- The Equal Justice Initiative, a criminal justice reform nonprofit, has dedicated the National Liberty Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, on June 19, 2024 at the new Liberty Memorial Sculpture Park.
- The National Liberty Memorial is four stories tall and contains 122,000 surnames chosen by formerly enslaved people who were freed at the end of the Civil War, according to the 1870 census. These surnames represent the more than four million slaves who were freed.
- In its dedication, the Equal Justice Initiative cited Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the end of slavery and, more specifically, commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free two months after the Civil War.
The towering monument is inscribed with thousands of family names, representing the more than four million slaves who were freed after the Civil War.
The Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit that works on criminal justice reform, dedicated the National Freedom Memorial on Wednesday to mark Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the United States.
The monument, which honors those who endured and survived slavery, is the centerpiece of the new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama, which tells the history of slavery in the United States through art and historical artifacts.
June 19th is the day to celebrate ethnic harmony
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson said enslaved people endured unspeakable horrors but also left a legacy of perseverance and strength.
“The slaves in this country did amazing things that we need to acknowledge and recognize and celebrate. The slaves resisted. The slaves persisted and they found a way to make a way,” Stevenson said.
He said Juneteenth is a day to confront the brutality of slavery and its effects, but it’s also a day to celebrate the dignity and strength of those who loved and survived despite the challenges they faced.
Visitors arrive at the National Liberty Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, on June 19, 2024. The monument features 122,000 surnames chosen by formerly enslaved people after they were freed at the end of the Civil War and recorded in the 1870 census. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
“They never stopped believing. They never gave up on their yearning for freedom. And I hope that as we leave here this morning, on Juneteenth, we can hold on to hope,” Stevenson said.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned they were freed after the Civil War. The news came two months after the end of the Civil War and about two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The four-story-tall National Liberty Memorial features 122,000 surnames chosen by formerly enslaved people who were freed at the end of the Civil War, as recorded in the 1870 census. These surnames represent the more than four million slaves who were freed after Emancipation.
The Equal Justice Initiative created the park to tell the stories of enslaved people honestly, and the sculpture park is the organization’s third site. The first two sites — the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which commemorates those killed in racist terrorism, and the Legacy Museum from Slavery to Mass Incarceration — opened in 2018.
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Dr. Michelle R. Williams and her mother, Barbara Y. Williams, scanned the rows of names Wednesday morning, searching for their last name, Murdaugh.
“Each name and the family it represents has its own story,” said Michelle Williams, whose ancestor, a man named Moses, is thought to have lived in one of two slave cabins removed from an Alabama plantation to become part of the sculpture park.
Michelle Williams said she was “heartbroken but also very moved” when she saw the shed.
