Kentucky State Capitol to get portraits of four new women ‘trailblazers’
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
The Kentucky Women Remembered exhibit, located in the West Wing of the State Capitol, will soon get four new faces, the Beshear administration announced Thursday.
The names of four successful Kentucky women — Alberta O. Jones, Ada Limón, Amanda Matthews and Kim Michele Richardson — were recommended to Gov. Andy Beshear by a selection panel unanimously, his office said.
Portraits of the women will be “made and unveiled later,” according to a spokeswoman for the governor.
The four new members of the “Women Remembered” portrait gallery represent the civil rights, art and writing communities. The gallery has called the West Wing home since 1996.
“What we choose to hold in a place of honor in our Capitol demonstrates our shared priorities and our overarching values,” Beshear said in a statement. “And here in Kentucky, we recognize the incredible contributions of women to our commonwealth. We recognize Kentucky women as important leaders and change-makers.”
About the women
Jones was among the first Black women to pass the Kentucky Bar and the first Black female prosecutor in Jefferson County. She later went on to negotiate Muhammad Ali’s first boxing contract, according to the Alberta Jones Project website.
A Civil Rights-era activist, Jones “held classes to teach African Americans how to vote,” according to Beshear’s office, and she was a member of the Louisville Urban League and the NAACP. She was murdered at 35, in 1965. The case was never solved.
Limón is from California, but has lived in Kentucky for well over a decade. The poet has written extensively about Kentucky’s beauty and calls Lexington home. She is in her second term as the nation’s poet laureate, a job that gives writers a national stage to promote poetry.
Matthews is a sculptor and designer who has produced key pieces of art to promote other women. She sculpted the first statue of a woman in the Kentucky State Capitol, Nettie Depp, which was unveiled in 2022. In 2018, she sculpted Alice Dunnigan, the first Black woman credentialed to cover the White House, a statue that now resides in her hometown of Russellville.
Matthews also sculpted the COVID-19 Memorial, unveiled in 2023, that sits on the Capitol grounds. That memorial pays homage to health care workers and those who died during the worst of the pandemic.
Richardson is a New York Times bestselling author from Kentucky whose books include “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek,” “GodPretty in the Tobacco Field” and “The Book Woman’s Daughter.” Her writing, she says on her website, is all set in her “beautiful, brutal and mysterious” home state of Kentucky.
“I impart my novels with my fierce love for the land, showcase its intriguing people, rich history and forgotten song of the region, exploring historical social injustices and the unusual and cherished traditions, myths and legends of Kentucky.”
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman called all four of the new exhibit members “trailblazers” who “highlight the incredible impact these women had on the commonwealth” during the Thursday name unveiling.
“As the highest elected woman in Kentucky, I believe it is my duty to not only elevate the voices of women, but to combat the hardships we face, head on, and to work hard to find solutions to those challenges,” Coleman said.
“I am so proud that each of these women will have their portrait hung forever in our Capitol,” Beshear said. “Now, your images and stories will be a daily reminder for current and future generations of what it means to be an outstanding Kentucky woman.”
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