Interview with Joseph Conroy, November 10, 1982

Partial Transcript: Conroy's residence, 1219 Bates Court, Louisville, Ky.

Partial Transcript: Born in Nashville, April 1912. Mother remembers date because year of sinking of Titanic. Graduated, Father Ryan High School, 1931. Football scholarship to U of Cincinnati. Unable to attend because of the Depression, father died. No money for college.

Partial Transcript: Came to Louisville, Dec.,1934 with Nashville Life and Accident Co. In Nashville 1931-1934 had about 8 different jobs. Fired from only one; others, "people just simply went out of business." Worked as a blacksmith's helper (which "I enjoyed very much), pipe coverer, made homemade shoes, First job in a laundry; figured he was making a nickel an hour, $5/week. When came to Louisville, making $18/week, a fortune.

Partial Transcript: Making $18/week when came to Louisville. "And that was a fortune." Could "operate an automobile, buy all my meals out, and pay room & board." Bought car in Nashville, a 1927 or 28 Plymouth. Took 5-6 hours to drive from Nashville.

Partial Transcript: In Louisville, lived downtown. "It was a nice place to live." Lived at 1417 S. Third; later moved to Cavalier Apts.at 4th between Oak and Ormsby [1245 S. 4th St]. Nice place to live; a lot of young people who worked at the Land Bank; from out of town, Ohio, Illinois.

Keywords: Cavalier Apartments; Land Bank

Partial Transcript: About 800 college graduates brought in to work at Land Bank, One of the biggest employers in Louisville. Midst of Depression; WPA was the biggest work force in the city.

Keywords: Land Bank; WPA

Partial Transcript: Selling life insurance was a real problem. We would canvas for hours ...just to find people working.

Partial Transcript: Water bubbled up through manholes. Brown Hotel had 6 ft of water. Isolated in the Cavalier Apts. Finally got to 7th and Ormsby and worked at the boat station.Got there through people's yards. Climbed ed over a 5 foot wall "right into the path of a big dog."

Partial Transcript: "... run by a guy from the city ... he had a big revolver strapped to his belt and he was the law ...." He sent the boats out that picked up people from porches. Remember taking a group of nurses & doctors from 7th and Ormsby to post office on Broadway "right down 7th St." Ran the boat over a mailbox and tore the bottom out.

Partial Transcript: Enlisted in 1942. Served for 4 years. Enlisted at Ft Knox; did maneuvers at Ft Campbell; then some training in Meridian, Mississippi; Camp Kilmer, N.J. Dec 4, 1944. [first says 1946; corrected to 1943] left on Queen Elizabeth to Scotland. Then by train to [name?]. "beautiful castle there." An air field & experimental stations for turbo jets. Brought in some Spitfires. Preparation for the [D Day] invasion.

Partial Transcript: Couldn't be a flier because age 30 and didn't have a college education. In operation office. Job - keeping track of the aircraft. Describes tracing aircraft. "We lost a few." Invasion was something you never forget. "You look up early in the morning and see a solid group of aircraft flying to the coast."

Partial Transcript: Married in 1951 at age 39. Lived on Grinsted Dr. Joee born there in 1956. Moved to 1219 Bates Ct. in 1958.

Partial Transcript: Always liked the Court because of country atmosphere and Ann Penney who lives at 1221. Have a picture of 1221. Houses at 1220 and 1219 are identical. Built in 1918 by a Mr. [Crewel]. Reverse floor plans.

Partial Transcript: Mr. & Mrs. Calwell ; Ann Penney who still lives next door; Walter Kay still lives up the street; Mr. & Mrs. Berman, both dead. They lived at 1222 where 2 ex-mayors lived there: Neville Miller lived there & the rented house to Joe Scholtz. All houses on Bates Court when moved in. Latest to go in was at 1225. Lucille Smith & Martha Davis, two retired social workers, lived there.

Partial Transcript: Only child of some socialite people on the east coast. Was "ugly as sin but had a heart as good as gold." Could hardly see. At one time, gave $200,000 to charity. Courier-Journal printed a story about it. Made her so made; ripped them up and down; threatened to sue. She wanted to remain anonymous.

Partial Transcript: Still lives up the street. His grandfather built the house around the big tree in front of the house at 1227. Sort of a Texas ranch-style, possibly built in 1917 or 1918.

Partial Transcript: Barrett Ave streetcar ran out. Bates Court "pretty close to the city limits." Car turned around at Barrett & Valley Rd. where apartments are now. Penny moved to Bates Court in 1928; took streetcar to go downtown. When moved to Bates Court in 1951, buses not streetcar. Valley Rd apartments had been built. No new construction in neighborhood since I moved to it. Figure Martha Davis' house at 1225 built 1945 or 1946.

Partial Transcript: Federal-style house at 1226 is oldest one on street. Has quite a history. Mr. & Mrs. Green live there, both doctors, teach at U of Louisville. Green's told him house built in 1825. Mrs. Carl Wells told me house billeted officers during Civil War. Troops on Valley Rd. Have yet to find out whether Confederate or Union. No houses on Valley Rd.

Partial Transcript: Information from Leo Haner, age 82, born on Ellison which was Grinstead at that time, unpaved. Mined clay on Ellison. Some of the houses on right hand side going toward town sit on a hill. Assume that was where clay bank was.

Partial Transcript: Asked with Bob Cooper, tennis pro, who grew up on Tyler Park Drive, Asked him when the tennis courts were ... paved." Cooper then age 39 years old recalled courts were clay when he started playing about age 9. So courts were clay about 30 years ago [from 1982, date of interview]. Possibly clay was mined on Ellison Ave. Park first improved in 1911. Joe: "and all 6 tennis courts went in right away."

Partial Transcript: Asked Bob, "what was your feeling about Tyler Park ...." Reply: "It was a beautiful place to live because I had 5 brothers and all we had to do was go across the street to the park to get up a baseball game or tennis. Asked how he became so proficient at tennis that you're a pro. Also is a former state champion and city champion several times. Bob said, "Well I had 5 brothers. Mom just gave us a racket and sent us out to the park."

Partial Transcript: Leo Haner Is 82 years old. Born and raised on Ellison Ave. At the time was extension of Grinstead Ave, named after first governor of Kentucky. Changed to Ellison after man who owned most of the property and subdivided it. Mined clay and made bricks on the job. Hand fired bricks, about 1 inch longer and softer than "ordinary bricks." When Haner was young, swam in Bear Grass Creek.

Keywords: Bear Grass Creek; Ellison Ave; Firing brick

Partial Transcript: When young, Leo Haner swam in Bear Grass Creek. At that time, creek was probably watershed for whole east end of Louisville before storm sewers. Figures they put the wall in about 1928 or maybe a little before. Creek came around in a horseshoe, directly behind my house and next door. Lake formed connecting the horse shoe. Now creek is straight from Medical [Arts Bldg.] about to my house, then turns again. Haner says it was a lake and "a beautiful place to swim ...." Today can't swim in creek. for one thing, it drains the zoo without going through sewage system.

Partial Transcript: Property begins at the Medical Arts parking lot and comes down here all the way to a point behind my backyard. Has no easement. Owned by Mrs. Miller who lives on Hawthorn Hill, last house on right. 90 something years old. Classified as a bird sanctuary. Told me she's willed the property to the city with understanding that it remains a bird sanctuary and nothing is done to it. Estimates property is 15-20 acres. People cut through to Medical Arts.

Partial Transcript: Medical Arts Bldg [Eastern Pwy] built when moved to Bates Court. When I came to Louisville, site was a dairy farm. Included nursing home and part of the graveyard [Louisville Cemetery], also Castleberry [Castlevale].

Partial Transcript: Haner told me when a boy on Ellison, there was an orchard back there [behind Hawthorn Hill?] before houses built. Belonged to the Allens who once owned house at 1226 [Bates Court], the old federal house. (House is on the historical register.) Before Hawthorn Hill developed, it was all woods, called Schwartz's Woods. Took in Hawthorn Hill and possibly Summit and the other side of Eastern Pwy. Now Hawthorn Hill has some beautiful trees. Tree in middle of street. Story of a couple of drunks running into the tree.

Keywords: Allen's dairy farm; Federal house, 1226 Bates Court; Schwartz Woods

Partial Transcript: Took in Hawthorn Hill and I assume Summit and Eastern Parkway and possibly the other side of the parkway. Now Hawthorn Hill has some beautiful trees.

Partial Transcript: People gathered there for block parties. John Mallon was mayor of Hawthorn Hill. Mallon's story about why always elected. Campaign slogan was "The most beautiful women in the world live on Hawthorn Hill." [cf. interview with John Mallon]

Partial Transcript: 1222 [Bates Court] where mayors used to live, had Dan O'Neill, headmaster of the Aquinas Prep School. Went to head a school in Palm Beach, then in Caracas. People on Hawthorn Hill: Leo Haner; John Mallon; Sissy Gregg, food editor for Courier-Journal; her husband, an architect, designed on Hawthorn Hill; committed suicide. Sissy was internationally known.

Partial Transcript: Yard not good for gardening. Too many trees; soil typical of lake bottom ground. Was picking up glass in yard. Shards of ivory and good china. "Evidently this place was under water and people just came down and threw ... the garbage in the lake." Found a coke bottle which I've never seen before: brown, heavy glass, inscription on bottom is Coca Cola Bottling Works, not any particularly town. Have that bottle. Lake was where Leo Haner swam. cf. time stamp at 30:59.

Partial Transcript: When was wall built. Conroy's house built in [19]18. Ask Leo [Haner] about it." I said about [19]28 but I think it went in before that." My house probably pretty close to the water when built, possibly pretty close to water. Maybe [builders] thought creek would be contained.

Partial Transcript: Not paved when moved to Bates Court. Always wanted it paved; awful dusty in the summertime. Joee was the only kid back here and you couldn't ride a bicycle. Everything around was paved. Valley paved a couple of years before [Bates Court] but when moved here.

Partial Transcript: "Can't put pressure on the city because these are unmade streets." Bates Court and Hawthorn Hill chartered as unmade streets. We don't have any storm sewers; we have sewage going out of the houses. Drainage from Hawthorn Hill all comes down my driveway. City apparently doesn't have responsibility. Doesn't clean the leaves, take care of grass. The five families on Bates Court put a schedule out every summer and cut [grass] every 2 weeks. We plant the grass seed, take the leaves up, and sweep the streets and everything else." No idea why the streets are unmade. Maybe because on edge of city at the time. But we pay the taxes. Don't get the services. Do get garbage.