Published: July 07, 2009 09:48 pm      

Burnside Library branch named for Arnow

Somerset — On the 101st anniversary of the writer’s birth, the Pulaski County Library Board named the Burnside Public Library Branch in honor of Harriette Simpson Arnow.

Arnow, who is best known for her novel, The Doll Maker, was born in Wayne County in 1908, but spent much of her early life in Burnside. She wrote both fiction and nonfiction works about the Burnside area until shortly before her death in 1986.

“She was a great writer, but she was also a very real person,” said Vivian Sullivan, Burnside Civic Woman’s Club Historian. “I learned that as a 19-year-old college student when I was assigned to do a report on the psychology of The Doll Maker. My professor wanted to know why Gertie [the title character] did what she did. I couldn’t figure it out, so I wrote a letter to Mrs. Arnow to find out. And you know, she wrote me back.”

Sullivan showed the audience both the letter she received and the original survey map Arnow used when she was writing the book, Old Burnside.

Pulaski County Judge executive Barty Bullock and City of Burnside Mayor Chuck Fourman unveiled the plaque which commemorates the occasion with the words, “This building is dedicated to the memory of Harriette Simpson Arnow, a Kentucky author who was raised in this community.”

In other birthday celebration events, the Pulaski County Library, in partnership with the Pulaski County Historical Society and the Arnow-Cassada Legacy Commission, gave a tea party in Harriette’s honor. More than 70 people sang the birthday song as the Mad Hatter introduced “Harriette,” played by Sharon Whitehead, professor at Somerset Community College. Whitehead played the role of Gertie in the 2003 stage production of The Doll Maker.

The library has hosted a tea party as part of its Summer Reading Program for five years. Because the tea party fell on the anniversary of Arnow’s birth, the groups decided to turn the tea party into a birthday party.