This is one in a series of profiles marking the 60th anniversary of the ACLU of Kentucky’s founding.  Each week from November 2014 through December 2015 we will highlight the story of one member, client, case, board or staff member that has been an integral part of our organization’s rich history.

KCLU Founders

Julia Allen, William F. Billingsley, Norbert Blume, Joseph Freeland, Patrick Kirwan, Louis Kesselman, Arthur Kling, Louis Lusky, Rev. Wilfred Myll, Maie Perley, Maurice Rabb, M.D., Georgia Schneider, Lee Thomas, Jr., Edgar A. Zingman

“I had forgotten how forceful [members of the ACLU-KY] were. I cannot mention them all nor can I describe the intensity of their fidelity to the goal of the KCLU."– F.W. Woolsey, ACLU Historian, 1995


The ACLU of Kentucky (originally the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union or KCLU) was formed in the wake of the Red Scare in the United States brought about by the rise of Soviet Russia. Conceived as a “necessary arm of defense” against the invasive and restrictive policies brought about by the Red Scare, the KCLU fought to protect constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. A motley crew of WASPS, blacks, Jews, men, and women, the founders of the KCLU did not have an easy task when they decided to bring the ACLU to the Bluegrass state, but they did have the determination to see it through.

From the moment the organization came into existence, the KCLU had a full docket of issues to tackle. The first case was a major one, the defense of Carl and Anne Braden, white activists charged with sedition for purchasing a home on behalf of the Wade Family, Louisville African-Americans.  The list of early legal cases taken up by the KCLU included a wide variety of issues such as right to counsel, obscenity, and voting rights.

While the founders of the KCLU began their mission as unpopular outsiders, they would eventually begin to change minds in the community. Edgar Zingman recalls receiving a phone call from an irate business owner asking him “Why are you trying to put me out of business?” The KCLU had decided to boycott the man’s store due to his unequal treatment of black customers. Eventually, Zingman reported, this store owner would become one of Kentucky’s leading civil rights activists.

Truly, if the ACLU-KY has accomplished anything over the years, it is that fighting for civil rights and liberties is not nearly as taboo as it once was. Zingman recalled having to take multiple, circuitous routes just to get from the airport in Birmingham to the location where he was scheduled to deliver a speech. He remembered leaving the speech early due to the possibility of violence caused by protesters outside the church where he was speaking. He once said he is thankful that his nights of having to sleep on the floor because that’s the safest spot “in the event someone decided to shoot up the place” had come to an end. The founders of the KCLU built a very strong foundation the ACLU-KY stands on today to fight for positive change across the commonwealth.