LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Between 9th and 10th Street along the Louisville Riverwalk, a new public art installation honoring and celebrating Black Louisvillians who have made an impact on the city’s history and community was unveiled.
Created by the (Un)Known Project, "In Our Elders' Footprints" pays tribute to activists, elders to civil rights leaders and artists.
Hannah Drake and Josh Miller, who co-founded and lead artists on the project, said the art represents the interconnection between past, present and future.
"To see all of the elders coming down to see their footprints, to see the community's response, to be so excited to have this type of space to honor and celebrate people to," Miller said.
The art features footprints from Senator Gerald Neal, Mattie Jones, Ed and Bernadette Hamilton, Ken Clay, Diane Porter, Mary Collier Woolridge, Cheri Bryant Hamilton, and others.
"This is history," said Woolridge. "I never thought it would have happened, not to a young lady like me. I was this person...I'm from the wrong side, I guess you should say the track, poor child, uh, 11 in the family. You better be home at dinner time. If not, it may not be a dinner. I am absolutely thrilled that I would be selected."
24 elders were honored for the path they paved in the city.
PHOTOS | Louisville civil rights leaders honored with 'In Our Elders' Footprints' exhibit
"It's not me, it's just what it represents in terms of those who come after us, how they pick up the baton, how they learn from that experience, and how that lays a platform for evaluating and going to the future," Sen. Neal said.
"I'm very grateful to God that He has given me these many years to witness this happening. I couldn't be no more happy," Jones said. "Look how far we have traveled, and then I look back again over my shoulder to say, Hey, we got to keep on coming. You've got to keep on going because we must continue to build the future of a free America for all of our children and grandchildren to come."
When asked if they had hope for Louisville, the leaders we spoke with said: yes, but change has to come from every generation.
"I'm a hopeful person, but you have to have action, and people who are willing to act and to stand up the time has come," Hamilton said.
The “In Our Elders’ Footprints” is located between 9th and 10th Street along the Louisville Riverwalk just across from (Un)Known Project’s “On the Banks of Freedom”, a monument honoring forgotten slaves. The monument was debuted during the Juneteenth holiday in 2021.
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