Interview with Ed Hamilton, November 4, 2015

Interview Summary

Sculptor Ed Hamilton talks about growing up in Louisville, Kentucky and discusses his parents' business. His father was a tailor and his mother was a barber (in a time when barbers were mostly men). He talks about the insulation of the neighborhood, which was integrated, compared to the segregation in the wider city. Hamilton talks about the impact of urban renewal on his neighborhood on Walnut Street and how it affected his family and destroyed his community.

Hamilton talks about his early artistic abilities and how they were noticed by his art teacher during junior high school. He talks about how this teacher, as well as his high school art teacher, helped him to develop his talents. He talks about attending the Louisville School of Art for college. He talks about his graduate art show and how it led to his meeting several of his mentors. He talks about how they, along with his research into historical artists, influenced his work. He talks about learning through working with other Black artists. He tells the story of how he came to meet another mentor, sculptor Barney Bright, and how he became Bright's apprentice.

Hamilton talks about his major commissions, including religious artwork, a statue of Booker T. Washington, a statue of boxer Joe Louis, an Amistad memorial, and the Spirit of Freedom African-American Civil War Memorial.

Hamilton tells the story of meeting his wife during college through a mutual friend. He talks about how he began researching his genealogy, learning that he was actually adopted, and his decision to locate and meet his birth mother.

Interview Keyword

African Americans--Race identity. Art teachers University of Louisville Louisville (Ky.)--Buildings, structures, etc. Art. Monuments. Statues African American artists

Interview LC Subject

African Americans--Social conditions African American families African Americans--Genealogy Childhood Neighborhoods African American business enterprises Artists--Kentucky African Americans--Education Minority artists Public sculpture

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.