School integration--Kentucky--Louisville

Robert Benson (b. 1942 in Lousville), Louisville lawyer and former Kentucky legislator, speaks about his experiences with the Civil Rights Movement and some of its leaders in Louisville. Topics include how he became aware of prejudice in the community and got involved with the Open Housing movement; the demonstrations for Open Housing; his experiences representing the Hikes Point/Highlands district from 1974-1980; his friendship with ACLU lawyer Thomas Hogan, who filed the lawsuit that lead to desegregation efforts in Louisville; the passing of laws merging Jefferson County school districts; the passing of laws to desegregate the resulting combined school district; and the backlash and demonstrations against desegregation and busing.

As publisher of the Courier-Journal in the 1970s, Barry Bingham Jr. recounts the coverage of busing through the news media in Louisville. Discusses the weekly editorial conferences and research involved in taking a position of the paper on busing.

Civil Rights activist and journalist Anne Braden talks about the Civil Rights Movement in Louisville in the 1950s and 1960s. Topics explored include eforts for school integration, the public reaction to it, her family's experiences with school integration, and redistricting of the city; the West End Community Council and its efforts to keep the West End neighborhood integrated, white flight, and the open housing movement; the activities of SCEF (Southern Conference Educational Fund); the emergence of youth movements; the beginnings of groups like CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), the Committee for Democratic Schools, and the Gandhi Corps; Black Power organizations in Louisville like JOMO (Junta of Militant Organizations) and the Black Panthers; the trial of the Black 6 and the protests surrounding it; and many individuals who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Mr. Burch was principal of Southern High School when Jefferson County Public Schools initiated busing for integration in 1975. He was a long-time resident of Okolona, and a graduate of Southern High School. While stating that within the school, he was isolated from the community, he indicates that the pulse of the community had been quickened by media reports. He indicates that they never had any direct problems with protestors prior to the riots of September 6, 1975, and that rioters never tried to inerefere with the running of the school. He characterizes the internal workings of the school as remaining normal during this period, and indicates that the teachers kept their opinions to themselves. Similarly, he describes the students as having coped well under duress, with few discipline problems. He states that though the student body was obviously uncomfortable in the position it was in, the students did not fight amongst themslves. Burch recalls the night of a football game with Moore High School, another south end school which before the segregation order had been primarily black. He describes the issue as slowly dying down over the course of the school year - protestors eventually stopped coming around the schools, attendance gradually improved, and life returned to normal by the end of the school year.

The Louisville Times editor on the process of school desegregation in Louisville.

Biographical information of Judge Gordon and an account of the history of preliminary cases of desegregation in Louisville and in Jefferson County.

U.S. Marshall of the Western district of Kentucky describes his responsibilities and the process of carrying out school desegregation order in Louisville.

The former city editor of the Courier-Journal discusses the newspaper's coverage of Louisville's school integration process in the 1970s.

This interview was conducted in 1979 as part of a series on African Americans in Louisville. It is cross-listed here as part of the Joe Hammond Series. Mr. Hammond, a small business owner and real estate agent, discusses his childhood, education and life as a young adult living and working in Louisville. He talks about being a small business owner, the impact of urban renewal on the black business district, Small Business Administration loans, and his belief in the potential of young people in his community. He describes the opportunities of black real estate agents, talks about busing, gives his views on affordable housing for low-income families and concludes the interview with a discussion of his desire for greater participation by African Americans in community development.

Mr. Hammond, a small business owner and real estate agent, discusses his childhood, education and life as a young adult living and working in Louisville. He talks about being a small business owner, the impact of urban renewal on the black business district, Small Business Administration loans, and his belief in the potential of young people in his community. He describes the opportunities of black real estate agents, talks about busing, gives his views on affordable housing for low-income families and concludes the interview with a discussion of his desire for greater participation by African Americans in community development.