Bowling Green, KY

Jonesville was a tight-knit African American community in Bowling Green, Kentucky established around 1881 by formerly enslaved Black people who fought for the Union during the Civil War. In the 1960s, the Jonesville neighborhood was acquired under the Urban Renewal Program to make way for the expansion of the Western Kentucky University campus. Many Jonesville residents were forced to leave their homes for a fraction of their properties’ value. In 2021 and 2022, descendants, artists, folklorists, and historians began the Jonesville Memory Project to document, preserve, and share the stories of Jonesville.  WKU President Timothy C. Caboni established the Jonesville Reconciliation Working Group 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 (BG/WC) community. To date, projects have included a “Community Scholars” course researching Jonesville’s history, oral histories, and an exhibit at the Kentucky Museum.  Current work includes a documentary about the history of Jonesville and the ongoing impacts of urban renewal on former residents and descendants, produced via a partnership between the Kentucky Folklife Program and WKU PBS; where descendants are key producers.