Civil Rights Demonstrations in Downtown Louisville

Entries on This Tour

The Brown Theatre opened on October 5, 1925. Originally named after J. Graham Grown, the theater changed names in 1971 and again in 1998. It is now known as the W. L. Lyons Brown Theatre, owned by the Fund for the Arts, and managed by the Kentucky Center. The theater was also a site for ongoing civil rights protests against segregation from 1959 to 1963 and is included in Louisville's Downtown Civil Rights Trail.

2. Brown Hotel

In 1923, Louisville was the 34th largest city in America with a population of 235,000. That was the same year that J. Graham Brown opened the Georgian Revival-style hotel, in great anticipation of the local population and newspapers. The Brown Hotel would soon inspire an entire downtown rejuvenation effort that would come to include businesses, movie theaters, a residential community, and a parking garage. An ordinary hotel might not inspire so much rejuvenation, but this was the Brown Hotel, and it was not ordinary in any way, with its very first visitor in the guest register being David Lloyd George, former prime minister of Britain.

3. Kentucky/Ohio Theater

On Fourth Street, one of the historic main drags of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, there's an area called the Theater District. It's a bit of a misnomer, since there is only one theater in the area. It could be argued, however, that there are one and a half theaters, as the building was once the Kentucky Theater and a part of the Ohio Theater is still there.

4. Louisville Palace Theater

The Louisville Palace Theater opened in 1928 as Loew's Theater. It features a Spanish Baroque style with arcades, balconies, and turrets. In 1961, the theater was boycotted by Civil Rights activists because of their refusal to admit African Americans. Today, the theater operates as the elaborate setting for live performances, concerts, and summer cinema classics screenings. Painted in bursts of jewel tones, the Palace is heavily ornamented with alcoves, balconies, statues, and busts, and its theater ceiling imitates a starry, cobalt nighttime sky.

5. Mary Anderson Theater Demonstration Site

The Mary Anderson Theater was opened in 1907 and in the 1920s was converted to a film theater. This theater was regularly busy which is why it became a site for civil rights demonstrations. Protesters knew this would be an ideal location to bring publicity and attention to their cause. 1961 is when most demonstrations took place in downtown Louisville in the wake of the Greensboro and Nashville sit-ins.

6. Louisville Sit-Ins at Stewart's Dry Goods, 1961

Some viewed Louisville, KY as a regional leader in race relations in the late 1950s, following the 1956 peace passage of school integration laws. However, in the early 1960s much of the rest of public society still remained segregated. In February 1961, one year following the Greensboro, NC lunch counter sit-ins, the NAACP Youth Council and CORE rallied a massive campaign of peaceful protests, during which over 700 people were incarcerated for their involvement. The movement continued through to the summer when the mayor opened negotiations with city businesses hoping to end the conflict with a compromise that would satisfy African American residents without costing him support among the white majority who believed that African Americans should be "patient" and wait for stores to voluntarily end their Jim Crow policies. Sit-in demonstrations occurred here at the flagship store of the Stewart's Dry Goods Company Building, a regional department chain that was headquartered in Louisville. This particular protest was led by high school students who occupied space in the store's lunch counter after being denied service because of their race.

7. Sit-In Demonstration Site Blue Boar Cafeteria

The Blue Boar Cafeteria was a regional home-style food chain primarily located in southern states. Organized by CORE and Raoul Cunningham, in the wake of the Greensboro and Nashville sit-ins, demonstrations and sit-ins were held in front of the Blue Boar and many other restaurants in downtown Louisville to advocate for desegregation. The Blue Boar Cafeteria was one of the sites of escalated violence by merchant policemen and customers against protesters. After protesting, only 24 of 135 restaurants opened their doors to people of color; the remaining restaurants did not welcome all races until the public accommodations law was implemented in 1963.

8. Kaufman-Straus Department Store

This historic department store was targeted for sit-ins because African-Americans were denied service in their restaurants. In February 1960 student members of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and members of NAACP Youth Council protested in front of the store. The building is now home part of Fourth Street Live and home to the Sports & Social Club among other businesses.

9. 1961 Campaign to End Racial Segregation - Fourth Street Shopping District

African Americans in Louisville protested segregation throughout the 1950s with mixed results. Though school integration passed in 1956, much of the rest of Louisville life remained racially segregated. The anti-segregation movement reached a critical mass in February 1960 when the a delegation of white and Black community leaders expressed frustration at the failure of the city council or Mayor Bruce Hoblitzell to support their demand for a municipal ordinance banning segregation. In the spring of 1961, in part inspired by the successes seen in Greensboro, NC, the African American community effectively acted to organize major stand-ins in local department stores.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Civil Rights Demonstrations in Downtown Louisville

Created by Clio Admin on February 10th 2018, 9:17:33 pm.

Get a QR Code for this tour

Description

This walking tour covers only three blocks but includes nine civil rights demonstrations that occurred in downtown Louisville between 1960 and the passage of the city's public accommodations law in 1963. The walking tour includes restaurants such as the Blue Boar Cafeteria, department stores such as Kaufman-Straus, theaters such as Loew's Theater, and the Brown Hotel. Many of the entries were made by students at the University of Louisville under the direction of Dr. Lara Kelland.

Entries on This Tour

Civil Rights Demonstrations in Downtown Louisville

Description

Share