HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – The corner of Eighth Street, between South Virginia and Clay Street, is about to be renamed as bell hooks Way. The new street sign will honor the American writer, educator and cultural critic Gloria Jean Watkins, who is also known as bell hooks.
“The family is very excited to have a street named on her behalf,” said Gwenda Motley, the sister of Gloria and the person who requested the street name change. The location is significant because it is adjacent to the Carnegie Library where Gloria went as a child and gained access to hundreds of books, according to a press release from the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville
The community is invited as the City of Hopkinsville and bell hooks legacy group unveil the street sign on March 1 at 1:30 p.m. After the dedication, the Pennyroyal Area Museum is opening the newly created bell hooks Legacy Room.
The two events will mark bell hooks Legacy Day to honor the memory of Gloria Jean Watkins. She was a Hopkinsville native, who adopted the pen name bell hooks from her great-grandmother, and earned her acclaim for her writings on feminism, race and class. She died on Dec. 15, 2021.
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