William Warley (January 6, 1884 – April 2, 1946) was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and civil rights activist. He was the chapter president of the NAACP in Louisville, Kentucky.[1] He went to court over the city's segregated housing policy in what became the U.S. Supreme Court case Buchanan v. Warley.[2] Warley had been blocked from buying a home in a "white neighborhood" in 1915. In 1917 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that government ordinances segregating housing violated constitutional rights.[3] Warley also protested segregated streetcars.

His mother, Belle, was a dressmaker.[3] He attended Central High School and spoke out about the inferior educational offerings available to African Americans in Louisville. He graduated from Louisville's State University. He worked at the Pendennis Club before he secured a job with the United States Post Office.[3]

The white real estate agent selling the property, Charles H. Buchanan, and Warley the buyer wanted the ordinance overturned. Moorfield Storey argued the housing segregation case before the U.S. Supreme Court.[4][5]

Warley founded the Louisville News in 1912 and served as its editor.[6][3] He married and had two daughters.[3]

Louisville's Republican Party refused to back Warley's campaign for a seat in the state legislature. With Democrats openly hostile to African Americans, this and other instances of lack of support led some African Americans to form their own Lincoln Independent Party.[7][8]

After complications from an operation, Warley died on April 2, 1946.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Warley, William, 1899-1946 - Civil Rights Digital Library".
  2. ^ Davis, John Chandler Bancroft; Putzel, Henry; Lind, Henry C.; Wagner, Frank D. (1918). "United States Reports: Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court at ... And Rules Announced at".
  3. ^ a b c d e f Wigginton, Russell (October 2002). ""But he did what he could" William Warley leads Louisville's Fight for Justice, 1902-1946" (PDF). The Filson History Quarterly: 427–458.
  4. ^ "A Century of Racial Segregation 1849–1950 - Brown v. Board at Fifty: "With an Even Hand" | Exhibitions". Library of Congress. 13 November 2004.
  5. ^ Hixson, William B. (1968). "Moorfield Storey and the Struggle for Equality". The Journal of American History. 55 (3): 533–554. doi:10.2307/1891012. JSTOR 1891012.
  6. ^ "Warley, William [Buchanan v. Warley]". Notable Kentucky African Americans Database. University of Kentucky. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  7. ^ Free, Jonathon (Spring 2009). "What is the Use of Parks?: The Debates Over Parks and the Response of Louisville's African American Community to Racial Segregation, 1895–19". Ohio Valley History. 9 (1): 21–39.
  8. ^ "Lincoln Independent Party (LIP) · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database".