Year-round, the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County hosts events that educate the community and illuminate pieces of local history. Museums Director Alissa Keller shared what they have going on during the summer at Thursday’s Hopkinsville Kiwanis Club meeting.
On Tuesday, Keller says the Pennyroyal Area Museum celebrated its 49th birthday after being founded in 1976. The museum was established in the former U.S. Post Office, which was built in 1914.
The City of Hopkinsville bought the building from the federal government in 1975, on the condition that it had to be an education facility. The idea to turn the building into a museum was discussed on a radio show and then it became a reality.
Starting next week, Keller is inviting kiddos to their first Museum Monday of the summer on Monday, July 14 at 10:30 a.m. Members of the Hopkinsville Fire Department will come on down in the firetruck and share fire safety tips.
Continuing in July, the museum will host a bell hooks Book Club meeting on July 21 at 6 p.m. focusing on the book, “All About Love.” Then on July 26, Saturday Sleuths will take over the museum at 10:30 a.m. and kiddos are invited to become detectives to help solve a history mystery.
Then on July 31 at 6:30 p.m., folks are invited to the Hopkinsville Brewing Company for History on Tap where Jennifer Brown will be spotlighting the county’s history of thoroughbred farms in the 1900s.
Turning toward August, the museums are partnering with the Hopkinsville-Christian County Human Rights Commission for the annual Eighth of August Emancipation Celebration. The day commemorates the emancipation of slaves in western Kentucky and Tennessee in the 1860s. Keller says the celebration will include crafts, readings and special Black history exhibits.
The celebration will be on August 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the museum. Then in September, Keller is looking forward to the Museum Gala and this year’s theme is Juleps, Jockeys and Jazz. Keller says the Gala will celebrate local horse racing history and recognize Flying Ebony, a horse born in Christian County, that won the Kentucky Derby in 1925.
The gala is set for September 20 and serves to raise funds for the museum. More information about events coming to the museums is available at museumsofhopkinsville.org.