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Edpuzzle assignment. Make video delivery an interactive experience. Students watch the lesson while answering the quizzes. The teacher gets the powerful hassle-free analytics.

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Learn about the tragic Birmingham Church Bombing

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On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church as church members prepared for Sunday services. The racially motivated attack killed four young girls and shocked the nation.

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On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church as church members prepared for Sunday services. The racially motivated attack killed four young girls and shocked the nation.

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Try this quiz to test your knowledge

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Quizzes › Society › Religion › Discrimination › Segregation And Discrimination

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Memories of Fontaine Ferry Park - fan photos

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This page includes memories from Fontaine Ferry Park.

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An article about Fountain Ferry--a "whites only" amusement park that existed in West Louisville

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On May 16, Louisville's Frazier International Museum will open a nearly 4,000-square-foot exhibit dedicated to Fontaine Ferry Park. The exhibit will include pictures, oral histories and artifacts from the park. The museum plans several special events in conjunction with the summer-long exhibit.

For nearly 70 years, Fontaine Ferry Park was Louisville and Southern Indiana's premiere amusement park. Generations of patrons enjoyed the rides, games and entertainment. The park - located just across the river from New Albany - was also home to Louisville's second-largest swimming pool, a skating rink and an outdoor dance garden called Gypsy Village. People of all ages could count on days and nights of fun at this magical place. Years of good times left people confident that the fun would never end.

By the early 1960s, the owners of Fontaine Ferry Park found themselves in a very difficult position. Their park, located deep in Louisville's predominantly black west end, remained segregated. As hard as it is to imagine today, Fontaine Ferry Park had denied blacks admission for nearly 60 years.

In the early years, segregation had not been much of a problem. The west end was largely white. However, by the 1950s, demographics were changing. As blacks moved into the west end, many whites hurriedly sold their properties and moved elsewhere.

Throughout the early 1950s, Louisville's black community had, for the most part, quietly accepted the segregated park. They became accustomed to seeing cars, bikes and buses full of people headed for the park.

A black man who grew up in Louisville's west end reminded me of how different those days were from today. He said, "Times were just different then, there were no signs forbidding blacks from entering the park. It was just an unwritten thing. You just knew you couldn't go.

"It was harder for the younger children watching through the fence. The older kids had grown used to segregation. You have to remember that, in the '60s, blacks couldn't eat at the lunch counter in most Louisville drugstores. It wasn't something we thought that much about. It wasn't right, but it was something you just accepted."

By 1961, more and more blacks were unwilling to accept segregation. Tension was growing. Throughout the United States, the political climate was changing. Blacks across America took to the streets, hoping to right the wrongs of a century.

Louisville's black community was no exception. They began to demand an end to segregation. Fontaine Ferry Park found itself in the eye of a growing storm.

Jack Singhiser, the park's owner, was an astute businessman. He had, for many years, adapted the park to meet the changing needs of the community. His keen sense had guided the park for two successful decades. Now he faced a situation that would prove bigger than Fontaine Ferry Park.

In 1964, the park changed its long-standing policy and began to admit blacks to the grounds. Much to the relief of the parks management, integration came with few problems. Throughout the mid-60s, it looked like Fontaine Ferry's long run of good luck - the same luck that had spared the park from flood and fire - would hold up. But then, the luck ran out.

In 1968, the worst civil rights riots in American history erupted across the country in response to the death of Dr. Martin Luther King. The battle for civil rights was in full swing.

On May 4, 1969, Fontaine Ferry opened for the season as it had so many times before. Late in the day, the park was overrun by vandals. Vendors were robbed, people injured and thousands of dollars worth of property stolen or destroyed.

However, the worst damage was not near as visible as the broken glass and overturned booths. It quickly became apparent that already reluctant patrons were now afraid to travel to Louisville's volatile west end. Some accounts label the rioters as common criminals; others blamed pent-up hostility over segregation.

Jack Singhiser closed the park the next day. Singhiser, the man, ever concerned about his employees, cited their safety as his reason for closing the park. Singhiser, the businessman, undoubtedly knew that the changing west end was an obstacle too big for the park to overcome. For a short time, he continued to operate the pool, skating rink and Gypsy Village.

The park sat idle for two years while Singhiser, the city and local businessmen tried to find a use for the Louisville landmark.

The park property was sold to National Services Industries. In June 1972, the park reopened as Ghost Town on the River. The owners hoped that a new name and western theme would give the park a second chance. But, with little support from the black community and whites largely afraid to travel to the city's west end, the park failed. In 1975, it reopened as River Glen Park. This venture met no more success than the previous attempt.

A series of fires in '76 and '78 destroyed the park's famous entrance. The roller rink and several other buildings also were destroyed. The site was cleared and became a part of the city park system. Today, the grounds of the old amusement park are part of Louisville's Shawnee Park.

You have to look hard to find any physical reminders of the park. A mound of dirt where the pool once was is easily overlooked. The foundation of a building that once greeted park goers arriving by boat at the Market Street landing remains, as do the concrete footings that once supported the massive Comet roller coaster. The rest is memories.

Be sure to visit the Frazier exhibit. For those of you old enough to remember the park, it will be a pleasant reminder of days gone by. For the younger crowd, it will be a chance to learn a bit of local history. And for all of us, it will be a chance to reflect on how much our world has changed.

Andrew J. Albatys is a Henryville resident and business owner. He can be reached via e-mail at douglassloop@aol.com

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ALBATYS: Changing times at Fontaine Ferry Park

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On May 16, Louisville's Frazier International Museum will open a nearly 4,000-square-foot exhibit dedicated to Fontaine Ferry Park. The exhibit will include pictures, oral histories and artifacts from the park. The museum plans several special events in conjunction with the summer-long exhibit. For nearly 70 years, Fontaine Ferry Park was Louisville and Southern Indiana's premiere amusement park.

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How discrimination was "legal".

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Top SecretConfirmed**********... Loading...LoadingStarting Retinal Scan...Scanning......Scanning...Scanning Complete, Welcome WPESJim Crow Laws OriginsFrom the 1880´s into the 1960´s, a majority of American states used segragation through ¨Jim Crow" laws. Many cities could inflict legal punishments on citizens for consorting with another race.

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What's a boycott? What did this have to do with the fight for rights of African-Americans?