Sojourner Truth Monument (Battle Creek, MI)]]> Antislavery movements--United States
Abolitionists--United States
Women's Suffrage
Michigan--History 
Public art
Public sculpture]]>
Truth, Sojourner, c. 1797 – November 26, 1883]]> Commemorative sculpture]]> Michigan History]]>
"This monument was dedicated by the people of Battle Creek, Michigan, on September 25, 1999. To preserve the image and honor of the legacy of Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), who lived in this area for the last 27 years of her life. Although she could neither read nor write, this charismatic ex-slave was empowered by a deep religious faith to carry her message of social reform and individual right across the country. Using humor, wit and song in her oratory, Sojourner Truth transformed national attitudes and institutions. The community inspired the vision of Truth which is embodied in this sculpture by internationally renowned artist Tina Allen. It is for each of us who stand here to carry on the work of Truth."

The plaque to the figure’s right reads:

“… And Truth shall be my abiding name.”

A plaque directly behind the figure bares Sojourner Truth’s signature and is inscribed:

“Because it was illegal to reach slaves, Sojourner Truth never learned to read or write. This is the only known example of her signature, which she wrote in an autograph book owned by Hattie Johnson, a local high school student, on April 23, 1880. (from the Archies of the Historical Society fo Battle Creek)”

A plaque to the figures left reads:

“Lord, I have done my duty and I have told the Truth and kept nothing back.”

A final bonze plaque from at the memorial reads:

"Sojourner Truth was born as the slave Isabella in New York State about 1797. As a child she spoke only low Dutch and, like most slaves, she never learned to read or write. While she was in bondage, she married Thomas, a fellow slave, and had five children. She was sold to four new owners before walking away to freedom in 1826. Isabella then settled in New York City until 1843, when she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. Relying on her deep religious faith, she was determined to travel the land as an itinerant preacher, speaking the truth and fighting against injustice. She became a prominent figure in several national social reform movements, working for the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, temperance, prison reform, and the rights of former slaves. Sojourner first came to Battle Creek in 1856 to speak to the Quaker Friends of Human Progress. She moved to the area a year later and lived here for the last twenty-six years of her life. She died on November 26, 1883, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Sojourner Truth was perhaps the most famous African American woman in 19th century America. For over forty years she was a passionate advocate for the dispossessed, using her quick wit and fearless tongue to fight for human rights. May her legacy live on."]]>
Waymark. Accessed Nov. 4th, 2019: https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1G0G_Sojourner_Truth_Statue_Battle_Creek_MI]]>
Frederick Douglass (Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI)]]> Subject (Topic)
Abolitionists--United States
Anti-slavery movements--United States
Michigan--History
Midwestern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slavery--Michigan

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Subject (Name)
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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https://www.brucewolfe.com/frederick-douglass/]]> Bronze plaque on granite base:
Frederick Douglass

Dedicated May 11, 2017, in proud recognition of the speech given at Hillsdale College by Frederick Douglass on January 11, 1863

"Neither law, learning, nor religion, is addressed to any man’s color or race. Science, education, the Word of God, and all the virtues known among men, are recommended to us, not as races, but as men. We are not recommended to love or hate any particular variety of the human family more than any other. Not as Ethiopians; not as Caucasians; not as Mongolians; not as Afro-Americans, or Anglo-Americans, are we addressed, but as men. God and nature speak to our manhood, and to our manhood alone. Here all ideas of duty and moral obligation are predicated."

—Blessing of Liberty and Education—September 3, 1894

With Gratitude to Mr. James Nagy in Memory of his beloved Wanda Nagy

Dr. & Mrs. Larry Arnn

Bruce Wolfe—Sculptor

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"Frederick Douglass: A Brief History." Hillsdale College Blog. Accessed May 24, 2020, https://www.hillsdale.edu/frederick-douglass/.

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"Hillsdale College Unveils Statue of Frederick Douglass." Press Relase, News and Media, Hillsdale College. Accessed May 24, 2020, https://www.hillsdale.edu/news-and-media/press-releases/hillsdale-college-unveils-statue-frederick-douglass/.

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"A Man Worth Emulating: Frederick Douglass Statue Dedicated on Hillsdale's Liberty Walk." Hillsdale College Blog. Accessed May 24, 2020, https://www.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale-blog/hillsdale-magazine/worth-emulating-frederick-douglass/.

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"Frederick Douglass, Statue Unveiling at Hillsdale College." Bruce Wolfe. Accessed May 24, 2020, https://www.brucewolfe.com/frederick-douglass/.

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Gateway to Freedom: International Memorial to the Underground Railroad (Detroit, MI )]]> Underground Railroad
Slavery-- Abolition
Slavery-- Emancipation
Resistance
Midwestern United States
Public art
Public sculpture]]>
Commemorative sculpture]]> Two gateway pillars (approximately fifteen feet tall), topped with candles symbolizing the “Flame of Freedom,” flank Ed Dwight's memorial to the Underground Railroad. The work, which overlooks the Detroit River, includes a ten-by-twelve-foot sculptural group: eight escaping slaves and an Underground Railroad Conductor, who gazes and points towards Canada. Dwight modeled the conductor after George DeBaptiste, a freeman from Virginia who migrated to Detroit in 1846. DeBaptiste was an active abolitionist, Underground Railroad operative, and leader of the Vigilant Committee of Detroit, a watchdog and legal advocacy group for the black community. 


Panels with engravings of quilt squares appear on either side of the figural group. Here, Dwight appears to be referencing one of the most popular myths surrounding the Underground Railroad: “Freedom Quilts,” objects said to have been created by slaves and hung in windows as coded maps or guideposts for fugitives slaves on the run. The base of the sculpture is embellished with engravings of lanterns resting in window sills.

As the historian, Nora Faires has observed of the two gateway pillars: “High on the western pillar is a carving of a “slave tag,” dated 1833. Masters in Charleston, South Carolina, were legally required to purchase such tags or badges for slaves to wear, both as a revenue-raising measure and to keep track of those in the city’s slave population who hired out their own time. The badges were meant, in part, to prevent runaways from blending into the urban slave population, because they would have found it difficult and dangerous to seek work or engage in other business on their own behalf without possessing a tag. Dwight adorned the eastern pillar with a Charleston “free tag,” which the city had required free blacks to wear for most of the 1780s, probably also to help prevent runaways from taking advantage of urban opportunities. Interestingly, the centerpiece of the free tag is a liberty or Phrygian cap, held aloft on a liberty pole, a symbol of the quest for freedom that made an occasional appearance during the era of the American Revolution but would become more common in the United States in the 1790s and after, it having been popularized in the French Revolution.33 The placement of the slave figures between these two badges hints at their liminal state between the strict regulations of slavery and the quest for full liberty" (see bibliographic citation).]]>
Inscription on base:

"Until Emancipation, Detroit and the Detroit River community served as the gateway to freedom for thousands of African American people escaping enslavement. Detroit was one of the largest terminals of the Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists aiding enslaved people seeking freedom. Detroit's Underground Railroad code name was Midnight. At first, Michigan was a destination for freedom seekers, but Canada became a safer sanctuary after slavery was abolished there in 1834. With passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, many runaways left their homes in Detroit and crossed the river to Canada to remain free. Some returned after Emancipation in 1863.

The successful operation of Detroit's Underground Railroad was due to the effort and cooperation of diverse groups of people, including people of African descent, Whites, and North American Indians. This legacy of freedom is a vital part of Detroit and its history."]]>
Plaque on the back of the memorial:

"International Memorial to the Underground Railroad
The Gateway to Freedom
Ed Dwight- Sculptor
Dedicated October 20, 2001

With companion work Tower of Freedom in the Civic Esplande, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

A project of the Detroit 300 and the International Underground Railroad Monument Collaborative."]]>

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Journal of American Ethnic History 32, no. 2 (2013): 38-67. doi:10.5406/jamerethnhist.32.2.0038.]]>
Memorial to the Underground Railroad (Battle Creek, MI)]]> Underground Railroad Sculpture; Underground Railroad Monument]]> Subject (Topic)
Abolitionists--United States
Antislavery movements--United States
Fugitive slaves--United States
Michigan--History
Midwestern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Underground Railroad

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Subject (Name)
Hussey, Erastus, 1800-1889
Hussey, Sarah Bowen, 1808-1899
Tubman, Harriet, 1822-1913

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Underground_Railroad_Sculpture_in_Battle_Creek,_Michigan_(2981829830).jpg]]> Bronze plaque:
Memorial to the Underground Railroad. From the 1830s to the 1861, thousands of slaves in the southern United States courageously escaped northward to freedom to what became known as the Underground Railroad. Along this secret network, ‘conductors’ like Battle Creek’s Erastus and Sarah Hussey, whose likenesses are captured in this memorial, took great personal risks to ensure the safety of escaping slaves. Harriet Tubman, known as the Black Moses, was a national heroine of this epic struggle and is depicted leading another brave family away from the shackles of slavery. This memorial honors the Underground Railroad and is dedicated to the strength of the human spirit in the quest for freedom. Ed Dwight, Sculptor. Denver, Colorado. 1993. This sculpture was made possible by a gift from the Glenn A. Cross Estate and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

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Monument and Myth: Commemorating Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad]]> “Sharing the Legacies that Promote Social Justice.” W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Accessed March 19, 2018. https://www.wkkf.org/news-and-media/article/2008/01/sharing-the-legacies-that-promote-social-justice.

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“Battle Creek Underground Railroad Sculpture.” Detroit1701.org. Accessed March 19, 2018. http://detroit1701.org/Battle%20Creek%20Underground%20RR%20Sculpture.html.

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Glesner, Anthony Patrick. "Laura Haviland: Neglected Heroine of the Underground Railroad." Michigan Historical Review 21, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 19-48.

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Harriet Tubman (fourth cast) (Ypsilanti, MI)]]> Subject (Topic)
Abolitionist--United States
American Midwest
Antislavery movements--United States
Michigan--History
Public art
Public sculpture
Underground Railroad

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Subject (Name)
Tubman, Harriet, 1822-1913

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Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Harriet_Tubman_Ypsilanti_Michigan.JPG]]> Harriet Tubman, Las Sendas, Mesa, Arizona]]> Bronze plaque on front of statue:
Harriet Tubman, 1820-1913. Led slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad earning her the name of ‘Moses of Her People.’ Bronze statue created by Jane DeDecker and installed in 2006.

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Inscription on back:
"Children if you are tired, keep going. If you're hungry, keep going. If you're scared, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going." Harriet Tubman

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Monument and Myth: Commemorating Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad]]> "Library Plaza." Ypsilanti District Library. Accessed March 18, 2018, https://www.ypsilibrary.org/about/visit/ydl-michigan/library-plaza/.

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"Harriet Tubman Statues by Jane DeDecker Across the US." Wander Woman Project. Accessed May 25, 2020, https://wanderwomenproject.com/places/harriet-tubman-statues-by-jane-dedecker-across-the-us/.

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