A historic Antebellum home at 16 S. Water St. in Henderson, Kentucky, was scheduled for demolition in 2009. In its place, Jule McClellan envisioned an opportunity to pursue a long-held dream for the city: to create a park dedicated to women who have made an impact on their community. Sixteen years later, the Women’s Honor Court is celebrating its second monument.
McClellan first proposed the idea of establishing such a park there to former Henderson County Judge Executive Sandy Lee Watkins — after whom a city park is named, along with the Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival. His passing in 2010 delayed discussions, and a proposal was made in 2012 to convert the property into a storage building. McClellan then met with the next Judge Executive, Hugh McCormick, who agreed to designate the front section of the property for the park.
“I had been wanting a park honoring women for over 25 years,” says McClellan, an artist who also founded the Ohio Valley Art League. “It’s been well thought out, every little detail.”
Planning commenced in January 2013 and required 21 months of fundraising, with much of the funds coming from Henderson residents who wanted to see the women in their lives honored. One hundred and eighty-five women’s names were inscribed on the first granite wall — constructed by Henry & Henry Monument Co. in Marion, Kentucky — beneath a pavilion on Water Street in what would become known as the Women’s Honor Court, along with a quote from writer Leo Rosten: “I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, after all, to matter; to count, to stand for something, to have made a difference that you lived at all.”
The park was officially completed and dedicated in September 2014. It is the only park in Kentucky dedicated to honoring women and their achievements, and one of around 10 across the country.
Additional names significant to the history of Henderson County are honored with bronze plaques surrounding the pavilion, including Susan Starling Towels, Henderson’s first public librarian; Lucy Bakewell Audubon, wife of John James Audubon; Mary Willie Arvin, an internationally decorated Red Cross nurse who served in World War II; and Mary Towles Sasseen Wilson, a schoolteacher and the only known founder of Mother’s Day; Thelma Banks Johnson, the first African American elected to public office in Henderson County; and Marianne Cascio Walker, a former professor at Henderson Community College, author, and co-founder of St. Anthony’s Hospice in Henderson. Additional plaques recognize two living Henderson women, including Joan Frields Hoffman, Henderson’s first female mayor, and Bobbie Weathers Jarrett, longtime executive director of the Housing Authority of Henderson.
“Mary Arvin, we didn’t even know what she did until we formed this. She was a nurse in World War I and … was decorated by France, England, and the United States … and she’s from here,” McClellan says.
Nearly 10 years after the first wall was dedicated, a group formed with the intent of adding a second. A section of brick wall surrounding the park was demolished, and a few structural changes were made to accommodate the new structure, again spearheaded by Henry & Henry Monument Co.
Seventy-eight names were inscribed on the second wall, along with a quote from Afghan women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai: “I raise my voice not so that I can shout but that those without a voice can be heard.” The wall was completed in May 2025 and dedicated during a ceremony on June 1 at the Women’s Honor Court on Water Street.
A trust for the park funds its maintenance and ongoing development.
“Today, we stand in a place not only of stone, metal, and memory, but of vision, grit, and gratitude,” McClellan said during the June 1 dedication. “With this expansion and addition of another Women’s Honor Court wall, we continue that mission; to remember, recognize, and raise up the stories of women who have shaped our community, our state, and our lives.”
Those who wish to recommend a name be added to the second Women’s Honor Court wall can do so on Henderson County’s website.
