Photograph courtesy Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library
On June 18, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library opened an exhibition honoring the 20 inductees of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame at the Downtown Main Library, including four new inductees being honored this weekend.
The exhibition features information about the Walk of Fame itself, its artists, and various pieces of musical memorabilia. “It just feels like a natural fit at the library,” says Tara Kressler, public services director at CHPL. Kressler, who has worked at CHPL for about 28 years across nine different branch locations, says that music plays an important role at the institution. As part of its 2024 renovation, the library unveiled its Social Stairs, the centerpiece of a $43 million renovation project, which chronologically honor more than 1,000 of Cincinnati’s musical recordings from 1945 to 2023 via a series of interactive balusters. Prior to the current installation, the library had partnered with the Walk of Fame several times in recent years, which Kressler says set the stage for a strong partnership between the two entities.
“[The Walk of Fame] wanted to get the word out about its destination and connect with families in the Cincinnati area. And what better place to do this than the library?” says Kressler. “We have our own unique collection of Cincinnati music, so we thought, We’ve got the materials and support, we should partner up and do something. It was a natural progression of our relationship.”
The exhibition, found on the third floor, is set up as a gallery walk. “There are currently 10 cases. It starts with a timeline of the Walk of Fame, highlighting Commissioner Reece and all the work she’s done, and then the rest of the display cases are dedicated to the inductees,” says Kressler.
Photos, albums, and informational placards are on display, as are four stars (dedicated to Charles Fold, Otis Williams, Bootsy Collins, and the Isley Brothers, respectively). “They’re prototypes,” says Kressler. “Not the stars that are at the Walk right now, but they are really special.”
Another highlight of the exhibition is Bootsy Collins’s guitar, donated with help from the commissioner’s office and Collins himself. “We actually hosted one of Bootsy’s birthdays on the Social Stairs. He’s featured 12 times on there…we have a great relationship with him,” says Kressler.
The Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame was founded in 2021, the brainchild of Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece. The commissioner comes from a musical background (her mother was a professional singer and her father worked in the Motown industry) and she came up with the idea for the Walk of Fame after observing a lack of recognition for Cincinnati’s lengthy Black music history. “Cincinnati, we do things that are musically innovative and historic, never been done before, but we don’t get our props,” says Reece. “I want people to know that we are the home of musical innovation.”
Reece elaborates on a specific event that inspired her to take action. “I had the opportunity to run into Otis Williams [tenor for vocal group The Temptations] at a press conference on the Ohio banks,” she says. “He pointed over to the Andrew J Brady Music Center and asked, ‘Why can’t we be included?’ I began to think about him, and how many artists like him couldn’t play the nice facilities back in the day. They had to survive off of their recordings. So that April, I called for a Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame. All I had was a flyer and a podium and a whole lot of rocks.”
Photograph courtesy Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library
As a result of Reece’s work, the Walk of Fame opened at The Banks two years ago. The walk is right behind the Andrew J. Brady Music Center, overlooking the Ohio River, and is complete with several interactive exhibits. Reece calls it “Disney World on a Budget.”
Reece concurs with Kressler on the strength of the Walk of Fame’s relationship with CHPL. “It was very important for us to have this partnership,” she says. “We give people a taste of all these artists down at the Black Music Walk of Fame. So for those who want to know more, now you can come to the library and really get into all of these folks and what they’ve done. It really expands the education we can provide.”
The Walk of Fame has inducted four artists per year since its inception. In June, the star-studded 2025 class was made official, featuring Dottie Peoples, a Grammy-nominated gospel singer whose active career spans more than 50 years; The Ohio Players, a funk group whose albums Skin Tight, Fire, and Honey all received gold certification; Nancy Wilson, a multi-genre vocalist who recorded more than 70 albums and won three Grammy Awards during her five-and-a-half decade career; and The O’Jays, an R&B band that has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and whose song “Love Train” hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.
On July 26, the induction ceremony of the 2025 class, hosted by County Commissioner Reece herself, will take place at 190 W. Mehring Way at noon. Featuring the inductees, line dancing, and performances from funk artist Bigg Robb and singer-songwriter Regina Belle, the event is free to attend and guests are encouraged to wear all-white attire.
“I’m very excited about our inductees,” says Reece. “I’m always excited, but I think this class is a really, really, powerful one.”
According to Reece, the Walk of Fame has received more than 250,000 visitors since its opening. “I want to keep that up. We want people to learn here, and learn at the library. And really, we want to uplift people through music,” she says.
Kressler says there’s no end date in sight for the Library’s exhibition. “There’s no timetable. Our plan is to have this for a few years, and to keep on refreshing it. We want it to remain open whenever we are open.”
The Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame exhibition is open during regular hours at the Downtown Main Library at 800 Vine St.
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