The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation opened the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park yesterday, October 27, 2010 in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The park is a result of the 2001 Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 and is a memorial marking the hostilities of late May and early June 1921.
The monuments at the park consist of two displays: Hope Plaza and The Tower of Reconciliation. Hope Plaza is a 16-foot granite structure with three bronze sculptures depicting Hostility, Humiliation, and Hope. All of the figures represented are based on actual people in photographs collected of the Riot.
The Tower of Reconciliation is a 25-foot tower that uses images to highlight the history of African Americans, beginning with life in Africa through to the Tulsa Race Riot and reconstruction after the Riot.
The Park and the Center for Reconciliation are named for the late John Hope Franklin, noted historian, and son of attorney Buck Franklin, who survived the Race Riot and was instrumental in assisting other African Americans in rebuilding after the events of the Riot and its aftermath.
The Special Collections department of the McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa, has been and continues to be committed to assisting the Center for Reconciliation. Currently, we house and conserve their archives while the Center waits for a permanent structure to be built.
Pingback: John Hope Franklin » Blog Archive » Oklahoma! Where the Black Towns Once Thrived
That would be just fine.