America has done little to recognize the scars left by the long, violent history of slavery, racial discrimination, and lynching. There is a need to not only uncover the forgotten histories of racial injustice, but to create platforms for such stories to be properly recognized and remembered. Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), have spent the past decade collecting the stories of the victims of racial terror lynchings, identifying the need to confront this legacy of violence. MASS Design Group partnered with EJI to design the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Before construction of the memorial began, MASS designed a community-based initiative to collect soil from the sites where lynchings occurred, contributing to a growing call for racial justice.

The memorial honors over 4,000 victims of lynching, placing their names across 800 corten steel monuments. Each monument represents a US county where lynchings occurred. Visitors enter the memorial’s central structure via an inner walkway that lowers in elevation, changing the viewer’s relationship to the monuments suspended above at a constant height.

The memorial grounds feature sculptures depicting scenes of slavery, civil rights, and contemporary racial injustice. Outside the main structure, 800 duplicate monuments lie in rows. Counties are invited to retrieve their monument, and in doing so openly address a violent chapter of their history.

The memorial site is on one of Montgomery’s highest points, and is geographically positioned such that the structure points towards landmarks of civil rights history within Montgomery. Devoted to a process of truth-telling, reconciliation, and healing, the memorial opened in April 2018 and received 300,000 visitors within six months. The memorial contributes to a larger national demand for racial reckoning; one that recently saw the passage of a Senate bill in December 2018 that made lynching a federal crime.

Partner: The Equal Justice Initiative

Project Team:
Architectural Design: Alicia Ajayi, Caroline Alsup, Sierra Bainbridge, Justin Brown, Jessi Flynn, Emily Goldenberg, Kordae Henry, Michael Murphy, Martin Pavlinic, Alan Ricks, Adam Saltzman; from MASS Design Group

Landscape Design: MASS Design Group

General Contractor: Doster Construction Company

Structural Engineer: NOUS Engineering

Civil Engineer: Pilgreen Engineering

Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineer: Mazzetti

Lighting: Lam Partners

Graphic Design, Signage, and Wayfinding: Small Stuff

Code Consultant and Fire Protection: Howe Engineers

Water Feature: Delta Fountains

Specifications: Robert Schwartz and Associates

Artist Contributors: Dana King, Hank Willis Thomas, Kwame Akoto-Bamfo

Credits:
- MASS Design Group - Landscape Project Manager - Martin Pavlinic
- Howe Engineers - Code Consultant and Fire Protection - Shawn Mahoney
- MASS Design Group - Architectural Designer - Alicia Ajayi
- Howe Engineers - Code Consultant and Fire Protection - Jeremy Mason
- The Equal Justice Initiative, Owner - Founder, Executive Director - Bryan Stevenson
- Lam Partners - Lighting - Dan Weissman
- Pilgreen Engineering - Civil Engineering - Chris Bostick
- MASS Design Group - Project Landscape Architect - Sierra Bainbridge
- MASS Design Group - Project Architect - Justin Brown
- MASS Design Group - Founding Principal, Executive Director - Michael Murphy
- MASS Design Group - Architectural Intern - Ola Dosekun
- NOUS Engineering - Structural Engineering - Anna Tam
- Lam Partners - Lighting - Keith Yancey
- Small Stuff - Graphic Design, Signage and Wayfinding - Dinah Fried
- Mazzetti - Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing - Ryan Stromquist
- N/A - Artist Contributor - Kwame Akoto-Bamfo
- Pilgreen Engineering - Civil Engineering - Pep Pilgreen
- MASS Design Group - Architecture Project Manager - Caroline Alsup
- N/A - Artist Contributor - Hank Willis Thomas
- MASS Design Group - Architectural Intern - Whitney Hansley
- MASS Design Group - Landscape Designer - Jessi Flynn
- NOUS Engineering - Structural Engineering - Omar Garza
- MASS Design Group - Landscape Designer - Kordae Henry
- MASS Design Group - Architectural Intern - Chieh Chih Chiang
- MASS Design Group - Construction Manager - Adam Saltzman
- MASS Design Group - Architectural Designer - Emily Goldenberg
- Mazzetti - Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing - Arash Guity
- N/A - Artist Contributor - Dana King
- Small Stuff - Graphic Design, Signage and Wayfinding - Joe Marianek
- Delta Fountains - Water Feature - Chris Blanton
- Robert Schwartz and Associates - Specifications - Robert Schwartz
- NOUS Engineering - Structural Engineering - Matthew Melnyk