Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South: Louisville, Kentucky, 1945-1980

by: Tracy E. K'Meyer

Published by: The University of Kentucky Press

Reviewed by Gene Hayworth

The conclusion to Civil Rights in the Gateway to the South is a chapter titled “Where Does the Story End?” With this compelling question, author Tracy E. K’Meyer acknowledges that, though her work officially closes with a discussion of busing during the 1970s, to those individuals who fought for civil rights in Louisville throughout their lives, the struggle does not end.

With a keen eye for detail, K’Meyer has carefully documented the characteristics and events that helped define modern day Louisville and its attitudes toward racial equality. As a city among several that are noted for being what K’Meyer calls border communities (including Baltimore, Cincinnati, and St. Louis), Louisville contained many elements that made it an exceptional choice to study aspects of American attitudes toward race relations and the development of activist tactics to combat injustice. These elements include its geographical position on the banks of the Ohio River, linking the north and south, its industrial working class, its large African American population, and the relatively large number of churches and other institutions that played active roles in fighting for civil rights.

The book’s 80 pages of notes and its comprehensive bibliography serve as proof of K’Meyer’s extensive research. Segregation, repression, the lack of housing and jobs, and police violence, are just a few of the subjects that the author examines, illustrating the wide variety of problems that challenged individuals throughout the United States during the mid-twentieth century.

Though this is the story of a city, it is also the tale of individuals and organizations that participated in the struggle to achieve social justice. Anyone with an interest in civil rights and American history will find this book rewarding.

K’Meyer has managed to weave together many engaging narratives from an impressive array of sources, into a single, scholarly historiography that is both informative and captivating.

Armchair Interviews agrees. Those who study history will be most impressed.