EJI Memorials Draw Millions, Drive Growth in Downtown Montgomery

By Mike Cason | mcason@al.com Six years after the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) opened its groundbreaking National Memorial for Peace and Justice and its Legacy Museum on the same day, the organization is expanding its footprint in Montgomery with projects that are bringing tourists and construction crews to stagnant pockets of the old downtown. The latest installation is the Freedom Sculpture Park on the Alabama River, a trail of art and exhibits that describe the experiences faced by the men, women, and children trafficked by riverboat and railroad to the city’s slave auctions. The new park adds layers to the stories told at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which recognizes more than 4,000 victims of lynching, and the Legacy Museum, which connects history from the transatlantic slave trade through Jim Crow to mass incarceration. Travelers are coming to see and hear those hard lessons. “It’s a lot to take in,” said Lindsey Winand, who teaches high school biology in Baltimore, after visiting the three sites last month. “It’s very emotional. But it’s worth it. Most people need to come and see it. You need to learn the history. You need to learn what’s going on to understand how...