Part 2 of 3
The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park was the 2nd stop of the day. (I'm writing in reverse order.) If you click on the link highlighted, you can see some photos of the park, some quotes about it, and some information. There is also a video that I encourage you to watch. It tells about the park, the art, etc. The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park is also part of EJI-- Equal Justice Initiative-- as is The Legacy Museum that I wrote about previously.
Visitors are allowed to take photos at a few locations inside the park-- 1 at the beginning and then the rest at the end.
As you wind around the path, much of the art is bigger than life. So many pieces remind one of the horrors of slavery. The huge ball and chain was one of those for me. There were also pieces that showed how people lived -- 2 plantation homes; a boxcar train to show how slaves were transported.
One piece that caught my attention were fingers coming out of the ground. HUGE fingers. They surrounded a tree that was tall and upright. It was as if life had grown out of that hand.
Walking through the woman who opened her chest cavity for us to walk through was powerful, humbling. It was as if we were invited in-- invited in to her life, her pain, her story. Yet, we passed through to the other side.
The biggest piece in the park is shaped like an open book and contains the surnames from the 1870 census, the first census in which black people were included. There are over 100,000 names engraved on this monument. You can find more information on this piece-- size, background, etc.-- in the link posted in the beginning of this post about the park.
This piece was something to behold. Not only was it huge, but names were on both sides. I didn't go around to the back, but I did search for some names. In the video on the link above I learned that not all surnames were taken from connections with slave owners and families. Only a percentage. I believe I heard 40%, but would need to listen again to verify.
There is a fountain after this and then you are back in the beginning.
There is a statue of Harriet Tubman at the visitor center and photos are allowed there also.
There is a big computerized data base of the census inside that you can look up names. You can look them up by state and county. That was informative. I believe I saw a theater in there as well.
OTHER LINKS WITH INFORMATION AND PHOTOS:
There is much more information to be found online.
I recommend a visit to The Legacy Sites to learn more.
Thank you for joining me in this educational endeavor.
Deb
No comments:
Post a Comment