ALICE COMES HOME
By August 2019, the sculpture of Alice Dunnigan had traveled from Lexington to Washington, D.C., back to Lexington to Independence, Missouri, to Frankfort (where a graduate student named Loui, well before he met his future wife, helped install the sculpture, but that’s a story for another time).
The sculpture spent the summer on Kentucky State University’s campus. I spent the summer in Jacksonville, Florida, living with my grandparents and interning at The Florida Times-Union.
I sought out two story assignments that summer that, in hindsight, were crucial to what my Alice project has become. The first was about my beloved McDavid’s Typewriter Shop; the feature story ended up including my own experience taking my typewriter there, which was an early step toward writing creative nonfiction, not just journalism. The second was about a sculptural bike rack that recognized Black history across Jacksonville. When I saw the press release in my inbox, I asked to write the story because it reminded me of Alice’s sculpture.
It was while in Florida—I think I remember sitting at my desk in the newsroom—that I first considered writing a book about Alice Dunnigan. “I’ve really been considering the idea of trying to put a book together about the effort to remember Alice and resurrect her story,” I texted to Arden Barnes, my friend and the photographer who had covered Alice with me.
I planned the end of my Florida internship so that I could make it back to Kentucky to cover the unveiling of Alice’s sculpture in Russellville, its permanent home. The unveiling celebration was on August 2, 2019—six years ago yesterday.
It was—Kentuckians who have experienced this summer will have no trouble believing—a hot day. Despite the heat, many gathered for the celebration of Russellville’s own. I found street parking and walked to the Payne-Dunnigan House, part of the SEEK Museum. I immediately noticed a familiar tarp-shrouded figure. I circled to the back and was delighted to see Alice’s sculpted feet peeking out the bottom of the tarp.
Like every Alice Dunnigan event I’ve attended, this program was well-planned and included amazing speakers—a mix of family members, Russellville residents, and journalists. The speeches celebrated Alice, the people who resurrected her story, and the town of Russellville.
One great-niece of Alice’s traveled from Tennessee and said this event was a homecoming for her, too. “It’s always great to come home,” she said.
Penny Allison Lockhart, my frequent source who has become a friend, concluded the program and invited everyone to surround the sculpture for the unveiling. “We won’t have to cover it up again,” she said.
Alice’s hometown paper announced her sculpture’s unveiling with the headline: “ALICE COMES HOME.” It was on the front page, above the fold.
I have two published pieces about that day:
· ‘Where she belongs’: Alice Dunnigan statue now in permanent Russellville location
As for that book about Alice—well, you could say I’m still considering it. I reread and I rewrite, and I consider and consider and consider.