Emancipation and Freedom Monument
{{Short description|Monument in Richmond, Virginia}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Emancipation and Freedom Monument
| image = Emancipation and Freedom Monument 02.jpg
| image_upright = 1
| caption =
| city = Brown's Island, Richmond, Virginia
| coordinates = {{coord|37.5344|N|77.4439|W|display=inline}}
| completion_date = {{Start date|2021}}
| artist = Thomas Jay Warren{{Cite web|url=http://mlkcommission.dls.virginia.gov/lincoln/monument.html|title = Virginia's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission}}
| medium = Bronze statues
| movement =
| dimensions = {{convert|12|feet}} (height)
| subject = Emancipation
| pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Virginia##Location in United States
| module = {{designation list| embed = yes
}}
}}
The Emancipation and Freedom Monument on Brown's Island, Richmond, Virginia, is a public statue installed on September 22, 2021. The monument includes two {{convert|12|foot|adj=on}} bronze statues of an emancipated man and woman with an infant.{{Cite web|date=2021-09-21|title=Emancipation monument unveiled in Richmond, Virginia|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/watch-live-emancipation-monument-unveiled-in-richmond-virginia|access-date=2021-09-22|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-us}} The woman is holding a piece of paper with the date January 1, 1863 which corresponds with the day U.S. president Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The monument was designed by Oregon sculptor Thomas Jay Warren. Virginia senator Jennifer McClellan led the commissioning of the statue. According to McClellan, "it's the first state-funded statue celebrating emancipation in the U.S."
Composition
The pedestal features the names, photos, and stories of ten Virginians who participated involved both before and after emancipation.
= Pre-emancipation =
- Mary Bowser, former enslaved Union spy during the Civil War
- William Harvey Carney, soldier and formerly enslaved
- Gabriel, enslaved blacksmith and rebellion leader
- Dred Scott, enslaved man and plaintiff of Dred Scott v. Sandford
- Nat Turner, enslaved preacher and rebellion leader
= Post-emancipation =
- Rosa Dixon Bowser, educator and women's rights activist
- John Mercer Langston, politician and academic administrator
- John Mitchell Jr., community activist, newspaper editor, and political candidate
- Lucy F. Simms, educator
- Wyatt Tee Walker, civil rights activist and reverend
== Gallery==
File:Emancipation and Freedom Monument 02.jpg| view 1
File:Emancipation and Freedom Monument 01.jpg| view 2
File:Emancipation and Freedom Monument Pedestal 01.jpg| Emancipation and Freedom Monument Pedestal 01
File:Emancipation and Freedom Monument Pedestal 02.jpg| Emancipation and Freedom Monument Pedestal 02
File:Emancipation and Freedom Monument Pedestal 03.jpg| Emancipation and Freedom Monument Pedestal 03
See also
{{Portal|Visual arts}}
References
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External links
{{Commons category|Emancipation and Freedom Monument}}
- {{Cite web|title=Official Website: Emancipation and Freedom Monument|url=http://mlkcommission.dls.virginia.gov/lincoln/monument.html|website=Virginia's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission}}
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Category:Bronze sculptures in Virginia
Category:Slavery memorials in the United States
Category:Outdoor sculptures in Richmond, Virginia
Category:Sculptures of African Americans
Category:Sculptures of children in Virginia
Category:Sculptures of men in Virginia
Category:Sculptures of women in Virginia
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