MONTGOMERY, Alabama — In late April, the Equal Justice Initiative will open the first-ever national memorial to the victims of racial lynching in Montgomery, Alabama.
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice will have 800 dark red six-foot-tall steel columns, one for each U.S. county where a documented lynching took place, that hang from the top of the memorial. The ground leading to a central space gradually slopes downward, while the columns remain at the same level and eventually hang above visitors to evoke lynchings.
The columns have the names of lynching victims and the counties where they took place.
Also included in the memorial will be sculptures from African and African-American artists that explore slavery, segregation and contemporary issues of racial inequality.
The memorial is in Montgomery’s oldest community, Cottage Hill, overlooking downtown.
The Equal Justice Initiative will also open a new museum in its offices in downtown Montgomery that will explore slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration in America.
The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration will use sculpture, fine art and groundbreaking technology, combined with original research and multimedia presentations, to tell its story.
