Gov. Andy Beshear has issued posthumous pardons to some Kentuckians jailed for helping Black people escape slavery. He has proclaimed June 19 as Juneteenth in the commonwealth, a day he has declared as an executive branch holiday in 2024.
Ahead of Juneteenth, Gov. Andy Beshear has taken executive action to posthumously pardon 43 wrongfully imprisoned Kentuckians who helped enslaved people escape to freedom.
“I know I’ll never be able to feel the weight of racism, inequality, or injustice, but I’m committed to listening, trying to hear, and taking intentional steps forward, because when we have a chance to correct a historical wrong, we should do it," Beshear said during a recent Team Kentucky briefing.
Among those pardoned was Elijah Anderson, a free Black man who was one of the most active Underground Railroad conductors in the commonwealth. According to records, he helped around 1,000 people reach freedom before being arrested for his efforts in Louisville. He died at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in 1861.
Another posthumous pardon went to Julett Miles, a Black woman, who after being freed, learned her children were going to be sold. Miles traveled across the Ohio River to free them. She was arrested and put in prison until her death in 1859.
“We’re talking about individuals who knew that there was a law, they knew that the law was unjust, they knew that the law was immoral, and they were willing to disobey the law and to suffer the consequences,” said Rev. Andrew Baskin, professor emeritus and former associate professor of African and African American Studies at Berea College. “What Gov. Beshear did today is help to correct part of the mistakes that have happened in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
Friday marks the national observance of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people. The Kentucky General Assembly has declined in recent years to make Juneteenth a state holiday, but Beshear signed an executive order in 2024, declaring June 19 an executive branch holiday.
The Kentucky House and Senate Majority Caucuses didn't respond to a request for comment.
The federal holiday commemorates June 19, 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the Civil War had ended and all enslaved people were finally free, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
In 2024, Gov. Beshear signed an executive order that expanded protections in state hiring and employment by prohibiting discrimination based on “traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to natural hair texture and protective hairstyles, such as braids, locks and twists.”
“By creating an intentionally inclusive environment for natural hair and protective styles in state government employment, we did right by our fellow team members,” the Governor said. “We must make sure all our employees are treated fairly.”
The executive order is similar to the Crown Act, which failed to clear the Kentucky legislature in recent sessions.
In 2020, Beshear posthumously promoted Col. Charles Young to the honorary rank of Brigadier General in the Commonwealth. The Kentucky native remained the highest-ranking Black officer in the U.S. Armed Forces from 1894 until his death in 1922.
Beshear sent a letter to then-President Joe Biden encouraging him to promote Young in the U.S. Army. In 2021, that request was approved, and the Young was posthumously promoted to Major General.
