Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name “bell hooks,” will be commemorated at Hopkinsville Community College — with plans well underway not only to erect a feature in Round Table Literary Park honoring her, but to culminate in a campus celebration September 25, in what would have been the author, professor, feminist and social activist’s 70th birthday.
HCC President and CEO Dr. Alissa Young noted that Hopkinsville is fortunate to be the only city in the U.S. with a literary park, and that bell hooks began her life in Christian County — in what was the initial broadening of her perspectives and knowledge in the universe of literature.
The beloved literary park’s history is important. Created under the direction of former HCC English professor Frances Thomas in 1974, she and her students worked with local supporters to build the park. In a grove of trees sits a Graeco-Roman amphitheater, a sculpture of Melpomene, King Arthur’s legendary “Sword in the Stone,” a 22,000-pound replica of King Arthur’s Round Table (with 24 seats) and a replica of the Tholos of Delphi.
The park has suffered some recent damage from vandals, including the theft of the Mask of Tragedy from Melpomene’s hand. College officials are currently making reparations to the damages.
The Thomas family, under an established endowment, remain supportive of this hooks addition. Funds from the endowment will help refurbish existing assets and add technology to the park.
HCC Foundation Executive Director Yvette Eastham says some code-badging will be added to some of the park’s features — which will allow information about things like King Arthur, Merlin, Exacalibur, Melpomene and mythology come directly to a smart phone.
She added that this is a tranquil, peaceful place for reflection, learning and reading — and a place that hasn’t seen a new addition since 1994.
Lifelong Hopkinsville resident Gwenda Watkins Motley, hooks’ younger sister, expressed delight at the thought of her sister being remembered permanently in Round Table Literary Park.
“Our sister, Gloria, known to the world as bell hooks, was larger than life in every field of endeavor she touched,” she writes. “The family is deeply honored by HCC’s plan to pay tribute to her work in Round Table Literary Park, and we look forward to this installation inspiring future generations to dare to question, to dream, and to do.”
Currently, the HCC Foundation is accepting donations and has set a preliminary fundraising goal of $35,000.
To make a tax-deductible gift to the bell hooks installation, contact Eastham at (270) 707-3731. For credit/debit card gifts, send payments to the HCC Foundation at P.O. Box 180, Hopkinsville, Kentucky 42241-0180.
