(Logan County, 1906-1983) The daughter of a tenant farmer and laundress, the 13-year-old Alice Allison Dunnigan began writing a weekly column on Russellville happenings for the Owensboro Enterprise. She went on to work for Kentucky’s largest African-American newspapers, the Louisville Leader and Louisville Defender. A graduate of Kentucky State University, she taught in Logan and Todd Counties for 18 years. During World War II, Dunnigan moved to Washington, DC. In 1947, she became the managing head of the Associated Negro Press and the first African-American woman accredited to cover the White House, U.S. State Dept., and U.S. Supreme Court. In 1948, Dunnigan was the first African-American woman to cover a presidential tour: President Truman’s whistle-stop. In 1951, Dunnigan became the first woman to receive the Capital Press Club “Best All-Around Newsman for 1951.” In 1961, she served on the Committee of Equal Employment Opportunity under Vice President Johnson. Dunnigan, “Kentucky’s Persistent Fighter,” worked to expose injustices in America, South America, Haiti, and Africa. She was an internationally-known reporter. She received degrees from the Normal and Industrial Institute, West Kentucky College, Louisville Municipal College, Tennessee A & I, Howard University and an honorary doctorate from Colorado State College. Dunnigan authored two books: A Black Woman’s Experience from the School House to the White House and The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians. In 1982, Dunnigan was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. An historic marker honoring Dunnigan’s life and ground-breaking accomplishments stands in the heart of Russellville’s town square.