LEXINGTON, Ky. — As the nation observes Juneteenth on June 19, the University of Kentucky Libraries is showcasing extensive resources documenting Kentucky's history of slavery, emancipation and African American resilience, according to reporting from UK News.

The collections house primary source documents that reveal not only the violence and brutality of slavery but also the courage and resistance of enslaved people seeking freedom. A research guide on African American slavery in Kentucky curated by Reinette Jones, a librarian with UK's Special Collections Research Center, directs scholars to census records, newspapers, government documents, deeds and other county clerk records that document enslaved people's lives and emancipation.

A major undertaking called the Self-Emancipated and Enslaved People in Kentucky (SEEK) Project has compiled nearly 3,000 fugitive slave advertisements from historical Kentucky newspapers. Led by Vanessa Holden, associate professor of history and African American and Africana studies, along with librarians and archivists, the project examines advertisements published in the Kentucky Gazette and other papers from the late 18th and 19th centuries.

"These ads allow people to learn about slavery through Black resistance, which is a different entry point into the subject than usual," Holden said, noting that the advertisements reveal the humanity and agency of people who sought freedom.

The SEEK project plans to launch a website in Spring 2027 with a searchable database that will link individual advertisements back to original newspaper issues. The team also intends to share findings with Freedom on the Move, a national database based at Cornell University that documents fugitives from North American slavery.

The Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies, a multidisciplinary research center at UK, collaborates with the SEEK project and other initiatives exploring Central Kentucky's slavery history. The institute also supports the Digital Access Project, which provides digital access to nearly a quarter million records from the Fayette County Clerk's Office dating from the late 18th century to 1865, including deeds, mortgages and probate records containing information about enslaved people.

Undergraduate students have played a significant role in the work, conducting archival research and processing documents. "Exploring the archive is a very different experience from hearing a lecture in the classroom," Holden said, noting that students have found the work deeply meaningful in understanding Kentucky's history as their own.