La Porte Du Non Retour (The Gate of No Return) (Ouidah, Benin)]]> Subject (Topic)
Africa
Public art
Public sculpture
Ouidah--Benin--History
Slave trade
Slave trade--Africa--History
Slave trade--Benin--Ouidah--History

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
Memorial Arches

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Located on the sandy shores of Ouidah, Benin, the monumental concrete red, white, and yellow-painted gate and the metallic sculptures that flank it, commemorate the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The memorial gate, which marks the point where African captives were forced onto transatlantic slave ships, is connected by a path, known as the “Slave Route,” to the market square, where enslaved people were once sold. The memorial arche is embellished with a frieze, depicting two lines of enslaved people bound at their hands and chained together as they walk towards waiting ships. The columns are adorned with sculptures depicting men and women captives, their extremities bound, as they kneel and await their fate in Portuguese-built forts. The back of the gate is adorned with depictions of their native towns. Yves Ahouangnimon was the architect for the project; Fortuné Bandiera created figures and bas reliefs on the columns; Yves Apollinaire Pèdé created the bas-reliefs on the center arch and two free-standing egungun; and Dominique Kouas created the copper statues.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantoujours/33680680066/in/album-72157678589698644/]]> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Porte_du_non_retour_11.jpg]]> The Slave Route, UNESCO]]> Inscription on marble plaque on right side of arch:
Ce Monument Commemoratif
A Ete Inauguree Le 30-11-95
Par Son Excellence
Le President Nicephore Dieudonne Soglo
Et Le Directeur General De L'UNESCO
Monsieur Federico Mayor
A L'Occasion De La Celebration De L'Annee 1995
Comme L' Annee Internationale De La Tolerance

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Inscription on marble plaque on left side of arch:
LA PORTE du NON retour
--Ses Figurines et ses bas-relief en colonnes
d'esclaves a été conue et réalisée
par Fortuné Bandeira
--L'agencament ou terrassement
par l'Architect Ahouangnimon Yves
--Les Statues en cuivre rouge
par Gnonnou Dominique Kouass
--Les bas-relief du mur de ceinture et
les deux Statues répresentant des
Egun-Egun (Esprit des esclaves)
par Yves Kpede
-Sous la présidence du Ministre d'Etat
Désiré Vieyra
et la coordination de
Mr. Noureini Tidjani-Serpos

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https://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Slavery/articles/araujo.html]]> Akhtar, Saima and David H. Colmenares. "The Slaving Port of Ouidah and Monumental Discourse around the Atlantic Perimeter." Art Histories and Aesthetic Practices, January 27, 2016. Accessed May 13, 2019, https://medium.com/from-traditional-to-contemporary-aesthetic/the-slaving-port-of-ouidah-and-monumental-discourse-around-the-atlantic-perimeter-a41968341a57.

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From Absence to Presence, The Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland (St. Mary's College of Maryland)]]> Subject (Topic)
Mid-Atlantic United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slavery--Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland--History

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Commemorative sculpture]]> RE:site Studio

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RE:site Studio

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]]> here.]]> History of site information plaque:
From Absence to Presence
Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland

History of the Site
Between 1750 and 1815, this field was home to three or four enslaved households. They labored for John Hicks and later John Mackall, both planters whose wealth was bulit on slave labor. Here along Mattapatty Road--then the main route into St. Mary's City--this housing compound, and another one across the road, would have been visible to all who passed by.

In 2016, St. Mary's College of Maryland archaeologists unearthed fragments of brick, ceramics, tobacco pipes and bottle glass suggesting where these families' cabins once stood. The archaeologists believe the houses were probably of rough log construction with wooden chimneys and brick hearths. The cabins probably had few or no windows and dirt floors.

Inside the cabins and out of sight of plantation surveillance, the families furnished their homes with both plain and decorated ceramics, possibly purchased with money made selling garden vegetables. Traces of garden features were found in this vicinity and documents show that enslaved families or nearby plantations sold their produce in the neighborhood. Although enlsaved, the families living here were probably able to travel to nearby farms, to church, and to the store in nearby St. Inigoes.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, the British Navy issued a call to enslaved people in Southern Maryland to join against Americans and thereby earn their freedom. Nineteen men, women, and children enslaved by John Mackall heeded the call and joined the British. Based on the absence of artifacts after 1814, archaeologists suspect that some of these individuals may have come from this compound.

A short three years later, on Easter Monday in 1817, the memory of those who had self-emancipated still fresh in everyone's minds, free and enslaved, a group of an estimated 150-200 enslaved men gathered at a dram shop, or tavern, near the store in St. Inigoes. When the local constable attempted to break up the gathering, the men resisted, a melee ensued, and some men were arrested for insurrection. No doubt men from the Mackall plantation were involved in the uprising, although their names were not among the arrested.

By uncovering this hidden Black landscape, both here in St. Mary's City and throughout Southern Maryland, we can understand not only the unfinished work of the American Revolution, but the African American role in the struggle for freedom for all.

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Object information plaque:
From Absence to Presence
Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland

Activist Angela Davis described the sacredness of slave quarters in the lives of enslaved people as "the only space where they could truly experience themselves as human beings."

This form is inspired by the 'ghost frame' architecture found on the site of Historic St. Mary's City.]]>
Erasure Poetry
" Erasure poetry is a form of found poetry that is created by erasing, or redacting, words from an existing piece of prose or verse. The redactions allow poets to create symbolism while also putting a focus on the social and political meanings of erasure. New questions, suggestions, and meanings in existing pieces of writing are revealed through erasure poetry. The erasure poetry that covers the structure is adapted from historical documents related to the Mackall-Brome plantation — one of three known plantations located on the land around St. Mary’s City. These documents include slave property and runaway slave advertisements, newspaper articles, and slave depositions of the Mackall-Brome family. These poems become the walls and roof of the structure revealing powerful stories hidden within the language of a dark past. " From About the Commemorative.]]>
Visual Arts-Sculpture]]> https://www.smcm.edu/honoring-enslaved/about-commemorative/.]]>
The Path of Thorns and Roses (Contraband and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, Alexandria, VA)
]]>
Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial]]> African Americans--Virginia
Alexandria (Va.)--History
American South
Cemeteries--Virginia
Freedmen--Virginia
Fugitive slaves--United States
Public art
Public sculpture]]>
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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The Path of Thorns and Roses is an 18-foot high sculpture that spirals upwards and includes six allegorial figures: Oppression (a semi-nude male figure), Struggle (a semi-nude male figure at the base of the sculpture), Sacrifice (a woman who grasps the limp body of a child), Loss (a woman enfolded onto herself), and Compassion (a woman holding a baby and reaching towards Loss). Hope, a man with a bald head, stands on his toes within a large circle of thorns. The figure of Hope holds an unbloomed rose in his outstretched hands. Alongside the statue is a four-walled structure, “The Place of Remembrance,” the includes the names of individuals interred at the site as well as historical information on African Americans in Alexandria during the Civil War. Limestone blocks mark individual graves.

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Virtual Tour of Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial on Google 360 virtual tours]]> Bronze plaque on base of sculpture:
The Path of Thorns and Roses. Created and sculpted by Mario Chido, 2013. Public art owned by the City of Alexandria, Virginia. Cast by Mussi Artworks Foundry, California.

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Engraving on base of sculpture:
“I am thankful there is a beginning. I am full of hope for tomorrow. A Power mightier than man is guiding this revolution; and though justice moves slowly, it will come at last. The American people will outlive this mean prejudice against complexion.” —Harriet Jacobs, freedwoman, author, educator and dedicated aid worker in Alexandria during the Civil War

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Inset brick with bronze lettering on plaza:
1955 Gas Station. Under this plaza is the concrete floor of a gas station, the construction of which desecrated many graves. The flooring was kept in place to protect the graves that remain below.

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Text from Wall One of "The Place of Remembrance":
Welcome to Contrabands and Freemen Cemetery Memorial

During the Civil War, Alexandria’s population swelled with more than 20,000 enslaved African Americans fleeing Confederate territory for safety behind Union lines. Initially called Contrabands because they were considered “property” taken during wartime, they would later be called Freedmen. The new arrivals joined Alexandria’s free and enslaved African Americans, hoping to find jobs, homes, educational opportunities, and lost family. They also found deplorable living conditions and a raging smallpox epidemic. Many people died just as freedom came within reach.

The federal government established a cemetery for the dead here in 1864. A formal record documents the burials for 1,711 individuals through January 1869 when the government abandoned the cemetery. The community of Freedmen was left the task of maintenance, and may have continued using the burial ground well after it closed. Over time, its wooden grave markers deteriorated, and the cemetery suffered many desecrations. An adjacent brick manufactory excavated clay, exposing bones and coffins. The paving of Washington Street covered and disturbed graves and the development of a gas station, the Beltway, and an office building destroyed hundreds more.

Locations of many of the surviving graves remain unidentified but more than 540 have been found by archaeologists and given markers. Though individuals can no longer be linked to burial plots, the names of those buried in this cemetery survive. They are inscribed here, along with ages, dates, and places of death, and notes left by the record-keeper. Today, visitors to the cemetery memorial join descendants of the Contrabands and Freedman in honoring the memorial of these freedom seekers.

Individuals for whom living descendants have been identified are noted with this marker.

[The following text appears above the bronze plaques with the names of those buried at the site.]

In Alexandria’s first known civil rights protest,… members of the United States Colored Troops signed a petition requesting that black soldiers be buried alongside their white comrades in arms at the nearby military cemetery. Some Authors fought their request and, in one instance, the caisson of a USCT soldier en route to the military cemetery was forcibly re-routed to his cemetery. Still, the soldiers won their battle, and in January 1865, caskets of over a hundred USCT soldiers were disinterred from this burial ground and moved to Alexandria’s National Cemetery where they are recognized by stone markers today. Their names are listed below.

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Text from Wall Two of "The Place of Remembrance":
[The following text appears below an 1865 grid street plan of Alexandria]

The City

The Freedom seekers who arrived in Alexandria joined a large existing community of African Americans, including many free and enslaved individuals. These residents, new and old, helped to shape the city, establishing neighborhoods, and founding churches and schools. They also went to work on the railroads, at the wharves, in factories and small businesses, at hospitals and army encampments, and in their homes.

Freedmen’s Cemetery
This burial ground for African Americans was established by the federal government on the outskirts of town, on land owned by Francis Smith, Robert E. Lee’s attorney.

Soldiers Cemetery
Injured soldiers of the US Colored Troops convalescing at L’Ouverture Hospital successfully petitioned for the right to a burial alongside their white comrades at this military cemetery.

Slave Jail and L’Ouverture Hospital
The Price Birch and Co. slave jail at 1315 Duke Street was once the last stop for thousands of slaves sold south to a life of extreme hardship. The Union army commandeered the property as a jail. In 1804, a hospital was built nearby that treated African American soldiers and civilians for diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid, Shiloh Baptist Church congregation formed here.

Contraband Barracks and School
Some Freedmen found housing in crowded barracks like those on Prince Street. Despite the difficult conditions. Freedmen attended a school established at the barracks.

African American Schools
Deprived of an education by slavery, Contraband and Freedmen seized the opportunity to learn. Adults and children alike filled Contraband schools across the city learning for the first time to read and write.

African American Neighborhoods
While some of those arriving in Alexandria settled into established free black neighborhoods such as Hayti and the Bottoms, most camped out in deserted buildings or on marginal land, often constructing their own huts and shacks. These crowded settlements eventually became new African American neighborhoods such as Cross-Canal, Petersburg, and Grantville.

African American Churches
Places of gathering, faith, aid, and activism, Alexandria’s black churches were critical to the Contraband and Freedmen community. Many of Alexandria’s present-day congregations began meeting during the war.

Railroads
Alexandria’s strategic location where railroads met waterways made it a center of supply for the Union army. Rails also transported soldiers to the front and brought back the wounded to Alexandria’s hospital. Many Freedmen became railroad workers helping to keep goods and personnel moving.

Wharves
Many Contrabands and Freemen worked on the waterfront, processing, loading, and unloading goods coming in on ships and by rail. These laborers kept a steady stream of food and supplies flowing to the Union army.

[The following text appears below a bas-relief of enslaved people escaping bondage]

Fleeing slavery for sanctuary and freedom in Alexandria

When Virginia seceded in May of 1861, Union troops occupied Alexandria and turned the port town into a staging area and base for operation. It also became a beacon for freedom seekers who took the opportunity war provided to escape enslavement. Thousands of fleeing African Americans made the dangerous and difficult journey through Confederate territory, often traveling on foot, some coming from hundreds of miles away. They arrived in Alexandria hungry, tired, and with few resources, and began searching our food, clothing shelter, medical treatment, and education.

[The following quote appears to the right of the bas-relief.]

“I traveled 65 miles and we had 52 on our number before, we crost, the river…we tought, we wold, be taken eny moment, the babys cried, and we could whear, the sound of them. On the warter. We lay all night in the woods, and next day we traveled on and we reached, Suffolk that night and we lost twenty one of the Number.” —Emma Bynum, a freedwoman describing her flights to freedmen in a composition for her schoolteacher, Miss Lucy Chase

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Text from Wall Three of "The Place of Remembrance":
[The following text appears below a bas-relief of a school teacher surrounded by her students.]

Learning to read at an Alexandria freedmen’s school

Overwhelmed by their numbers, Alexandria could offer little aid to the newly arrived Contrabands. Some took up residence in temporary barracks created near the site of a former slave jail. Others found shelter in free black neighborhoods or in abandoned buildings and shanties. Social workers like Julia Wilbur, a white Quaker from New York, and Harriet Jacobs, a black freedwoman, responded to the need by gathering supplies, attending to medical problems, and setting up school and other community services. Despite their efforts, many particularly children, died from exposure or disease. Still, the freed people worked tirelessly to create new lives, and in the process, reshaped the city of Alexandria.”

[The following quote appears to the right of the bas-relief.]

“Besides the school in the barracks there are our others in the city, which are self-sustaining, one containing one hundred and fifty pupils, It is an astonishing fact, which ought to be placed upon record…that out of the two thousand people collected at Alexandria there are four hundred children sent daily to school. The first demand of these fugitives when they come into this place is that their children may go to school.” —Harriet Jacobs, freedwoman, educator, and aid worker in Alexandria, April 29, 1863

[The following text appears below an aerial map of the cemetery]

The Site:
The cemetery was established in 1864 and officially closed in 1869. Burials probably continued after this time, even as the wooden grave markers from the Civil War era deteriorated. Over the next century, this site endured many intrusions, and no longer appeared to be a sacred place. This site map identified features uncovered by historical and archaeological research, as well as desecrations, that occurred through the 1990s.”

1) Memorial Fence: Today, a steel fence evokes the wooden picket fence that once encircled the cemetery. The historic boundary is unknown, but likely included additional land that was paved over during the construction of South Washington Street.

2) Carriage Path: Carts carrying the dead entered the cemetery along this route.

3) Grave Shafts: Archaeology has identified more than 540 of the 1,711 burials believed to be present on site. Although no graves or artifacts were disturbed, the study revealed evidence of prior destruction caused by development of the site.

4) American Indian Site: Thousands of stone artifacts were discovered during archaeological investigations, including a 13,000 year old Clovis spear point. These finds suggest that American Indians periodically visited this bluff overlooking Hunting Creek for millennia to manufacture tools for hunting, scraping, hides, and other activities.

5) United States Colored Troops Section: As a result of a successful protest by USCT to be buried with full honors alongside their white comrades, the caskets of USCT were moved from a section of the cemetery to the nearby military cemetery in 1805.

6) Brickyard: Clay excavations may have occurred on the western edge of the cemetery, resulting in the desecration of graves, as noted by an 1892 Washington Post article: Of late the owners have been allowing the neighboring brickyard to dig clay from the outer edges of the graveyard with which to make brick. This digging has resulted in the unearthing of many coffins and skeletons, leaving the outer graves in very bad condition.

7) Gas Station: The current memorial plaza is built atop the floor and foundations of a service station built in 1955.

8) Office Building: The slab of a 1960 office building was covered during the memorial’s construction to protect the graves presumed to be below. A reconstruction portion of the building can still be seen on Church Street. Two stone Markers located the southernmost corners of the building.

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Text from Wall Four of “The Place of Remembrance”:
“I have just witnessed a novel and solemn scene, a funeral in the open air. The deceased, Peter Washington, was an old man, and a slave until the breaking out of the war… After the signing and a prayer, a minister, an early associate of the deceased gave a brief sketch of the life of Peter Washington. He had eight children; in one day he was bereft of his six daughters and five grandchildren. ‘On that day’ said the minister, ‘he leant on me, and with a bursting heart exclaimed, “If it were not my hope in Christ, I could not bear up under this trial.”’ [M]any of his hearers seemed to find an echo to a like experience in their own souls, They swayed their forms, and moaned as if some wound of the past was being dressily probed. No child of his came to bid him a last farewell, they are scattered I know not where: his two sons are in the army battling for the country their father loved inspite of her persecutions to him and his.” —Harriet Jacobs, freedwoman, educator, and aid worker in Alexandria, describing the funeral of Peter Washington, buried here May 32, 1864

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Text from grave marker:
Many of the African Americans who fled to Alexandria to escape enslavement and those already living here succumbed to disease and deprivation during and shortly after the Civil War. Carts bearing the dead entered the cemetery along a path in this location. Stones mark the locations of more than 540 graves identified by archaeologists and now protected by the memorial. According to historic records, the cemetery once held nearly 1,200 additional graves, many of which were destroyed by buildings and roads. Of the people laid to rest here, over half were children under the age of sixteen.

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“Contrabands & Freedmen Cemetery Memorial.” City of Alexandria Virginia. February 2, 2018. Accessed March 21, 2018. https://www.alexandriava.gov/FreedmenMemorial.

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“Forgotten Cemetery for Freed Slaves Rediscovered.” CBS Evening News. September 10, 2014. Accessed March 21, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pK4e8daKPc.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pK4e8daKPc

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Spirit of Freedom (Hamilton, Bermuda)]]> Sarah Bassett]]> Hamilton (Bermuda Islands)--History
Slavery--Bermuda Islands
Middle Passage
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Slave Trade
Resistance

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Sarah (Sally) Bassett, d. 1730

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Commemorative sculpture]]> Spirit of Freedom, she is shown with her hand and feet bound, as she gazes defiantly upward.]]> Monument Lab]]> The lower step of the base of the statue is divided into six segments. The segments are inscribed with events from Sarah Bassett Life:

Sarah (Sally) Bassett

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Owned by the estate of Francis Dickinson of Southampton]]>
The African diaspora heritage trail - Bermuda Officially designated a UNESCO slave route project]]>
Monument Lab, May 4, 2020. Accessed February 15, 2021: https://monumentlab.com/bulletin/revealing-sally-unveiling-bermudas-resistance-to-confront-its-brutal-past]]> The Bermudian, April 10, 2019. Accessed May 1, 2021, https://www.thebermudian.com/heritage/heritage-heritage/searing-memories/.]]>
Texas African American History Memorial (Austin, TX)]]> Subject (Topic)
African American history
American South
Juneteenth--Texas--Austin
Public art
Public sculpture
Slavery--Abolition
Slavery--Emancipation
Texas--History

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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The monumental work includes two bronze walls featuring figural scenes celebrating 400 years of African Americans’ contributions to Texas history. Decorated on both front and back, Dwight includes depictions of African Americans engaged in the cattle, cotton, and oil industries as well as tributes to Mickey Leland, Medgar Evers, Buffalo Soldiers, President Barack Obama, and African American Medal of Honor recipients. The two embellished walls meet at a central column. Scores of African American figures, seemingly comprising the base and shaft of the column, gaze outward at the viewer. The top of the column is adorned with two figures standing on a base that reads “Emancipation.” Both figures, one male, one female, have the cuffs of broken shackles and chains around their wrists. The former raises a lit torch over his head, while the latter holds a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. The monument also serves as a memorial to Juneteenth (June 19, 1865), when hundreds of Union troops arrived in Texas and announced the abolition of slavery in the U.S. The memorial sits atop a granite base, which features bronze plaques with didactic text.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpestana/31271259748/in/photolist-PDko3Q/]]> Seven bronze plaques on front of monument: text needed.
Three bronze plaques on back on monument: text needed.

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“Texas African American History Memorial, Dedication Ceremony, South Lawn Texas Capital, Saturday, November 19, 2016, 10:00 am.” Program (pdf). Accessed April 15, 2019, https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/blog/aam_program2.pdf.

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“Texas African American History Memorial.” State Preservation Board, Texas Capitol. Accessed April 15, 2019, https://tspb.texas.gov/prop/tcg/tcg-monuments/21-african-american-history/index.html.

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“New Texas African American Monument.” Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Accessed April 15, 2019, https://lrl.texas.gov/whatsnew/client/index.cfm/2017/2/14/New-Texas-African-American-Monument.

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Amistad Memorial (New Haven, CT)]]> Subject (Topic)
Abolitionists--United States
Amistad Mutiny
Anti-slavery movements--United States
Northeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slave insurrections
Slave trade
Slavery--United States

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Subject (Name)
Pieh, Sengbe (Joseph Cinque),  ca. 1814-ca. 1879

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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The Amistad Memorial centers around a large bronze triangular prism adorned with sculptural reliefs, depicting scenes from the life of Sengbe Pieh. In 1839 Pieh led a revolt of abducted Africans against their captors on the Spanish slave ship, the Amistad. The Amistad was seized off the coast of Long Island, NY, by the U.S. brig, Washington and the Africans on board were imprisoned on charges of murder. The case went to the US Supreme Court, where Pieh and his fellow Africans were found to have rightfully defended themselves as they were free individuals, having been kidnapped and transported illegally.

The memorial stands on the site of the New Haven jail, where Pieh and the other Amistad Africans were held during their trials. The three sides of the sculpture depict the life of Pieh: the first side shows him as a young man in Africa; the second side depicts his court trials, and the third side shows Pieh after he won his freedom. A fourth side of the sculpture, only visible from the upper floors of City Hall, includes images of disembodied hands emerging from ocean waves, a reminder of the thousands who perished during the Middle Passage. Pieh's famous courtroom statement, "make us free" is inscribed on the work’s granite base. The memorial rests atop a squared platform, which was inserted into a purpose-built recessed space added to City Hall during a 1990 renovation.

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United States v. The Amistad, click here.]]> Inscription on base:
This monument is a memorial to the 1839 Amistad Revolt and its leader, Sengbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinque. Sengbe Pieh was one of the millions of Africans kidnapped from their homes and transported in bondage to the Americas. Sold into slavery in Cuba, he and forty-eight other men, and four children were bound aboard the schooner La Amistad. During a storm, Sengbe Pieh successfully freed himself and his fellows. The Africans seized the ship, but their offers to steer La Amistad homeward were thwarted. After futile weeks at sea, they were captured off Long Island by the U.S.S. Washington.

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Inscription on base:
On this site, the Amistad Africans were jailed awaiting trial for piracy and murder. To aid their struggle for freedom, the Amistad Committee formed, counting in its number ministers Simeon Jocelyn, Joshua Leavitt, and James Pennington; merchant Lewis Tappan; professor Josiah Gibbs; and lawyer Roger Baldwin. The Africans were tried twice prior to their ultimate triumph before the United States Supreme Court, where former President John Quincy Adams courageously defended them. Sengbe Pieh and his fellows were declared Free Persons.

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Inscription on base:
"Make Us Free"

The Africans sought to return home. To raise funds for their voyage and to further the anti-slavery cause, they engaged in a series of speaking tours. In 1841, after a sojourn that profoundly influenced the abolitionist movement, they set sail, free at last.

To commemorate the heroism of the Amistad Africans and those who shared in their quest for freedom, the 1989 Amistad Committee commissioned his sculpture by Ed Hamilton and dedicated it on September 26, 1992.

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Hernandez, Esteban. "New Haven to Celebrate 175th Anniversary of Amistad, the Slave Ship that Led to Freedom." New Haven Register. Accessed April 12, 2019, https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/New-Haven-to-celebrate-175th-anniversary-of-11338269.php.

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"Our Public Art Collection." Department of Arts, Culture, and Tourism, City of New Haven. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://www.newhavenct.gov/gov/depts/arts/public_art/public_art_collection.htm.

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https://locate.publicartarchive.org/art/Amistad-Memorial?ib=ext.]]> "The Amistad Memorial." Amistad Committe, Inc. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://www.amistadcommitteeinc.org/amistad-memorial.

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African Burial Ground National Monument (New York City)]]> Subject (Topic)
African Americans--New York
Cemeteries--New York
New York City--History
Northeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slave trade
Slavery--New York (State)

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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The memorial sits on .35 acres and includes seven distinct design features: Wall of Remembrance, Ancestral Re-Interment Grove, Memorial Wall, The Ancestral Chamber, Circle of the Diaspora, Spiral Processional Ramp, and The Ancestral Libation Court.

The visitor is invited to walk through the monumental triangular structure known as “The Ancestral Chamber,” which represents the Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean. After passing through the chamber, the visitor encounters a spiral memorial wall featuring twenty religious symbols including a number of Adinkra symbols (Akan peoples, Ghana). The floor of the monument includes a world map centered on the West African coast with sun rays radiating towards North America, Brazil, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands.

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https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?pg=3570929&id=19CBA11C-155D-451F-67AA7B78DDDCB3A4]]> Description of the seven elements from Rodney Leon, “The Ancestral Libation Chamber: Memorial on the African Burial Ground National Memorial,” National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/afbg/learn/historyculture/upload/Rodney-Leon-Memorial.pdf.

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Wall of Remembrance
As one happens by the north wall facing Duane Street you are immediately struck by the scale and detail of a highly polished wall of granite inscribed with following libation text.

For all those who were lost
For all those who were stolen
For all those who were left behind
For all those who were not forgotten

The Wall of Remembrance is intended to draw a person in, and thus begin the process of enlightenment and education.

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Ancestral Re-interment Grove
A path extends itself north to south from Duane Street. Along this path are seven burial mounds marking the locations of the seven large sarcophagi containing the remains of the 419 African descendants that were re-interred in October of 2003. In addition, a grove of seven trees create a natural buffer and shelter between the re-interment zone and adjacent building. The burial mounds serve as markers and the trees as guardians for the entrance to the Libation Chamber. It is appropriate to place flowers and other offerings along the path in front of the burial mounds.

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Memorial Wall
The Southern wall of the Libation Chamber shall be engraved with a map containing images and text describing the components of the African Burial Ground National Monument site in context of the burial ground's actual boundaries in lower Manhattan. This map will allow people to understand the extent and scope of the burial ground's actual size which extends significantly beyond the boundaries of the memorial site.

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The Ancestral Chamber
The Ancestral Chamber is intended to reflect African cultural, spiritual and ancestral essence. This spiritual form rises out of the ground like an ancestral pillar and represents the soaring African spirit embracing and comforting all those who enter. The Ancestral Chamber is oriented towards the east and open to the sky above, allowing natural light to penetrate and illuminate the interior space. The interior of The Ancestral Chamber provides a sacred space for individual contemplation, reflection, meditation and prayer.

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Circle of the Diaspora
Signs, symbols and images of the African Diaspora are engraved around the perimeter wall encircling the Libation Court. These symbols come from different areas and cultures throughout the Diaspora, especially Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Symbolic meaning is described below the image. As one circumambulates around the perimeter of the court and spirals down the processional ramp, these symbols present themselves as a reminder of the complexity and diversity of African culture's manifestation. They all come together to form a communal place and a reminder of the Burial Ground being an international center of gathering. For a complete list of the symbols, see https://www.nps.gov/afbg/learn/historyculture/adinkra-symbols.htm.

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Spiral Processional Ramp
The Spiral Processional Ramp descends down 4’ below street level thereby bringing the visitor physically, psychologically and spiritually closer to the ancestors and original interment level. The ramp and stairs serve as bridges between the living and the spiritual realm. They symbolize the process of transcendence from physical to spiritual and passage from profane to sacred. The process will evolve from the public “secular” space of the city to the spiritual space of the Libation Court and culminate in the sacred space of The Ancestral Chamber.

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Ancestral Libation Court
The Ancestral Libation Court is situated on axis with The Ancestral Chamber. It is located 4’ below street level, providing a physical and psychological separation from the public activity of the surrounding urban environment. The Libation Court is a communal gathering place where small to medium-scale public cultural ceremonies may occur. This spiritual space is where re- consecration of the African Burial Ground National Monument will continually take place during the libation or other ceremonial rituals. The sacred ceremonial ritual of “libation” is the act which will serve as an offering and an acknowledgement linking past, present and future generations in the spirit of Sankofa (an Adinkra symbol of West Africa meaning ‘learn from the past’).

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“African Burial Ground.” The New York Preservation Archive Project. Accessed April 11, 2019, http://www.nypap.org/preservation-history/african-burial-ground/.

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Frohne, Andrea E. The African Burial Ground in New York City: Memory, Spirituality, Space. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2015.

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"African Burial Ground : African Burial Ground National Monument, New York." Tourist Map, National Park Service, 2011. Accessed May 24, 2020, https://www.loc.gov/item/2011587283/.

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We Stand in Honor of Those Forgotten) (Portsmouth, NH)]]> Subject (Topic)
African Americans--New Hampshire--History
Cemeteries--New Hampshire
New Hampshire--History
Northeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slavery

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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The memorial is composed of a number of distinct elements. A rectangular granite stele on State Street marks the memorial’s entrance. On one side, below the engraved text that reads “African Burying Ground Memorial,” a life-size bronze figure of a man stands with his back against the stone stele. His left-hand reaches out and back, towards the other side of the stele. On the opposite side, a life-size bronze figure of a woman mirrors the gesture of her male counterpart. The sculptor, Jerome Meadows, leaves a gap between the outstretched hands of the two figures.

On the opposite end of the memorial, a group of eight life-size vertical bronze and concrete silhouettes, each inscribed with a line from a poem written by Meadows, stand in a semi-circle around the burial vault. The figural group is surrounded by a metal railing, embellished with ceramic tiles. The design of the 110 ceramic tiles is inspired by Kinte cloth patterns and based on the original drawings created in a workshop Meadows facilitated with students from a local middle school. The burial vault contains the re-interred remains of the 13 individuals found on the site in 2003. The vault is marked with a Sankofa, a West African Adinkra symbol that means “Return and Get It — Learn from the Past.”

The sculptural groups are connected by the “Petition Line,” a ribbon of pinks stone, which contrasts with the gray stone walkway of the memorial. The Petition Line contains excerpts from a formal document submitted to the New Hampshire legislature in 1779 by 20 enslaved individuals petitioning for their freedom. To the right is an information marker that provides visitors with the historical context for the memorial, as well as the poem by Meadows - I Stand For Those Forgotten.

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First bronze plaque on Information Marker:
I stand for the Ancestors Here and Beyond
I stand for those who feel anger
I stand for those who were treated unjustly
I stand for those who were taken from their loved ones
I stand for those who suffered the middle passage
I stand for those who survived upon these shores
I stand for those who pay homage to this ground
I stand for those who find dignity in these bones
--Jerome Meadows, artist and sculptor

The Entry Figures--The male figure stands for the first enslaved Africans brought to Portsmouth and those who followed. The female figure represents Mother Africa, endlessly straining past the obstacles that keep her from her children of the Diaspora. Together, as each figure reaches around the edge of the granite slab towards the other, they physically embody the separation and uncertainty of those brought here as captives as well as their perserverance. The gap between their fingertips is a reminder of their forced separation and of the divisions of past injustices.

The Petition Line--In 1779, twenty men who had been forcibly brought from West Africa when they were children and were purchased by prominent local families, petitioned the New Hampshire legislature for their freedom and for the end of slavery in the state. Quoting phrases from this “Petition for Freedom,” the petition line is a visual and historical thread linking the elements of the monument and putting eloquent voice to those so long forgotten and ignored. Extending from the entry figures through a space of contemplation, the line disappears into the burial vault beneath the plaza. The West African symbol adorning this line is “Nsoromma” that means “Child of the Heavens” and is an icon of guardian ship.

Burial Vault Lid--The Adinkra figure “Sankofa” meaning “Return And Get It--Learn From The Past” forms a shield and cover for the burial vault containing the reinterred remains of those exhumed in 2003 and additional partial remains found at the site during preparations for the memorial.

Community Figures--These life-sized bronze sihouettes represent the collective community of greater Portsmouth, gather with resolve to acknowledge, protect, and pay homage to the souls whose remains were uncovered in 2003. Each figure bears a line from the poem by the memorial designer and sculptor Jerome Meadows, inspired by this sacred place.

Decorative Railing--The design is based on an African Kente cloth motif suggestive of boat paddles. The ceramic tiles embedded in the railing were created by students from Portsmouth Public Schools. By forming the tiles, these school children link hands with past children who worked here and future generations who will stop, remember, and stand for those fogotten.

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Second bronze plaque on Information Marker:
We Stand In Honor Of Those Forgotten

This Memorial was created by the people of Portsmouth. Those buried here are not part of black history or white history. This is our collective history.

The symbol chosen to represent the solemn intent of the African Burying Ground Memorial and its close historical connection to West Africa is the distinctive Sankofa symbol from the Akan people of Ghana. For those Africans forcibly removed from their homeland to be enslaved in America, and for those of us reflecting on that history now, we take the Sankofa and its timeless meaning to heart: “Return And Get It--Learn From The Past.”

The first known enslaved African, a man from Guinea, arrived in Portsmouth in 1645. He was among hundreds of African captives to live in slavery in New Hampshire. Throughout the Colonial Era, New Hampshire's affluent port had the largest number of slaves in the colony, up to 4 percent of the population recorded in the census of 1767. By 1810, few if any people of African ancestry were still enslaved in Portsmouth. Although early town records and other public documents made references to the “Negro Burying Yard,” the memory of the African Burying Ground and its occupants--which may number over 200--faded as the decades passed.

The burying ground was built over and nearly forgotten--until October 7, 2003 when a work crew unexpectedly exposed deteriorating wooden coffins containing human remains. Forensic archaeology and DNA analysis confirmed the individuals exhumed as African. Portsmouth began a community discussion about this historic and sensitive site and determined that space should be restored to sacred ground. The process to create a memorial and to re-inter the disturbed remains began. In the spring of 2015, the remains were re-interred in the burial vault that is the focal point of this Memorial.

The Portsmouth African Burying Ground Memorial stands for those who were fogotten. The burial site acknowledges their humanity, and ours. With design elements chosen in a series of community dialogues about the past, present, and future, this Memorial provides an opportunity to look back and reflect on the history shared with those buried here, in a space whose extent is not fully defined. Although their identities are not known, their presence beneath our feet urges us to recognize them--and others forgotten--as individuals with stories that come alive as we look back and remember.

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“Memorial Park Design.” Portsmouth African Burying Ground. Accessed May 6, 2019, http://www.africanburyinggroundnh.org/mpd.html.

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“Portsmouth African Burying Ground Memorial Park.” Department of Public Works, City of Portsmouth. Accessed May 6, 2019, https://www.cityofportsmouth.com/publicworks/portsmouth-african-burying-ground-memorial-park.

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The Whitney Plantation Museum (Wallace, Louisiana)]]> Dwellings--Louisiana
Plantations--Louisiana
Slavery
Sugar--Social aspects--History
United States--Louisiana--St. John the Baptist Parish--Wallace

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History Museums]]> The Whitney Plantation]]> Whitney Plantation website.]]> ]]>
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https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/telling-the-story-of-slavery.]]>
Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial (Dallas, TX)]]> Subject (Topic)
African Americans--Texas--Dallas--History
American South
Cemeteries--Texas
Freedmen--Texas
Public art
Public sculpture
Slavery--United States
Texas--History

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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The memorial is located in the Freedman Cemetery in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1861, it is one of the largest Freedman's cemeteries in the country. A Texas Red granite archway marks the entrance to the memorial. Two niches, located on either side of the arch, are adorned with life-size bronze figures (one in each niche). The free-standing figure on the left of the entrance, the so-called “Sentinel” or “Warrior,” is dressed in clothes inspired by the Benin culture of West Africa. He holds a large ceremonial machete with its blade pointed to the ground. His female counterpart, the “Prophetess,” holds a small harp to her chest with her left hand. On the other side of the arch within the memorial garden, two bronze figures occupy the niches. Unlike the free-standing works at the front of the archway, these works are bronze bas-reliefs. The figures emerge emerge from a background that suggests the waves of an ocean. The female figure, the “Violated Soul,” whose wrists and feet are bound by iron mancles, covers her face with her hands. Her male counterpart, the “Struggling Soul,” is similarly shown with his wrists and feet bound by iron manacles; he covers his own scream with his bent left arm. Above each of the life-size bronze figures, in the top register of the arch, are twelve smaller bronze sculptures, suggestive of West African wood sculpture.

Through the archway at the center of the memorial park, “Dream of Freedom,” sits atop a Texas Red granite circular plinth. The sculpture shows a newly emancipated couple. The male figure, whose shirtless torso is scarred by whip marks on his back, wraps his left arm around a kneeling woman. Directly behind “Dream of Freedom,” is a polished granite slab with Nia Akimbo’s poem, “Here.” Two remaining headstones from the original cemetery are embedded in the back of this granite slab.

At the base of each statue, bronze plaques list the artist, title of the sculpture, and description of the work. Embedded in the interior arched wall are bronze plaques with poetry by ten children from local schools, who won a local poetry contest. In the lawn, several Texas Red granite blocks have bronze plaques attached to them, identifying the original river bed and unmarked graves.

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https://dartable.dart.org/dartable-gem/freedmans-cemetery-memorial-2/]]> Historic marker:
Freedman’s Cemetery
This area of Dallas County was settled by former African American slaves shortly after the conclusion of the American Civil War. Freedman’s Cemetery, a graveyard for African Americans, was established in 1869 on one acre of land purchased by trustee Sam Eakins. Another three acres was acquired for cemetery purposes in 1879 by trustees A. Wilhite, Frank Read, A. Boyd, T. Watson, George English, Silas Pitman, and the Rev. A. R. Griggs, a former slave who later became a prominent local church leader and champion of early public education for the African American community. The community of churches, commercial enterprises, and residences that had developed in this area by the turn of the 20th century was by 1912 a part of the City of Dallas. Construction of the Central Expressway through here in the 1930s virtually eliminated all physical above-ground reminders of the cemetery. Descendants of persons buried here and the City of Dallas agreed in 1965 to establish the Freedman's Memorial Park and Cemetery at this site. Beginning in 1989 representatives of the community worked with the City of Dallas and the Texas Department of Transportation to preserve the historic Freedman’s Cemetery site prior to highway expansion. (1993)

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Bronze plaque:
The Sentinel
David Newton 1999
Symbolic guardian protecting site from disrespect or harm. His attire is based on Benin culture of West Africa.

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Bronze plaque:
The Prophetess
David Newton 1999
Symbolic of an African oral historian keeping the knowledge and memory of her ancestors alive.

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Bronze plaque:
Violated Soul
David Newton 1999
Symbolic of the violation of African women and the degrading nature of slavery, covered faces represents the loss of personal identity experienced by enslaved persons.

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Bronze plaque:
The Struggling Soul
David Newton 1999
Symbolic of the enslaved African’s resistance to slavery, and their constant struggle for freedom, the watery background represents the Atlantic Middle Passage unique to the American slave trade.

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Bronze plaque:
Dream of Freedom
David Newton 1999
Symbolic of a newly emancipated couple contemplating the death and suffering of their ancestors.

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Bronze plaque:
Riverbed
Symbolic of “Crossing Over” from the “Here” Monument to the “Afterlife” Cemetery Area

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Bronze plaque:
Unmarked Graves
Approximately 5,000 Unmarked Graves in This Area (Based on Arcaheological Report)

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Polished granite slab:
“Here” by Nia Akimbo
https://youtu.be/rua76I5Ptis

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Poetry bronze plaque:
“Remembrance”
The moment, once here, as of now bereft
So many lives, all one by one taken, though
Not to a sad place, for thorugh this unfair left
They, in God’s glorious land, will awaken.
Most now are gone, yet hardly forgotten-
These treasured ancestors must live on
In our spirits, we remain ever begotten
And we shall never, from them, find ourselves gone.
So much like a precious family heirloom
Passed down through many generations
Never to be lost or forgotten . . . too soon
Yet to help us achieve our expectations

We implore, please know, this is no morose fact
Their dignity is returned to us at last.

Olivia Linn
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque:
“Eulogy to an Unknown Freedman”

We transient men of clay can well attest to
The inherent fraility of the human frame.
And do likewise confess that most of our names
Are inevitably reduced to whispering ashes of fond recollections
Scattering before the breath of the night wind
That blows out the twilight our day;
However, unlike this freedman, we can draw comfort from our nostaligic predilection
To leave our moral names engraved in stone upon the sod,
While he could only cling to the clarity of his perception
That his name had been inscribed in the mind of God.

Though anonymous here, the past deeds of this seemingly lost life of sorrows
Still impacts our today and our tomorrows,
For the complex fabric of our times is thickly interwoven
With the sturdy cotton threads he spun his wheel of life.
Yes, we’ve heard of this freedman-this “motherless” child of Africa
Whose matchless paean(?), still echo here and do persuade us even now
That we are, indeed, standing in an active valley of “them dry bones”
With no need of rows upon rows of labeled stones,
For it is certain that “on that great gettin up Mornin”
This unidentified sleeping soul is going to stand up and us his name!

Ramona Newton
1996

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Poetry bronze plaque:
“Undying Love”

Black People, your minds is not fixed on grieving
Yet to feel so much pain for so much time
Many a soul wrecked; soon flees peace of mind-
This hateful world still deceitful
You toiled through sweat, suffering but believing
Sometimes too hot, the sun above did shine
Painful hearts pray for all to be fine
Images of departure, enticing
Spirits wandering though all those sad years
Laid down a path for others, much like me
Free, you strive to cleanse all the salty tears
Working so that we would ever be free

Your dearest love that that comforts all earthly fears
Is reborn in this undying, watchful tree.

Summer Allen
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque:
“A Life to Celebrate”

Sweet sounding voices of our ancestors cry
Oh, little black children, our own, please hear
So you may know the weary-filled years
Which set you here: Hope could not pass you by
This life was hard so you, child, would apply
To enjoy life, those things we hold so dear
Not simply to toil, struggle and to fear:
Offspring, learn now the road we had to buy
Our spirits strong, living, rising like air
Proud, Intelligent you are, and you are
Celebrating life to show you care
Never forget your past, those souls martyred

For no one is promised sweet life is fair
But unto all, the duty is to falter never.

Remel Derrick
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque:
“Near This Place”

Near here now sleep dead, though are they so cold?
Let it be known, here warm breath resided
In these lungs; under tragic struggle bold
Steps these walked, yet their pain twas abided
These simple lives unknown, until now
Face here new meaning, and are not in vain.
With death near, so much knowledge buried, how
Many secrets are buried in these lives unchained?
Yet lived these; lived boldly so and endured
Yet knew pain, humanity they preseved
As hate trod on, and true knowledge obscured
While here Dignity, is kept, is honored

This, never a cold vault of gloom, but here
Is Peace, and a debt paid, this is now near.

Jedidiah Anderson
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque:
“A Thread of Freedom”

Opening the drawer to remove fresh cloth
The stench of neglect infects pure air;
The fabric worn from the work of a moth
The texture haggard, from both time and wear,
The history which lives with each thread, strong
Every stitch brough together by brave souls
Congregated to Fight against life’s Wrongs.
They came from both sexes, the young and the old.
I unfold the quilt to inhale beauty
Different colors are combined with each other
The passed down from those who value hard work and duty
And would not live, property of another.

Our inherited freedom, life’s treasure
Simply belongs to all, without measure.

Lysbet Musselwhite
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque on brick wall:
“The Post Oak”

The Post Oak Tree stands
remembering Black people
remembering You!

Jonathan Bailey
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque on brick wall:
“A Beginning”

Birth
Adventurous, fulfilling
Beginning, crying, delivering
New Experiences for yourself.
Newness.

Modesta Orono
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque on brick wall:
“Because I Was Free”

I leaped in the air
And shouted HALLELUJAH
Because I Was Free.

Tambre Kincade
1995

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Poetry bronze plaque on brick wall:
“A Celebration of Life”

Living
Pleasure, hurt now
Ending, Moving, Pleasing
To know my heritage.
Venture.

Alan Coleman
1995

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https://dallascityhall.com/departments/sustainabledevelopment/historicpreservation/Pages/freedman_s_cemetery.aspx.]]>