New inductees to Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame will be announced during a ceremony at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, at the James E. Bruce Convention Center.
The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights recently announced it is bringing the program to Hopkinsville to recognize Hall of Fame nominees for “their monumental contributions toward civil and human rights.” Dr. Alissa Young, president of Hopkinsville Community College, will officiate the ceremony.
Among 15 nominees for the Hall of Fame is the late Louis Porter McHenry, according to a press release from the state commission.
McHenry, a civil rights attorney who practiced for the NAACP and other clients from his Hopkinsville office, led efforts in 1963 to establish the Hopkinsville Human Relations Commission (now the Human Rights Commission). McHenry’s legacy was celebrated at a 60th anniversary gala for the local commission in July 2023.
A volunteer panel of independent judges chose five of the nominees to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, which currently includes 183 inductees, the release states.
The commission established the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2000 and conducted the first induction ceremony on the commission’s 40th anniversary. Among several dozen members, the hall of fame includes five individuals from Hopkinsville — Walter Shamble, bell hooks, Hal and Bettye Thurmond and Gov. Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt.
The induction ceremony is free to attend, but seating will be limited and anyone planning to go is asked to RSVP by email to kchr.mail@ky.gov.
While the members are in Hopkinsville, the commission will also conduct its monthly meeting at 10 a.m. at the Hopkinsville Municipal Center.
Hopkinsville native Dr. Raymond Burse is the current chair for the commission. Burse, who resides in Louisville, was in Hopkinsville last month to give the keynote address for the Unity Breakfast.
This story was updated to include information about Louis P. McHenry’s nomination to the Hall of Fame.
