Sharon
Washington conducts the Joyful Noise Gospel Choir during the
dedication program. (Photo: Gina Ayvazian) |
Unveiling
The Sojourner
Truth Memorial Statue was unveiled in an afternoon dedication
ceremony on Sunday, October 6, 2002. The program took place under
a tent on the lawn of the Florence Congregational Church, across
the street from the statue. About 600 people attended the event,
which spilled into Pine Street and across to the memorial site,
which was still under construction.
Members of the Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee take a bow at the conclusion
of the dedication ceremony. From left to right, Reynolds
Winslow, Andrea Ayvazian, Phil Hall, Peter Ives, Joanne Katz,
and Linda Wallack. (Photo: Gina Ayvazian) |
The Florence
Community Band performed before the ceremony and additional
musical selections were performed by Joyful Noise Gospel Choir.
The program included brief remarks about the life of Sojourner
Truth in Florence and the grassroots community effort, begun
almost ten years ago, to
create the memorial. Nationally renowned sculptor Thomas Jay
Warren, who created the 7-foot statue of Sojourner Truth, was
introduced.
Honored
guests included former Northampton Mayor Mary Ford; Senator Stan
Rosenberg, whose leadership won a $100,000 state grant for the
memorial; the Northampton landscape architect firm of Denig Design
Associates, which created and donated the memorial site design;
and Mayor Mary Clare Higgins. (View
the Program of Events)
.
Reports
and photos of the event were published in the
Daily Hampshire Gazette,
October 7,2002 and
October 12-13, 2002
and the
Springfield Union News on October 7,
2002.
|
Committee members
pose with sculptor Jay Warren and Sojourner Truth. From left
to right: Reynolds Winslow, Phil Hall, Peter Ives, Jay
Warren, Andrea Ayvazian, Karen Hurd, and Stephanie Levin. (Photo:
Gina Ayvazian)
|
Sculptor Jay Warren listens to
reactions to his rendering of Sojourner Truth. (Photo: Gina
Ayvazian)
|
