The City of Hopkinsville and the bell hooks Legacy Group will host a dedication ceremony for bell hooks Way — formerly Eighth Street between South Virginia and Clay streets — at 1:30 p.m. on March 1.
According to a news release, the community is invited to Eighth and Liberty streets for the unveiling of a new street sign and acknowledgments of bell hooks’ legacy in Hopkinsville and beyond. The selection of Eighth Street is significant because it is adjacent to the Carnegie Library, which was the main public library in Hopkinsville when Gloria Jean Watkins—who would become bell hooks—was a child.
Following the street dedication, attendees are invited to the Pennyroyal Area Museum, 217 East Ninth Street for the opening of the newly created bell hooks Legacy Room.
Together, these two events will mark bell hooks Legacy Day, to honor the memory of a great American writer, educator and cultural critic who hailed from Hopkinsville. Born as Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952, she adopted the pen name bell hooks from her great-grandmother and earned international acclaim for her writings on feminism, race and class.