Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South

Book excerpt: A noted civil rights historian examines Louisville as a cultural border city where the black freedom struggle combined northern and southern tactics. Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky, represents a cultural and geographical intersection of North and South. This border identity has shaped the city’s race relations throughout its history. Louisville's black citizens did not face entrenched restrictions against voting and civic engagement, yet the city still bore the marks of Jim Crow segregation in public accommodations. 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. They also crossed traditional barriers between the movements for racial and economic justice to unite in common action. In Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South, Tracy E. K'Meyer provides a groundbreaking analysis of Louisville's uniquely hybrid approach to the civil rights movement. Defining a border as a space where historical patterns and social concerns overlap, K'Meyer argues that broad coalitions of Louisvillians waged long-term, interconnected battles for social justice. “The definitive book on the city’s civil rights history.” —Louisville Courier-Journal