Storied sunflowers: Jonesville’s descendants reflect on community’s past and look towards its future

Storied sunflowers: Jonesville’s descendants reflect on community’s past and look towards its future Storied sunflowers: Jonesville’s descendants reflect on community’s past and look towards its future Fiona Jones, News Reporter October 13, 2026 Mason Durham Jonesville descendants and “Jonesville: When Sunflowers Fall” Community Producers Akisha Townsend Eaton, Alice Waddell, and David H. Greer sit down for a panel discussion at the Mahurin Honors College and International Center in Bowling Green, Ky. Oct. 12, 2026. Storied sunflowers: Jonesville’s descendants reflect on community’s past and look towards its future Descendants of Jonesville residents discussed their connections to the former Bowling Green community at a panel on Monday. The panel held at the Honors College and International Center featured David H. Greer, Alice Waddell, and Akisha Townsend Eaton. The panelists discussed what Jonesville meant to them, how they experience that connection today, and their hopes for future recognition of the community. Jonesville was a predominantly Black neighborhood in Bowling Green, founded in the 1860s. As the area developed, Jonesville became a self-sustaining community complete with local businesses and churches. Former residents and their descendants associate the neighborhood with its many sunflowers. In the 1950s, WKU began expanding its property into Jonesville, purchasing the land through eminent domain and forcing residents out of the area. Today, Houchens Industries L.T. Smith Stadium and E.A. Diddle Arena sit where Jonesville once stood. A nearby sign commemorates Jonesville, designated as historical marker #2052. “Jonesville: When Sunflowers Fall,” a documentary examining the history of Jonesville, was released by WKU Public Media and the Kentucky Folklife Program in 2025. Greer, Waddell and Eaton served as producers for the documentary. Greer never knew of his familial ties to Jonesville until a community member mentioned riding a school bus with Greer’s mother. “I would come to WKU… and I had no idea that I was walking on some of the very ground where my mother once lived,” Greer said. After leaving Kentucky for college, Greer lived elsewhere for over 20 years, and returned to the state after his father’s passing. “I was gone from Kentucky for a very long time,” Greer said. “Being connected to this… it’s kind of a way of connecting with a community that I didn’t know that I had.” Greer hopes that going forward, WKU will do more to recognize and pay tribute to Jonesville. “I think it’s really, in my opinion, to their benefit to do more,” Greer said. He proposed adding “Jonesville” to the names of structures built on the former site, suggesting it’d make it an “even richer story.” Akisha Townsend Eaton, a Jonesville decendent and Community Producer of “Jonesville: When Sunflowers Fall” reflects on what Jonesville means to her, saying “ Even though I was born after the destruction of Jonesville, it still felt like home”. During the Jonesville panel discussion at the Mahurin Honors College and International Center in Bowling Green , Ky. Oct. 12, 2026. (Mason Durham) Similarly, Waddell holds familial ties to Jonesville. Unlike Greer, however, she maintains personal memories of the community, having visited many times throughout her life. “Jonesville was a really really close community,” Waddell said. “Families were connected in so many ways. There were businesses there, churches there, so the same people tended to interact with each other.” Waddell appreciated WKU’s efforts to reconcile its past with Jonesville, including WKU President Timothy Caboni’s founding of the Jonesville Reconciliation Workgroup, a group dedicated to resolving present issues resulting from Jonesville’s dissolution. The Jonesville Reconciliation Workgroup has reached out to descendants and received their input. Despite her appreciation, Waddell believes there is still more to be done. “At this point, that’s not enough, but we will continue to work until we feel like it’s really been something tangible,” Waddell said. Like Waddell, Jonesville played a role in Eaton’s life growing up despite never seeing it for herself. Eaton’s mother, who was born near Jonesville, often shared stories of the community with her. Eaton felt a strong attachment to Jonesville through her mother’s stories and her family’s history in the area, dating back to the 1880s. “Being able to stay connected is important, not just for learning new things about something that was important for my family, but also for being able to preserve the memory for the current generations that can’t remember,” Eaton said. Eaton believes WKU has done a good job being transparent about Jonesville, but the university is still in the early stages of reconciliation. “There’s a lot more that can be done both in terms of learning and recognizing what happened, as well as the ways we go forward,” Eaton said. “Conversations like these are very good ways to start the dialogue, but I think it will always be ongoing.” 0 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Email this Story Print this Story Tags: black history family hcic history honors college honors college and international center jonesville remember remembering More to Discover More in News / Local News Trump rallies constituents in Clarksville ahead of midterms Aviation Heritage Museum celebrates WKU alumni BGFD respond to structure fire near campus Diddle Arena to host funeral for fallen state trooper Kids hear about chills and thrills on the Hill IN PRINT: Scams spotted in Bowling Green About the Contributor Mason Durham, Staff Photographer Mason Durham is a Freshman staff photographer at the College Heights Herald. He is from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Durham is a Visual Journalism and Photography Major at WKU. This is his first of many semesters at the Herald!