NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A Harriet Tubman monument that will replace a statue of Christopher Columbus in Newark has been selected, Mayor Ras Baraka announced on Thursday.
The “Shadow of a Face” monument designed by Artist Nina Cooke John will replace the city’s Christopher Columbus statue removed from Washington Park last year.
“Nearly one year after our nation’s racial reckoning and just in time for this year’s celebration of Juneteenth, we are proud to announce the design selected for our new Harriet Tubman monument,” Baraka said in a statement.
The monument is set to be installed at the park during the summer of 2022, according to the mayor’s office. who added that the park and nearby area, which includes the Newark Museum of Art and Newark Public Library, will also be renamed Tubman Square.
Tubman was an abolitionist known as the “conductor” of the Underground Railroad, leading enslaved African Americans to the North through a secret network.
She reportedly used safe houses in New Jersey including the First Presbyterian Church located on Broad Street in Newark.
Visitors visiting the monument will have a "multi-sensory experience," with a large profile of Tubman and text throughout the area to highlight dates in her life and safe houses in New Jersey.
Last winter, five artists were commissioned by the city to produce conceptual designs for a monument where a 14-member selection committee of art experts, historians, and others reviewed and selected the winning design.
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