Civil Rights Memorial

Maya Lin
1989






SPECIAL THANKS to JEANNE GOLDMAN, a wonderful friend, who took these pictures specifically for this website. She owns the copyright and should be contacted directly if you are interested in the use of her photographs: Jeanne Goldman


The design of the Vietnam Memorial led to additional commissions for Lin, this work commissioned by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery.
 
The circular fountain provides a timeline of important events in the civil rights movement, beginning in 1954 with the Supreme Court decision to integrate American schools (Brown vs. the Board of Education) and ending with Dr. King's murder in 1968. It also records the names of 40 men, women, and children who lost their lives working for social justice. A thin pool of water flows over this circular "table," an effect that Lin hoped was soothing.
 

The black granite wall

The passage engraved on the wall from Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech was part of the inspiration for this memorial and fountain. Dr. King said "We [those fighting for social equality] will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."


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© 2003 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

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