Migration Memorials - slavery

African Burial Ground Monument

alisu11@unc.edu — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 19:59:50 +0000

Description:

The structure was built in 1991 in order to commemorate the sacrifices of the African American people who were brought to the new world as slaves. It was built by a community initiative.

LocationMem:

NYC, NY

Institution:

Community Group

Official/Unofficial:

official

Group Acknowledged:

Enslaved African Americans

Historical Subject:

Enslaved people in the United States

Physical Aspects:

It is a monumental structure that embodies signs of unity and coexistence.

Date of Dedication:

1991

Place Location:

Files:

Themes:

slavery

Freedom Crossing Monument

andrcorn@unc.edu — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 17:07:26 +0000

Description:

This bronze monument recognizes the fleeing of slaves to Canada. It depicts several slaves escaping America on a boat.

LocationMem:

Lewiston, New York

Institution:

Volunteer Underground Station Master and Greatest Citizen

Official/Unofficial:

Official

Group Acknowledged:

American Slaves

Historical Subject:

Slaves

Physical Aspects:

Bronze Statue

Date of Dedication:

10/2009

Place Location:

Files:

Themes:

slavery

"Largest Slave Sale in Georgia History"

ayanam@unc.edu — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 05:55:14 +0000

Description:

This is a plaque commemorating the largest slave sale in Georgia's History.

Institution:

Georgia Historical Society

Official/Unofficial:

Official

Group Acknowledged:

Slaves

Historical Subject:

'The Weeping Time' and slave trading.

Physical Aspects:

A plaque with a white pole and a logo for the Georgia Historical Society.

Place Location:

Themes:

slavery

The Crossing at Scioto County

andrcorn@unc.edu — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:58:51 +0000

Description:

Many runaway slaves escaped from Kentucky to Portsmouth, Ohio. They crossed the Ohio River and it was very dangerous due to it being very close to Pro-Slave state.

LocationMem:

Scioto County, Ohio

Institution:

Ohio Department of Transportation & Friends of Freedom Society

Official/Unofficial:

Official

Group Acknowledged:

Slaves

Historical Subject:

Slaves who used the Underground Railroad

Physical Aspects:

Plaque

Date of Dedication:

10/2004

Place Location:

Files:

Themes:

slavery

The Alabama National Memorial for Peace and Justice

taguilar@unc.edu — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:26:56 +0000

LocationMem:

Montgomery, Alabama

Institution:

Equal Justice Initiative

Official/Unofficial:

Unofficial

Group Acknowledged:

African American Slaves

Historical Subject:

As African Americans attempted to find freedom in the North by migrating there from the south, thousands of slaves were captured and lynched. Lynching was a common form of murder by punishment and torture that was carried out by people filled with hate for the community. Justifications by lynchers were often that the slaves were illegally trying to escape their enslavement, making it right to torture and kill them as they fled their oppressive conditions.

Physical Aspects:

The memorial depicts slaves chained together by shackles around their neck and feet. They are all in positions of agony, expressing pain and suffering through their expressions. One of the statues is holding a reaching out to another slave. The monuments are all standing on a foundation of a single white rectangle adjacent to the grass and the concrete walkway.

Date of Dedication:

April 26th, 2019

Place Location:

Themes:

Gateway to Freedom

stejohn@unc.edu — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 18:12:11 +0000

Description:

Several routes of the Underground Railroad went through Michigan. This statue commemorates the route through Detroit. Another favorite crossing point was south of Detroit near where Amherstburg, Ontario is located. This is, perhaps, the narrowest Point in the Detroit River. And by the mid-1830s, there was a modest population of former slaves living there who aided other to escape to freedom.

LocationMem:

Hart Plaza Detroit, Michigan

Institution:

Ed Dwight commissioned by Detroit 300

Official/Unofficial:

Unofficial

Group Acknowledged:

African American slaves on the underground railroad.

Date of Dedication:

October 20, 2001

Place Location:

Themes:

slavery

Underground Railroad

Gateway to Freedom

stejohn@unc.edu — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:58:04 +0000

Description:

LocationMem:

Hart Plaza Detroit, Michigan

Institution:

Ed Dwight commissioned by Detroit 300

Group Acknowledged:

African American slaves on the underground railroad.

Date of Dedication:

October 20, 2001

Place Location:

Themes:

slavery

Dred Scott Memorial - Florence Walk of Honor

maryae@unc.edu — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 18:39:08 +0000

Description:

This is a plaque in the Florence Walk of Honor that honors Dred Scott.

LocationMem:

Florence, Alabama

Institution:

City of Florence, Alabama

Official/Unofficial:

Official

Group Acknowledged:

Dred Scott, slaves fighting for rights

Historical Subject:

Dred Scott was a slave who fled slavery to the North, where slavery was illegal; he then attempted to sue for his freedom when forced to return to slavery. This led to the famous Dred Scott decision in which the Supreme Court stated that he was not free, despite precedent set by Missouri's "once free, always free" doctrine. Ultimately, the case was a microcosm for the start of the civil war.

Physical Aspects:

The plaque reads "Dred Scott, a slave who served as the hostler in Peter Blow's Florence Hotel, waged a 14-year legal fight for freedom that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott Decision of 1857, a pivotal event in American history."

Date of Dedication:

2011

Place Location:

Files:

Themes:

African Burial Ground National Monument

berylber@unc.edu — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 01:33:50 +0000

Description:

The African Burial Ground National Monument was the product of an inadvertent uncovering of the Negroes Burial Ground. This cemetery contains approximately 15,000 skeletal remains of free and enslaved Africans. This site was consecrated to the slaves' contributions to New York's society.

LocationMem:

New York City, New York

Institution:

United States National Park Service

Official/Unofficial:

Official

Group Acknowledged:

African-American slaves

Historical Subject:

This monument memorializes the black lives that were compromised by slavery.

Physical Aspects:

The Wall of Remembrance, Ancestral Re-internment Grove, Memorial Wall, Ancestral Chamber, Circle of the Diaspora, Spiral Processional Ramp, and Ancestral Libation Court function as the primary elements of this site. The monument features a granite block and symbols from various African languages.

Date of Dedication:

Authorized as a National Historic Landmark in 1993 & Designated as a National Monument in 2006

Place Location:

Files:

Themes:

slavery

Reed Gold Mine

ffitch@unc.edu — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 23:48:56 +0000

Description:

The Reed Gold Mine is the site of first gold mine in the United States. A National Historic Landmark as well as a North Carolina Historic Site, the Reed Gold Mine is now a state park and is open to the public.

LocationMem:

Reed Gold Mine, Locust, NC.

Institution:

The Division of State Historic Sites and Properties

Official/Unofficial:

Official

Group Acknowledged:

Farmers turn gold miners

Historical Subject:

The Reed Gold Mine is the site of the first gold discovery in the United States in 1802. The mineshaft was built in 1825, and was sporadically operational until 1912. Now a state historic site, the mine is open to the public as a park.

Physical Aspects:

The Reed Gold Mine Site is an operational state park featuring a visitors center, a restored mill, underground restored miners tunnels, and hiking trails. The mineshaft facade is built from wooden logs framing the entrance and set into the earth. A bronze, white painted plaque greets visitors with text reading: "Reed Gold Mine: Gold discovered there 1799. Many gold mines were later operated in this area. N.C. was the chief gold-mining state to 1849. N. 4 mi."

Date of Dedication:

Nationally - 1966; State - 1971

Place Location:

Files:

Themes: