Jefferson Jacob School

01/06/2026

The criminals have been identified for the break-ins at the School. The matter has been turned over to the police who will contact the parents in the neighborhood.

Send a message to learn more

12/15/2025

The School has stood proudly for over 100 years with never a break-in. That tradition was shattered this year with two break-ins of both the main and little buildings. Fortunately, cameras caught the group of girls in the latest burglary and trespass, using the same technique as the first break-in. If you recognize any of these girls, please report to LMPD at: 574-2258 (8th Division); 574-5673 (anonymous tip line); or p3tips.com (online tip form). The address is 6517/6601 Jacob School Rd. The latest break in occurred on Oct. 26. You can also send me (Jefferson Jacob School) a PM via FB Messages. Please share widely. From other photos, it is possible they walked through the back of the site from Shirley Ave.

03/05/2025

Jacob School Heritage needs an experienced frame carpenter to evaluate the sill plates in the small building. If you know of someone, pls DM us on this FB page. Please refer only people/firms experienced in wood-frame construction. Thank you.

02/13/2025

James Stewart Taylor was born in 1913 to James Thomas and Julia McAfee Taylor. James Stewart received a degree in Cabinetmaking and Trade Teaching in 1939 from the Hampton Institute in Virginia. He returned home to teach in the outbuilding at the Jefferson Jacob School. He also taught at the Davis Trade School and the Lincoln Institute. Thereafter, he followed firmly in the entrepreneurial footsteps of his father. James Stewart married Bettie Louise Whitenhall, a teacher and assistant principal at Central High for 27 years. By 1955, James Stewart was a realtor at 1904 W. Broadway. He developed Beachland Subdivision ($15,500-$17,500 homes) in 1959 on 30 acres adjacent to the James T. Taylor Subdivision. In 1965, Stewart was inducted into the Louisville Board of Realtors as its first Black member. He also was President of the Negro Products Co. (NEPCO), which built a pillow factor at 39th and Algonquin Parkway in 1969 after receiving a $169,000 loan from the federal SBA, the first award nationally to a minority business enterprise. Stewart was also a licensed funeral home director and embalmer, associated with J.B. Cooper Funeral Homes and Rodgers Funeral Homes. He opened the nursing home in the James T. Taylor Subdivision, which is still operating. James Stewart died in 1983 and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.

11/07/2023

Susanna Brooks was born in 1891 in Goshen, one of 6 children of Louis Brooks and F***y Brookins Brooks. The family moved to the Happy Hollow enclave at “Sand Hill” when she was a child, later renamed “Prospect.” Susanna remembered the Merriwether house at Harrods Creek being built when she was a child and, at age 12, began teaching Sunday school at the Green Castle Baptist Church on Rose Island Road. In 1920, she married George Foree Kellar and had 4 children. Mrs. Kellar’s “loves” were “children, the elderly, and the Lord.” She was a quilter, cat lover, and gardener (at her home at 6301 Jacob School Rd) and cooked up a storm, her favorite dishes being oyster soup, mince pie, and bread. She started the children’s corner at Green Castle. In 1975, at the age of 85, she started the Prospect/Harrods Creek Senior Citizens Center in the small building at the Jefferson Jacob School. By 91, she still volunteered there on Mondays & Thursdays; on Tuesdays, she did her laundry on a washboard and tin tub; and another day she volunteered at the nursing home in the neighborhood. She was named Jefferson County’s “Senior Citizen of the Year” in 1981. This community leader died in 1988 at age 97 and is buried in the Eastern Cemetery.

10/28/2023

We’re learning about the Jefferson Jacob School teachers. To start: they were described as “strong” women, “concerned” about the welfare and future of each child, “diligent” and “strict” and excellent teachers. In the early years (1917-mid-1920s), Narcissa J. Brown and Lucy J. Scott taught, then Sunshine Merriwether (d. 1940), Cleoda Mason (later McDonald), Laura Jacob Ingram, and Margaret Stokes (later Dunbar). In 1924, Ms. Scott made $92.25/mo. and Ms. Meriwether made $83.25/mo. Estella Kennedy, Ellen Robinson, and Ms. ? Ditto also taught, years unknown. By the early 1930s, the teachers were Mamie Taylor Morris (d. 1996), Marinda Buckner Robinson (d. 1982), J. Etta Taylor (followed by Emma Alexander). The ~1939 staircase photo has Ms. Morris (principal), 1st row L; Ms. Alexander, 1st row R, and Ms. Robinson, top row L.

10/27/2023

Today we celebrate Hays Robinson Kennedy (photo, 1974). Hays Robinson was born in March 1893 to Louisa Hays and Henry Robinson. She grew up at 154 N. Charlton St. in the Clifton neighborhood of Louisville and later recalled the joy of sledding down the steep slope of Stevenson Ave. there. By 1920, she stocked goods at Husch Bros. on S. 4th. She married Calvin Kennedy in 1923. A year later, they moved to 6713 Jacob School Rd. where Calvin built a house (still standing) on 5 acres. A “strong, understanding” woman, she and Calvin had no children of their own, but she worked tirelessly to guide and support the children of the James T. Taylor neighborhood. She supervised the recreation program at the Jefferson Jacob School, went door-to-door collecting soft drink bottles to raise funds for playground equipment, and always “had an answer” when youngsters confided their problems in her. On 7/27/1974, her 50 years of volunteer service was honored by the dedication of Hays Kennedy Park. The Louisville Urban League honored her service in 1977 with an Equality Award. This community leader died on 1/15/1985, age 91, and is buried at the Kennedy family cemetery in Prospect.

10/26/2023

Let’s commemorate the Black women of Harrods Creek. Julia “Etta” McAfee Taylor was born 12/5/1890 to Edward McAfee and Mollie McKay of Louisville. She started her career as a teacher at the Eastern “Colored” School. In 1910, the “charming and very lovable young woman” married James T. Taylor. She helped her husband plat a new subdivision on land adjacent to the Prospect interurban in 1912, which became part of the larger “James T. Taylor” subdivision. Etta was instrumental in establishing the Jefferson Jacob School, serving as the first PTA president in 1916-1917 and serving as a vice president of the KY “Negro” Education Association at least through 1924. She and James T. lost two houses on Wolf Pen Branch Rd to fire and moved to 6600 Shirley in 1928. They raised three children, Minnie Alta, James S., and May Etta (the latter who died at age 7). Etta taught kindergarten in the Jefferson Jacob School's small building and often helped residents who bought in the Taylor subdivision with interior decorating. She died 9/20/1942 at age 52 years and is buried in the Louisville Cemetery on Poplar Level Rd.

07/18/2023

Welcome, Filson Historical Society tour on 7/15/23. We enjoyed having you!

07/11/2023

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY today. Researching Rosenwald schools. Everyone should visit the beautiful campus. You feel the giants who worked here: George W Carver, Booker T Washington.

06/11/2023

Thank you, Adolphus Thompkins, Jacob School Heritage board member, for the interview.

Last week, the Filson Historical Society announced the African American History Initiative to preserve the stories of Black people in Louisville, Southern Indiana and the Ohio Valley.