Urban renewal
2583
Elmer Lucille Allen grew up in the Russell neighborhood in the 1930s and 40s. Allen described the neighborhood in the days before urban renewal in the late 1950s. She attended Madison Street Junior High School and Central High School during segregation. She attended Louisville Municipal College, the African American arm of the University of Louisville. After the Supreme Court desegregated schools in 1954, UofL closed Louisville Municipal College and Allen went on the Nazareth College (now Spalding University). She became the first African American chemist at Brown-Foreman.
2605
Mr. Burton reflects on growing up in Russell, happy neighborhood, Old Walnut St., destruction of Urban Renewal, Rahn Burton, musician brother, played with Roland Kirk, working at Brown Foreman, starting the club, buying the building, fellowship of the club, community outreach, food giveaways, Easter, COVID, contracting COVID.
These and other interviews were conducted by the Louisville Story Program and collaboratively edited with the participants authors between 2020 and 2023. The culmination of this collaborative work is the documentary book, “If You Write Me A Letter, Send It Here: Voices of Russell in a Time of Change.” This anthology of nonfiction documents the rich layers of history and cultural heritage in the Russell area of west Louisville, a neighborhood whose history is centrally important to the Black experience in Louisville.
841
Hilda Butler is one of Mammoth Life Insurance Company's vice presidents as well as its secretary. She discusses her career and memories of her father, Henry E. Hall, who was one of the founders of the company. She also discusses the Walnut Street Black business district and Mammoth Life's building there before the 1965 Urban Renewal program.
2467
Ken Clay talks about his experience growing up in Louisville. He performed in choirs as a high school student at Central High School and studied at Bellarmine, eventually working for the Kentucky Center for the Arts as a producer for many years. He discusses his experience creating programs for African American youth in Louisville and the positive impact these programs had. He founded the Renaissance Development Corporation in the mid-1970s. Clay also discusses the significance of Walnut Street as a cultural hub in the West End of Louisville and the negative impact of urban renewal on Black businesses. He talks about the store he ran for several years called the Corner of Jazz which operated not only as a store but as a cultural and intellectual space for conversation related to the national Black movement. Clay witnessed a large riot near his store during which a police car drove into a crowd gathered on Walnut Street.
978
Lattimore Cole discusses his early education in Louisville, working for his father's newspaper the Louisville Leader and describes what it was like to be the child of a prominent figure in the community. He describes his father physically and temperamentally and reflects on attendance at the Louisville Municipal College and urban renewal.
2466
Artist and professor Bob Douglas discusses his experience as a young artist and then as a participant in the Louisville arts scene during the Black Arts movement. He discusses his experiences with racism in the workplace and his efforts to find a position. He studied at the University of Louisville, eventually attending graduate school and teaching courses in African American Art. He was one of the founders of a gallery enterprise in Louisville and was a major player in the Louisville Art Workshop. He also worked on urban renewal, improving the property rights of black people in Louisville. Douglass reflects on the impact of the Black Arts movement and the art movements he was involved in on progress for the Black community as a whole.
2606
Mr. Edwards talks about purchasing land in west Louisville for a public garden, the mental and physical benefits of gardening, growing up in west Louisville, the effects of urban renewal on west Louisville, Breonna Taylor, civil rights actions in 2020, the effects of COVID, political and racial violence on public health in west Louisville in 2020, Cabbage Patch, life as an educator and father.
These and other interviews were conducted by the Louisville Story Program and collaboratively edited with the participants authors between 2020 and 2023. The culmination of this collaborative work is the documentary book, “If You Write Me A Letter, Send It Here: Voices of Russell in a Time of Change.” This anthology of nonfiction documents the rich layers of history and cultural heritage in the Russell area of west Louisville, a neighborhood whose history is centrally important to the Black experience in Louisville.
1158
Nelson Goodwin, a nursery owner and local historian from Louisville, Kentucky, discusses his ancestors and other African Americans who lived in the Petersburg / Newburg area. He describes the relationships of various African Americans with white slaveowners, and the efforts Blacks made to build their community following slavery. He describes his own efforts to develop his community through the location of a library in Newburg and the Petersburg Historical Society's programs, as well as his fight against urban renewal. He also talks about his own career in the nursery business.
1184
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.
2502
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.
