Uncovering Louisville’s Hidden Human Rights Hero for Future Generations

September 18, 2024

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences

From research she conducted over the summer as a Pan-African Studies major, Alexus Hughes is determined to share with future generations the local and global impact of a human rights hero, the Presbyterian minister, Rev. William Sheppard.

Hughes uncovered her own joy of learning by doing: she relished the detective work of piecing together the stories of not only Rev. William Sheppard but also his wife Lucy and their daughter Wilhelmina.

“We went on a treasure hunt,” she said of her experience in UofL’s Summer Research Opportunity Program.

Hughes, a junior who is minoring in health and well-being, worked with Pan-African Studies and History Associate Professor Tyler Fleming, poring through archives and meeting people who still live in Louisville today whose lives have been impacted by the Sheppards. The research began over the summer and continues this fall semester.

Originally from Waynesboro, Virginia, the Sheppards were missionaries in the Congo during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Amidst the brutal and violent colonial regime overseen by King Leopold II of Belgium, the Sheppards, along with their peers, were appalled by the atrocities committed against the Congolese people. They meticulously documented these horrors, including torture, mutilation, and death, and shared their findings with the international press.

Rev. Sheppard’s efforts played a crucial role in bringing global attention to the Congo's plight, with major publications like the New York Times basing their reports on his work and documentation. Sheppard’s legacy continues to resonate in Louisville, where his courageous activism is remembered, thanks to Hughes’ determination to continue his story today.

“Sheppard is a human rights hero, and very much was world-renowned at the time that he came to Louisville,” Fleming states. “Mark Twain referenced Sheppard in persuading him to speak out against the Belgians in the Congo, for example. The idea of recruiting this world-renowned hero and his wife, who also was a very experienced and talented teacher with international experience, the idea of bringing them to Louisville at this time, in the early 20^th century, was a boon for the Presbyterian Black community, and we wanted to explore that with this research.”

When Sheppard concluded his missionary work, his family settled in Louisville, as he was called to minister at Grace Hope Presbyterian Church in Smoketown.

“He had a huge impact in the Presbyterian community in Louisville,” Hughes said. “He helped shape a lot of the people there, and he built the community up. His wife, Lucy, she was also very active in the community. She worked as a social worker up until her death and was honored as an honorary auxiliary member of the Louisville Presbyterian Center.”

Hughes states this research is important to the community because she grew up in Louisville and did not know about Sheppard’s local and global legacy. She wanted to learn for herself and for future generations to come.

"He has multiple memorials named for him in the city, and a lot of people do not know who he is. Sheppard Park was going to be renamed at one point, because people didn’t know his impact, so researching him and continuing his story is very important,” she said.

A surprising aspect of their research came when they discovered Wilhelmina Sheppard’s archived file at Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), where she was a teacher. Fleming said this semester they will conduct oral interviews with people who were her students as kindergarteners.

“Wilhelmina would do things like bring in jade from China, bring in Congolese art, but also put pushpins in the globe with lines to the places she had been. And so, at a young age, you had this Louisvillian kindergarten student seeing that the world is possible,” Fleming said.

This semester, Hughes looks forward to continuing this research by uncovering more information about the Sheppard’s son, Maxamalinge. Hughes and Fleming are also working to secure a historical marker for the Sheppards’ Louisville home located on East Breckenridge Street.

By searching the UofL archives, a series of databases and digitalized newspapers, periodicals, the Courier Journal, Louisville Leader, Louisville Defender, and JCPS archives, Hughes and Fleming are working together to ensure the story of the Sheppards and their impact does not end.

For Hughes, she also hopes to follow in Wilhelmina’s footsteps by one day becoming a teacher for elementary students herself, prioritizing Black history.

“I am the next generation,” Hughes said. “Research gives me the tools to be prepared and teach the generation after me.”