The Oliver Lewis Foundation and Churchill Downs will unveil and commemorate a monument that honors African-American jockey Oliver Lewis, who rode Aristides to victory at age 18 in the inaugural 1875 Kentucky Derby. Led by Executive Director of the Oliver Lewis Foundation and direct descendant Rodney Van Johnson (acclaimed actor and great-great-grandson of Lewis), the Oliver Lewis Foundation has spearheaded this historic homecoming.
"This statue is not just about a jockey who won a horse race that happened over 150 years ago," Van Johnson said. "It is about honoring a man who refused to be broken when the world tried to erase him. My great-great-grandfather was a champion jockey, but he was also an inventor, a notary, and a businessman who forged his own path. The Oliver Lewis Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that his complete genius -- and the genius of all the Black horsemen who remained as trainers and behind-the-scenes employees who owned their own stables and trained for other horsemen -- is permanently represented in the history of Churchill Downs."
