Elizabeth Harvey Free Black School & Harveysburg Community Historical Society

Established in 1831 by Elizabeth Harvey in Harveysburg, the Elizabeth Harvey Free Black School was the first school for freed African American children in Ohio and is now home of the Harveysburg Community Historical Society and their community museum.

The Harmon Foundation & the Harlem Renaissance

William Elmer Harmon created the Harmon Foundation in 1922. It was the first major foundation supporting African-American creativity and ingenuity.

Southwest Ohio Trailblazers

Samuel Robert Bailey
First African-American teacher and principal in the public schools of Lebanon
Cedric Michael Cox
Artist best known for his paintings and drawings that "merge surrealism and representational abstraction"
Willis "Bing" Davis
Contemporary artist, educator, and cultural leader
Elizabeth Kimberlin
A leader in community and statewide service programs as well as a local civil rights trailblazer
James Richard Mills
First African-American mayor of Lebanon, Ohio
Anna Middleton
​Freed slave and first of many black Shakers in the region
Rodney Veal
A choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, educator, producer, and host at CET & Thinktv
Orindatus Simon Bolivar Wall
A freed slave, one of the first students at the Free Black School in Harveysburg. He went on to become the 1st Black Captain in the US Army, Washington DC Lawyer, and Police Magistrate