A Gathering at the Crossroads

Project Notes:

"A Gathering at the Crossroads" commemorates a point in time when, according to historic reports in the Harrisburg, PA newspapers, residents of the Old 8th Ward (depicted in the podium) learned that the 15th Amendment had become federal law in May 1870, securing the vote for African American.

At that moment, people from the largely African-American neighborhood poured out into the streets in spontaneous jubilation, then gathered for a public reading followed by prayers and praises.

Four orators are gathered around an Orator's pedestal: Thomas Morris Chester, William Howard Day, Frances Ellen Walkins Harper, and Jacob T. Compton.

"A Gathering at the Crossroads" is installed at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, PA