The Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County are partnering with Visit Hopkinsville to offer bus tours on Saturday that educate riders on African American history in the local area.
The bus tour is closely modeled after Hopkinsville’s African-American History Cell Phone Tour, a self-guided audio experience that individuals can dial into and hear more information on over a dozen historic sites.
Alissa Keller, executive director of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County, said she hopes these tours will help highlight the community’s diverse background.
“We don’t have separate histories. We may have separate stories, but all those stories come together into one greater, greater representation of who we are as a community,” Keller said.
The tour showcases cemeteries, medical clinics, churches, and Attucks High School, which used to serve the community’s Black students before school integration.
Keller said one of her favorite stops is the Union Benevolent Cemetery Number Five on Vine Street.
“The land for Vine Street was purchased in 1866, by local African-Americans who would have just been very recently emancipated from slavery. They bought this land and created this Benevolent Society… So it gave them a place to bury their loved ones when their loved ones passed away.”
Busses will load up Saturday afternoon at the Hopkinsville Boys & Girls Club. Each tour can hold up to 10 people, and are first-come, first serve. Tours will take place at 1:15, 3:15 and 4:15 p.m., and will last around 45 minutes.
These historic tours will coincide with Hopkinsville’s Juneteenth Celebration. That event, hosted by representatives of historically Black fraternities and sororities known as the Divine Nine, will include music, food, a fashion show and other entertainment. That event will run Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Hopkinsville Boys & Girls Club.
This story is republished with permission from WKMS. Read the original.
