To bring the plaza off of the drawing board and into reality involved years of activism, fundraising, and cultivating strong partnerships. Through several years of collaboration, the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund acted as a key convener, and a source of funding and technical expertise for the project.
Thanks to additional support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Action Fund team produced a toolkit called, The Future of Commemorative Placemaking which distills key strategies and lessons-learned from the Sojourner Truth Legacy Plaza into a free, downloadable resource for grassroots preservationists and professionals alike.
“The Sojourner Truth Legacy Plaza demonstrates how cultural preservation can protect the legacy and contributions of notable Americans throughout history,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “The Akron community’s work will serve as a model for communities across the country.”
Keep reading below for a first look at steps you can take to start a placemaking project of your own, and fill out the form to download a free PDF of the full toolkit!
