The Eastlake Park Civil Rights Memorial, titled Peace, was created in 1997 to reflect the history of the civil rights movement in the United States and Arizona. The memorial comprises a small concrete amphitheater covered by an arched steel canopy modeled after the Arizona state flag.
The tabletop is wrapped with a curved apron of stainless-steel panels engraved with a decade-by-decade timeline of civil rights milestones, from the 1880s through the 1990s. Recognizing that civil rights continue to evolve, the artists, Ronald Turner and Shannon Owen, left one of the timeline’s engraved steel panel’s empty to add key events from 2000 through 2020. The milestones were etched and installed as part of an overall retrofit to mark the memorial’s 25th anniversary in 2022.
This is the text on the plaque:
Peace
Eastlake Park has served the inhabitants of Phoenix since the late 1880’s. Originally known as Patton’s Park, it was developed by the Phoenix Railway Company to serve as a recreational area for patrons of the city’s trolley system. The park eventually became a place where people of color could meet to relax and celebrate special events without violating separatist laws which existed in the nation and state during the first half of the 20th century.
Eastlake Park’s history is one of peace rather than confrontation. During the turmoil over civil rights in the state and nation, Eastlake Park provided a haven where discussion outweighed strife, where people met to protest peacefully, and where children played without care of the times.
Key events in the history of Eastlake Park and civil rights in the state and nation are engraved on the side of this centerpiece. A stylized depiction of the park as it appeared in 1895 is shown on top of the centerpeice. The arched canopy is modeled after the Arizona State Flag. Underneath the canopy are the “Steps of Honor,” a space dedicated to the recording of the future of the park.
“Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.”
Chief Joseph (Nez Perce Tribe) 1879,
Artists: Ronald Turner and Shannon Owen
Peace Marker Centerpiece Text by Ddecade
The timeline begins in 1880 (Total Phoenix population of 1708 includes 5 blacks, 772 Hispanics and 110
Asians.) and ends with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. To give an idea of an entire decade, here is the 1950s:
1950
National
1952 McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act revamps the nation’s
immigration policy and gives the right of citizenship to all immigrants.
1954 U.S. Supreme Court hands down the decision to abolish segregation in the schools
in Brown v. the Board of Education.
1955 Rosa Parks (known as the “Mother of Civil Rights”) gives increased visibility to the
Civil Rights Movement by refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery,
Alabama.
1957 U.S. Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, the first major civil rights legislation
since 1875.
Arizona
1950 Carl Sims and Hayzel B. Daniels are the first African Americans elected to the
Arizona State Legislature.
1953 Phoenix Union High School District desegregates its schools, one year before the
U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. the Board of Education.
1954 Adam Diaz is the first Hispanic American elected to the Phoenix City Council.
1959 Willie Mays is denied accommodations in downtown Phoenix. New York Giants
threaten to pull their spring training out of Phoenix and Mays is allowed in.
