THE POWER TO CREATE
I first learned about Elmer Lucille Allen a little over a year ago, the way many of us learn new things these days, from a friend’s Facebook posting. That friend just happened to be historian and Bourbon scholar Dr Erin Wiggins Gilliam, who is breaking barriers of her own by researching the historical influences of Black people in the Bourbon industry, but that’s a story worth its own essay. Dr Gilliam had met Ms Allen at Brown-Forman, and identified her as the first Black chemist at Brown-Forman. Simply learning of Ms Allen’s existence and imagining the challenges she overcame to become the first Black chemist in an industry which even today features more men than women in executive positions was enough to inspire me.
I was reminded of Allen and her trailblazing this past February, as I learned of her art exhibit opening at Galerie Hertz from Sherlene Shanklin’s story on WHAS11 (Louisville). Until then, I had had no idea Allen was not only a chemist but also an acclaimed fiber/ceramic artist.
Awestruck by Allen’s power to create I was determined to learn more, and bring her story to as broad an audience as possible. In what follows I hope to do
