By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

 

Oscar-winning screenwriter Kevin Willmott points to West 10th Street in Junction City where he grew up as an example of what this country is supposed to be. Speaking on the theme of diversity, Willmott told a lecture audience at the C.L. Hoover Opera House that West 10th where there were numerous familites of multiple races and ethnicities, was an “example of who we are as a people.”  He also stated growing up there no one had to teach him that racism was wrong.

Willmott noted that Junction City has always been kind of a secret that people don’t really understand. This part of America is fly over country but noted, “People should listen to us.” When it comes to diversity he added, “Junction City was hip-hop way before other people were hip.”

Willmott told the audience winning an Oscar makes you think about where you come from, your parents and people who educated you, and life in general. He stated that for him Junction City is where it all came from. He received a standing ovation at the conclusion of his lecture, and then responded to questions from the audience. He told them Junction City has a tremendous history connected and should be embraced, celebrated and sold in a dignified and proper way.  During his remarks he referred to the historic Buffalo Soldiers who served at Fort Riley and spent years in the community, the fact that baseball player Jackie Robinson and boxer Joe Louis spent time at the Black USO on 18th Street while they were at Fort Riley, and and numerous jazz musicians including Charlie Parker and comedian and actor Redd Foxx performed on the Old East 9th Street.

He touched on the subject of old East Ninth Street, a focus of his first movie, and an area of town that was torn down in the mid-1970’s. Willmott told JC Post that there are two sides to the story where Ninth Street is concerned, noting there were some bad things that happened but there were a lot of good people there as well. He tried to preserve the memory and history of Ninth Street with his film.

During his lecture WIllmott observed whether it was a good thing or not, urban renewall happened all over the United States in other cities. He feels certain things should not have been removed,  and some history should have been preserved.  On the subject of urban renewal he said it was bigger than Junction City. “No one here was to blame but we’ve got to learn from it. ”

Willmott feels some of the Ninth Street legacy is still in Junction City and should be captured before it is all gone. He would like to see a plaque placed in that area. “I think something that celebrates the memory and the importance of those streets because every street like that, that existed in America, Beale Street ( Memphis ) 18th and Vine plus 12th and Vine in Kansas City, all the great jazz districts, all the great kind of black districts, Harlem. LA had their district, everybody that had one of those districts are now trying to reconnect to those, and trying to preserve what’s left of those districts. We’ve got a few things that still remain and we should honor that.”

During his lecture Willmott recognized some of his former teachers who were present including his first grade teacher Beverly Montgomery, and high school teachers Jim Pendarvis and Ben Bennett and then there was a meet

and greet held in the lobby of the Opera House where Willmott had a chance to meet old friends and take photos with members of the community.

Willmott was the first speaker in the new lecture series being sponsored by the R2B4 Bramlage Family Foundation and the Hoover-Koken Foundation. He was joined on stage with Richard Pinaire and Bob Bramlage making remarks and welcoming him to the Opera House. Following the lecture he was presented with gifts by Mayor Pat Landes and the president of the Opera House Foundation Florence Whitebread.