Parker, Walter Elwood, Sr.
(born: June 25, 1932 - died: September 13, 2013)In 1974, W. Elwood Parker, Sr. became the first African American on the Paris, KY City School Board. He was also the second African American on the Paris Police force, along with Norman W. Allen. The two were first brought on as volunteer auxiliary police officers in 1967, then hired as full-time police officers in 1971.
W. Elwood Parker, Sr. was the son of Cordelia and Clara M. Gist Parker. He was a veteran of the Korean War and a graduate of Jackson State University. While in high school, W. Elwood Parker, Sr. was a member of the baseball team and a member of the first football team at Western High School in Paris [source: "Western High School" newspaper clippings provided by Lora Washington at the Kentucky African American Griots website]. The team was coached by William B. Reed. Elwood Parker was also a "small fry" football coach in Paris.
For more see "17 blacks are local school board members," in 1978 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Fifth Report, p. 25; and "Elwood Parker" in "Cosby is Jefferson County board's first black chairman," in 1988 Kentucky Directory of Black Elected Officials, Seventh Report, p. 36, both by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. See also the Walter Elwood Parker, Sr. obituary at the Lusk-McFarland Funeral Home webpage.