Ann (Beard) Grundy

The daughter of Reverend Beard, born while her father was pastor of the 16^th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, Ann is still considered the “Baby” of 16^th Street Baptist Church. Her father served as pastor of the church for 16 years. During that time, the church served as the center of civil rights organizing activity prior to its bombing Sunday, September 15, 1963, an event that claimed the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair. As a student of Berea College, Grundy became one of 58 Berea College students to join Martin Luther King, Jr. during the last leg of the March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. Ann is a retiree from the Fayette County Public Health Department where she served as director of the Bluegrass-Aspendale Teen Center, an after-school developmental program for Lexington youth. She is the founder of the NIA Study/Travel Program designed to expose African American students to the depth, complexity and beauty of African American history and culture. This program has involved several hundred students over the 30 years of its existence in a rich cultural/educational experience that many of its participants have described as “life-changing.” Ms. Grundy is an advocate for the value of the “shared cultural experience” and continues to develop programs which promote cultural awareness and cross-cultural understanding. With her husband Chester, she is a co-founder of Lexington’s Roots & Heritage Festival. During her sixteen-year tenure, the festival was recognized by the Office of the Governor as one of the Top Ten Festivals in the state and also won the Downtown Beautification Award from the Lexington Visitors Bureau for the festival’s contribution to tourism and the cultural life of Central Kentucky. Ann is the proud mother of two daughters, Tulani Grundy Meadows, Esq. and Dr. Saida Grundy. She is the even prouder grandmother of two grandsons, eight-year-old Gibran, and seven-year-old Garvey.