dealey plaza & MARTYR’S PARK

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REMEMBRANCE AND COMMEMORATION IN THE PUBLIC REALM

The proposed reimagining of Martyr’s Park and Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, weaves a reconsideration of the site of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy with a reframing and enhancement of the proposed Martyr’s Park, site of the lynching of three innocent Black men. In concert with the nearby Holocaust Museum and the city’s judicial complex on the riverfront, these places highlight moments of intense racial and political violence in the city while honoring and celebrating the lives lost. The project restores and augments these historic sites, creates improved opportunities for understanding the important but tragic events that unfolded here, and better connects them into a pedestrian-oriented series of open spaces at the heart of downtown Dallas.

The project features two key memorial elements. The Memorial Overlook, Amphitheater, and connector to Martyr’s Park sits behind Dealey Plaza and over rail tracks. The overlook and amphitheater offer shaded spaces for reflection and orientation, just behind and overlooking the place that the President of the United States was assassinated on 22 November 1963. The Memorial for the Victims of Racial Violence is a proposal for a commemorative sculpture by Shane Allbritton and Norman Lee with Poet Tim Seibles. The 2020 proposal commemorates racially motivated lynchings in Dallas from 1853 to 1920, including three Black men that were lynched on 24 July 1860 along the banks of the Trinity River, which was originally located near this site.

The project was developed in conversation with Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation; Remembering Black Dallas; The Sixth Floor Museum; Downtown Dallas Inc.; Trinity Park Conservancy; and the Better Block Foundation.