WKU News

On Thursday (October 27), the Honoring Jonesville: Our People, Our Community, Our Legacy event will feature the “What Happened to Jonesville?” exhibit and reception at the Kentucky Museum as the first event of President Timothy C. Caboni’s appointed Jonesville Reconciliation Workgroup.

In addition to the Jonesville buon fresco mural, the exhibit will feature 15 interpretative panels of photographs and stories from interviews with families from the Jonesville neighborhood. Jonesville was established around 1881 by formerly enslaved Blacks who fought for the Union during the Civil War. The African American community once existed where buildings such as E.A. Diddle Arena and Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium stand today.

The exhibit and reception are open to the public. Guests can visit the Kentucky Museum from 4 to 6 p.m. CT Thursday; remarks begin at 5 p.m. Those in attendance will hear from WKU President Timothy C. Caboni, Jonesville Reconciliation Workgroup Chairperson Dr. Saundra Ardrey, Kentucky Museum Director Brent Bjorkman, and Professional Visual Artist Alice Gatewood Waddell, whose family lived in Jonesville.

“It was with great pleasure and honor to create the image for the Jonesville mural.  As a descendant of the Baily family of Jonesville, I am proud to be instrumental in preserving its rich history,” Waddell said.  

The stories featured on the interpretative panels come from Community Scholars in the Kentucky Folklife Program, several of whom have a connection to the Jonesville neighborhood. Teams explored focused fieldwork research pertaining to Bowling Green’s former Jonesville neighborhood, which included intimate oral interviews with former residents of Jonesville and their descendants whose lives have been profoundly affected by the neighborhood’s demolition.

President Caboni established the Jonesville Reconciliation Workgroup during the Spring 2022 semester. Members of the workgroup include WKU alumni, WKU employees, descendants of Jonesville, and individuals from the Bowling Green/Warren County community. The primary purpose of the workgroup is to appropriately address the issues that remain from the dismantling of the Jonesville neighborhood.

Learn more about the reception and workgroup at www.wku.edu/Jonesville.

-WKU-

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.