Visitors to the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama will be confronted with our nation’s history of racial terror violence in the form of 805 steel monuments that hang there as tangible symbols of racial terrorism.  Each panel represents a county in the United States with a confirmed lynching case, and the monument lists all known victims’ names and the date of their deaths. 

Just outside the memorial is a field that has duplicate steel monuments. The EJI has issued the charge to communities throughout our nation to conduct Community Remembrance Projects and claim their steel monuments.  Those monuments will go back to their home counties and stand as symbols of those communities’ recognition of historical truths and commitment to moving forward with a dedication to equity and peace. 

On August 16, 2023, the Wake County Library Commission committed to creating a space not only to house George Taylor’s steel monument, but also to make that space a place of truth-telling in perpetuity.  The allocated funds for this space will be a part of a multi-million dollar bond referendum on the November 2024 ballot.

On August 16, 2023, the Wake County Library Commission committed to creating a space to not only house George Taylor’s steel monument, but to make that space a place of truth-telling in perpetuity.  The allocated funds for this space will be a part of a multi-million dollar bond referendum on the November 2024 ballot.