Police

Frank Bauer, a retired Jefferson County police officer, discusses food distribution from Eline's Garage in St. Matthews, the Black people in the Harrod's Creek area, and other ways that food was obtained for the flood victims, as well as his work with the Pennsylvania State Troopers.

Hawkins, retired from the Louisville police force, recounts his work in the old Walnut Street area from 1939 until his retirement. He discusses the businesses and people in the area.

Hobich was the only walking or neighborhood beat policeman left in Louisville at the time of this interview. He is white and has worked in the predominantly Black Parkland area for over ten years beginning in 1967. He relates some of his experiences in the area and the changes in the community over the years.

Howard Owens, born in 1948 in Pambloff, Arkansas, moved to Louisville because of his father's work as a preacher at the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at age 5. In this interview, Owens talks about his father's work as a civil rights activist in the city prior to his own work during the 1960s following his graduation from high school as well as his work and activism during the civil rights movement from the end of the 1960s up until the 1980s. Topics include: the nationalist fringe groups participating in Louisville during the civil rights movement, his activism during college in Wilberforce, Ohio, his work as a teacher in Louisville with children with learning disabilities, the groups during the 1970s in Louisville including the Black Workers Coalition and Black Protective Parents, busing and the problems that faced busing within the communities and the city, other groups such as the Jtown Challengers and the Blacks United to Motivate Progress, his experience at a Klan rally that took place off of Preston Hwy, issues that arose after busing including police brutality and equity in hiring of minorities, the Alliance Against Racism and Political Oppression, the Fred Harris case, the Lindsay Scott case, and a case involving the Black Panther Party that all took place in Louisville.

Dr. Rabb discusses his early life and education in Mississippi. He speaks of his experiences as a student at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, comparing race relations in his hometown to those in Nashville. He also discusses student activism at Fisk while he was a student. He describes his medical education at Meharry Medical College, and his internship at Kansas City General Hospital Number 2, the segregated public hospital for blacks in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Rabb practiced in Shelbyville, Kentucky from 1930 to 1946, and he discusses his practice there, including his relationships with the white physicians in town. Rabb left Shelbyville for Louisville, and he discusses the difficulties that led him to make that move. He talks about his move to Louisville and the support (in the form of office space) he received from Dr. C. Milton Young, Jr. He goes on to discuss his work at Red Cross Hospital, and how he came to be the first African American admitted for post-graduate training at Louisville General Hospital. He describes other areas of integration, including the University of Louisville and its athletic programs. He talks about his leadership role in Louisville's Human Relations Commission, particularly in the area of integrating the police force. He describes his own encounters with racism, the changes he's seen over time, and his role in the sit-ins in Louisville in 1960. He also talks about the integration of public housing. He notes that his proudest achievement is his involvement with the NAACP; he was also a founder of the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union.

Veterans History Project