RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – Emotions ran high at a meeting at the Richmond Main Library on Tuesday as the public weighed in on plans to honor civil rights pioneer Maggie L. Walker. A memorial to Walker is planned for Broad Street at Adams Street, but some are concerned that the statue, Walker’s memory, would sit in shadows from an oak tree at the site.
A memorial to Walker is planned to be installed at Broad Street at Adams Street, but some are concerned that the statue, and Walker’s memory, would sit in shadows from an oak tree at the site.
So, to leave it up or cut it down?
“It’s a question that needs to be answered before I can go forward, said artist Antonio Tobias “Toby” Mendez, who presented ideas during the meeting for designing the monument.
More than 250 people packed the room, leaving many standing.
“Tonight was about listening,” Mendez told 8News.
The Walker statue will be the city’s first to commemorate a woman of color. Some say placing the monument near a tree will conjure imagery of a lynching.
“The artist hasn’t taken into account the cultural ramifications of placing a black woman near a tree,” said Gwenny Hickman, one of the hundreds in attendance. “And considering the history with lynchings and the fact that (Walker) was a civil rights activist by nature.”
Those who agree with Hickman say they want to see the monument stand tall, visible from 360 degrees, out of the shade and in the sunlight.
“A.P. Hill, is there a tree there?” one man asked during the public comment segment of the meeting. “Stonewall Jackson?”
Conservationists want to see the live oak tree spared, calling it a rare and giving tree in Richmond’s downtown. They hope the statue and the oak can share the triangular site for the plaza.
“I just hate to see a beautiful tree go, and I think there are things the city could to work together to help it stay beautiful,” said business owner Kevin Korda.
When polled during the meeting about the importance of keeping the tree, four out of 10 said it must go. Three in 10 said it has to stay, with others ranking in between.
“Either way we design this, with or without the tree, the first thing they’ll see is Maggie Walker. I’ll make sure of that,” said Mendez, adding that he wants to have the project finished in 2016.
The plaza will serve as a gateway to Jackson Ward and the new home of the Black History Museum at the Leigh Street Armory.
