The legacy of Robert Ingguls, youth advocate, historian and community pillar, was celebrated by the city of Newport in a tribute recognizing his lifelong dedication to service.
“Black history lives through the enduring legacy of leaders like Robert Ingguls, who we honor tonight,” said Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr.
Ingguls was born on Sept. 11, 1931, in Lexington, Kentucky, and was raised in Newport. He died Sept. 15, 2025, at the age of 94. Ingguls’ family, friends and members of the Newport community attended the meeting on Feb. 23.
As a former student of the Southgate Street School in Newport, Ingguls became its preservationist, ensuring it would not be lost to time.
“We were determined that this wasn’t going to be a parking lot come hell or high water, because so much history is here,” the Newport proclamation recited a past quote of Ingguls. “You couldn’t have gotten a better education because the people who taught us had gone through great trials and tribulation themselves.”
After completing the eighth grade at Southgate Street School, Ingguls continued his education at William Grant High School in Covington, graduating in 1950. He earned a scholarship to the historically Black Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he studied education before choosing a career in the medical field.
“We have been working with the folks at the Masonic Lodge that are in charge of the Southgate Street School and look very much forward to very soon opening that up to what I think it deserves to be,” said Newport City Manager John Hayden. “A testament to black history and to those who went to that school. So, we’re working very hard with them.”
Ingguls trained under Cincinnati ophthalmologist Dr. Chester C. Pryor and later served at the University of Cincinnati, conducting examinations to detect disparities in visual capacity, and retired as a registered ophthalmic assistant and instructor.
He was a member of the Northern Kentucky Chapter of the NAACP and a lifelong member of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church in Newport, later serving 32 years as Minister of Music at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Covington and most recently as a member of First Baptist Church in Covington.
Ingguls was a 33rd Degree Prince Hall Mason and served as music director and organist in the Prince Hall Scottish Rite Masons, becoming Master Mason of Newport Lodge No. 120 in July of 1976 and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine of Aleikum Temple #96 on May 2, 1977. He later served as secretary, recorder and one of the imperial musicians. In January 1985, he became a noble advisor for Aleikum Court #56 to the Daughters of Isis.