learn about Alice on Feb. 1!
One Tuesday, the News-Democrat & Leader in Logan County published a column by local Black historian Michael Morrow about “an African American politician whose name is not as known.”
Morrow goes on to write that “most people know her as a writer, reporter, and Civil Rights activist,” and if you know me well enough to know who this column was about, you probably don’t think of her as a politician.
She never ran for office, but she certainly involved herself in politics—including through her important role as a journalist. In her own words, “Throughout my long employment career in whatever field, I never gave up my affiliation with political life of our nation.” Morrow wrote that “she did not let fear stop her from participation in the process” in an era that discouraged Black Americans from using their voice or their vote.
The woman, of course, is Alice Allison Dunnigan. The date of publication for Morrow’s column was November 10, 1998.
On that same Tuesday morning, one county over, I was born.
I pay particular attention to dates, and I love discovering these sorts of invisible strings, so I was thrilled when I noticed the date on this column while going through newspaper clippings at the Logan County Public Library. It makes me happy to think that on the morning I was born, people just a few miles away opened their newspaper and learned Alice Dunnigan’s name.
I’ve devoted several years now to informing people about who Alice was, and I’m really grateful for an upcoming opportunity to do so—back in my very own Bowling Green, Warren County.
On Saturday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. CST at The Capitol, I’ll give a lecture about Alice Dunnigan’s life and the many ways in which people have celebrated her accomplishments—from writing to sculpture to community events. I’m very excited to give this lecture in partnership with the Warren County Public Library, in general because libraries are vital to so much of what I’ll talk about in the lecture—literature, history, the arts, community building—and specifically because the Warren County Public Library has been enriching me as a reader for my entire life.
I’m grateful that Alice’s great-niece, Penny Allison Lockhart, will join us from Russellville to talk about her personal memories of someone who is an icon to the public but also a beloved aunt to her. And I’m thankful for Alexis Erskine at WCPL, who offered me this opportunity. I’ve gotten to know Alexis recently because she is a lifelong friend of Loui’s—so, as in every area of my life, I’m grateful to Loui, too.
Alice Allison Dunnigan is certainly worthy of an hour of anyone’s Saturday night, and if you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us to learn more about this inspiring Kentuckian.
Here’s one more connection for you: This won’t be my first time on the stage of the iconic downtown Bowling Green theater. In summer 2004, I attended Summer Arts Day Camp at The Capitol and gave what I’m sure was an incredible performance. Come to the lecture on Feb. 1 and you’ll get to see pictures.