Akron’s proposed tribute to abolitionist and suffragette Sojourner Truth has come a step closer to development after a visit from a national expert on the preservation of historic sites.
Brent Leggs, vice president and executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, met with local officials about the project last week.
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“We had two really exciting and productive days in Akron, and we met with a variety of community partners to update them on the design concept for the Sojourner Truth Memorial Park and plaza,” Leggs said Tuesday.
Based in Washington, DC, the group is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation provided financial support to the group.
National Support:The National Trust for Historic Preservation supports local efforts to commemorate the Sojourner Truth
Leggs said he “couldn’t express the excitement” of the National Trust and the local community at creating “a very beautiful and cultural space for Akron.”
The downtown park, including a sculpture by Akron artist Woodrow Nash and a plaza designed by landscape architect Dion Harris of Summit Metro Parks, is planned for South High Street near where Truth wrote her famous May 29, 1851 in Ohio Speech delivered at the Women’s Rights Convention at the Universalist Old Stone Church.
The Sojourner Truth Building, home of the United Way of Summit & Medina, stands on the former Church site. The course would be built on an adjacent lot to the north. United Way owns the property and is committed to its maintenance and operation.
Officials discuss concepts for the floor plan and how the space will be organized, activated and interpreted, Leggs said.
“We’re hoping to have the final designs, including material choices, ready within the next month or so,” he said.
The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund’s mission is to tell “the whole story” of places that have often gone unrecognized for their important role in US history.
The group’s other projects include the home of John and Alice Coltrane in Dix Hills, New York; the Langston Hughes House in Harlem, New York; the Nina Simone Children’s Home in Tryon, North Carolina; and Roberts Temple in Chicago, which is affiliated with Mamie and Emmett Till.
“So it’s exciting to have Akron as part of this portfolio of special places,” Leggs said.
Who was Sojourner Truth?
Isabella Baumfree was born into slavery in New York circa 1797 and escaped with an infant daughter in 1826. Although she could not read, she could quote the Bible by heart and was a gifted speaker.
In 1843 she changed her name to Sojourner Truth because she believed that God wanted her to travel across the country preaching His truth. The abolitionist was living in Massachusetts when she traveled to Akron for the 1851 Women’s Convention.
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In the vernacular of the time, the Summit Beacon reported on June 4: “An old Massachusetts colored lady, nearly seven feet tall, once a slave in New York, who boasts the somewhat queer name of Sojourner Truth, won everyone over by her quaint graceful utterance of common sense at intervals during sessions of Congress.”
Her speech is now popularly known as “Ain’t I a Woman?” though Truth likely never uttered those words in Akron.
Convention attendee Frances Dana Gage, a native of Marietta, recreated Truth’s speech in an 1863 article—a dozen years after the address—and peppered it with an overdone Southern dialect that the East Coast speaker did not possess.
Meanwhile, a few weeks after the Ohio speech, Marius Robinson, a truth buff from Massachusetts, published a differently worded report—without dialect. This is what contemporary scholars believe is the more accurate version.
Don’t expect to see the romanticized “Ain’t I a Woman?” carved in granite at Akron Square.
“We will not repeat untruths,” said Leggs, a Harvard University Loeb Fellow who wrote the 2012 book Preserving African American Historic Places.
In addition to examining the life and legacy of Truth, who died in 1883, the new memorial will recognize and celebrate the lives and stories of African American women in Akron, he said.
“Akron is a city of black history reborn in the same place where Truth delivered a powerful speech in 1851 that is remembered to this day,” Leggs said. “…She was an early advocate of modern ideas around diversity and inclusion, and Akron is the only American city that preserves this important historical moment.”
United Way supports plans
United Way of Summit & Medina President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Mullen met with Leggs last week and is pleased with the preliminary plans.
“You’re amazing,” he said. “They continue to develop very positively.”
United Way came into play about 18 months ago when the Sojourner Truth Project approached the agency about placing a statue on their property. This has grown into a much larger project with a plaza and an indoor-outdoor common room.
Mullen said United Way was “pretty much on purpose” when it bought its current home at 37 N. High St. more than four years ago. In addition to the historical connection, the building housed Summit County’s Jobs and Family Services, and the agency wanted to ensure the facility would continue to serve the community.
When customers seek help, they often feel hopeless, he said.
Mullen believes that when they see a beautiful statue and place and realize the meaning of the place, there will be “a little bit of hope for them.”
They’ll see what’s possible in Akron, he said.
“I think Sojourner Truth continues to be a beacon of opportunity and hope,” Mullen said. “That’s what happened right there on this compound in Akron, Ohio.”
A place to think
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation provided $340,000 to the Akron Community Foundation to build the park and $160,750 to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to support the work of the African American Cultural Heritage Fund. Total contribution to date is $500,750.
“We’re proud to have funded it,” said Kyle Kutuchief, Akron program director at the Knight Foundation.
He believes the memorial will be “a place for contemplation, celebration and gathering.”
“The exciting thing will be, once it’s done, how will it become part of life in Akron and the city’s identity?” asked Kutuchief
A local committee pushed the project forward and got it going, he said. Now national experts are helping to map the space.
“There will be a lot of planning and design work to do this summer,” said Kutuchief.
Opening planned for 2023
Leggs plans to return to Akron in August. Depending on supply chain issues, he hopes the Sojourner Truth memorial park will open in 2023.
“I look forward to coming back and continuing our engagement not only with the existing community of stakeholders but also starting to reach out to the broader community,” he said.
He wants to make sure that all Akron citizens can share their ideas on how to interpret local history.
“Together we envision something that will be beautiful, create a space for reflection and education, but just as importantly, we highlight these often overlooked stories,” Leggs said.
For more information, see https://www.truthstatue.org/ and https://savingplaces.org/
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.