Saturday will mark the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, which takes place at Churchill Downs. While coverage of the Derby will probably focus on memorable races and moments from the past, this auspicious anniversary is also an opportune khbrknews to scrutinize the racist history of the sport and that of the Churchill family after whom Churchill Downs is named.
The story of Churchill Downs begins with the patriarch of the family, Armistead Churchill. Born in 1733, he fought for the Virginia colonists during the Revolutionary War. He later acquired several hundred acres of land in what would later become Louisville, Ky. Armistead used enslaved labor to work the land and when he died, he left some of the property to his youngest son, Samuel B. Churchill Sr.
Around 1850, Samuel gave some of his land to two of his sons, John and Henry. The Churchill sons leased a portion to a nephew named Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., the grandson of the famed explorer William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Clark founded the Louisville Jockey Club and built a racecourse later named Churchill Downs in honor of the family on whose land it rested. Churchill Downs opened in 1875 and the Derby is the longest continually running sporting event in the U.S.
The Churchill family wealth depended on the labor of enslaved people. Armistead Churchill, who first relocated the family to Kentucky, was the grandson of a wealthy Virginia plantation owner, William Churchill. When his grandson moved to Kentucky, he sent enslaved people ahead to engage in the laborious work of clearing the land and building a house for the white slaveholding family. As one of the richest families in the area, the Churchill family grew hemp, tobacco, and other crops. The sale of those items allowed them the luxury of becoming involved in civic affairs and the leisure to breed and race horses.
Upon his death, Samuel Churchill left his…
