With the removal of the Jefferson Davis statue from the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort, the question of who will replace him is abound—and the House Democratic Women’s Caucus is pushing for it to be a woman.
According to a letter address to Governor Andy Beshear from Caucus Chair Lisa Willner, she says that it is past time for a woman to have a place of honor in the capital, and there are many prestigious and honored women in the Commonwealth to choose from.
The caucus provided a list of possible candidates, including Hopkinsville native bell hooks—well-known author, scholar and social activist who started her path in Hopkinsville. Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County Director Alissa Keller recognized her recently, saying hooks—born as Gloria Jean Watkins—is a graduate of Hopkinsville High School and would go on to graduate from multiple prestigious colleges and have a big impact in the nation.
Also on that list is State Senator Georgia Powers—the first woman and person of color elected to that chamber—Mary Elliot Flannery, Anne Braden, Anna Mae Clark, and Governor Martha Layne Collins, Kentucky’s only woman governor. Included is Russellville native Alice Dunnigan, who was the first African American woman to hold a press pass for Washington, D.C. and Alberta Odell Jones, who was one of the first African-American women to pass the bar exam in the U.S. and was named the U.S. Attorney in Jefferson County. Her life ended in a murder that remains unsolved.
Representative Willner and the caucus request that the Rotunda have a rotating educational display of women and people of color until a statue is ready to be installed.