Despite violent resistance to school desegregation and 98 percent of white suburban parents of the time opposing integration, Louisville's history is unique, in that it is one of the only districts that has maintained a staunch commitment to integration over the last fifty years. Even in 2007, when the Supreme Court declared it was unconstitutional to use race as a factor in student assignment, the Louisville community remained devoted to integration, creating its own alternative plan that emphasized both socioeconomic and minority status in order to ensure that all students have equal access to a quality education. Today, Louisville-Jefferson County is one of the most integrated districts in the nation, and as of 2011, 89 percent of parents see diversity in schools as desirable. What explains these shifts in attitude? What about Louisville kept it from reverting back to its previously segregated system? This report analyzes those questions and others, drawing upon a wide variety of sources, including new interviews with former Louisville mayor and Century Foundation board member, Harvey Sloane, who was mayor of Louisville when the district was forced to integrate in the fall of 1975.