Coach – Basketball
Lexington native Charles H. Livisay was a talented athlete who excelled in both basketball and tennis. Born in 1913, he attended the original Dunbar High School and graduated from Kentucky State University in 1935. Mr. Livisay taught one year at Dunbar High School in Mayfield, KY, followed by stints with Mammoth Life Insurance Company and the United States Army.
Mr. Livisay returned to Lexington and began his coaching career at the original Douglass High School, a position he held for 18 years. At Douglass, Mr. Livisay led the Demons to numerous appearances in the all-black Kentucky High School Athletic League (KHSAL), Winning the state title in 1954. Livisay’s 1956 team played their way into the championship game of the 48-team National Negro High School Basketball Tournament at what is now Tennessee State University, an HBCU in Nashville. The Douglass Demons lost the title game to Louisville Central by a score of 81-61, earning the title of runner up in the national tournament.
Mr. Livisay’s 1957 team made history by being the first all-black Lexington school to compete in the first integrated, KHSAA-sanctioned basketball tournament in Lexington. Douglass defeated Nicholasville 87-45 in the opening round of the 43rd District Tournament at Memorial Coliseum.
During his tenure at Douglass, Mr. Livisay’s teams posted a record of 255 wins and only 65 losses in his 18 years at the helm, giving him an enviable winning percentage of 79.6%, a statistic most coaches would dream of achieving. He is credited with being one of the first coaches to implement the “transition” game in basketball.
Once school integration was implemented in Fayette County Public Schools, Mr. Livisay coached and taught at Bryan Station Senior High School. He also served as First District Council Member on Lexington’s City Council and as president of the Lexington Chapter of the NAACP. In 1973, Mr. Livisay was inducted into the Kentucky State University Athletic Hall of Fame, followed by his induction into the Dawahares-Kentucky High School Athletic Association Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.
