A monument honoring Harriet Tubman will soon rise at a park in Newark, New Jersey, where a statue of Christopher Columbus was taken down last year amid the nationwide protests that erupted over the police killing of George Floyd.
The design for the statue of the renowned abolitionist was unveiled last Thursday, more than six months after the city issued an open call for artists to submit concepts for a new public space at Washington Park.
Nina Cooke John’s monument will be installed by next summer and the park will be renamed Tubman Square, according to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who called the change “poetic.”
“It is only fitting that we memorialize Tubman’s heroic efforts leading enslaved Africans to freedom via the Underground Railroad,” Baraka said in a statement, one day after a large bronze statue of Floyd was unveiled in front of Newark City Hall.
Credit: City of Newark
Credit: City of Newark
John’s monument, titled “Shadow of a Face,” is circular shaped and features a ceramic mosaic of Tubman’s face.
The legacy of the heroine, who escaped slavery in 1849, holds special significance in New Jersey, where Tubman traveled through Newark to help free dozens of enslaved captives by utilizing a network of safe houses called the Underground Railroad.
The artist envisioned Tubman Square as a place for people to learn the history of the Railroad, saying she highlighted the names of safe houses throughout the state.
“As a woman, a Black woman, and mother of three girls, I am delighted to bring my memorial for Harriet Tubman to life in Newark,” John said in a statement. “My design creates a welcoming space for people to connect with Tubman as well as interact and reflect on their own liberation from whatever weight they might be carrying. This is a monument for the community and by the community.”
Many tributes to Tubman have come along in recent years across the country.
Other monuments to the legendary activist are located in Battle Creek, Michigan; Mesa, Arizona; Boston; Manhattan, New York; Salisbury, Maryland; and Gainesville, Georgia.
The Treasury Department under President Joe Biden has resumed an effort to add Tubman’s portrait to the front of the $20 bill after the previous administration dismissed the idea of removing the portrait of former President Andrew Jackson.
Ten cities along Florida’s east coast have recently voted to rename 42 miles of Dixie Highway after Tubman.
In 2019, the biographical film “Harriet” debuted starring Cynthia Erivo in the title role, going on to become a major box-office success.
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