The Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy

by Pellom McDaniels III

Overview

Isaac Burns Murphy (1861–1896) was one of the most dynamic jockeys of his era. Still considered one of the finest riders of all time, Murphy was the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three times, and his 44 percent win record remains unmatched. Despite his success, Murphy was pushed out of Thoroughbred racing when African American jockeys were forced off the track, and he died in obscurity. In The Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy, author Pellom McDaniels III offers the first definitive biography of this celebrated athlete, whose life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the adoption of Jim Crow legislation. Despite the obstacles he faced, Murphy became an important figure—not just in sports, but in the social, political, and cultural consciousness of African Americans. Drawing from legal documents, census data, and newspapers, this comprehensive profile explores how Murphy epitomized the rise of the black middle class and contributed to the construction of popular notions about African American identity, community, and citizenship during his lifetime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813142715
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	10/22/2013
Pages:	550
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Pellom McDaniels III is curator of African American Collections in the Stuart A. Rose Library at Emory University. He received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for The Prince of Jockeys. 

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Roots

1 Into the Bluegrass 15

2 America Bourne 43

Part 2 Rise

3 Seizing Freedom 71

4 From the Silence and the Darkness, 1865-1869 111

5 The New Order of Things, 1870-1874 149

Part 3 Revelations

6 Learning to Ride and Taking Flight, 1875-1880 179

7 An Elegant Specimen of Manhood, 1881-1889 241

8 In This Peculiar Country, 1890-1895 329

9 A Pageantry of Woe, 1896 403

Epilogue 411

Acknowledgments 419

Chronology 423

Notes 427

Index 477

Illustrations follow page 252

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"We have waited a long time for a scholar to pull together the story of Isaac Murphy and nineteenth-century American and Kentucky life with the exquisite interpretation that Pellom McDaniels offers in this manuscript..This work is path-breaking for the detailed study it offers into the texture and layers of life in Lexington, particularly black Lexington, during the post-Civil War decades and into the Gilded Age." — Maryjean Wall, author of How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders

Editorial Reviews

A persuasive blend of storytelling and historical analysis, this is an enlightening account for horsemen, sports lovers, and historians of post Reconstruction-era American race relations. Pellom McDaniels' success is that he brings into sharp relief the devolving social and cultural context of African-American jockey Isaac Burns Murphy's childhood, apprenticeship, and career. The author convinces the reader of Murphy's personal discipline and singular achievements—enabled despite an increasingly hostile environment by the support of family and the larger African-American community's commitment to the project of self-advancement.

Myra Young Armstead

Like its subject, The Prince of Jockeys is layered and thoughtful, an accessible read that demonstrates how an extraordinary man's life reflected the complex struggles of African Americans in the late nineteenth century.

Ohio Valley History

"We have waited a long time for a scholar to pull together the story of Isaac Murphy and nineteenth-century American and Kentucky life with the exquisite interpretation that Pellom McDaniels offers in this manuscript..This work is path-breaking for the detailed study it offers into the texture and layers of life in Lexington, particularly black Lexington, during the post-Civil War decades and into the Gilded Age." — Maryjean Wall, author of How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders

"A persuasive blend of storytelling and historical analysis, this is an enlightening account for horsemen, sports lovers, and historians of post Reconstruction-era American race relations. Pellom McDaniels' success is that he brings into sharp relief the devolving social and cultural context of African-American jockey Isaac Burns Murphy's childhood, apprenticeship, and career. The author convinces the reader of Murphy's personal discipline and singular achievements—enabled despite an increasingly hostile environment by the support of family and the larger African-American community's commitment to the project of self-advancement." — Myra Young Armstead, Bard College

"Pellom McDaniels stitched together the compelling facts and lost details of Isaac Burns Murphy's life so artfully, I felt as if I were there living it with him. Anyone who is striving to understand how and why professional athletics tends to function as a bellwether for racial change in America, good or bad, must read this book." — Sonya Ross, Race and Ethnicity Editor for the Associated Press

"McDaniels provides the first definitive biography of Mr. Murphy, whose life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction and the adoption of Jim Crow legislation." — baltimoresun.com

"In The Prince of Jockeys, McDaniels provides the first definitive biography of Mr. Murphy, whose life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction and the adoption of Jim Crow legistlation. Despite the obstacles he faced, Mr. Murphy became an important figure - not just in sports, but in the social, political and cultural consciousness of African Americans. McDaniels discusses how Mr. Murphy epitomized the rise of the black middle class and contributed to the construction of popular notions about African American identity, community and citizenship during his lifetime." — Aegis

"Like its subject, The Prince of Jockeys is layered and thoughtful, an accessible read that demonstrates how an extraordinary man's life reflected the complex struggles of African Americans in the late nineteenth century." — Ohio Valley History

"Pellom McDaniels III brings a vivid depth and scope to a forgotten legend in sports history." — The Atlanta Voice

"McDaniels has written a sweeping narrative of national history, using Murphy to symbolize the fate of successful African Americans — a fate resulting from "a view of race... so entrenched in the white American imagination that it is visible even in the twenty-first century, as evidenced by the public reaction of some... to the election of the nation's first African American president, Barack Hussein Obama". The result is a rich, multidimensional history of African American life between the antebellum period and the early twentieth century." — Reviews in American History

From the Publisher

Pellom McDaniels III brings a vivid depth and scope to a forgotten legend in sports history.

The Atlanta Voice

Pellom McDaniels stitched together the compelling facts and lost details of Isaac Burns Murphy's life so artfully, I felt as if I were there living it with him. Anyone who is striving to understand how and why professional athletics tends to function as a bellwether for racial change in America, good or bad, must read this book.

Sonya Ross

We have waited a long time for a scholar to pull together the story of Isaac Murphy and nineteenth-century American and Kentucky life with the exquisite interpretation that Pellom McDaniels offers in this manuscript..This work is path-breaking for the detailed study it offers into the texture and layers of life in Lexington, particularly black Lexington, during the post-Civil War decades and into the Gilded Age.

Maryjean Wall

In The Prince of Jockeys, McDaniels provides the first definitive biography of Mr. Murphy, whose life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction and the adoption of Jim Crow legistlation. Despite the obstacles he faced, Mr. Murphy became an important figure - not just in sports, but in the social, political and cultural consciousness of African Americans. McDaniels discusses how Mr. Murphy epitomized the rise of the black middle class and contributed to the construction of popular notions about African American identity, community and citizenship during his lifetime.

Aegis

McDaniels provides the first definitive biography of Mr. Murphy, whose life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction and the adoption of Jim Crow legislation.

baltimoresun.com

McDaniels has written a sweeping narrative of national history, using Murphy to symbolize the fate of successful African Americans—a fate resulting from 'a view of race... so entrenched in the white American imagination that it is visible even in the twenty-first century, as evidenced by the public reaction of some... to the election of the nation's first African American president, Barack Hussein Obama.' The result is a rich, multidimensional history of African American life between the antebellum period and the early twentieth century.

Reviews in American History

Pellom McDaniels stitched together the compelling facts and lost details of Isaac Burns Murphy's life so artfully, I felt as if I were there living it with him. Anyone who is striving to understand how and why professional athletics tends to function as a bellwether for racial change in America, good or bad, must read this book.

Race and Ethnicity Editor for the Associated Press Sonya Ross

A persuasive blend of storytelling and historical analysis, this is an enlightening account for horsemen, sports lovers, and historians of post Reconstruction-era American race relations. Pellom McDaniels' success is that he brings into sharp relief the devolving social and cultural context of African-American jockey Isaac Burns Murphy's childhood, apprenticeship, and career. The author convinces the reader of Murphy's personal discipline and singular achievements—enabled despite an increasingly hostile environment by the support of family and the larger African-American community's commitment to the project of self-advancement.

Bard College Myra Young Armstead