| 2004-05 Recipient
Jane La Pin '38
 Collegiate
alumna Jane La Pin is a shining example of a person who has
spent her life focusing on urban issues and working to wipe
out discrimination in her community. At 84, she still glows
with pride when she talks about her current membership on
the Old Louisville Neighborhood Council.
"I'm just nosey. You sit in an apartment
all day, you don't find out anything," she said, adding
that she lobbied seven years ago for the position when she
became a resident of Treyton Oaks Tower on Oak Street in downtown
Louisville.
Born Jane Hamilton Durning, the 1938 Collegiate
graduate and the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient
has explored life through the military, political office,
motherhood and as a volunteer - most notably her time in the
League of Women Voters.
"I became an activist through them.
I learned how to make a political decision in the League.
We didn't do a lot of that at Collegiate," she said laughing.
Jane entered Collegiate in first grade in
1926, the school's inaugural year at its current Glenmary
Avenue campus. Collegiate originally opened its doors Sept.
23, 1915 in a house at 512 West Ormsby Ave.
Jane has a strong memory of Collegiate, especially her lower
school teachers: "Ms. Peery was first grade, Ms. Morris
was second grade, Ms. Herr was third grade, Ms. Perkins was
fourth grade and Ms. Woodruff was fifth grade," she said.
"I forgot I could (name them) since I haven't tried in
a while."
At Collegiate, Jane spent a lot of time studying.
"When I got to puberty, I had the opportunities to play
competitive sports. I don't know why. They had all kinds of
ideas in those days," she said, adding she played basketball
for fun but not for the school.
Her class consisted of about six or seven
girls until 11th grade when several new students entered Collegiate
from Ballard High School.
"We were a small class at first. We had been together
for a long time but in 11th grade, six more girls came in
from Ballard. In two years, it's kind of hard to really meld
together. I'm assuming they came to Collegiate to gain college
entrance," she said.
She grew up on Claremont Avenue in Crescent
Hill with siblings Blynn, Hamilton and Robert, who still lives
there in the family's home. Jane has fond memories of her
childhood dwellings, especially her mother's efforts to halt
the creation of a neighborhood street.
"Mother was opposed to making city streets
out of residential lanes and so whenever the city would appear
to put in a regular city street, she would get out in the
street and demonstrate," Jane said laughing. "You
know the city has never built that street."
Even though her mother was active in her
community, Jane gives credit to 1940s League President Mrs.
Rudy Vogt, mother of Collegiate Alumni Association President
Kate Vogt Talamini '67. "She set a wonderful example.
She was a mother, community leader and activist," Jane
said. "She was in charge of the organization that really
caught my attention and where I learned most of what I know
about government and politics."
Jane's involvement with the League would
lead her as president in 1957 to the White House Rose Garden
where President Dwight Eisenhower addressed her and other
League members. Jane still possesses a photo of her in the
crowd that day facing Eisenhower on the White House lawn.
After graduating from the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1942 with an English degree, Jane
entered the United States military as a member of WAC (Women's
Army Corps) that was support staff to the United States Air
Force. She was a military recruiter in New York City and a
personnel administrator in Virginia and Madison, Wisconsin,
where she met her husband Ted L. La Pin who was also in the
military. Ted passed away in 1989.
The couple married and established their
lives in Appleton, Wisconsin. The couple had three children:
Deirdre, John and Frank. Ted worked for Kimberly-Clark while
his wife worked as an English teacher and guidance counselor.
She attended the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and graduated
with a master's degree in guidance and counseling.
"I did do some teaching that I wasn't
good at, but I was interested in education. I learned, however,
why it is hard to be a teacher," she said laughing. "It
was an educational program for me but I didn't offer much."
Jane remembers her daughter Deirdre, whom
she called an excellent student, coming home one day and asked
her mother why she was studying to be a teacher. "She
asked me what I was going to teach, and I told her English,"
she recalls. "She said they will laugh you out of the
classroom, and they almost did too. She was exactly right.
She knew a good teacher."
What Jane might have lacked in teaching,
she made up for in public service. In 1974, she was elected
to the City of Appleton's Board of Alderman. She held the
position for four years, while her husband was County Supervisor,
while marketing manager for Kimberly-Clark. Her time as alderman
allowed her to broaden her knowledge in urban planning and
zoning, metropolitan governmental structure and public education.
When her family decided to move back to Kentucky
in 1979, she brought her wealth of experience and talent back
to the city of Louisville. She joined the Louisville Housing
Authority, Mayor's Citizen Block Watch Council, Jefferson
County Foster Care Review Board, Jefferson County Governance
Task Force, the Louisville and Jefferson County Human Relations
Commission and the Louisville Community Design Center Board
(LCDC).
Jack Trawick, executive director of the LCDC,
said Jane helped strengthen his organization's Neighborhood
Institute, which is a leadership program within LCDC that
works with resident leaders and community organizations to
build strong neighborhoods. She was on the board from 1990-2002.
Trawick, however, became acquainted with
Jane several years earlier when his mother worked with Jane
on the Louisville League of Women Voters. "They were
a powerful, smart civic group of women," he said, adding
that Jane and the League were proponents of Louisville city/county
government merger back in 1956 when the idea first emerged.
Jane authored a letter from the League sent
to the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1956, just after the
defeat of the first merger attempt, which was called the Mallon
Plan. It was named after local business executive John Mallon
who headed the committee that drafted the proposal.
"The League of Women Voters has made
appointments for its representatives to call upon Mayor Andrew
Broaddus……in order to discuss what the defeat
of the Mallon plan may mean to their respective local government
operations. We also wish to discuss with them ways of solving
their mutual problems. We do this in light of the intensive
interest in metropolitan area problems which we have had especially
during the past three years."
Trawick said Jane followed the merger issue in Louisville
from start to finish.
"Through individuals like Jane, ideas are born. Jane
is an example of the type who has vision, patience and the
tenacity to bring about significant change. She reminds us
of a time we should all long for when people were involved
and disagreed for a reason and not for style. She worked with
all political parties in order to promote civic dialogue."
Much of her familiarity with the city of
Louisville also comes from her years of attending the former
city governing body - the Board of Alderman. Her consistent
presence at the meetings over the years gained her the nickname
"the 13th Alderman."
"Jane would come to every Board of Aldermen
meeting. When we were having controversial issues and knew
we'd have a packed house, we would reserve a seat for her
so she'd be sure and get a seat," said Jennifer Brislin,
communications director for the majority caucus at the Louisville
Metro Council. "She use to always come with her friend
Hilda Green, who passed away 3 years or so ago."
Former 3rd Ward Aldermen, now 8th District
Councilman Tom Owen said "As a committed member of the
League of Women Voters, Jane LaPin was a committed "public
observer" of the old Louisville Board of Aldermen. She
silently sat through endless committee and general meetings,
making notes and quietly calling us to the highest ethical
behavior. When she softly spoke her mind on an issue or procedure,
you listened. Jane LaPin is the very glue that holds an effective
Republic together."
Jane said she would always have a passion
for city planning and being an advocate. "I don't see
anything as much fun or as interesting as neighborhoods are
and how cities organize themselves."
"I remember in 1936 going downtown from
Crescent Hill on the streetcar to Fourth and Walnut and noticing
the buildings there. It was a horrible place. There wasn't
a tree around and the buildings were so unattractive and ugly.
I cannot imagine anyone sleeping in those buildings because
it was so hot and dusty," she said. "Louisville
knows now not to do that, and the redevelopment of downtown
is so much better."
Jane has received numerous awards and praise,
including a recent "Distinguished Citizen" award
from the Mayor of Louisville for her work on the Louisville
Housing Authority and Human Relations Commission. She has
also earned praise recently from her 1938 classmates who nominated
her for this year's Distinguished Alumni Award.
Evelyn Russell Cary said her friend and fellow
Collegiate graduate has shown great leadership throughout
her life and has been actively involved in her community.
"Jane always cares for the less privileged
and is dedicated to building bridges and improving race relations,"
Cary said. "I know of no one who is better organized
than Jane, either in her personal life or her present projects."
Collegiate alumna Cammie Kirven Cox, who
is Jane's goddaughter, agrees with the school's recognition
of Jane for the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award winner. "She
is an extraordinary role model, mentor and friend," she
said.
Jane is honored to receive her alma mater's
top alumni award and is curious to see Collegiate's new landscape.
“My time at Collegiate was valuable.
It served me well and gave me a lot of the tools that led
me to many of my successes throughout life. ”
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