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Gloria Owens Hemphill almost seemed to be overwhelmed at what she saw on Thursday evening at the Jesse Owens Museum in Oakville.
Close to 100 people were on hand to celebrate the renaming of a portion of Ala. 36 beginning at I-65 Exit 328 and ending at the Lawrence County line, just west of Danville. That portion of highway is now officially named Jesse Owens Parkway.
Hemphill, Jesse Owens’ eldest daughter, said her father would be happy to see people coming together in his name.
“I know he is smiling and very, very happy,” she told the crowd gathered. “You not only are honoring his legacy, but making an effort to unify the community, state and country. He may not be here, but you know his spirit is here.”
The Alabama Department of Transportation has installed six signs – a sign on both the north- and south-bound lanes of Interstate 65 near the Jesse Owens Parkway and signs in each direction marking the section of the Ala. 36 named in Owens’ honor. Two signs will also be replaced on Ala. 157.
The highway naming and interstate signs are something 18 years in the making, Jesse Owens Museum Co-Director Nancy Pinion said.
“We were told we couldn’t have an interstate sign because the museum had to have yearly traffic of 250,000 people and needed to be within close distance to the interstate,” Pinion said. “Well, we can’t just move the museum. We kept thinking, if we get this in the hands of the right people, maybe this can be done.”
Pinion and her husband James, shared her concerns with Robby Cantrell with the North Central Alabama Regional Council of Governments and Tami Reist with the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourism Association.
Pinion said once those two got on it, they were able to get the wheels moving on the project.
“Some people are just leaders,” Pinion said. “When you get Robby and Tami together, things get done.”
The Appalachian Regional Commission also supplied some funds for the signage.
Pinion said she can hardly believe 18 years of trying to get the interstate signs has ended in success.
“It’s hard to believe that after so many years of trying, it has finally happened,” Pinion said. “I’ve seen pictures of the signs, but I’ve got to go drive down the interstate and see them for myself. When you see something you’ve worked for so many years come to fruition, it’s hard to describe.”
Pinion said the signs have been up on the interstate for less than a month, and the museum attendance has tripled in that time.
Hemphill said it warmed her heart to see so many people who still care about her father.
“This tells me the true meaning of friendship and love of the people who have worked on this,” Hemphill said. “It makes me feel very good to see people still care about (Owens) and love him.”
Hemphill makes occasional trips to Oakville to visit the museum and said it is a wonderful tribute to her father. She hopes the new interstate signs will bring even more people to the museum.
“We hope people continue to not only enjoy the museum, but to get my father’s message that you can do anything you put your mind to,” she said. “You just have to stick with it.”
Hemphill said her father would be very pleased about Thursday’s event.
“He would be very excited because my father was a man who loved all people,” she said. “Jesse Owens’ spirit is in this building.”
Dignitaries, including Jesse Owens’ eldest daughter Gloria, stand around a replica of the signs placed on I-65 alerting people to Jesse Owens Parkway.