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Alberta Jones Honored As Louisville 'Hometown Hero'

Courtesy Hometown Heroes

City officials and family members gathered Monday for the unveiling of the latest "Hometown Hero" banner to honor the pioneering attorney and civil rights activist Alberta Jones.

It now hangs at 6th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, on the side of the River City Bank building.

“It’s long past time that Alberta Jones got her due as a uniquely brilliant, compassionate, resourceful and fearless fighter for justice and opportunity in her city of Louisville,” said Mayor Greg Fischer.

Jones was the first African-American woman to pass the Kentucky bar, the first female prosecutor in Jefferson County, Muhammad Ali’s attorney — and on Aug. 5, 1965, she was dragged out her car, knocked unconscious with a brick and thrown into the Ohio River.

The brutal murder was never solved, though LMPD has now reopened the case. Jones' life — and death — have received renewed national interest from the New York Times and the Washington Post.

“Though her lips are silent, her legacy and her memory lives on,” said Tony Shanklin, Jones' nephew.

Jones’ banner joins 29 other Hometown Hero banners throughout the city. They recognize famous Louisvillians such as Justice Louis Brandeis, Diane Sawyer and Ali.