ArcaMax

Chickasaw Park is special. It was designed by the Olmsted firm in 1923 for Louisville, Kentucky, and is believed to be the only Olmsted-designed park created specifically for a Black community during segregation. Olmsted Park Conservancy recently received a $5 million anonymous donation to completely restore the park.

Bettye Foster Baker, who is 88 years old and holds a doctorate in educational administration from Columbia University, lived across the street from the park in the 1950s. She lives between Pennsylvania and Martha's Vineyard these days, but when she learned of the anonymous donation, she reached out to Olmsted Conservancy and wrote a letter to the editor for the Louisville Courier Journal to express her gratitude. That's why I wanted to talk to her.

"I always knew the park to be the African American park," Baker said, "but I also knew it to be a place of extraordinary beauty." The park is located on the Ohio River, and Baker remembers swinging there as a child, looking out at the water. But most of her time at Chickasaw was spent on the tennis courts. Kirby Hall taught her how to play. He was one of the founding members of the historic West Louisville Tennis Club, which recently celebrated its 100th year.

Chickasaw Park has long been regarded as a symbol of pride and belonging for generations of Black Louisvillians. Muhammad Ali trained there as a young boxer and serves as another reminder that the park was not just a refuge during segregation, but a proving ground for Black excellence. Recent investments have been made to upgrade the tennis courts and pond as well as add a nature-play area. However, the park was also struck by a tornado two years ago and there is more work to be done.

The community will have a say in how the donation is used to restore the park. Baker sees the opportunity to teach children what Chickasaw Park was like during segregation, and why integration was important. It's something Baker experienced firsthand.

"You know, we didn't hate America," Baker said about life during Jim Crow. "We realized America was flawed, and that we had a mission. We had to take the time to see what we could do to accomplish freedom and opportunity for all."

In 1951, when Baker was 13, she won third place in an essay contest, writing on the prompt of "Why I love America." The contest was through the Lions Club.

Baker was supposed to accept her award at Louisville's Brown Hotel where the Lions typically held their weekly luncheons. However, the hotel informed the Lions that they would not serve one of their guests "Because she is a Negro." The other two contest winners were white.

The Lions Club moved their awards luncheon to the Seelbach Hotel, where Baker was welcomed and all of the contest winners could adequately be honored. "I didn't feel any anger towards the Brown Hotel," Baker said. "What I felt was that we still had a very, very long way to go."

Baker chose to put her energy in feeling grateful for those who celebrated her. "The Seelbach had made a very moral and principled decision," Baker said, "and that stuck in my mind much more than the fact that I was denied entry by the Brown Hotel."

Chickasaw Park is an important part of understanding what segregation was like for Black people. That history tends to be insufficiently covered in K-12 education, but "You cannot cross out the reality of what happened," Baker said, because "It's always going to be there, and there's always someone to put it back in place."

With this $5 million gift, Louisville can remember as well as restore. We can honor Chickasaw Park's history and by doing so, honor the struggle of Black Americans. Baker believes it is "an opportunity to teach and to inspire students to pick up the mantle and to go forward with it."

The next generation deserves the chance to understand not only what was denied, but the joy, excellence and community that was created at Chickasaw Park in spite of it.

Do you know anyone who's doing cool things to make the world a better place? I want to know. Send me an email at Bonnie@WriterBonnie.com. Also, stay in the loop by signing up for her weekly newsletter at WriterBonnie.com. To find out more about Bonnie Jean Feldkamp and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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