Tag Archives: Commonwealth Monument Project

He Lifted Us: Lenwood Sloan was an artist, activist, visionary, friend

January 29, 2026 | by M. Diane McCormick

Photo by John Bivins

Visionaries always have their doubters. When Lenwood Sloan was collecting support for “A Gathering at the Crossroads” sculpture, naysayers sidled in to discourage potential donors.

But guess what stands today in the Pennsylvania Capitol Complex? “A Gathering at the Crossroads Commonwealth Monument,” commemorating the civil rights victories of residents and visitors to the vanished Old Eighth Ward of 19th-century Harrisburg.

“He always kept his eyes on the vision, which meant that no matter what anyone was saying, no matter who was opposing him, he always rose above it, and he stayed focused on the goal,” said Yvette Davis, director of the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity at Dickinson College in Carlisle. “No matter what point of the process we were in, he could describe that monument with such meticulous detail, you would think it had already been constructed.”

Sloan was a “catalytic agent.” He convened people and turned dreams into reality through his talents as public historian, reenactor, actor, dancer and leader in the National Endowment for the Arts and government arts and heritage offices in Pennsylvania, California and New Orleans.

Sloan died suddenly on Dec. 26 at age 77. He left behind countless grieving but grateful friends, family members and colleagues. Anyone ever on Sloan’s famous non-bcc emails had insight into the hundreds of people he could sweep into his orbit, one change initiative at a time.

Living His Purpose

This story is about what family and friends learned from Sloan. There isn’t enough room for all of his accomplishments. In addition to “A Gathering at the Crossroads,” now a Harrisburg landmark anchoring T. Morris Chester Way (yes, another Sloan ideation), here are a few:

The Grand Review of the United States Colored Troops, a 2010 reenactment of Harrisburg’s 1865 Grand Review for Black troops shut out from the Union Army’s victory parade in Washington
The Pennsylvania Past Players, skilled reenactors animating the lives of central Pennsylvania’s abolitionists, Underground Railroad conductors and early civil rights activists
The International Institute for Peace through Tourism Peace Promenade in Harrisburg’s Riverfront Park
Pennsylvania artisan and heritage trails

“He had an incredible eye to help people realize what they might have in their backyard and to frame what I would call the embarrassment of riches in Pennsylvania to residents and visitors alike,” said Michael Chapaloney, a former colleague in the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s tourism office.

Raised in Pittsburgh, Sloan trained and danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Joffrey Ballet. He staged his own theatrical works—his “Vo-Du Macbeth” reimagining of Orson Welles’ “Voodoo Macbeth” must have been something to see—and recreated historical dances, leading to film and television consulting that included movement specialist for “12 Years a Slave.”

To Heather Williams of College Park, Md., her Uncle Leni always had a project underway.

“He was this big, huge presence as a vessel and a visionary, and yet, there was also this part of him which I call his humble heart,” said Williams, the daughter of one of Sloan’s sisters.

Part of her mother’s massive Black art collection is in Lancaster Art Vault’s February African American art exhibit, complete with descriptions that Sloan assigned family members to write, because he walked into the gallery, struck up a conversation, “and before she knew it, they were booking a date.”

“His purpose was to be a catalyst for change, and God gifted him with talents and with an interest in developing those talents to be able to live his purpose,” Williams said.

After Sloan learned that erecting “A Gathering at the Crossroads” in Riverfront Park, as originally intended, required buying insurance to cover maintenance, he pivoted by working to gift it to the state, “and the state would keep it up,” said Harrisburg historian Calobe Jackson Jr.

“He can finalize anything,” Jackson said. “Some can theorize, but he’s able to take a theory and put it together and get a final product. That’s what I like about Lenwood.”

Moving Forward

As a public historian, Sloan encouraged people to find the family stories and mementos hidden in attics and stashed under beds. When historian and genealogist Sharonn Williams learned that she is a great-niece of Jacob Compton, the Harrisburg coachman famous for spiriting Abraham Lincoln away from would-be assassins, Sloan told her, “Your work is not done.”

Today’s policies requiring immigrants to carry papers and deporting them to unfamiliar countries echo manumission and colonialism, when slaveowners shipped enslaved people to distant states, and the children of Native Americans were forcibly assimilated, said Williams.

“There are people around us who say, ‘That’s new. That’s different,’” Sharonn Williams said. “No, it’s not. It’s not new.”

In the wake of Sloan’s death, she added, “we need to keep moving forward, make sure that we are doing things for and in the public that will keep telling these stories.”

Davis, a Pennsylvania Past Players member and the Dauphin County Library System board president, was in awe of Sloan, “so touched and humbled and intimidated that he would take me under his wing as he would for so many other people.”

At one Pennsylvania Past Players event, Davis’ heart dropped when Sloan asked her, without warning, to explain Pennsylvania’s coverture laws that erased a married woman’s legal identity—a topic Davis hadn’t reviewed in months.

“Lenwood knew that I knew the answer to that question,” Davis said. “I didn’t know that I knew the answer. But in that moment, by God’s grace, it all came back, and Lenwood had such a smile on his face.”

Sloan met his husband, poet Byron Clement, through a mutual friend in New Orleans. Together for 22 years and married since 2017, they relocated to Harrisburg just before Hurricane Katrina.

“He was pretty self-propelled,” Clement said. “He had great talent for bringing people together. He had immense energy. It took a lot of pushing to get these things through, and he’d hang in there and fight for them.”

New Vision

Inspired by his parents’ activism and nurtured by his family, Sloan used and preserved history to generate change, even while he was the uncle who never missed a dance recital, said Heather Williams.

“Very few people know how to love and give equally,” she said.

Sloan was “always interested in what you were doing,” echoed Tom Weaver, former associate artistic director of Gamut Theatre Group.

Gamut was rehearsing its 2014 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of “Antony and Cleopatra” when Sloan made the steep trek to Reservoir Park—the non-driver walked everywhere—to address the cast.

Smartly dressed, as always, Sloan shared his support for the players offering a free event to the community.

“He was so inspiring and encouraging,” Weaver said. “I don’t think anyone in that cast knew him at the time. I remember seeing their faces just light up as he was talking to them, and it injected some inspiration and some strength into that rehearsal.”

Family and friends are discussing how to memorialize Sloan, but all agree that his greatest monument will be continuing his work.

Sloan was “adamant” that the Pennsylvania Past Players capture the spirit and humanity that drove oppressed people—of all races, ethnicities and colors—to overcome, said Davis.

“That increases the collective self, the collective esteem of basically any community, even if you were not among the oppressed,” she said. “There is a new vision to how you can partner with the oppressed to bring justice, which also increases that group’s self-esteem with a lens toward justice, power, strength, wisdom and persistence.”

Sloan, she added, was “the poster child for persistence.”

“It’s going to take hundreds and hundreds of feet to fill Lenwood’s shoes, and there will still be room in them. He left so many legacies. He lifted us in so many, many, many ways,” Davis said.

If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

December 5, 2025 | by TheBurg Staff

Zeroday Brewing Company’s taproom, located on N. 3rd Street, will close at the end of the month.

Whether you’re looking for the story behind Zeroday’s taproom closure or what happened at the Harrisburg School Board’s last meeting of the year, we’ve got you covered. Find out what happened in Harrisburg this week below.

Art Association of Harrisburg’s new exhibit displays shots of the city by four area photographers, our online story reported.

Bethesda Mission, Downtown Daily Bread, and Christian Churches United — top providers of homelessness support in the area — all have new leaders who bring vision and values to their work, our magazine story reported.

Bob’s Art Blog profiles a handful of local artists, who are hard at work in their local studios for the holidays in an online story.

Broad Street Market is hosting a tree lighting on Saturday in collaboration with Capital Rebirth and Friends of Midtown, our online story reported.

Commonwealth Monument Project honored the 125th anniversary of Black abolitionist William Howard Day’s death by gifting a bust of the historic Harrisburg leader to the State Capitol, our online story reported.

Harrisburg School Board members hired Roma Benjamin — a longtime employee of the district — as acting principal for John Harris, our online story reported.

“Joy to the Burg,” an annual charity project that raises money for the unhoused by selling an album of Christmas covers by local musicians, returns this year, our magazine story reported.

Sara Bozich has lots on her list for weekend happenings, including the HBG Flea in Strawberry Square.

Susquehanna Art Museum is hosting an abstract art exhibit by Harrisburg High School graduate Alteronce Gumby, our magazine story reported.

TheBurg’s publisher Lawrance Binda reflected on the ghostly impact of a mostly-remote state workforce on Harrisburg’s small businesses in his December editorial.

TheBurg’s music columnist Skye Cadzow shared her must-see shows of the month in our December magazine.

Zeroday Brewing announced it will shutter its flagship taproom at the end of the month, our online story reported.

Do you receive TheBurg Daily, our daily digest of news and events delivered right to your email inbox? If not, sign up here!

Support quality local journalism. Join Friends of TheBurg today!

Monument Project honors Black abolitionist William Howard Day, 125 years after his death

December 3, 2025 | by Alexandra Jones

Commonwealth Monument Project director Lenwood Sloan speaks at the ceremony as Harrisburg historian Calobe Jackson, Jr. listens.

Celebrating a historic Harrisburg leader, the Commonwealth Monument Project unveiled a bust of 19th century abolitionist and educator William Howard Day Wednesday to be displayed in the Pennsylvania Capitol Complex.

The bust was presented to the Capitol in the building’s East Wing on the 125th anniversary of Day’s death. It was gifted, alongside a bronze map of the Old Eighth Ward, which Lenwood Sloan, director of the monument project, hopes will hang in close proximity.

Among his many accomplishments, Day (1825-1900) was elected as Harrisburg’s first Black school board president in 1891. Educated at Oberlin College, where he earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Day was the only Black graduate in his 1847 class. He went on to be a journalist, teacher and avid civil rights advocate for African Americans.

Lenwood Sloan, director of the monument project, said Wednesday that it was important to continue to honor Day in “remembrance of who we are, what we are, where we have been” and “how far we have to go.”

He brought together speakers of multiple generations to celebrate.

“We are the past, present and future of our cause,” Sloan said.

Jamar Thrasher, president of Kennedy Blue Communications, noted he admired Day for being an avid pursuer of freedom and education, although both were difficult for Day as a 19th century Black man.

“To this day, that persistence and that love for education still lives — what he did on the school board, what he did throughout Harrisburg, and ultimately, what he did throughout the entire world,” Thrasher said.

William Howard Day’s commemorative bust.

Sloan said the idea to honor Day came from local historians and community leaders Calobe Jackson, Jr. and Sharonn Williams — both long involved in African American historical projects throughout the region. PA Sen. Patty Kim presented Jackson and Williams with proclamations at the ceremony to honor them. Jackson’s congratulated the historian on turning 95 years old earlier this year.

The Commonwealth Monument Project also presented a wreath for Day’s grave to Elizabeth Jefferies, with the Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds project. The grounds project works to preserve African American cemeteries.

Day is buried at Lincoln Cemetery, Harrisburg’s oldest surviving Black cemetery.

To learn more about the Commonwealth Monument Project, visit this site.

If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Harrisburg community leaders recognized through Riverfront Park tree planting

May 3, 2024 | by Maddie Gittens

IIPT Harrisburg Peace Promenade officials and honorees in Exemplar’s Grove

Behind three new trees planted in Riverfront Park are three stories of Harrisburg community leaders.

At a ceremony on Friday, the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) Harrisburg Peace Promenade dedicated the trees in honor of community activists, artists and religious leaders.

“Making history matter is our thing,” said Lenwood Sloan, director of the Commonwealth Monument Project and IIPT.

The new trees were planted in Exemplar’s Grove, a portion of Riverfront Park near Verbeke Street, which includes several historical monuments, commemorative benches and 12 trees with plaques that recognize significant past and present Harrisburg area community members.

On Friday, Sloan and other local officials recognized the new “exemplars of peace,” including the late Esther Popel, a notable Black Harrisburg poet, Gloria Martin Roberts, a former Harrisburg City Council president and Rev. Trey DuPont, pastor of Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

A maple tree and two gingko trees were planted in the grove in their honor.

“I’m going to continue to do my work. I get my joy when I know I’m able to help the least of these,” Martin Roberts said.

Additionally, officials at the ceremony dedicated Exemplar’s Grove in honor of Naomi King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s sister-in-law, who passed away in March and visited Harrisburg and designated the city as part of the IIPT at a ceremony in 2018.

Not only does Sloan hope to beautify the park with the tree plantings, but he also hopes that the monuments provide a sense of pride to the community as people see the names of leaders working to foster peace and unity in Harrisburg.

“We have a lot here in Harrisburg,” he said. “We are making history mean something and keeping the spirit.”

Additional trees honor the following Harrisburg leaders:

Peggy Grove – Change Agent
John and Anne Marie Judson – Thought Leaders
Momin and Mahadmodra Bhatti – Rising Inspiration
K. Leroy Irvis – Thought Leader
Homer Floyd – Living Legend
Dr. George and Mrs. Hette Love – Thought Leaders
Judge Janeane Turgeon – Living Legend
Rabbi Ronald Muroff – Thought Leader
Maude Coleman – Change Agent (Yvonne Hollins – Steward)

To learn more about the IIPT Harrisburg Peace Promenade, click here.

Support quality local journalism. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Harrisburg’s Walnut Street will receive additional name to honor Black historical figure

October 13, 2021 | by Maddie Gittens

Walnut Street

A downtown Harrisburg street will get a new name to recognize Black history in the city.

At a legislative session on Tuesday night, City Council unanimously approved a resolution to designate a section of Walnut Street as T. Morris Chester Way.

“I think it’s important that we recognize and highlight the contributions of African Americans in the city of Harrisburg and what we’ve done to improve Harrisburg despite the odds,” council member Westburn Majors said.

The idea was brought to council by the IIPT Harrisburg Peace Promenade, which is responsible for the recent installation of the Commonwealth Monument on 4^th and Walnut streets.

According to the Commonwealth Monument Project, Chester was a prominent figure in Harrisburg history during the 1860s. He was a lawyer, soldier and the only Black war correspondent during the Civil War.

Chester is also recognized as one of the bronze figures in the Commonwealth Monument.

Walnut Street will keep its name, but, from Commonwealth Avenue to Front Street, it will gain T. Morris Chester Way as a second name. This will allow addresses to remain the same and avoid confusion, city Engineer Wayne Martin explained to council at a previous meeting.

Lenwood Sloan of the Peace Promenade and executive director of the Monument Project said that the name “would concretize our designation as a national heritage site.” It will help create a pathway that connects several of the group’s African American history memorial sites, which include the Commonwealth Monument and the Bethel Heritage Trail, which commemorates the Bethel AME church in Harrisburg, he said.

Sloan also emphasized the partnership between the Peace Promenade and the Dauphin County Library System. Recently, McCormick Riverfront Library officials announced a building expansion project that includes creating a T. Morris Chester Welcome Center. Sloan said that the library also provided space for the organization to utilize as its meeting place.

The naming of T. Morris Chester Way, he said, will bring all of these sites together.

Harrisburg has given city streets surnames in the past, explained Martin, naming Mary Sachs Way, on N. 3^rd Street, and Dennis Green Way, the 1100 through 1300 blocks of Walnut Street, as examples.

He added that the renaming comes just as the city is moving forward with its East-West Multimodal Connection Project, which will include construction and resurfacing on Walnut Street, from 5^th to Front streets. Martin expects construction to begin next year.

“I think it’d be a perfect opportunity to tie all of these projects together,” he said.

For more information on the Commonwealth Monument Project, visit their website.

If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Toni Morrison bench unveiled in Harrisburg to commemorate African American history

June 15, 2021 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

The new Toni Morrison Bench by the Road at 4th and Walnut streets.

Just a few days before Juneteenth, the holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States, Harrisburg unveiled an African American historical marker.

At a ceremony on Tuesday, a new bench, named after the late author Toni Morrison, was unveiled on the state Capitol grounds.

The bench sits near the recently erected Commonwealth Monument Project’s large bronze monument at 4^th and Walnut streets. Officials hope it will serve as a place for people to sit and reflect on the history before them.

The bench is part of a network of 30 benches installed around the world by the Toni Morrison Society for its Bench by the Road Project. According to Craig Stutman, Bench by the Road project chair, the idea for the project came from something Morrison said in an interview. She believed that there needed to be more monuments for African American history, Stutman said.

“Having a Toni Morrison Society Bench by the Road, right here, is a reminder to all of us of the importance of marking and remembering our missing histories,” said Gov. Tom Wolf, who spoke at the event.

The bench, along with the Commonwealth Monument, recognizes the history of the Old 8^th Ward, a historically Black and immigrant neighborhood in Harrisburg that was destroyed to expand the Capitol grounds.

Also at the event, Commonwealth Monument Project officials presented Wolf with a bronze replica of a map of the Old 8^th Ward.

The Toni Morrison Bench by the Road is located at 4^th and Walnut streets in Harrisburg. For more information on the Commonwealth Monument Project, visit their website.

If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Chapter Two: McCormick Riverfront Library launches fundraising campaign for expansion, renovations

May 5, 2021 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

A rendering of the rear exterior of the library. The pictured staircase addition will connect the Haldeman Haly house with the existing McCormick Riverfront Library.

A sequel of sorts is in the works at one Harrisburg library.

On Wednesday, the Dauphin County Library System launched a $3.5 million capital campaign to raise funds for an expansion and renovation of the McCormick Riverfront Library in downtown Harrisburg.

The project, which is expected to begin in July, will entail connecting the current building to a historic home next door, the two-century-old Haldeman Haly house, explained DCLS Executive Director Karen Cullings. Other improvements will be made to better utilize space in the Riverfront library, as well.

“At the end of the day, it’s not really about the buildings, but it’s about the people and what we will be able to deliver out of the buildings to the community,” Cullings said at a press conference. “What we are seeking to do is create a place where everyone belongs and feels welcomed.”

The fundraising campaign kicks off this weekend with a live-streamed conversation between DCLS and author Susan Orlean, who is coming to Whitaker Center.

In a time when more people are working from home and much of education is online, Cullings still sees the need for a community space to gather, learn and work. That’s what the library plans to expand with this project.

In the main library building, the downstairs will be opened up for public use, including a new welcome center named after T. Morris Chester, a Black lawyer, soldier and prominent figure in Harrisburg history. The library will also move the current children’s section downstairs, expanding it and adding STEAM-focused elements, as well as classrooms and career development space.

A rendering of the children’s section

DCLS is partnering with the Commonwealth Monument Project to create an area dedicated to the city’s African American history. Cullings said that they will especially highlight the Old 8^th Ward, an Black and immigrant neighborhood that was demolished during the state Capitol expansion.

“Above all, we want to make sure that all we do reflects the backgrounds and cultures of those in our community,” Cullings said.

Upstairs, Cullings said that they plan to create a more open floor plan by exposing the vaulted ceiling, as well as adding moveable bookshelves, a business support area and a coffee bar.

The main building will connect to the Haldeman Haly house, which the library purchased in July 2019 for $295,000 from long-time owner, attorney William Balaban.

The Haldeman Haly house

Cullings said that they plan to keep the character and layout of the historic building intact, using the rooms as meeting and event spaces for the public, as well as office space for library staff. The property also has an outdoor space and room for parking—a feature that the library hasn’t had.

The house, originally owned by Sarah Haldeman Haly, predates the library building, which sits on what once was her garden. In 1896, Haly bequeathed the property to the library system. The McCormick library became the first free public library in the city.

A room inside the Haldeman Haly house

DCLS hopes to continue to build on its mission of offering accessible services, expanding to include more programs for ex-offenders and those in need of workforce training.

“The city of Harrisburg has some unique challenges,” said Brandon Flood, a board member at DCLS. “I know how valuable the library is as a resource.”

Although the capital campaign, “Your Place to Belong,” is just kicking off, Cullings said that they are already halfway to their goal, but are looking for community support to reach it.

“The library is a cornerstone of the community and needs to be dynamic, growing and changing as the community grows,” Cullings said.

To donate to the “Your Place to Belong” campaign, visit the website. For more information, visit the Dauphin County Library Systems website.

Support quality local journalism. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Historic Harrisburg Association to host discussion on Underground Railroad locally

February 18, 2021 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

Local historians will discuss the Underground Railroad in Harrisburg. Pictured: The Commonwealth Monument, “A Gathering at the Crossroads”

Just in time for Black History Month, the Historic Harrisburg Association is giving the community the chance to reflect on Black history locally.

On Monday, HHA will host a free webinar on “The Underground Railroad in Harrisburg,” sponsored by The Foundation for Enhancing Communities.

The program will feature three prominent local historians—Barbara Barksdale, president of the Friends of Midland Cemetery; Calobe Jackson, longtime community leader, historian and author; and Norman Kelker, descendent of one of Harrisburg’s oldest families.

“Barbara, Calobe and Norman have been instrumental in helping Historic Harrisburg Association to expand its role in documenting, interpreting, publicizing and preserving Harrisburg’s rich African-American heritage,” said Dr. Dorothy King, retired professor of American Studies at Penn State Harrisburg and chair of HHA’s Education Committee.

These historians have worked for years on scholarly research and published writings, lecturing, reenactments of historical figures, and preservation of historic sites related to Harrisburg’s cultural heritage, HHA stated in a press release.

Barksdale’s Friends of Midland Cemetery is central Pennsylvania’s oldest known African-American cemetery and interment site of former slaves. U.S. Colored Troops from the Civil War and generations of community leaders are also buried there.

Last year, Jackson, at age 90, was honored by Historic Harrisburg for his lifetime of community service. He played a key role in creating Harrisburg’s first monument to Black heritage, the Commonwealth Monument at the Capitol Complex.

Kelker’s ancestor, Rudolph Frederick Kelker, was a leading abolitionist and operator of a “station” on the Underground Railroad in Harrisburg. Kelker Street in Uptown Harrisburg is named for Norman’s family, HHA said.

The three presenters will share stories from their research on the Underground Railroad in Harrisburg.

Additionally, February is the 48^th anniversary of Historic Harrisburg Association’s founding, Executive Director David Morrison said. To celebrate, they plan to hold a campaign to raise money for the Midland Cemetery and the Commonwealth Monument.

“We are inviting HHA members and friends to honor Barbara Barksdale and Calobe Jackson by supporting their respective key initiatives to preserve African-American heritage,” said Morrison.

For more information, to access the Zoom presentation or to donate, visit HHA’s website.

Support quality local journalism. Become a Friend of TheBurg!

Voices of the Past: New book tells the stories of Harrisburg’s historic African American community

September 30, 2020 | by Maddie Conley

In August, a new monument celebrating African American history was erected on the Pennsylvania state Capitol grounds.

The Commonwealth Monument Project came out of a desire to pay tribute to Harrisburg’s Old 8th Ward, a historic African American and immigrant neighborhood that was demolished to expand the Capitol grounds.

The best way that Lenwood Sloan, executive director of the project, could think to honor the memory was by introducing people to the families that once lived in the neighborhood.

On the monument, 100 names were inscribed. But that wasn’t enough. He wanted people to know their stories.

Now, each bronze-inscribed name comes to life in a new book entitled “One Hundred Voices: Harrisburg’s Historic African American Community 1850-1920.”

“We came to the revelation that we couldn’t just write their names,” Sloan said. “They are not merely names in a census, but stories that were lost to us. We need to tell the story about these people.”

Brought to Light

“Through my research in Harrisburg, I know quite a few people that were prominent in the community,” said Calobe Jackson Jr., a local historian and co-editor of the book.

Jackson has a well-earned reputation around the city as the history guy. If you need information on an old building, a historic figure or a memorable event, he’s your man. Lenwood Sloan knew this when he reached out to Jackson for a favor.

He needed a list of 100 names of African American figures from the 1850s to 1920s for the monument’s pedestal, names that would later become stories for the book. Jackson put together a file including freedom seekers, abolitionists, activists, police officers, doctors, preachers, janitors and many more. All had ties to Harrisburg and most had ties to the 8th Ward, Jackson said.

“A lot of people didn’t know about or forgot about these people,” Jackson said. “A lot of these people were Harrisburg High School graduates and teachers in the district. I’m proud that we can show students now what these past students did.”

Sloan remembers someone asking him why he was making such a big deal out of the names, especially with many of them being widely unknown.

But these jobs that seem unimportant in modern days, such as street sweeper or housekeeper, were important back then, Sloan said.

“We need to lift them up out of obscurity,” he said.

Through a grant from the Council of Independent Colleges, Messiah University was able to help with the Commonwealth Monument Project and the “One Hundred Voices” book.

Thirty Messiah students researched the historic figures and wrote excerpts on their stories for the book.

“The process of researching these individuals was pretty challenging,” said David Pettegrew, a history professor at Messiah and an editor of the book.

With some of the 100 people being less prominent, Pettegrew said they had to really look deep into archival material—a process he believes was worth the result.

“We need to do more local African American history,” he said. “This book contributes to a broader story about this resilient community who lived through change at the local level. This is Black Lives Matter historically. This is Black Lives Matter locally.”

Beginning of Discovery

Finding the stories behind the names on the list was only the start of something much bigger. Messiah students sent out graphics on social media looking for descendants of the 100 names they had learned so much about.

“Believe it or not, descendants began to contact us,” Pettegrew said.

Around 100 people with ties to the 100 names reached out to the university. Some even assisted in writing the chapters for the book.

“Getting to connect with the descendants has been the most rewarding thing,” Pettegrew said.

Even for those who may not be direct descendants of people in the “One Hundred Voices” book, Sloan believes there is a way for everyone to connect to it.

“The book helps you map your personal narrative in relation to the 100 names,” he said.

Not only is the book about individual education, but Pettegrew hopes that it will engage people in Harrisburg’s history—one that isn’t always told.

“We are hoping this is just the beginning of discovery,” he said. “We want it to inspire people to think about Harrisburg in a new way and the rich African American history.”

“One Hundred Voices: Harrisburg’s Historic African American Community 1850-1920” is free to download on the Digital Harrisburg website. Physical copies are available for purchase at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore or on Amazon. For more information, visit www.digitalharrisburg.com.

The Commonwealth Monument is located at 4th and Walnut streets.

Support quality local journalism. Join Friends of TheBurg today!

Monumental Concern: Central PA company has carved out a business from sculpture

September 30, 2020 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

Commonwealth Monument Project

As the late afternoon sun set across Harrisburg on a hot summer day, a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on the state Capitol grounds for the Commonwealth Monument Project.

What is that? It’s a glinting set of cast sculptures, “A Gathering At The Crossroads: For Such A Time As This,” created as a testament to Harrisburg’s rich African American history and commemorating the 150th and 100th anniversaries of passage of the 15th and 19th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

It also stands as the pinnacle of a year’s worth of impassioned labor and sweat by its creator, ART Research Enterprises of Lancaster.

ART Research Enterprises is a company specializing in art casting and fabrication, as well as the conservation and restoration of art and architectural objects. Artists Becky Ault and Mike Cunningham founded the company some 40 years ago in Cunningham’s garage before moving to its present location outside of Lancaster.

Today, the company runs between 10 and 30 employees, depending on which projects are underway. Its repertoire includes sculptures, memorials, architectural sculptures and restoration work.

“We do everything from 60-foot sculptures to coffee tables,” Ault said. “We’ve also done work for the Franklin Mint, but mostly, we work for ourselves.”

The company averages 200 to 500 projects each year and has shipped castings around the world—to clients in Germany, England, France, Puerto Rico and many other locations.

The Commonwealth Monument, set at 4th and Walnut streets in Harrisburg, was forged in bronze and sculpted as five elements, Ault said. The project’s initial casting was its 4½-foot base, the “Orator’s Pedestal,” featuring 100 names of families from the city’s Old 8th Ward on its sides, along with homages to businesses and churches that once served as community mainstays.

Topping the pedestal is a relief map of the historic neighborhood that was demolished to make way for the Capitol complex through eminent domain.

On Nov. 14, two historic castings, also by ART Research Enterprises, will join two other figures created by the firm that now surround the pedestal. Cast figures include William Howard Day, an educational reformer and civil rights pioneer; Frances Harper, poet, abolitionist and suffragette; Jacob T. Compton, a sergeant in Company D of the 24th U.S. Colored Infantry and local musician; and T. Morris Chester, Civil War correspondent and recruiter.

All figures related to the project have a Harrisburg connection from the late 1800s, as well as connections either to the 15th Amendment, which granted African American men the right to vote, and/or to the 19th amendment, which guaranteed American women the right to vote. The overall work was created as part of the IIPT Harrisburg Peace Promenade.

“The key factors to anything we do is that we try to envision what you feel it should be,” Cunningham said. “My favorite part about doing this sort of work is the creative aspect. It’s a field that’s constantly changing.”

Lenwood Sloan, the project’s executive director, said that a state search committee selected ART Research Enterprises for the project from a field of 20 candidates. Nominees were invited to apply for the project by the PA Department of General Services, which sought recommendations from “various government agencies” that had commissioned the firms for similar projects, Sloan said.

“They came as highly recommended and were highly engaged during their presentation to us,” he said.

Additionally, the search committee was seeking “a woman-owned business” for the project that, in part, acknowledges the passage of women’s right to vote. ART Research Enterprises stands as the only foundry arts partnership in the mid-Atlantic region headed by a woman, Sloan said.

The company also brought plenty of experience to the project. In all, they’ve completed 20 to 30 monuments across the commonwealth, Sloan said, including castings of Pennsylvania state troopers, the Reading Police Memorial and the Cumberland County Memorial.

“We were all just so impressed by ART Research Enterprises and their willingness to collaborate with the community,” Sloan said.

ART Research Enterprises is located at 3050 Industry Dr., Lancaster. For more information, visit www.thinksculpture.com.

Support quality local journalism. Join Friends of TheBurg today!

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like