''A Gathering at the Crossroads'' is an African American monument on the southern end of the

Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex The Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex is a large complex of state government buildings in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Set on more than of downtown Harrisburg, it includes the Pennsylvania State Capitol and a landscaped park environment with monume ...

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

. Officially dedicated in 2020 to commemorate the 100 and 150-year anniversaries of the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment and Nineteenth Amendment, the monument celebrates the power of the vote and commemorates the historic African American community in

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

and the wider

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

between 1850 and 1920. The monument cost was $360,000, with donations from the city of Harrisburg, the Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC) and philanthropist Peggy Grove. The bronze group features four life-size statues of historically-significant African American activists (

Thomas Morris Chester Thomas Morris Chester (May 11, 1834 – September 30, 1892) was an American war correspondent, lawyer and soldier who took part in the American Civil War. Early life and education Chester was born at the corner of Third and Market Street in Ha ...

, Jacob T. Comptom,

William Howard Day William Howard Day (October 16, 1825December 3, 1900) was a Black people, black Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, editor, educator and minister. After his father died when he was four, Day went to live with J. P. Williston and his w ...

, and

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, suffragist, poet, Temperance movement, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker, and writer. Beginning in 1 ...

), who are represented in the midst of conversation about the recent passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 that gave African American men the right to vote. These orators stand around a bronze pedestal that features a three-dimensional aerial rendering of the streets and buildings of the Old Eighth Ward, a diverse neighborhood of new immigrants and Black residents demolished in 1911-1917 to create the park that now surrounds the

Pennsylvania State Capitol The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg which was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative ...

. The sides of the pedestal include renderings of churches, synagogues, businesses, and schools before their destruction and feature a list of names of 100 influential individuals--the 100 Voices--who resided in Harrisburg and advocated for equality, freedom, and justice for the Black community. The monument is located near the corner of North Fourth Street and Walnut Street.

References

{{reflist Monuments and memorials in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 2020 establishments in Pennsylvania