Access Type
Online access to this book is only available to eligible users.
Files
Download Full Text (28.9 MB)
Description
Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky, represents a cultural and geographical intersection of North and South. Throughout its history, Louisville has simultaneously displayed northern and southern characteristics in its race relations. In their struggles against racial injustice in the mid-twentieth century, activists in Louisville crossed racial, economic, and political dividing lines to form a wide array of alliances not seen in other cities of its size. This book provides the first comprehensive look at the distinctive elements of Louisville's civil rights movement. The book frames the analysis by defining a border as a space where historical patterns and social concerns overlap. From this vantage point, it argues that broad coalitions of Louisvillians waged long-term, interconnected battles during the city's civil rights movement. It shows that Louisville's border city dynamics influenced both its racial tensions and its citizens' approaches to change. Unlike African Americans in southern cities, Louisville's black citizens did not face entrenched restrictions against voting and other forms of civic engagement. Louisville schools were integrated relatively peacefully in 1956, long before their counterparts in the Deep South. However, the city bore the marks of Jim Crow segregation in public accommodations until the 1960s. Louisville joined other southern cities that were feeling the heat of racial tensions, primarily during open housing and busing conflicts (more commonly seen in the North) in the late 1960s and 1970s. In response to Louisville's unique blend of racial problems, activists employed northern models of voter mobilization and lobbying, as well as methods of civil disobedience usually seen in the South.
Publication Date
2009
Publisher
The University Press of Kentucky
Place of Publication
Lexington, KY
ISBN
978-0-8131-2539-8 (cloth)
eISBN
978-0-8131-7335-1 (pdf version)
eISBN
978-0-8131-3920-3 (epub version)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5810/kentucky/9780813125398.001.0001
Keywords
Louisville, Race relations, Racial injustice, Civil rights movement, Racial tensions, Deep South, Activists, Segregation, Civil disobedience
Disciplines
African American Studies | United States History
Recommended Citation
K'Meyer, Tracy E., "Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South: Louisville, Kentucky, 1945-1980" (2009). African American Studies. 49.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_african_american_studies/49
Consortium members may access while on their campus.
