A Kentucky Historical Marker recognizing Hopkinsville native Mary Edmunds Bronaugh, who was among the state’s earliest female lawyers, will be dedicated during an unveiling ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, outside the Christian County Justice Center. The League of Women Voters of Hopkinsville is sponsoring the ceremony.
In addition to passing the Kentucky bar in 1915, Bronaugh was a founding member and the first chairwoman of the Kentucky League of Women Voters. She was a stalwart in the women’s suffrage movement in Kentucky.
Ruth Lature, a retired educator, prepared the application for the historical marker. Her application coincided with the 100th anniversary year of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. It was approved by the Kentucky Historical Society earlier this year but couldn’t be immediately scheduled for installation because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bronaugh, who died in 1973, will become the first woman in Christian County who is the focus of a state historical marker. The Bronaugh marker outside the justice center will be the 22nd marker in the county. The last marker installed here, in 2017, was the first to an African American, Ted Poston, who was the Dean of Black Journalists in America.
Everyone attending the Bronaugh marker dedication will be required to wear a mask, the league announced in a press release. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be at the Pennyroyal Area Museum, 217 E. Ninth St.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
