HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Recognized in Kentucky and Tennessee as Emancipation Day, the City of Hopkinsville celebrated the 8th of August at the Pennyroyal Museum. There was a full day of events planned, with community members coming through the museum to hear various presentations and speakers, while also exploring snippets of local black history.

This is the fifth year the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County has partnered with the Human Rights Commission for this celebration, but this year they held it on the actual date and incorporated events into regular museum hours. Coinciding with the celebration is Taste of the Town, a food truck festival downtown on Friday and Saturday.

Proclamation and history of 8th of August

“History is history, and it’s all of our history…African Americans have been in Christian County as long as Europeans settlers have been in Christian County,” said Museum Director Alissa Keller. She explained that black history is prominently displayed around the museum on a daily basis, but this event allows them to highlight the exhibits.

Hopkinsville Mayor J.R. Knight kicked off the day by reading a proclamation for the 8th of August. “It is a great honor to be here today to read this proclamation,” said Knight. “We should never forget our past so we can never go backward, and we can always move forward.”

The proclamation explained that the 8th of August is a day where family, friends, and community can come together to commemorate the liberation of enslaved people. On Aug. 8, 1863 Tennessee military governor and future president Andrew Johnson announced the freedom of enslaved people on his land, triggering emancipation across the region and in the Union.

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Hopkinsville museum celebrates local black history

Local student Jèan Massie read the text of the Emancipation Proclamation to visitors and his family, and speakers were scheduled throughout the day. This includes readings from Hopkinsville poets like bell hooks and Bettiola Fortson. There was also a reading of the Jourdan Anderson letter, which was written by a former slave to his previous slave master.

There were crafts in the front lobby of the museum for kids, along with old yearbooks from Attucks High School prominently displayed. A black history scavenger hunt was set up around the museum, and there are QR codes with links to soundbites of oral histories to go along with exhibits.

Visit Hopkinsville arrived in the Batter Bus to provide a black history tour of the city. Driven by Tourism Executive Director Amy Rogers, the tour explored the east side neighborhood of downtown Hopkinsville. Participants learned about Attucks High School, the College of the Bible, the old swimming pool that was built during segregation, civic buildings, churches, and old nightclubs that were all prominent in the black community dating back to the 1800’s.

While the presentations and bus tours took place on Aug. 8, ongoing and featured exhibits can still be found at the Pennyroyal Museum.

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