Kentucky Women Remembered is an exhibit in the
Kentucky State Capitol
The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic P ...
that honors the contributions of women from the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
. The exhibit consists of over 60
watercolor portraits of outstanding Kentucky women. The Kentucky Commission on Women receives nominations and selects two to four honorees each year to be included. The exhibit includes famous Kentucky musicians
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...
and
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...
as well as civic leaders
Mae Street Kidd and
Georgia Davis Powers
Georgia Davis Powers (née Montgomery; October 19, 1923 – January 30, 2016) was an American politician who served for 21 years as a state senator in the Kentucky Senate. In 1967, she was the first person of color and the first woman elected to ...
.
Governor
Edward T. Breathitt established a commission on the status of Kentucky women in April 1964. The commission determined that Kentucky women's status would be improved through a permanent agency and Governor
Louie Nunn
Louie Broady Nunn (March 8, 1924 – January 29, 2004) was an American politician who served as the 52nd governor of Kentucky. Elected in 1967, he was the only Republican to hold the office between the end of Simeon Willis's term in 1947 and t ...
signed an executive order establishing the Kentucky Commission on Women in November 1968. Legislative action made the Commission official in 1970. In 1978, the Kentucky Commission on Women started a campaign to recognize Kentucky women that history had overlooked. The exhibit "Kentucky Women Excel" began at that year's
Kentucky State Fair
The Kentucky State Fair is the official state fair of Kentucky which takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. More than 600,000 fairgoers fill the of indoor and outdoor exhibits; activities include sampling a wide variety of f ...
. In 1996 the exhibit was moved to a first floor hallway of the west wing of the Capitol building. The first 17 portraits were created by artist Paula Jull. Other portrait artists that have created works for the exhibit include Alison Davis Lyne and Mary Lou Hall.
The Kentucky Women Remembered Committee accepts nominations for new honorees. Nominees may be living or deceased and must have been born in Kentucky or spent a significant part of their lives living in the state. Candidates are required to be role models, to have strengthened Kentucky or the United States through their work, and to have shown leadership in elevating the status of women. New portraits are typically unveiled at a ceremony that takes place during
Women's History Month
Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...
in March.
Honorees
See also
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Kentucky Foundation for Women
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List of Kentucky women in the civil rights era
This is a historical list of women from Kentucky who were involved in civil rights activism from 1920 until the 1970s. This was a time period in the twentieth century when the civil rights movement impacted Kentucky's history of women and was enr ...
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Footnotes
References
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* McEuen, Melissa A. et al. eds. ''Kentucky Women: Their Lives and Times'' (U of Georgia Press, 2015
online review*
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External links
Kentucky Commission on Women.
Women in Kentucky
a Kentucky Commission on Women project
{{Authority control
1978 establishments in Kentucky
Halls of fame in Kentucky
Lists of American women
State halls of fame in the United States
Women in Kentucky
Women's halls of fame