African Americans neighborhoods--Kentucky--Louisville

Howard Breckenridge continues to describe life during his childhood and youth in the 1940s and 1950s in Louisville’s “Little Africa” neighborhood. At one point, the interviewer, after hearing a description of community hog-killing, asked if the neighborhood was rural or urban? Breckenridge touches on law enforcement, school days—including his early interest in art, teenage employment (including being member of a Doo-Wop singing group, youth activities , building of nearby Cotter Homes, and his neighborhood’s proximity to the State Fairgrounds. The remainder of the interview reviews Breckenridge’s short-lived attempt to live with an uncle in Cleveland, employment at DuPont Chemical where he filed an EEOC complaint, success as a Louisville banker, especially helping Blacks secure loans, and his political and racial justice activism. Other topics include his on-again-and-off-again dating of Burnice Richburg, whom he ultimately married, and his move to Plano, Texas where he continued as a building contractor, racial activist, and leader of a youth support group called “Breck’s Boys.”

Reverend Schroerlucke discusses his ministry at the West Broadway United Methodist Church from 1966 until 1977. This interview focuses upon his adaptation of a church program to meet the needs of a neighborhood changing from racially mixed to predominantly black. He also discusses his role as a white minister to a black church.