The Elisha Green Memorial fundraising effort continues! In order to finish the second phase of the memorial on W Fourth St in Maysville, we are asking for donations to help us reach the remaining fundraising goal - $25,000!

Thanks to many generous donors, two thirds of the needed funds have been raised. When finished, the memorial will have a life-size statue of Rev. Green in addition to the quilted stain glass edifice and accompanying platform.

Buddy Gallenstein, Norbert Gallenstein, and friends are confident that as a community, we can raise the funds and complete the memorial!

About Rev. Elisha Green: born into the bondage of slavery in 1815, Elisha Green was sold to a Mason County family and moved here at age 10 (you may know his owners’ home as the “Octagon House” or “Glen Alice” on Fleming Road). He learned to read in secret, and was taught to write by his owner's young daughter. Additionally, he served as sexton of the local white Baptist church.

Green's most significant contributions to American history center on his pioneering work in African American religious leadership and education. In 1845, the white Baptist church & Green's owner John Dobbyn authorized Green to preach to the "colored population", and he founded First African Baptist Church of Maysville in 1848 and First African Baptist Church of Paris in 1855. Beyond pastoral work, Green played a crucial role in establishing higher education for African Americans. He promoted the establishment of what is now the Simmons College of Kentucky was instrumental in founding the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute, one of only two colleges in Kentucky educating Black students from 1879.

During the 1840s/1850s, a group of his white churchgoers loaned him $850 ($30K+ today) to purchase his and his family’s freedom from slavery. Though free on paper, Rev. Green learned repeatedly and viciously that legal freedom did not make him free from racial persecution. In fact, even 20+ years after abolition, in 1883, an elderly Green was viciously attacked by a white minister on a train who demanded he give up his seat, while Green refused. Green ended up suing and won damages of $24 for the assault. The case predated Rosa Parks by 70 years.

This short summary does not do Rev. Green’s life justice; if you would like to read more, we recommend his 1888 autobiography, “Life,” or “The Assault on Elisha Green” by Randolph Runyon.

About the memorial and fundraiser: In the 1990s, then-Judge Executive of Mason County Buddy Gallenstein led a coalition of citizens determined to honor Rev. Green, whose life and legacy deserve recognition. Inspiration for the original design came from a site visit that Buddy & Jerry Gore (renowned local historian) took to the Bethel Baptist Church, which stood where the partial memorial sits today. Looking over the Ohio River, the impressive brick building was dedicated in May 1875. Sadly, the church burned to the ground in the 1970s. Learn more about the Bethel Baptist Church here.

The original design of the memorial includes the quilt-patterned stained glass edifice (which is there today) along with a life-size likeness of Green with a Bible in one hand and the other hand reaching toward the Ohio River to indicate freedom from slavery was just within reach. On the ground sits a pair of discarded shackles symbolizing the bondage of slavery.

Sam McKinney, a sculptor whose works include multiple in downtown Maysville, put in a bid and design for the statue, which you can see in the pictures.

Photo descriptions:

1. existing portion of the memorial on W 4th St in downtown Maysville

2. Artist's rendition of the Rev. Elisha Green statue to be added

3. existing platform on which the statue will sit

4. a KSB Miniature rendition of the Bethel Baptist Church at 1/12 scale, built by Allison Ashby and Steve Jedd

5. the interior of the miniature Bethel Baptist Church with incredible attention to detail! Visit in person at the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center