LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A book highlighting a historic West End neighborhood is set to hit the shelves in 2023.
Tuesday, the Louisville Story Program reached its Kickstarter goal of $15,000. Now, after three years of writing, 26 Russell neighborhood voices will tell first-hand accounts of growing up in that rich community over the years.
The book’s title is, "If You Write Me a Letter, Send It Here: Voices of Russell in a Time of Change."
The Louisville Story Program brought the authors together. The organization highlights various communities and topics across Louisville and has even published a book about the history of the Dirt Bowl, a staple event in Shawnee.
"It was the place to be, it was a place everybody wanted to be,” Haven Harrington said when describing Russell. He’s one of the book's authors. “It had all your restaurants, all your stores, all your clubs and happenings. You can see anybody in concert there. If you're the older generation, Duke Ellington, Count Basie.”
Harrington's chapter in the Russell book is about his family.
“We have like three generations, four if we count my daughter and my son, being in the Russell neighborhood,” he said. “My grandfather's barbershop, which was an institution unto itself in the neighborhood.”
It was more than a place to get a fresh fade, but a gathering space to listen and learn.
And though over the years he's watched urban renewal take away single family homes and stunning Victorian mansions, he's never lost sight of the character and culture that makes Russell, Russell.
“When you know where you've been, then you know where you're going, and you know what you lost and then you can find it and get it back,” Harrington said. “So, that's why these books are so important.”
The book is expected to be published by early spring 2023.