I hope many residents of other communities will take heart that the interracial community efforts of these 19th century pioneers can be a model and inspiration of the high achievements residents of the 21st century can strive to accomplish.”

A graduate of Berea College, Burnside has resided in Berea since the early 1970’s and her interest in local history started while she was in college. She has served in the U.S. Army in Panama and obtained her doctorate in sociology from Yale University in 1988. Her dissertation was a study of Berea College and its abolitionist founders and post slavery black and white students and teachers of the late 19th century.

The Kentucky Artisan Center, located just off Interstate 75 at exit 77 (Berea). The Center’s exhibits, shopping, and travel information areas are all open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café from 8 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Admission is free. The Center currently features works by more than 650 artisans from 90 counties across the Commonwealth. For more information call 859-985-5448 or visit the Center’s web site at www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov  

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Commerce Cabinet.