By Alex Stanton
Office of Vice Mayor
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney
Auburn Avenue at the intersection of Dorchester Avenue in the Mt. Auburn neighborhood is to receive the honorary, secondary name of “Carl B. Westmoreland Way” in honor of the late Carl B. Westmoreland and in recognition of his influence in the Cincinnati community along with his research and advocation of Civil Rights.
The event is October 27 at 1 p.m.
Mr. Westmoreland spent 40 years living in Cincinnati and focusing his attention on the primarily African American Mount Auburn community—forming the Mount Auburn Good Housing Foundation—involved in the renovation of more than 2,000 homes and businesses in Cincinnati and nationwide. He was perceived as a leader in urban revitalization and preservation from the grassroots community level to improve communities and education through history. Regardless of his efforts on the international scale through his association with National Trust, Westmoreland never lost his dedication to his hometown—he continued his efforts in Cincinnati neighborhoods, heading organizations small and large from Madisonville Housing Services to the Cincinnati Housing Service to the Ohio Preservation Alliance.
Mr. Westmoreland’s legacy lives on at the Freedom Center through his service as a Senior Advisor and curator for its main exhibit—the Slave Pen, which he recovered from a farm in Mason, Kentucky, and had relocated to the Freedom Center for educational purposes. His efforts continue to inspire research on the history of African Americans in the United States.
Vice Mayor Jan Michele Lemon Kearney is Emcee of the event, which includes remarks by Guy Westmoreland, Carl Westmoreland Jr.,Rev. Damon Lynch Jr. and John Pepper.