bell hooks Institute planned for reopening at Berea College

Berea College is planning to reopen its bell hooks Institute on campus, honoring one of Kentucky’s most celebrated modern writers.

hooks was well known for her writing focusing on race and gender, and became a professor-in-residence at the college starting in 2004.

The re-opened institute will house first-edition and translated versions of her written works, as well as her personal art collection and original paintings.

Linda Strong-Leek was a close personal friend of hooks and the executor of her estate. She says the institute is meant to be a hub to discuss the author’s life and writing.

“She really worried about the legacies of Black women writers in particular, and so she wanted to make sure that her legacy would be continued for generations,” Strong-Leek said.

The institute, a house close to Berea’s campus, is also meant to be a community space.

“bell wanted to bring all kinds of people here, right? People from the community. She would have little sister circles and people were invited from the community to come in and have conversations,” Strong-Leek said.

The college announced the re-opening with a ribbon cutting at the institute near the College Square in Berea Wednesday, on what would have been hooks’ 72nd birthday. Officials said the official reopen date is still uncertain.

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