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A JOINT RESOLUTION designating a portion of Kentucky Route 1934 in 1
Jefferson County as the Andrew and Charlotte Wade Memorial Highway. 2
WHEREAS, Andrew Wade was born February 12, 1922, in Nashville, Tennessee; 3
and 4
WHEREAS, Charlotte Ann Williams Wade was born November 22, 1928, in 5
Louisville, Kentucky; and 6
WHEREAS, Andrew and Charlotte Wade were married in 1950, and Andrew Wade 7
went on to serve in the United States Navy during the Korean War; and 8
WHEREAS, upon returning home from service in the Korean War, Andrew Wade 9
began work as an electric contractor and began searching for a home in Louisville for his 10
family with his wife; and 11
WHEREAS, Andrew and Charlotte Wade approached their friends Anne and Carl 12
Braden with a plan to have the Braden's purchase a home in an all white segregated 13
neighborhood in Shively, and then transfer the title to the Wades; and 14
WHEREAS, in May of 1954, Andrew and Charlotte Wade moved into the home in 15
Shively and found that the residents of the neighborhood were unwelcoming and openly 16
hostile to living in the same neighborhood as a Black family; and 17
WHEREAS, after the Wades moved into the home, just days after the landmark 18
Supreme Court decision in the "Brown v. Board of Education" case, the house was shot 19
at, a cross was burned in the yard, and bricks were thrown through the windows; and 20
WHEREAS, on June 27, 1954, while Andrew and Charlotte Wade were out, the 21
house was bombed; and 22
WHEREAS, those who bombed the home of Andrew and Charlotte Wade were 23
never brought to justice; and 24
WHEREAS, Andrew and Charlotte Wade then moved to a traditionally Black 25
neighborhood in the west end of Louisville; and 26
WHEREAS, the terrorism perpetrated against Wades and the bombing of their 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2353
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home became a rallying call and important moment for the civil rights movement and 1
directly led to legislation such as the 1968 Fair Housing Act; and 2
WHEREAS, Andrew Wade passed away on September 26, 2005, and Charlotte 3
Wade passed away on January 11, 2020; and 4
WHEREAS, Andrew and Charlotte Wade showed immense courage and tenacity 5
when they moved into the all white segregated neighborhood of Shively in 1954, and 6
their contribution to the civil rights movement and the history of Louisville deserves 7
tangible recognition; 8
NOW, THEREFORE, 9
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 10
ď˘Section 1. The Transportation Cabinet shall designate the portion of Kentucky 11
Route 1934 in Jefferson County, from its intersection with Kentucky Route 1727 to its 12
end at Wilson Avenue (mile point 11.5), as the "Andrew and Charlotte Wade Memorial 13
Highway" and shall, within 30 days of the effective date of this Resolution, erect 14
appropriate signs denoting this designation. 15