Segregation

Mervin Aubespin (b. 1937 in Louisiana), a reporter for the Courier-Journal, talks about his path to the Civil Rights movement starting in Alabama and then in Louisville; Louisville during segregation; housing discrimination; and white flight. As an activist, Aubespin participated in marches, sit-ins, voter registration and organization for public accommodation, open housing, and to integrate Fontaine Ferry. Aubespin was originally hired by the Courier-Journal an artist, one of the first Black employees there. He covered the Parkland Uprising but did not get a byline or credit for his work. He then attended an intensive program at Columbia University to produce Black journalists and had a successful career as a reporter for the Courier-Journal, specializing in covering topics of interest to the Black community. Regarded as an expert on racism and the media, Aubespin is a past president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and was given the Ida B. Wells Award for his efforts to bring minorities into the field of journalism. Aubespin was also the founder of the Louisville Association of Black Communicators.

Goldie Beckett discusses her life as well as her husband's experiences as alderman in the city of Louisville in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Mrs. Beckett briefly describes her early life and education, including her graduation from Kentucky State College. Mrs. Beckett had a career in education, but also worked with her husband, and for her brother, in the undertaking business in Louisville. She speaks of the Walnut Street area before Urban Renewal. Mrs. Beckett's husband, William Washington Beckett, was elected alderman in 1951 and served until 1961. In this time, he played a role in the integration of the fire and police departments, the parks, and public accommodations, and in developing a Human Relations Commission. Mrs. Beckett discusses her husband's contributions and the civil rights movement in general (both in Louisville and more generally) and gives her opinion on the roles of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the African American church.

Dr. Bell discusses his early life and education, including his training at Alcorn College, Morehouse College, and Meharry Medical College. He discusses his involvement with the Red Cross Hospital, a Black-run hospital in Louisville that was known as Community Hospital starting in 1972. (The hospital, founded in 1899, closed in 1975.) Dr. Bell became involved with the hospital in the early 1940s, and discusses the developments there, including the institution of a nurses' training program, integration, fundraising, and other issues. He discusses the clientele of the hospital as well as the care they received. He also talks about the loss to the Black community at the closing of the hospital, and the apparent lack of loyalty the community had to the institution. He discusses Hattie Bishop Speed, as a person and as a supporter of the hospital.

Interview with Ray H. Bixler, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Louisville, concerning the university as he saw it in 1948, the Department of Psychology and its changes during his tenure, and desegregation of Louisville's public accommodations and housing, as well as student unrest on campus during the 1960s and 1970s.

Civil Rights Activist Ruth Bryant (1923-2013) speaks about her childhood and family history growing up in Detroit; her move to Louisville and observations about housing available to Black Louisvillians; how she became interested in and active in the open housing movement; her work with Committee on Community Development oversaw all federal funding that came into Louisville and how it was dispersed; and her involvement with other organizations such as the West End Community Council, Head Start, Citizens' Advisory Committee under the Urban Renewal Program, Black Unity League of Kentucky, and Women United for Social Action. She also talks about her arrest at open housing demonstrations and her memories of the 1968 Parkland Uprising. She mentions but does not speak at length about being one of the "Black Six," a group of Black Louisvillians accused of inciting rebellion during the 1968 Parkland Uprising and charged with conspiracy to destroy property and to blow up West End chemical plants.

School desegregation in Louisville.

Henry Ebbs is a 75-year-old Black man, and was a resident of the Parkland area during the 1940s and 1950s. He discusses his life in Louisville as well as the Parkland area during the 1940s. As an early resident of the neighborhood he discusses the mixed racial area and peaceful atmosphere. Recreational activities centered around the churches and related religious groups. Left the area for better living conveniences. Enjoyed Chickasaw Park and other amenities. Discusses the racial segregation of the city during the time and inequality some members of his family received.

School desegregation in Louisville.

School desegregation in Louisville.