Our Shared Story

A uniquely diverse house of worship like Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church could only exist in a uniquely diverse neighborhood like Kennedy Heights. In fact, the church and the neighborhood have worked together since the 1960’s to promote integration and protect the rights of its members and citizens, but this wasn’t always the case. Before World War II and to a lesser degree afterwards, Kennedy Heights was marred by the same social ills that still plague the rest of the country, so how did this neighborhood turn out differently? Because of people who valued empathy over apathy, and it was the church that originally brought them together.

Kennedy Heights began as a 22 acre tract purchased by Lewis Kennedy in the late 1800’s, and soon went from farming district, to summer resort, to suburb. In 1914, the residents voted for annexation to Cincinnati to afford basic services such as a fire department and sewage system, but they never gave up ownership of the community. They had a clear idea of what Kennedy Heights should be and fought hard against outside interests with contrary ideas. After fighting a public relations battle to keep General Motors from opening up a plant between Kennedy Heights and Eastwood Circle, The Kennedy Heights Eastwood Development Company was formed to buy up plots for single-family homes before the land could be used for other purposes. The residents of Kennedy Heights had always been quick to organize whenever challenges arose, and the early 1960’s would offer plenty.

When America entered World War II in 1941, many white males left their industrial jobs to serve overseas, prompting African Americans to move north to fill the vacancies. Cincinnati’s African American population grew by 40%. After the war, many of those returning home didn’t appreciate their new neighbors, giving rise to racial tensions and eventually White Flight. There might not’ve been Jim Crow laws in Cincinnati, but that didn’t prevent segregation. They just had to be more subtle about it. Racial zoning laws and the real estate industry encouraged the panic-selling of homes, and anywhere African Americans lived was labelled by the banks as a neighborhood in decline. Anyone living in these neighborhoods were red-lined, meaning they’d be refused loans for any other purpose than buying a house in another declining neighborhood.

Kennedy Heights had a steadily growing community of middle class African Americans living across the railroad tracks that ran through the northeast corner of the neighborhood. Their children were harassed in school and often made to sit in the back of the class. When African Americans began moving into homes beyond the tracks, the panic-selling began. To ease racial tensions, Dr. Wilbur Hassebrock, the minister at Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church, agreed to hold meetings to help stabilize the community. The first meeting consisted of a small group of eight, but they would effect great change in both the community and the church.

In part, the church itself was a product of community activism. In 1891, the Presbytery of Cincinnati refused permission to build a church, so Henry Appleton held Sunday school classes in his home on Kennedy Avenue. Interest grew beyond Mr. Appleton’s capacity, so the classes were moved to the school and were followed by interdenominational services for local Protestants who didn’t want to walk to Silverton or Pleasant Ridge. A petition was circulated, and most were in favor of establishing a Presbyterian Church, so the Presbytery of Cincinnati was again approached, and permission was granted to organize Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church (KHPC) in 1909. A small white church was built in 1912, not too far from Henry Appleton’s house on Kennedy Avenue, and their numbers grew until a large extension was added in 1930, but it wasn’t just the building that was white. African Americans weren’t permitted to attend.

When Dr. Wilbur Hassebrock first started having his meetings, however, African Americans were among the first eight to attend, and it struck everyone that the goals of all the residents, Black and White, were the same: a safe place to raise a family, decent and fair schools, and pride in one’s home. Together they formed the Kennedy Heights Community Council with one driving goal in mind – improving their quality of life through intentional integration. And to set the example, the church accepted two African American members, Ruby and Jim Metts, into the congregation. They would be the first of many.

The newly formed community council began promoting their message of universal integration with a listening tour. They simply sat in people’s living rooms, listened to their problems and began forming solutions. They then brought White and African Americans together in safe, collaborative training programs designed to build empathy and discover common goals. Never did the council settle on a single plan of action or grow satisfied with their understanding of the issues, but constantly canvassed the neighborhood for new ideas while educating people on the benefits of integration. They even brought in the head of the

Cincinnati Real Estate Board to debunk fears that property values dropped in integrated neighborhoods. Eventually, the panic-selling stopped, and the council convinced more people, White and African American alike, to move into the neighborhood.

Calling America a melting pot ignores the fact that most of us drive home from work to neighborhoods where everyone looks and talks like we do, but Kennedy Heights comes closer to the term than most. It’s not a perfect place to live, but is still better off today than it would’ve been if a good number of its residents hadn’t come together to form common goals and work hard towards their realization. And just as their Christian faith inspired the members of KHPC to help form the local integration movement, the movement continues to inspire us to be better Christians. We have luncheons and dinners open to the public, host AA meetings and have programs such as the Caring Place that feeds and clothes underprivileged residents. Our members have also been active in church government on the national and local levels. Kennedy Heights has provided three moderators to Presbytery (most recently, Bill Brown), and Patricia Brown served as moderator to the national General Assembly. We’ve provided leadership in several Presbytery and Presbyterian women’s activities as well. We just celebrated our 100th birthday in 2009, but unlike other traditional churches who don’t hang a giant projector screen and still uses hymnals, we’ve been integrated for decades, and our mission still reads, “To share the good news of Jesus Christ with all peoples as a racially diverse congregation, through worship, service, education and fellowship.”