William Henry Steward

William Henry Steward (July 26, 1847 – January 3, 1935) was a civil rights activist from Louisville, Kentucky. In February 1876, he was appointed the first black letter carrier in Kentucky. He was the leading layman of the General Association of Negro Baptists in Kentucky and played a key role in the founding of Simmons College of Kentucky by the group in 1879. He continued to play an important role in the college during his life. He was also co-founder of the American Baptist, a journal associated with the group, and Steward went on to be the journal's editor. He was a leader in Louisville civic and public life, and played a role in extending educational opportunities in the city to black children. In 1897, his political associations led to his appointment as judge of registration and election for the Fifteenth Precinct of the Ninth Ward, overseeing voter registration for the election. This was the first appointment of an African American to such a position in Kentucky. He was elected president of the Afro-American Press Association in the 1890s He was a close associate of Booker T. Washington, and in the late 1890s and early 1900s, Steward was a prominent member of the National Afro-American Council, which was dominated by Washington. He was president of the council from 1904 to 1905. He was a lifelong opponent of segregation and was frequently involved in anti-Jim Crow law activities. In 1914 he helped found a Louisville branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which he left in 1920 to become a key player in the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC). He was also a prominent freemason and twice elected Worshipful Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky.

Early life

William Henry Steward was born a slave on July 26, 1847, in Brandenburg, Kentucky. He and his parents were light-skinned. At the age of nine, his master brought him to Louisville, Kentucky. He was allowed to attend school, and attended schools taught by Henry Adams, William H. Gibson, and R. T. W. James. For most of the rest of his life, Steward served as chairman of the board of trustees at Simmons College. Also in 1879 the journal, American Baptist, was created by Steward and the General Association and from that time Steward was associated with the paper. He served as city editor, associate editor, and then as editor and business manager.

National activities Steward's role in the American Baptist greatly increased his national reputation. He was elected secretary of the National Baptist convention in St. Louis on August 25, 1886, and continued to hold officer positions at numerous later conventions. who won the nomination but lost the election to Grover Cleveland. In the 1890s he was elected president of the national Afro-American Press Association. In 1896, as president of the group, Steward was active in supporting the candidacy for president of William McKinley.

Later life in Louisville In 1906, leading Louisville African Americans including Steward, Rev. Charles H. Parrish, and Rev. John H. Frank formed the Cave Dwellers Life Association, a life insurance company. In January 1910, Steward, school principal Albert E. Meyzeek, and Rev. Charles H. Parrish met with white Louisville streetcar officials and civic leaders regarding protests and boycotts of streetcars by blacks in response to a Jim Crow streetcar ordinance. Whites had called for the ban of blacks from the cars complaining that black men were sitting next to white women. Steward's efforts to calm the situation prevented three efforts to ban blacks between 1910 and 1918. In 1920, Steward and Parrish were ousted from the executive board of the branch due to pressure from businessman Wilson Lovett over a bond issue. The pair left the NAACP and began working on the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC). The group worked for similar goals, but frequently broke with the NAACP. For instance, when Louisville officials adopted an ordinance disallowing blacks from public parks in June 1924, the NAACP denounced the ordinance, while the CIC called for opening parks in black neighborhoods. When city officials soon after opened a new park with a swimming pool, the CIC praised the mayor and park commissioners, in-spite of the fact that other parks blacks lacked basic facilities and were simply vacant lots. Steward died on January 3, 1935 He was buried alongside his wife, Mamie E. Lee Steward in Louisville's Eastern Cemetery.