Monthly Archives: August 2022

A Memorable Montgomery Memorial

#peaceandjusticememorial, Civil Rights sites, Montgomery, Alabama, ,

Montgomery, Alabama is chock full of disturbing history: From the earliest days of settlers displacing indigenous peoples, to becoming a prominent slave auction site, to its distinction as the “first capitol of the Confederacy,” to civil rights violence (and lots of other things I missed in between). Good things happened here, too, and the citizens love their city despite it all.

I visited with a group of educators working on a multi-year grant through the Department of Education. (Our Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is a partner in the grant.) REACH (Race, Equity, Arts and Cultural History) “proposes a five-year project to establish a national replicable model that will strengthen the fiber of arts learning and harness the learning and effectiveness of arts integration as a catalyst for increasing student engagement and achievement” and is in a large part the brainchild of my esteemed colleague, Denise Davis-Cotton, from the University of South Florida’s Center for Partnerships in Arts-Integrated Teaching. Denise is from Montgomery and wanted our first year’s museum studies site visit to take place there, at the many excellent Civil Rights sites.

It was a whirlwind tour. Our group visited two or three sites a day, including the Rosa Parks Museum, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Freedom Rides museum, the Legacy Museum, and several other sites. A lot to take in and process.

To me, the most memorable of all of these highly memorable sites was the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. When I told some friends about visiting the memorial, they said, “Oh, you mean the Lynching Memorial.” Well, that’s a big part of the story, but not all of it. This is a memorial for healing, not just for documenting in a very emotionally affective way the legacy of over 4,000 known lynchings in our country.

Still, the terrible history of lynching as an unchecked practice in much of the U.S. between the Civil War and World War II is the largest part of this incredible installation. Row upon row of metal columns list states, counties and names of the people who lost their lives to individuals or mobs who somehow thought they were meting out justice in their hate-twisted minds.

Interpreters are on hand to unpack some of what you see, and add in even more disturbing facts from the extensive research that has been carried out for the memorial. I talked to one of them, Ricky Blackmon, about why he decided to work at the Memorial, as I was thinking it must be hard to fill in the blanks created by these lists of victims with descriptions of public lynchings, souvenirs made of human flesh, and other unbelievable but true stories. “I do it for my grandparents,” he told me. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

If I had not already been on the verge of tears by then (about a quarter of the way through the memorial), I was then. And I can’t help crying again while writing this.

If you find yourself in Montgomery, don’t skip a visit to this incredible installation. And talk to the interpreters. But meanwhile, here are some photos I took.

At the heart of the memorial are these metal columns which start out at eye level and, as you walk through, are raised until they are towering overhead. Each has the state, county and known lynching victims listed.
Toward the end of the columns, slate tablets with examples of why people were lynched line the walls on both sides. The light on the overhead tablets changes during the day, and symbolizes, according to one of the interpreters at the site, the many varieties of skin tones of African Americans.
It would take hours to read all the tablets inscribed with information about the reasons for and circumstances under which people where lynched. Considering the name, this one stood out to me.
Ricky Blackmon explains the circumstances of the lynchings recorded on this column, which involved a whole family.
The memorial grounds also include many striking sculptures such as this one, with the background of Montgomery.
FInal words; the reason for the memorial.

No Quarrel with Quebec

travel,

Quebec City is the next best thing to going to Europe. Considering the fact that I was SUPPOSED to go to Europe this week, in this case to Switzerland, but instead am laid up with a bum hip, I am glad my daughter M.E. and I experienced this trip to almost-Europe. It will have to suffice for this summer.

This was the third time I’d been to Quebec City. The first time was right after my dad passed away, my mom’s first venture at planning a mother and daughter trip instead of a family vacation. We splurged and flew from Burlington, VT – first time on a plan for either of us. I was 13 years old. So don’t remember much except the imposing Chateaux Frontenac, the historic edifice that dominates the landscape of the old city.

The second time was with my hubby for a few days, and we drove, so we had a wider adventure along the way to and from. This time, we flew to Montreal and took the bus to and from Quebec. Except for a major hassle with cancelled and delayed flights home, that worked out pretty well. (The bus is a lot cheaper than the train, and goes straight to the airport after a brief stop downtown. And has wifi – well is supposed to have wifi at least.)

We walked a lot (which probably in the long run did not help my current hip problem, but what the heck), and explored not only the old parts of the city and the Citidel on the hill, but a few parts of the more modern city as well. We also booked a few organized tours: a boat ride on the St. Lawrence (almost required on a trip with me), a tour of the countryside (with a very amusing bus driver/guide) and a glimpse into the inner workings and history of the Chateaux. (Next best thing to staying there, which is not really affordable and probably not totally worth it.)

Here are some highlights in photos. If you can’t make it to Europe, and live on the East Coast, try a visit to Quebec is my advice. Just don’t fly Air Canada.

The Chateaux, from the rooftop plaza of our much more modest but still strategically located hotel. From this vantage point we could also hear the music festival which was raging on each evening in the nearby Plains of Abraham.
At the Citidel (military fort) on another hill above the city you can tour the military history (not my thing) but we also discovered you could (for free) tour the Governor General’s residence. Which is chock full of art and really nice furniture. Plus you learn something about Canadian government. And the patio view is not too shabby!
One of the cool things at the Governor General’s house with this giant blow up of Samuel de Champlain (or someone in his party’s?) field note book/journal. He documented the flora and fauna, and of course said a lot of rather condescending things about the local cultures.
Another view of Quebec’s history, though the mural in the lower part of the old city, which you either get to by a lot of stairs (ouch, on the hip) or the Funicular. This mural blends old and new history in a charming way.
On our tour of the countryside, we stopped at Saint Anne de Beaupre Shrine, which boasts these impressive copper doors. We also stopped at the workshop of the copper artist who made them. He has passed on to the great workshop in the sky and left his knowledge and business to his female descendants. Really worth a visit to both!
I really could have used some of these abandoned assisted walking devises of those cured by visiting Saint Anne’s Shrine. It obviously didn’t work for me but probably because I shorted the recommended candle lighting fee.
One of the most interesting things about the tour of the Chateaux was the glimpse into the secret herb garden and bee keeping area. Keeping things Earth Optimistic in the heart of the old city!
Speaking of plants and gardens, I liked the concept of this work of living art outside the Museum of Fine Arts. (The inside was pretty impressive too.) Worth venturing outside the city walls to visit, but give yourself a couple/three hours to take it all in. There are several buildings and a lot to see.
Around the lower old and newer city area, there is also a sort of art walk with really cool installations. This one is near the boat tour dock and involved a lot of discarded life jackets used by Syrian refugees. (And is by Ai Weiwei no less.)
Water features in and around Quebec include the majestic Montmorency Falls. We got views from our boat ride and stopped here on our countryside tour as well. Locals were using the area to cool down in, though signs indicated they were not supposed to be doing so!
Ending at the beginning, the first night we arrived, the sunset was spectacular over the Laurentian mountains and illuminating the St. Lawrence, and a brief rain gifted us with this site. My mom loved rainbows, so it surely was her grinning down on us and approving the mother-daughter experience.