*Kentucky native Alice Allison Dunnigan was the first Black female journalist to cover a presidential campaign (President Harry Truman) and now she will be honored with a six-foot bronze statue at the Newseum, a museum in Washington dedicated to the press and the First Amendment.
According to the New York Times, the sculpture is being created by the artist Amanda Matthews of Lexington, Ky., and is based on a 1947 photograph of Ms. Dunnigan on the steps of the United States Capitol, holding a copy of The Washington Post.
“Alice was such a barrier breaker for women and people of color, we were happy to have the opportunity to embrace her here at the museum,” said Carrie Christoffersen, curator and vice president of exhibits at the Newseum.
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Alice Allison Dunnigan, the first black female reporter to get White House credentials, will be honored with a life-sized bronze sculpture at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/8GzORdS2FC
— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 17, 2018
Dunnigan became the head of the Associated Negro Press Washington Bureau on Jan. 1, 1947 and supplied stories to 112 African-American newspapers across the country.
“Throughout Dunnigan’s career, she battled the rampant racism and sexism that dominated the mostly white and male professions of journalism and politics. She once famously stated, ‘Race and sex were twin strikes against me. I’m not sure which was the hardest to break down,’” the Newseum said in a statement.
Alice Allison Dunnigan, the first black woman to obtain press credentials to cover the White House, is getting her own statue at the @newseum In #Washington D.C. in September. #femalejournalists #AliceAllisonDunnigan #pioneerwoman #urbanfeminism #mondaymotivation pic.twitter.com/e5WOynSklX
— WomenAcrossFrontiers (@WomenAFrontiers) August 20, 2018
Dunnigan died in 1983. Her bronze sculpture will be displayed at the Newseum from Sept. 21 until Dec. 16, before moving to her hometown of Russellville.
It will be installed on the grounds of the West Kentucky African American Heritage Center as part of a park dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement, the Newseum said, The AP reports.
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