Russellville Middle School students conducted research and retraced the life of Alice Allison Dunnigan, the Russellville native who was the first African-American female news correspondent to cover the White House.

Kathleen Bailey’s group of seventh graders, taking part in a social studies enrichment class that teaches youngsters about community figures, used Dunnigan’s autobiography, “Alone Atop a Hill,” to learn more about the local legend.

Bailey said she first learned of Dunnigan’s life when her autobiography was featured at the Logan County Public Library. Not only did Dunnigan fight to advance racial equality, she also broke barriers for women, something that inspired Bailey.

Bailey said it’s important to teach students about their history and local heroes like Dunnigan. “If you don’t know the history of your hometown, how will you love it?” Bailey said. “People who know their community care and have love for their community.”

Her students took to the material immediately and were amazed they were reading about events in familiar places. The fact that Bailey’s students were able to make these concrete connections deepened their interest in Dunnigan’s story as well as their Russellville pride.

“Being able to connect to areas they knew about, there were so many ‘a-ha’ moments,” Bailey said. “ ‘I didn’t know that, I live near there!’ or ‘I didn’t know that, I go to church there!’ ”

After reading Dunnigan’s autobiography, Bailey and her students visited the local SEEK Museum, getting a chance to visit Dunnigan’s life-sized bronze statue in the Alice Dunnigan Memorial Park.

Penny Alison Lockhart, a great-niece of Dunnigan, joined up with the class and shared stories of her great-aunt to further enrich the students’ learning experience.

Seeing her students asking questions and probing deeper into Dunnigan’s extraordinary life was a moment that confirmed to Bailey that she was in the right profession.

“Seeing kids’ faces light up and connect to their community, it reminds me that I’m doing what I need to do,” Bailey said.

Marvina and Charles Neblett, founders of Community Project Inc.., accompanied the students on their tour and shared a “Sunday Potluck” with them to mirror the occasion when Dunnigan discovered she had enough funds to attend college.

When the students returned to the classroom, they participated in a “chart carnival.” The class was instructed to research topics related to Dunnigan’s life and create a chart to show their data.

The Nebletts attended the carnival as well, and Marvina visited “every single station” to speak with students about the information they’d found.

“It was nice to have actual figures of the community involved,” Bailey said. “It brings a different kind of accountability to have someone affected by these things speak to students.”

Bailey hopes the work she’s done with her class will keep Dunnigan’s story alive and preserve the remarkable work of a Russellville hero.

“I don’t want her story to be forgotten,” Bailey said. “It’s inspiring and motivational – she’s a hometown girl.”